BY P. GRAY MEEK.
INK SLINGS.
—That was some rain on Wednesday.
—ULBGLADUKUM when you get
back to good old Centre county next
month. :
—The Germans have been turned back
from Przemysl again. The name must
be too much for them.
—At last Dr. DERNBERG seems to have
had some remote conception of the old
saying that silence is golden.
—The German answer to the American
note wasn’t what we wanted but it was
what we might have expected.
—In Germany- a child is born every
sixteen seconds, which is quite a bit
faster than the German death rate has
been during the war.
—According to the calenddr summer is
not yet here but the way time flies most
people regard it as being half over when
commencement days are no more.
—If it becomes necessary to forcibly
pacify Mexico we’ll just have to do it,
that’s all. But let’s have none of the
benevolent assimilation that was prac-
ticed in the Philippines. !
—The solid freeze of last Thursday
morning played havoc with beans, pota-
toes, grape vines, plums and cherries in
many parts of the country. Ice, a six-
teenth of an inch thick, was frozen on
still water.
—Dr. DixoN’s weekly health letter
deals with the tooth brush and as usual,
the ‘Doctor pictures this little dental
accessory as being almost as deadly as a
forty-two centimeter gun when not prop-
erly cleansed.
—If Germany and Mexico would only
decide to do what we want them to then
truly could we paraphrase the remark of
Uncle SAMMY PENNYPACKER and say that
the United States would have no ills
. worthy of mention.
—Anyway Chautauqua week isn’t
scheduled until July 24th. That will give
us plenty of time to compose ourselves
and get ready for the intellectual uplift
after the physical tear down that the
strenuosities of Old Home week are
sure to impose upon us.
—The delicate position in which the
United States finds herself with relation
to foreign powers is fast revealing WIiL-
LIAM HOWARD TAFT as a far greater man
than he was when he was chosen Presi-
dent. And, inversely, the public esti-
. mate of ROOSEVELT is being lowered.
—It is June. Five months only inter-
vene until we will elect an entire com-
plement of county officials, together with |
a President Judge. Is it to be a gum
shoe campaign, a still hunt or merely a
‘whirlwind finish? Certainly “politics
ain’t what they used to be in Centre
county.”
—Secretaries BRYAN, DANIELS and
WILSON are said to be the pacificists of
the President’s cabinet. That doesn’t
mean that they won’t fight, for often the
most peaceful men become the most
terrible fighters when goaded too far. It
merely means that they are not running
around with chips on their shoulders
bantering some one to knock them off.
—If your house needs a little fixing up
it is economy to do it at once, before the
wear has become too great. This is
especially so of surfaces that need paint-
ing to preserve them from the elements.
It is only making the job more costly in
the end to put off doing it. Besides Old
Home week will be here soon and Belle-
fonte should look her best on such an
occasion.
—The starting and stopping of work
at the new penitentiary so frequently is
calculated to destroy an efficient working
organization. And there is a certain in-
justice involved. For example, laborers
will be advertised for and assured that
they will be given work upon application
‘at the institution. Such application is
made and men are put to work, only to
be discharged the day following with
scarcely enough earnings to compensate
for their transportation while seeking the
job. The men are discharged, presum-
ably, for inefficiency, but if such be the
case the kind of work to be done by the
men sought for should be ‘stated in the
advertisement so that men who are
physically incapable of doing certain
work would know whether it would be
worth while for them to apply.
—Inasmuch as N. B. SPANGLER Esq,
has formally announced his candidacy
for President Judge of Centre county the
fight can be regarded as being on. With
five aspirants for the honor it is only
natural to anticipate a very spirited cam-
paign. Of course the judicial contest is
a non-partisan matter and should be re-
garded as such by the voters. The
judiciary of our country is the most
sacred of its temporal institutions and
* the citizen who would really do his coun-
try a service must put away personal
preference, and party bias so that they
will not warp his judgment when it
comes to chosing the man who is given
power over the lives and property of his
fellows. We expect a dignified contest,
of course. The character of the aspirants
assure that, though some of their ad-
vocates will needs be held in leash lest
they resort to methods that will react
upon the candidate of their choice.
f
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION.
VOL. 60.
BELLEFONTE, PA., JUNE 4, 1915.
The German Note. 2
The German note in reply to the re. |
cent protest of President WILSON ggainst |
submarine attacks upon ships carrying |
neutral passengers will not satisfy pub- |
lic sentiment. The President was candid :
and explicit. The reply is evasive and
ambiguous. The demand was for a|
pledge that such atrocities as the torpe- |
doing of the Lusitania would not be
again perpetrated. The reply is an,
apology for the murder, without a pledge ;
against repetition or a promise of repara- |
tion. A supplemental note is suggested |
in which the real question may be con- |
sidered. But the people of the United |
States wanted a definite understanding |
now and have been disappointed.
As we said immediately following the
outrage, Great Britain is not entirely |
free from blame in the premises. Eng- |
land has no right to shelter munitions of |
war under skirts of American women |
and the pinafores of American babies. |
The German government had informa-
tion that the cargo of the Lusitania was
composed largely of war materials: and
in the absence of noncombatants aboard
the ship was a subject of legitimate at- |
i
tack by the German forces. It has not |
been-denied, either, that the Lusitania |
was listed as an auxiliary cruiser in the
British navy. That being true noncom-
batants had no business on board. De-
luded by the boast that Great Britain
is master of the sea, they were on
board however, and their lives
were forfeited. President WILSON asked
for a promise that this will not occur
again. Germany side steps the question.
The American people do not want war
with Germany or any other power. But
there are many Americans and some in-
terests that do want war with somebody. |
In 1898 this element in the population
forced a declaration of war against Spain
notwithstanding the aversion of Presi-
dent MCKINLEY to such a course. Presi-
dent WILSON is more steadfast than Mc-
KINLEY was and may be able to achieve
the result which his predecessor aimed
to accomplish, but failed. But such inci-
dents as the Lusitania and the evasive
German note make his task more diffi- |
cult. - Unless German diplomacy is hunt-
ing trouble a supplementary note meet-
ing the issues more candidly, will not be
long delayed.
President Wilson’s Mexican Policy.
The present distress in Mexico is not,
directly or indirectly, attributable to
President WILSON’s policy, declared two
years ago, of “watchful waiting,” and the
recent announcement of a purpose to
admonish Mexico that something to avert
the distress must be done immediately, is
not a sign that that policy has been a
failure. President WILSON wisely deter-
mined at the beginning of his adminis- |
tration that the Mexican problem must
be solved by the Mexicans. "In other
words he applied to that unhappy coun-
try the principle expressed in the Declara-
tion of Independence that governments
“derive their just powers from the con-
sent of the governed,” and that alien
government could not have such consent
from a self-respecting people. That is
the philosophy of Democracy, the funda-
mental principle expressed by JEFFERSON.
That was the correct attitude for a
Democratic President of the United
States to assume in the circumstances
which existed at that time. By common
consent the United States is and has
been recognized as the “next friend” of
the feeble and faltering governments
south of us on this hemisphere. But we
are not, because of this, overlords or in-
vested with paternal power to dominate
or even regulate them so long as they
have force within themselves to admin-
ister their affairs. But when they are
no longer capable of exercising the func.
tions of self-government, when through
the indulgence of passion, prejudice or
ambition by their so-called leaders or
Governors, the people are reduced to
slavery starvation and mendicancy, then
it is the duty of the “next friend” to in-
tervene and if possible prevent the suffer-
ing which is the inevitable consequence
of misgovernment.
A less wise President of the United
States would long ago have involved this
country in a war with Mexico by interven-
ing in behalf of one or the other claim-
ants to the Presidency of that bogus Re-
public. The opportunities were abundant
and the incitements ample to any Presi-
dent lusting for power, land or empire.
Such intervention would have cost hun-
dreds of thousands of lives and millions
of treasure and would have amounted to
nothing on one side of the line or the
other because true American patriotism
is averse to conquest and true Mexican
patriotism will not yield obedience to an
alien government. But Americans and
Mexicans alike bow to the spirit of hu-
manitarism and the demand of President
WILSON that the Mexican people be al-
lowed to live rather than starve will find
an echo in the heart of every patriot on
either side of the line.
Our Weekly Summary of Legislative Activities.
Fife
Feeling that the people of Centre county have a personal interest in what is
being done by the Legislators at Harrisburg and that laws that may affect the
future of every individual more directly than ever before are under consideration
now and may be written into the statutes of the Commonwealth, the WATCHMAN
has arranged to publish a weekly summary of what has been done at Harrisburg.
It is not the purpose to go into detail of the various Acts proposed and furnish
you with a burdensome account of them. Merely to set them, and whatever else
is deemed of interest to the people of this community, before you in a general,
unbiased statement that will keep you informed of the progress that is being
made. The contributor of this Summary is one of the most capable and best
informed of Harrisburg’s newspaper men and the WATCHMAN has been very for-
tunate in enlisting his service for this work.—ED.
HARRISBURG, PA., June 2nd, 1915.
Governor BRUMBAUGH yesterday fulfilled his promise to begin the considera-
tion of bills in his hands on June Ist. He vetoed nine of them, “the first crack
out of the box,” and approved several. The first measure killed by the veto was
a bill requiring legal advertisements to be inserted in a “legal newspaper,” in
counties over 100,000 population. There is a law on the statute books containing
such a provision in counties of over 250,000 population and it creates a “soft snap”
for a few lawyers in the cities who publish what they call “Legal Journals.”
The bill increasing salaries of deputy sheriffs in Allegheny county, was vetoed
by the Governor, yesterday. “It is unwise,” he says, “to have the Legislature fix
increases of salaries without the knowledge and consent of the citizens who pay
the bill.” But he signed several bills increasing salaries of State officials. He
vetoed the bill to allow farmers to peddle their own products in boroughs on the
ground that boroughs should regulate that matter and the bill validating titles to
lands for non-payment of county taxes was vetoed for the just reason that it
simply legalized the carelessness of county officials. The bill fixing the width of
sidewalks was vetoed because “it would mean a death blow to local initiative and
a sore stricture upon shade trees.”
His Excellency broke a cog in the Philadelphia machine by vetoing the bill
giving the right to appoint managers of the House of Detention in that city to the
President Judge of the Municipal court. Judge BROWN has been conducting a
patronage factory ever since that court was instituted and always to the satisfac-
tion of the machine bosses. The Governor says the power of appointment should
be vested in the court rather than in one judge. The bill requiring that com-
pensation for changing streets in boroughs be paid by boroughs instead of coun-
ties and that authorizing the Commissioner of Health to lease a right of way
through State lands met with the same fate. The bill giving authority to town-
ship school boards to acquire land in a. contiguous borough or city on which Jo
build a township High school was disapproved because the school code provides a
better way of solving that problem. }
Besides some bills of interest only to Philadelphia the Governor approved
those making the offices of councilman and school director incompatible; pro-
. viding that the Highway Commissioner need not employ all’ persons mentioned in
the Act of 1911 and providing for an engineer of maintenance; making the Act
relative to adoptions apply to cases now pending; validating annexations and ex-
tentions of boroughs prior to April 28
patenting of lands; validating municipal liens for borough sewer systems; pro-
viding procedure for placing foot walks, curbs, parking, shade trees and grass
plots; enlarging powers of State Live Stock Sanitary board in meat inspection;
providing for reciprocity in pharmaceutical licenses; authorizing an amortized
basis for valuing the bond investments of life insurance companies and beneficiary
societies and fixing $1000 as the minimum salary of court stenographers.
Bills were also approved on Tuesday requiring second class cities to establish
pension funds for employees; authorizing municipal liens for curbing in boroughs;
authorizing acceptance of donations to erect chapels at State Sanatoria; requiring
prothonotaries to provide an ad sectum index; fixing salaries in the Department
of Public Instruction; requiring State officials who handle money to give bonds;
permitting the Commonwealth to intervene in any proceeding at law or equity in
which the State may have an interest, without giving security; refunding to PAUL
C. WOLF money erroneously paid; authorizing CHARLES H. SLEICHER to sue the,
State for damages caused by constructing a dam and the code for reporting, quar-
antining and controlling contagious diseases.
Most of the Governor's time today was given to the consideration of appro-
priation bills. It hasbeen ascertained that the appropriations exceed the reve-
nues by about $4,000.000 and he has set himself the task of squaring that circle.
It would be an easy job if the methods of his immediate predecessors ‘were follow-
ed. But he has promised not to do that. Yet nobody can tell what the exigencies
of politics will develope.
Five bills were vetoed today the only one of general interest being that which
provided for an increase of the compensation of appraisers appointed by Registers
of Wills for collateral inheritance tax from $2 to $5 day.
sss he Legislature certainly put the seal of its approval upon the ‘work of the
‘Economy and Efficiency Commission created during the session of 1913. Nine-
teen of the recommendations of the Board were enacted into law and eight of
them have been approved by the Governor. It is an exceptional record but was.
made under exceptional circumstances. Effic iency has become a fad, mostly among
those who don’t understand what it means, and most of the recommendations in_
volved the multiplication of offices. The one thing that is certain to “get by” in
the Legislature is the increase of offices. :
For example, the bills recommended by the Economy Commission and enact-
ed into law include the reorganization of the Attorney General’s department by
adding a couple of deputies and a number of clerks; increasing the number of
factory inspectors; creating a fund to carry insurance on State property with the
necessary clerks to administer it; reorganizing the office force of the Adjutant
General by adding a couple of clerks; enlarging the division of statistics in the
department of labor and industry by increasing the office force; increasing the
number of inspectors of the Board of Public Charities; reorganizing the State
Highway department by increasing the force; creating the office of State archi
tect with several clerks and stenographers and increasing the force of the State
lunacy commission. ; Te ;
All these recommendations and all this legislation are said to be in the in-
terest of economy. The business of the Commonwealth was conducted waste-
fully, the Commissson concluded and its remedy is to provide officials to “eat up”
the cash. Money spent without method is certainly wasted. It doesn’t do the
party a bit of good. But if distributed judiciously among officials it can be made
work as industriously as cascarets, even while the leaders sleep. This is why
every reform measure enacted by the recent Legislature provided for an increase
of officials. There is no money saved to the people by such reforms, but that
slovenliness which wastes without method is done away with and a scientific sys-
tem of looting substituted. Maybe we ought to be thankful for the improvement
but some of us have lived in Missouri long enough to acquire the habit.
The Board of Water Supply Commissioners is working short handed but ac-
complishing results... The Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary are salaried.
but only the Secretary, THOMAS J: LYNCH, of Northampton county, is on duty.
The Chairman, Mr. BIRKINBINE, of Montgomery county, is dead and the Vice Chair
man, Mr. FocHT, of Union county, was elected to Congress last fall, so that Mr.
LYNCH has to do the work of three. But he is doing it, all right, and well. Re-
cently he authorized the building of twenty-six bridges and dams including one
2 [Continued on page 4, Col. 4.1
, 1903; amending the Act relative to the
"NO. 23.
Spiritual Rather than Material Civiliza-
tion the Issue in Europe.
From the Philadelphia Evening Ledger.
There is no reason to assume that Ger-
; man success in Europe would put an end
| to what may be called the material evi-
i dences of civilization. Mechanical effi-
i ciency, scientific research, manufacturing
in all its branches, agriculture, etc.,
i would not be discouraged. It has been
German policy to encourage them.
When men say that civilization itself
is imperiled by the Germans, they mean
. civilization as it is reflected in human
: kindliness, generosity, mercy, unselfish.
ness. The Kaiser's vast war machine
| has overleaped the restraints that twenty
: centuries of Christianity have built up.
It stands for a morality which most peo-
ple thought had been extirpated from the
earth. It owes allegiance to a brutal
code, which makes might right, t: no
- heed of the interests of others seeks
i to extend. indefinitely the domain of
sword and gun. It comes into conflict
with all modern ideas and ideals, and is
+ opposed to that sort of progress which
{ society for generations has endeavored
| to foster and encourage. Ui ind
| Were Europe threatened by barbarians
whose success would mean the disruption
| of modern mechanics there would: re-
| main the hope that the barbarians them-
i selves would be softened by contact with
| civilization and would soon be dominated
| by its ideals. But the Germans are al-
i ready as highly civilized as any people
j on earth and acquainted with all prin-
| ciples that civilization teaches. The
| military caste has deliberately repudiated
| fundamental tenets with which it was
| fully conversant. Its success, therefore,
i would mean an end absolutely of the
! moral code heretofore prevalent, and
would be a living, constant menace to
Democratic ideals. ;
It is the spiritual, not the material, side
of civilization that is threatened by the
cataclysm in Europe.
Becker Has Chance to Tell
From the Altoona Times.
With almost his last hope of escaping
the electric chair taken from him, Becker,
the former New York police captain, is
said to contemplate making a complete
confession of the inner workings of
Gotham’s police department, as well as
giving his reasons for not taking the wit-
ness stand in his own behalf. m ‘the
outset of this sensational murder case it
has been hinted that two important ele-
ments were contributing to the convic-
of underworld conditions made him a
dangerous individual to' be at large, and
itis stated that he received very little
support from his colleagues, who are
| steeped in the philosophy that “dead
: men tell no tales.” On the other hand,
his prosecutors have been convinced that
before he faced the final ordeal his lips
would be unlocked and there would be a
| sweeping revelation of facts that reform-
ers have vainly sought.
If Becker has determined to betray his
accomplices, it may eventually save his
life. There are many persons in New
York who believe that he merits a long
term in prison, but who are loath to
justify his conviction on the testimony of
self-confessed murderers and crooks, who
already have paid the penalty of their
misdeeds. Prudence seems to dictate
that a frank and full exposition of all
the facts in his possession will best serve
Becker at this time. There is a very
remote possibility that Governor Whit-
| man, who aided in his conviction, will
intervene to save him from the death
chair unless there isa very strong im-
pelling reason for clemency.
What Biddy May Yet Achieve.
From Farm Life,
We have come to the conclusion that
; there is no limit to the farmer’s accom-
plishments. He can do whatever he sets
his head and heart upon, The 200 egg
hen has already been replaced by the 300
egg hen, and in the course of time,
whether we live to see it or not, some in-
dustrious little biddy will no doubt show
up with a record of 365 eggs in a single
year. We should not regard it as a
miracle if we were to’ hear thata hen
could lay even two eggs a day. There
is no such thing as a biggest hogor a
heaviest steer or a strongest horse. Some-
body can always break the record—
somebody always does it.
Why Hoosiers Rejoice.
From the Indianapolis News. :
Notwithstanding wars and rumors of
wars, it is not likely that everybody will be
wholly downhearted with the season for
Indiana-grown strawberries just begin-
ning. Aone
Etiquette and the Law.
From the Washington Post.
The Georgia sheriff who refuses to ar-
rest a self-confessed lady shootist with-
out a warrant can fall back on the plea
that he was never introduced.
——Last Thursday’s heavy frosts,
while freezing ice and nipping the gar-
dens in Bellefonte and the farming dis-
tricts of the county without doing any
great amount of damage, froze the leaves
on the trees and brush on Nittany moun-
tain so that the woods look as if swept
by fire. So far the frozen leaves show
no signs of budding out again.
bosses sams
——According ‘to advices from the
United States Department of Agriculture
the seventeen year locusts are due to
make their appearance in some of the
eastern counties of Pennsylvania this
year, but not in the central or western
part of the State.
tion of Becker and then to the obstruc- |
tion of his efforts to regain his ‘freedom
through appeals to the courtand execu:
tive clemency. His extensive knowledge |
SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE.
—The voters of Lilly will soon consider the
question of bonding the borough to the amount
of $30,000 to pay for street paving. :
—The proposed increase of rates by the Mount
Union Water company, objected toby citizens as
excessive, has been sustained by the Public
Service commission. 3
—Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Norton, of Jersey Shore,
found a baby on their back porch the other even-
ing and have determined to’ give it a home, at
least for the present.
—A recent marriage in Johnstown was that of
Noah Lenhart, aged 78, and Mrs. Margaret Long-
streth, aged 71. They have taken a honeymoon
trip to Niagara Falls. .
—The borough of Reynoldsville has offered
$72,000 for the water plant owned by a local cor-
poration, it being the intention of the town to
operate a municipal water plant. =
—Newport has had sixty-eight cases of typhoid
fever as the result of the recent epidemic, six of
which have been fatal, the last death having been
that of Mrs. Mary Kepner, aged 48 years.
—William H. Walker, a Somerset county man,
left his home two weeks ago, telling his wife he
was going to Somerset to purchase an automo-
‘bile. He has not been seen or heard of since.
—An Indiana county woman strenuously ob-
jected to paying a tax bill amounting to $2.70.
Later on her husband paid the tax and the costs
of a prosecution, the whole bill amounting to
$12.82.
—A Williamsport alderman has decided that a
man who refuses to obey the call of a fire war-
den to assist in fighting fire is guilty of a misde-
meanor-and must either pay a fine or go to
prison.
—Neither Judge Hall nor Judge Heck will rec-
ognize the legality of the act annexing Clinton
county to the Potter judicial district. The mat-
ter must be settled by the Supreme court, which
now has it in hand. >
—No less ‘than eighteen Gallitzin lads—all
aliens—were recently fined $1.48 each for mali-
; cious mischief and for having robbed freight cars
and stoned passenger trains of the Pennsylva-
"nia Railroad company.
—Mrs, E. Marshall, of Big Soldier, Clearfield
county, undertook to rid herself of earthly exist*
ence by drinking a mixture of wood alcohol and
bi-chloride of mercury. Although she was still
living at last accounts, her recovery is not ex-
pected. .
—It hasbeen discovered that the Oshall farm,
the scene of a more or less sanguinary battle be-
tween the Oshalls and the sheriff of Cambria
county and his deputies some weeks ago, is in
Clearfield county. The two Oshall girls now
confined in the Cambria couny jail will soon be
released.
—The experiment station at Davidson,’ West-
moreland county, established by the H. C. Frick
company about a year ago to extract chemical
by-products from the sulphur water of Mountz
creek, has been abandoned. Theoretically the
scheme was highly successful, but commercially
it was a failure, .
—Mrs. Catharine Dela, of Sykesville, is an in-
mate of the DuBois hospital, where her left leg
has been amputated below the knee. She under-
took to drive her cow across the railroad track in
front of an approaching train. The cow got
across all right, but the woman was caught and
her leg crushed.
—The body of Francis Holloran, the Clinton
county boy who was drowned in Bald Eagle
creek nearly two weeks ago has been recovered,
having been found floating on the surface of the
water about two miles from where he is supposed
to have fallen in. A reward of $100 was offered
for the body's recovery. ;
—Mrs. Daniel Dougherty, a resident of New-
berry, became, ill on a Williamsport street and .
was placed in a jitney, after temporary relief.-had.
been administered, and hurried towards her
home. Half way there she died. She was a very
large woman, weighing about 250 pounds. Death
was due to heart disease.
—The application of Helen Boyle, serving
twenty-five years for her part in the kidnapping
of Willie Whitla, in Mercer countyseveral years
ago, has been listed for the meeting of the State
Board of Pardons on June 16. The prisoner .
claims that she has been sufficiently punished
for the part she took in the affair.
—In deciding a recent case brought against a
mine owner for destroying the fish in a Somerset
county stream by means of mine drainage, Judge
Ruppel has decided that the law does not include
mine drainage in its prohibitions, and since other
causes of pollution are particularly specified,
there can be no conviction for polluting a stream
with mine drainage. :
—At the recent session of the Danville district
Epworth League convention an unfinished paper
written by the late Miss Harriet Kerstetter, of
Lewisburg, was read. The theme was “Rocks
in the Epworth Highway.” The author had
started a quotation which began with the word
“Heaven,” when she laid down her pen for the
last time. /Next morning she was found dead in
bed.
—A party of Pittsburgh capitalists have leased
the farm of Jacob eer, along the Carlisle turn-
bike two miles above York Springs, in the Cum-
berland valley, and will begin operations for the
mining of magnetic ore in a short time. Nego-
tiations have been in progress for some time and
the necessary papers have been written and sign-
ed, giving the Pittsburgh men the right to take
ore from the place.
—Somerset offices of the Quemahoning Coal
company have received word to the effect that
the big corporation has been awarded a cantract
for furnishing coal to the United States navy,a
delivery to be made at Annapolis, Baltimoreand
Philadelphia. The company has numerous op-
erations in the Somerset county field and all of
them will be worked to the limit. The Quema
honing coal is unsurpassed for its steam-produc
ing qualities. i
—His fondness for dogs was almost the undoing
of Charles Price, a watchman on the P. R. R. at
Red Rock, near Anderson, one night recently,
when he mistook a 200-pound bear for a large
black dog that recently visited his box. Price
was making his usual rounds when he heard a
scratching noise in the ditch and in the uncertain
light mistook the bear for a dog. Patting it on
its shaggy head, he tendered taffy via the “good
doggy” route. At the sound of the human voice
Bruin let out a “woof-woof” and, tucking his
head under, rolled down the embankment into"
the Juniata river. It was only after Price had
turned the reflector of his searchlight on the
swimming animal that he realized his danger,
—Thirteen self-confessed bounty swindlers,
from Wilcox, Elk county, who have been in the
county jail since arrest several weeks ago, were
sentenced by Judge Harry Alvan Hall on
Saturday. Eleven of them received from one to
two years in the westerh penitentiary while two
others, on account of their age, received a sus-
pended sentence for two years. Dr. Joseph Kalb-
fus, secretary of the State Game commission, in
explaining the methods of the swindlers, said
that hides of animals were bought by the men in
ten counties at ten cents each and that they
would be taken to the office of a justice of the
peace, where affidavits were made by the men,
who would turn them in to their county commis-
sioners for $2 each. Deals were made in West
moreland, Elk, Forest, Cambria, Shenango, War-
ren, Allegheny, Jefferson, Clearfield and Arm-
strong counties, according to Dr. Kalbfus, and
the swindlers have been plying their scheme in-
the State for the last two years, reaping a har- :
vest estimated at $75,000. ig