BY P. GRAY MEEK. INK SLINGS. —Only two weeks until Old Home week begins. —Really it feels as if summer were actually here. . —My, how the corn and taters are growing! Recent rains and hot nights are fairly shooting them out of the ground. —The human family is heir to about twelve hundred different kinds of disease and ailments. And about eleven hun- dred and ninety-nine of them are out of the way when a mortal has recovered from a real good dose of grip. i i i —The young men who are doing things to make Old Home week a suc- cess are not without their trials and trib- ulations. Their'sis a case of d—-d if you do and d—d if you don’t—and ‘there seems to be no middle road on which they can travel. —The President’s last note to Germa- ny was disappointing to the Jingoes. It wasn’t written with a sword, with blood : for ink, and didn’t portray any big teeth i or big sticks. It was merely what might : _ have been expected from a great man like President WILSON. —Week after next the Old Home week celebration will begin in Bellefonte. The time will fly around before you realize it so you had better get busy at that unfin- ished work so that it will be all cleaned up by the time the celebration begins. You can enjoy it so much more if you have nothing hanging over you. —Let us give the Bellefonte house- wives this bit of advice. If you have in- vited guests to your home for Old Home week don’t spend all of your time in the kitchen cooking for them. They will feel that they have caused you less trouble and will be happier and you will be happier if you just let them have what the family is accustomed to hav- ing. —We are entirely at a loss to see how Mr. BRYAN can hope to carry on his campaign for a public endorsement of his peace views without precipitating a fight on President WILSON. The ex- Premier may be amiable and broad enough to preserve his own friendly equilibrium, but not so with many peo- ple. A fight is a fight and it is a far easier thing to start one than it is to stop it. —The foreigner who was being nat- uralized in the Centre county courts on Tuesday came nearer the truth than he thought when he answered the question: “Who makes the laws?” by promptly announcing “PENROSE” does it. The re- ally unfortunate part of such a situation is that forever this particular new citi- zen will exalt PENROSE in his own mind and probably think he will be doing his new country a great service by voting whichever way the Boss wants him to. —Former Secretary of State BRYAN has issued no recent bulletins. He is probably catching his breath for another great rush of words to the face. As the surprise of his resignation subsides there is more serious consideration of his mo- tives and, as might have been expected, there are many minds with many views. Mr. BRYAN is not without friends. He has hosts of them and while it is to be hoped that he will not, as intimated, or- ganize a propaganda against the Presi- dent he has many adherents who would follow him even to that length. — The Pittsburgh Dispatch thinks that because only four out of fourteen new instructors recently called to the Agri- cultural department of The Pennsylva- nia State College are Pennsylvanians “it does not argue very strongly for the pro- ductive capacity of Pennsylvania as to men qualified to give instruction in agronomy, etc.” The Dispatch ought to know that the State of Pennsylvania has so neglected its one state institution of learning that price rather than capability is the thing that enters most into the matter of securing instructors. And it is quite possible that there are many able Pennsylvanians who will not accept calls to the Pennsylvania State College teaching corps for the reason that the State provides no salaries commensurate with the service they could render or with what land-grant colleges of other States are able to offer them. —It is altogether possible that ninety per cent. of the men who are coming back to Centre county for Old Home week wouldn't have been half as well off as they are if they hadn’t had the gump- tion to get up and get out when they saw nothing bright in the future here. Many cases are there of the prophet not with- out honor save in his own country. But that is the commercial view of it. Wherever they are, whatever they have found of success that they could not hope for here, sentiment is the same. Centre county, Pennsylvania, is the Old Home county and even though it offered them so little that they had to fling its paltry gifts aside; down in their hearts its the one dear, loved spot, haunted with memories that are gradually grow- ing sweeter and more appealing as age creeps on. It’s the call of the past that will bring the old boys back next month, Not the bang and the whirl of a modern celebration. ER Ss nal, SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE. i ! ———— —A report is current that hog cholera has | developed on a big farm near Ashtola, Cambria | county, but the owners, who live in Johnstown { are non-communicative. —New Washington, Clearfield county, has just ! lost a unique citizen inthe person of Adam Breth, | a justice of the peace in that town for over 50 | years. He was aged 82 years. * —The men and women who escaped from the | Indiana county jail nearly a week ago have not | yet been recaptured and seem to have had the i assistance of very skillful friends. VOL 60. Dangerous Innovation. Governor BRUMBAUGH perplexed the ! newspaper correspondents and officials about the capitol, the other day, by an- nouncing his approval of one bill which he had previously vetoed, and his veto of a bill which he had previously approved. It was an unprecedented incident and an innovation of dangerous possibilities. On Monday announcement was made of the veto of a bill “to supervise fire insurance rate-making bureaus by providing for their examination by the State Insurance Commissioner,” and the signing of House bill No. 738. On Friday the reversal ac- tion was announced. In vetoing the insur- ance bill he declared that “the body of the bill is broader than the title,” which would make it unconstitutional, and that “it is an attempt to stifle competition and increase the cost of insurance.” What influence led to his change of mind on this measure has not been re- vealed. The constitution forbids the ap- proval of bills subversive of that organic instrument and if the body of the bill is broader than the title it is subversive of Section 3 of Article 3, of the constitu- tion which reads: “No bill, except gen- eral appropriation bills, shall be passed containing more than one subject which shall be clearly expressed in the title.” The insurance lobby, always powerful and persistent, was strongly in favor of the measure. It was introduced by RICHARD J. BALDWIN, floor mai.ager of the PEN- ROSE machine, in pursuance of a recom- mendation of acommission appointed dur- ing the TENER adminstration. There is no good reason for stifling competition in insurance any more than in other things. It is neither wise nor necessary to “in- crease the cost of insurance.” ‘But the greatest danger in this innova- tion is not in the fact that the bill in ques- tion stifles competition and increases the cost of insurance. The menace lies in the enlarged power which such a prec- edent gives to the Governor over legis- lation. Four days elapsed between the veto of the bill and the subsequent ap- proval of it. If the Governor can change his mind and alter his action upon a bill after four days why not after four weeks or four months? It was said by one of the attaches of his office that the veto had not been filed in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth and con- sequently was not officially declared. But that is a subterfuge. It was given to the public, through the newspapers with the Governor’s consent, and might have misled citizens into important busi- ness blunders. That Note to Germany. There is nothing inflammatory, no ul- timatum and no declaration of war in the President's last note to the German Emperor. Itisa cordial expression of genuine friendship from start to finish. In the previous note the German Em- peror had been politely admonished against the murder of American men, women and children by the brutal use of submarines in the destruction of passen- ger ships upon the high seas. The Ger- man government side-stepped this admo- nition by an evasive answer. It is not on account of the value of the ships or the destruction of the cargoes that the President protests. It is upon the broad principle of humanity, beyond and above “diplomatic discussion or of internation- al controversy.” But the President of the United States wants no evasion of the question. He resorts to no evasion himself. To the statement that the Lusitania carried masked guns and a cargo forbidden clear- ance by the laws of the United States, he is clear and candid. “It was the du- ty of the United States,” he says, “to see that the Lusitania was not armed for of- fensive action, that she was not serving as a transport, that she did not carry a cargo prohibited by the statutes of the United States and that if in fact she was a naval vessel of Great Britain, she should not receive clearance as a mer- chantman; and it performed that dnty and enforced its statutes with scrupulous vigilance, through its regularly consti- tuted officials.” The President asks the German Em- peror to reply to questions of greater moment with equal directness. If this just demand is complied with there is no more danger of war with Germany than there is with Canada or Cuba. Ameri- can citizens must feel safe in; the enjoy- ment of natural rights. If, as we have said before, Great Britain were trying to shield munitions of war under the skirts of American women part of the respon- sibility for disaster would be upon her shoulders. But the President settles that matter by his candid statement of facts and there is nothing to do but await pa- tiently for the reply which the President and all the people of the United States hope for, compléte acquiescence. STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION. BELLEFONTE, PA. J UNE 18, 1915. | —Clearfield hasa new fire alarm which was | tried out for the first time last Saturday morn- ling. It was heard in Ridgway, a distance of , twenty-five miles, as the crow flies. NO. 25. sa Our Weekly Summary of Legislative Activities. 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 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 sei vice for this work.—ED. HARRISBURG, PA., June 16th, 1915. Saturday is the last day for signing bills enacted during the recent session of the Legislature and the Governor is working overtime to complete his arduous task. The appropriation bills gave him a great deal of trouble as they have given his recent predecessors more or less anxiety. The Auditor General threw a scare into him in the beginning by stating that the appropriation bills exceeded the prospective revenues by something like eleven million dollars. But the Chairmen of the appropriation committees of the House and Senate reassured him and ac- cording to the best information attainable he will only cut a couple of millions out of the aggregate. ; It makes a vast difference “whose ox is gored” and of course everybody in- terested in appropriations is trying to find out which bills will be cut. Thus far no intimation has been given on the subject and the Governor's inquiry of heads of departments as to the actual needs of each is taken as an indication that the question will not be determined by favoritism. If this expectation is fulfilled, moreover, there will be no cause for complaint. The Legislature has no business to appropriate beyond the revenues and excessive appropriations obtained by log- rolling deserve to bz cut out. A rebuke of this kind administered in this way may do a deal of good. Among the bills signed within the week is that providing for the consolida- tion of the Eastern and Western penitentiaries. It involves the abandonment of the Cherry Hill prison at Philadelphia which is the oldest penal institution in the State. It will also necessitate an enlargement of the Centre county property and of the facilities for maintaining prisoners at that institution. The purpose of the authorities, it is understood, is to change the methods of treating prisoners. That is to say it is proposed to convert the prison into a sort of industrial home in which convicts who are not hardened criminals will have opportunity to study the principles of morality and the habits of industry. The number of bills vetoed within a week justify the predictions that Gover- nor BRUMBAUGH will make a record. Singularly enough Governors seem to take pride in vetoing bills and the record made by TENER was easily his greatest achievement. But the session of two years ago lasted six months while that of this year ran only four months and twenty days. Still this session turned out a larger volume of legislation. There was less friction in operating the machine this year than last and the bosses had freer hand. : Naturally the result was a greater number of questionable bills and a proportionate increase in the activities of the axe. Yet more might have been accomplished in this direction. : During the first half of the session, if current reports can be relied upon, the Governor spent all his energies in negotiating for votes for the local option bill. In a recentletter I referred to the action of BILL ADAMS, of Luzerne county, on this measure. Since that it has been learned that the Governor had a hand in the matter. On the day the vote was taken he sent for ADAMS and asked him to vote for the measure. Being first on the roll his vote was important and ADAMS asked the Governor what there was in it for him. The Governor is said ~ to have replied that if he voted for local option the influence of the administra- tion would be exerted in his behalf in his aspiration for Sheriff, That “listened” good to Mr. ApAMs but didn’t stampede him. The liquor interest is strong in Luzerne county, he said, and his vote for local option might defeat his nomination notwithstanding the influence of the administration in his behalf. In that event, the Governor is supposed to have added, you will be given a place in the State government equal in value to that of Sheriff of the county, whereupon he returned to his seat, made terms with the liquor men and voted for the bill. Possibly a good many pieces of legislation won approval by similar dickers with others who had less reason to vote against local option. At any rate a good many bills that ought to have been vetoed were approved with- out reason. The traction engine bill has been approved. It divides traction engines into two classes, the first being used for agricultural work, road making and hauling machinery, and may not exceed 28,000 pounds in weight. The second class is machines used for hauling freight and are limited in weight to 32,000 pounds. All such engines must be licensed by the State Highway Department, the fees being for first class machines $5 and for those of the second class $20. There is a spe- cial license for dealers, $10, and trailers of less than 10,000 pounds weight shall pay $3 and those weighing between 10,000 and 24,000 pounds $4. There was a good deal of contention over this measure during its progress through the Leg- islature. The bill escheating bank balances and interest accounts of persons long ab- sent and supposed to be dead has also been approved. It is fondly hoped that this measure will yield considerable revenue to the State though nobody ventures even a conjecture as to the amount. Bank officers will be required to report all such accounts to the State authorities and the monies may be recovered by the owners any time within ten years. Strangely enough the savings banks are not included and the greater number of neglected accounts are popularly supposed to be in such institutions. One Philadelphia savings bank is said to hold several hun- dred thousand dollars of that kind of money. The bill increasing the salary of the Secretary of the Board of Charities from f x $3000 to $5000 has been approved as well as that increasing th. salaries of the chief of the State Department of Mines from: $4000 to $5000 and that of his depu- ty from $2500 “o $3500, but that increasing the wages of writ and process servers in Philadelphia was vetoed because it would ' “make a serious charge upon the taxpayers.” The reasons for this discrimination are not given though in some measure it marks the difference between salasy and wages. The poor guys who only earn wages are not entitled to much consideration and the public must be protected against their predatory impulses. % * . The following bills of general public interest have been approved: Making it unlawful for attorneys, servants or employees to receive compensation for insur- ance upon the lives of their clients or employers: authorizing boroughs to form a State association; providing for burial of honorably discharged soldiers and ma- rines at county expense; providing for the immediate registration of births and deaths by a central bureau of vital statistics in the State Department of Health; Other bills signed are fixing the fourth Monday in March as last day for township supervisors to levy road tax and otherwise amending the 1913 law for the construction and repair of township roads; fixing salaries of county com- ‘missioners in counties of less than 150,000 population. Since this time last week twenty-five bills have been vetoed and it is expect- ed that several of the twenty-eight measures’ yet on his desk will be similarly - “set at rest.” The most important of the vetoed bills is that making Mayors of . cities of the third class eligible for re-election. Nobody has been able to find out . [Continued on page 4, Col. 2.] | | i i “was only a truce, might be still worse. ' force. | Europe’s head more menacingly than now and may be written into the statutes of the Commonwealth, the Warcaman | ally represents, in an unofficial way, the | not the Big Business desire. This is not From the Philadelphia Press, a railroad station baggage room fora! few minutes any day now he would easi- ly see that he has no Presidential Faom the Washington Post, " bring Villa and Carranza too close (to gother for the comfort of either. a —The sheriff of Clearfield county has declined | to permit the ministers of Clearfield to hold even- ing prayer meetings in the prison, although he i i has no objection to Sunday morning. From the Altoona Times. { 5 { —The council of DuBois has decided to post- There doesn t seem to be much re | pone the city hall project and to erect instead a sponse je is country to the 2 ors, OL | hose house for the use of one of the fire com- the volunteer Dutch peacemaker, Van panies, at a cost approximating $9,000. Ghell Geldmeester. It seems that he re- —Over in Cambria county there have been 118 applications for aid under the provisions of the Mothers’ pension act. Of these 14 have been ap- proved and 61 remain to be investigated. —Albert Hebden, aged 24, residing in the vicinity of Philipsburg, ate two dozen bananas last Thursday afternoon on a wager with one of his friends. He accomplished the feat in twenty. five minutes. 1 —Lewistown’s epidemic of typhoid fever is probably due to infected milk. One dairyman has ceased to sell his product for the present, several of the fever patients having used milk furnished by him. —A Williamsport mannamed Campbell claims to have invented a device for discovering the location of submarines when submerged and then destroying them. If he can make good he has a fortune awaiting him. —There is a growing conviction that the late David Shearer, of Lock Haven, was not murder- ed but that he committed suicide. The absence of the eyes and other mutilations of the body were probably caused by rats. —A woman named Krumansky, wife of a miner living near Karthaus, Clearfield county, was found dead early the other morning in her home. There was a bullet hole through her head and a revolver lay by her side. Her husband says she committed suicide, but the authorities want to know. —A jury at Clearfield this week awarded a ver- dict ot $500 in favor of H. H. Bowes for the ar- rest and conviction of John O. Keeler, the mur- derer of Joseph W. Roessner, the Clearfield brewer. Bowes was Keeler’s brother-in-law. The Commissioners will appeal from the jury’s finding. —The jury which investigated the facts in con- nection with the explosion in No.1 mine of the Smokeless Coal company, Ferndale. Cambria county, which resulted in the death of nine men, find that the explosive was due to the failure of the aforesaid company to provide safety lamps, in accordance with recommendations of Mine Inspector Nicholas Evans. —Miss Honore Whalen, of Erie, the first girl to be graduated from the school of agriculture at Pennsylvania State College, announces that she is going to undertake the management of her father’s ranch in South Dakota, and specialize in raising beef cattle as one way of reducing the high price of meat. She completed the four-year course in agronomy last week. German Peace Hints. sentiment of Berlin, and that Germany is willing to talk peace if the matter can be arranged without making her appear eager about it. But the knowledge that the allies are set inflexibly on the prose- cution of the war has kept our govern- ment and public from taking Mr. Geld- meester’s proposals very seriously. With all our love of peace, and our desire to see the European slaughter ended, most Americans seem to be com- ing around to the view that the time to talk peace is yet distant. Every day that the war drags on brings its harvest of calamity to the human race. But thoughtful observers realize that an abortive peace, a settlement that Merely to stop fighting, with wrongs un- avenged and fundamental issues unset- tled, would be to usher in z period of greater and more costly armament, in preparation for the final arbitrament of The sword would hang over ever for a few months or years, and then might come a conflict besides which even this mighty war would be child’s play. The struggle, apparently, must go on as our own Civil war had to, until one side or the other is definitely beaten. That outcome may arrive suddenly, through an unexpected military or diplo- matic coup, bringing such preponder- ance of force to one side that the other cannot hope to stand against it; or the conflict may drag on until it is ended by the slow exhaustion of the weaker side in men and material resources. In either case, the peacemakers must wait. We see now more clearly than we did at first that the war is not an acci- dental flareup, but that it isa real con- flict of national ideals, and that it will do no good to rush in and beat aside the swords of the combatants if their minds remain the same as before. What is at the End? From the Johnstown Denocrat, “Mr. Wilson has put his hand to the plow,” says the New York World, “and he cannot turn back until he reaches the end of the furrow.” Let us hope that this is not exactly true, Let us hope that he still has resources of diplomacy in reserve should those already used fall short of the desired result. Let us hope that the last word has not been said, the last argument advanced. Let us hope that the end of the furrow may not be a sea of blood. “In spite of Mr. Bryan's scruples,” the World adds, “there is no public de- site that he (the President) should turn back.” Perhaps this is true. But the country may feel that the precise course which he has chosen to follow is fraught with danger which might have been avoided had soberer counsels prevailed. That there is any public desire that the furrow shall be followed to the end without regard to consequences we are as yet unprepared to believe. On the contrary there are many evi- dences that the public desire is that no word or act of ours shall make it im- possible for Germany to meet us on peaceful ground for the adjustment of such differences as may have arisen. This is not the jingo desire. This is —A big touring car carrying five persons on their way from the Brethren meeting at Hershey to their home in Ohio, rolled down the side of a mountain, near Ligonier, carrying three of the passengers with it, a distance of almost 100 feet- Two were able to jump out before the plunge was taken. Singularly enough, nobody was badly hurt and the car little damaged. —The stockholders of the Greenwich Coal and Coke company have sanctioned the proposed merger of the interests of that corporation with those of the Tunnel Coaling company, which has a number of operations in Cambria county. The same officers will continue in charge. A new ventilating system will be installed at the Yellow Run shaft, Dunlo, in the near future. —During the heavy thunder storm on Sunday night about ten o’clock lightning struck the home of John Warbo in North Philipsburg, the bolt running down the chimney and setting fire to the clothing of a fourteen year old daughter who was lying on the floor of the sitting room. In addition to the severe shock sustained by the girl, she was painfully burned about the face: side and hands. The child will recover. —No. 20 mine of the Pennsylvania Coal and Coke corporation, located at Hastings, has been sold to the Rich Hill Coal company, which ope- rates a plant nearby. The mine has been work ed for nearly 25 years and is badly in need of re- pairs, which will be made before it is again plac- ed in operation. A tractof the best coal to be found in that locality is included in the purchase. The consideration has not been made public. the desire of those who get their inspira- tion from the reservoirs of Privilege. It is merely the desire of the hewers of wood and the drawers of water, of those who make bricks without straw; of those who do the nation’s work and who would have to do the nations fighting and the nation’s dying were the furrow to be fol- lowed to a bloody end. —A hotel keeper in Johnstown who asked per- mission to remove his place of business to anoth- er location because a church next door to him objectsto his business, was directed by Judge C’Connor to stay where he is. The judge re- marked that the hotel was there long before the church was built and if the church people were willing to build there knowing the conditions, they would have to put up with the situation. Necessity’s Latest Progeny. From the Philadelphia Evening Ledger. The war, which has cut off the supply of fustic used in producing yellow dye needed in the leather trade, has spurred on the chemists of the Government until they have succeeded in demonstrating that osage orange yields a good dye at less cost than the imported wood. The difference in favor of the American wood runs from $6 to $8 a ton. The announce- ment of the success of the Government experiments was made at the meeting of the American Leather Chemists’ Associa- tion in Atlantic City. Vegetable dyes were used in all textile industries until the coal tar colors dis- placed them. They are better than the coal tar dyes, holding their color longer and producing more beautiful effects. The only advantage which the chemical dyes have over the dyes which they" dis- placed is the ease with which different shades can be produced. So The country is as full of dye wo and herbs as it ever was. If our chem- ists cannot use the secret processes em- ployed by the Germans in producing dyes—though this is by no means ’cer- tain—they can succeed in perfecting sim- ple and inexpensive methods of extract- ing colors from the native products, ‘Ne- cessity is ‘the mother of a numerous yee LOF agt compa progeny and she is still in her prime. | The mules were ‘of good stock and ; Es valuable. . g i - —Judgment for $20,000" awarded by Pennsyl- .vania State courts to the Mitchell Coal and Coke: company against. the Pennsylvania railroad as three-fold damages for the railroad’s favoritism to the Berwind-White Coal Mining company, in car distribution ‘nearly ten years ago was affirm- ed on Monday by the Supreme court of the United, States. The court restored to the docket for anoth* er argument appeals taken by the railroad com pany from awards of damages to the Sonman Shaft Coal Co.; andthe Stineman Coal ‘Mining company, also of Cambria county, heard originally with the Mitchell case. In these cases the State court decided the shipments were intrastate. —While operating upon Mrs. Catharine To- taskai for gall stones, the surgeons of the Wil- liamsport hospital discovered that both the gall sac and the appendix were on the left side in. stead of the right ani the heart was near the medial line instead of in its proper place on the left side. The woman suffered no inconvenience, the functioning of these and other organs which were also out of place being perfectly normal. i. —Sounding the air whistle to frighten what was supposedly a huge dog from the track, a Logan Valley motorman was surprised to discover the animal was a large black bear, late Saturday night. Although the car, which was making the final trip from Tyrone to’ Altoona, was running at a great rate of speed, the motorman slowed down for a crossing and was enabled to glimpse the animal distinctly beneath the rays of the headlight.) i: conclu iniiup aa 2% * —The Coal Hill barn owned by the Queen's Run Fire Brick company, which structure is near the = mines at Queen’s Run, was burned to the ground during Friday night. Three mules used at the mines perished in the flames, while all the harn- ness and a quantity of hay, straw and grain ‘was also destroyed.. The origin of the blaze could not be learned, but jt is reported to be the work of an incendiary. This is the second barn that has been destroyed for that company in recent years. were quite i nT pine 1 About as Popular as a Submarine. If Senator Cummins could stand around boom. Would Start Another Scrap. 33 However, a’ reunited Mexico would
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