BY P. GRAY MEEK. INK SLINGS. —_Wheat sold in Bellefonte yester- day at $2.25 per bushel. — This is the kind of weather that conserves the coal piles. —Most anybody can raise the dust in Bellefonte these days. : __We are not having many of those April showers that are supposed to bring May flowers. —Every potato, every onion you raise will make potatoes and onions that much cheaper. —A German U boat fired the first actual shot in the war between the United States and the Kaiser. — Of course the crop area will be greatly increased this year, but in- creasing the crop product is a differ- ent thing. That takes work. —The opening of the trout fishing season was really not a very auspi- cious one. The water was in fine con- dition, but the weather was too cold. — Let us have selective conscription by all means. It is the only fair way to raise an army and has none of the odium of the draft because it is not a measure of last resort. —The President of the United States calls on all of us to do what we can to make the burden of war that much lighter by making the soil yield as much of foodstuffs as possible. —Capital punishment will not be abolished in Pennsylvania at this time. The Legislature on Tuesday defeated the bill to make life im- prisonment the penalty for murder. —Suffrage for Pennsylvania wom- en was defeated by only three votes in the House on Tuesday. Wonder- ful how the ladies are progressing by their determination to keep everlast- ingly at it. —Now is the time to rouse our- selves to war's exigencies. It is no time to wail and lament and go on short rations after the seeding time is past. The wonderfully fertile soil of our county is waiting to do its share toward supplying food for us all. If we don’t do ours we will have no one to blame but ourselves. —The appropriation which the County Commissioners have made to encourage intensified farming in Cen- tre county may prove the wisest ex- penditure of money ever made. It will mean only 5§ cents a year to each of the taxables, but suppose it means more wheat, more potatoes, more corn, more oats. We will get our money back in the first sack of flour we buy or in the first peck of pota- toes. —Don’t think because you raise your own potatoes that they will cost you nothing next fall. Your potatoes will cost you just what other people will have to pay for theirs, for the reason that if you do not eat them you could sell them at the market price and that fixes their value, whether you eat them or sell them. The more potatoes we all raise the less they will cost any of us, for a bumper crop will lower prices. If the Kaiser defeats the Allies we can make up our mind that the Kaiser will bring the war right home to us. Think of your wives and daughters being carried off to be the victims of the Kaiser's soldier’s lust, as have the girls and women of Bel- gium and France. Think of the hor- ror of it! And it is not an impossi- ble eventuality. It is a real horror that stalks on the horizon of war. You may not be able to fight, but you can grow food to keep the men who will fight to defend the sanctity of -your homes in fighting trim. —The Commissioners of Centre county are in line with the great ‘movement that is sweeping over the country in response to the President’s call to develop our agricultural re- ‘sources to their maximum efficiency. All honor to such forward looking men! Few are living now who re- member the distress of Civil war days. But the tales of want and misery that “have been handed down to us admon- ish us to begin now, RIGHT NOW, to work and save against conditions, the Lord only knows what they might be, -that will confront us this time next year. In the great cities of Germany ‘the public sewers where all the un- mentionable filth of millions of people is deposited are actually being flush- ed out by the government and pollut- ed foul water filtered and the deposit treated to extract the fats and grease from it. Germany is in that need to- day. What might our situation be a year from now. Again we say all honor to the Board of Commission- ers, who on Wednesday morning unanimously voted a thousand dollars to help spread information and help among the farmers of Centre county that will help them to produce more crops. We of the towns will cheer- fully pay the paltry tax it will im- pose because if it helps the farmers ~ it helps us. STATE RIGHTS AN D FEDERAL UNION. VOL. 62. BELLEFONTE, PA. APRIL 20, 1917. NO. 186. Roosevelt’s Absurd Ambition. With impudent persistence Theo- dore Roosevelt continues to press his absurd ambition to enlist as a Major General: He has had no military ed- ucation, his only military experience was a few months of blundering in Cuba during the Spanish-American war and his pretense of military in- telligence is false and fraudulent. Yet he outrages every principle of decency at every opportunity, by pleading with the man he has vilified and traduced to give him a commis- sion as Major General with authority to take a body of soldiers into an alien territory and sacrifice them, probably, as he would have sacrificed the Rough Riders in Cuba if the col- ored cavalrymen hadn’t rescued them. The question of sending troops to Europe to participate in the trencn operations is a purely military one and should be solved by military ex- perts. Roosevelt doesn’t know whether it would be good or bad for the cause we have espoused and probably doesn’t care. But he knows that such service under the circum- stances he hopes to create would help to keep him in the centre of the stage and furnish food for his abnor- mal vanity. That is the only reason that he desires to engage in the war. It is the sole purpose of his planning and importuning the President to give him the command he desires. Inci- dentally it is a substantial reason why his request should be denied. If the general staff of the army de- sires to have Roosevelt in commission as a Major General the chances are that he will be appointed. The Pres- ident is not a military man though he has revealed singularly good judg- ment in all public matters. He is Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy and has the power of appoint- ment and dismissal of officers. But he will hardly take from civil life a rip-roaring, and not too well-balanc- ed plunger. and pass him over the heads of scores of trained and ex- perienced officers to “command of a division in Flanders or anywhere else. That is what Roosevelt is asking him to do and those who remember the re- cent campaign will wonder what he bases his claim to favor on. ——Magybe, after all, the Hinden- burg line is simply the bread line in German cities. Seven Billion Dollars Voted by House. The vote in the House of Represen- tatives in Washington on Saturday was magnificent. Without a single protest the vast sum of seven billion dollars was voted, not in defense of our territory, not entirely in defense of the lives of our people, but in de- fense of our ideals, of the principles for which the government of the Unit- ed States has stood from the begin- ning. It is a vast sum of money, the largest sum that has ever been dis- posed of by a single act of Congress before and it provided for the great- est war fund in history. But it was voted unanimously, after mature de- liberation and with a perfect under- standing of its purpose and meaning. But it.expressed with perfect ac- curacy the sentiments of the people of the United States. When the Presi- dent severed diplomatic relations with the German empire he reflected with singular fidelity the desires of the people of this country. German brutality had so outraged the popular mind of America that it was felt that friendly relations were incompatible with national honor. Subsequently the declaration of a state of war be-] tween our government and that of Germany was equally in accord with the feelings of the people of the Unit- ed States. Finally the proposition to give force and potency to what had already been done by voting tke neces- sary funds in the national order of things. As the President has said we are not fighting a selfish fight. We are entering into the world war not for aggrandizement or conquest. Our purpose is to expand and diffuse the beneficent principles of freedom and liberty and we must be as generous as we are courageous in that under- taking. We will not only give the seven billion dollars voted by the House of Representatives on Satur- day but seven times that sum if i is necessary to achieve the high pur- pose which has influenced us thus far. Probably before the end of the present week the Senate will have concurred in the vote of the House and the sinews of war will be moving toward the centre of activities. Refinement of Ingratitude. With practically the whole world at war evil passions run riot in all di- rections. Men forget the amenities of life and plunge headlong into cru- elties which at other times would be abhorrent. Gratitude is forgotten and favors and friendships of the past are treated as contemptuously by in- | dividuals as treaties are by nations. Mere emotions of the mind are syn- onymous with “mere scraps of paper.” The “times are out of joint,” the pub- lic temper disordered. Even the sea- sons appear to have been disarranged, and winter, like a wanton, “lingers in the lap of spring” to the distress of husbandry and the amazement of scientists who are wrestling with the problem of the cost of living. But even such a flood tide of pas- sion as has surged over the world fails to justify the atrocity which has recently been perpetrated by the Pro- gressive party in renouncing alle- giance to Mr. George W. Perkins, the “angel” of Roosevelt and the pay- master of the campaign of 1912. Ata meeting of the national committee of this organization the other day a resolution repudiating both Roosevelt and Perkins was passed by unanimous vote and with great enthusiasm. Of course Roosevelt, who is a liability rather than an asset, might be thrown overboard easily for he never con- tributed a cent to the cause. But Per- kins was a veritable cornucopia out of which flowed constantly a stream of gold. Ingratitude is the basest of all evil passions and this repudiation of Per- kins is the refinement of ingratitude. Bill Flinn was liberal in contributions to the party slush fund but he operat- ed in such an atmosphere of selfish- ness that he worked injury rather than help. But Perkins gave out of his tainted millions so unctiously and cloaked his sordid purposes with such skill that he fooled thousands of sim- ple minded people into the belief that his purpose to benefit the Harvester trust was the purest altruism. These’ facts ought to have been remembered by the members of the committee who repudiated him the other day and should have shielded him from the humiliation which was put upon him. ——1TIt is to be hoped that Senator LaFollette will carefully read the President’s admonition against trea- sonable conduct during the war. Opposition Without Foundation. Those in and out of Congress who are opposing the administration army bill for the reason that it provides for conscription fail to learn the lessons of experience. It is true that popu- lar prejudice exists against enforced military service but it is without rea- son. Conscription is the most equal and impartial method of raising an army of large proportions. It is the method under which the rich and poor stand on a common level. The mil- lionaire has no greater opportunity to shirk his obligation to serve than the pauper. If there were no other rea- sons in favor of the system, therefore, that is sufficient. But there are other and equally potent reasons. Raising an army by volunteer en- listment, however high the spirit of patriotism may run, is a slow process and if a large army is required it is almost impossible. The experience of this country during the Civil war is ample proof of this fact. There is neither the lack of courage nor pa- triotism in the reluctance of men to enlist for military service. It is be- cause the obligations to family, busi- ness or society hold them back. They can’t bring themselves to the aban- donment of family or dependents un- til preparations for their maintenance have been made. This delay consumes time urgently needed for drilling and disciplining the force to make it effi- cient. At the beginning of the present European war Great Britain was as ill prepared as the people of this country are now. The people there were opposed to conscription and though subsequent events have shown abundance of patriotism and splendid courage enlistments were slow and the few men in the field suffered be- cause of the meagerness of the force. Finally conscription was adopted, the army increased with surprising ra- pidity and since that the tide of vic- tory has been running in the direc- tion of the allies. In the end it amounts to the same thing. The ar- my must be created and the sooner it is mustered and made efficient the sooner the war will end. | just to his employes and to the em- Last Call of the President. ! | The last call of the President is not | | for soldiers or sailors. Putting the | navy upon a war footing and enlist- | ing a great army are the simplest | parts of our great tasks he says. The | people are patriotic and ready to | meet the hazards of war. But equip- | ping and manning war ships and set- | ting squadrons in the field gets us no | where unless provision has been made | to feed and clothe them. It is to this; important work that President Wilson invokes the help of men and women, old and young. He asks all “to do their bit” in this essential task. Growing food stuffs, building ships and creating implements of war is as necessary as meeting the foe on the field of battle and in this work all may help. The appeal of the President is not entirely to the physical element of the population, however. He addresses himself to the patriotism when he admonishes against that selfishness which would utilize the necessities of the country for the purposes of mak- ing big profits or getting rich quick. Men and women are entitled to re- ward for their labors and no right- thinking person will begrudge fair profits on the product of the soil and the mills and mines of the country to those who make them productive. But exactions which cause suffering and want either among the soldiers and sailors in service or those depend- ent upon them at home, in order to multiply rewards, are worse than slackers, as bad as traitors. This call of the President is, there- fore, to the unselfish patriotism of the merchant, mechanic, miner and farm- er and to both sexes engaged or capa- ble of engaging in productive indus- try. It appeals to the employer to be ployes to be fair to their employers. There can be no hardship in yielding obedience to this request. After the war is over differences between labor and capital may be adjusted in the old way -but any interference with the productive industry of the coun- try at this time and in these circum- stances would be dangerous if not actually disastrous to the country. As usual the President phrases his ap- peal forcefully and happily. Save the Potatoes. A prominent grocer of Bellefonte came into the “Watchman” office this week and asked us to sound a warn- ing to the public at large to save the potatoes for seed. In fact he put it in these words: “That if the people don’t quit eating potatoes there will not be enough to put out even a mor- mal crop, let alone the abnormal crop that the farmers and everybody else should plant.” He avers that he has made a canvas of the home growers and they have no potatoes to spare and it is almost impossible to buy them in the open market at any price. This is naturally a very unusual con- dition in the United States but the people ought to adapt themselves to getting along without potatoes until the new tubers come in market and thus save the old ones for the much needed seed. — There is less danger of militar- ism in this country now than ever be- fore. The average intelligence in the United States has long since learned from the experience of Germany that militarism is a delusion. — There is some comfort in the fact that Roosevelt will not be able to “butt-in” at the proposed confer- ence of the English, French and American dignitaries to be held in Washington. —Vare and McNichol might com- promise by disbursing the proposed two million or more on a fifty-fifty basis. They both know that there is a good deal of graft in a hundred millions. — If the English and French drives on the Western front of the great war continues Germany will soon be willing to accept any kind of peace that happens to come along. There is a possibility, more- over, that the Hindenburg line is one of those distressing creases which form on the Kaiser's face when he reads of the operations in France. — If the Kaiser were a business man he would have known that war is a poor business enterprise. It costs too much to lose and brings too little if it wins. FILL UP THE RANKS, BOYS! Fill up the ranks, boys! Enlist, gallant sons! Your country is calling, COME, SHOULDER YOUR GUNS!! Advance with full courage, Be valiant and brave! Strike, strike in your might Our Republic to save! Fill up the ranks, boys. Respond one and all! From ocean to ocean Comes ringing the call. @Gird on your full armor As forward you go, With Right on your side You will conquer the foe. Fill up the ranks, boys! Come, rally today! The Nation expects you To enter the fray. Be brave, ev'ry one, let Your courage mount high, United give battle To conquer or die! ALFRED BEIRLY. Chicago, Illinois, Doctor of Music. Fishermen Must Avoid Water-Sheds. ‘The Pennsylvania Department of Fisheries has been receiving many in- quiries from fishermen throughout the State in reference to fishing in bodies of water which are on the wa- ter-sheds of the several cities of the State and which have heretofore been open to the general public for fishing, complaining that these bodies of wa- ter are now guarded by the National Guardsmen and that fishing is pro- hibited. In view of the state of war which exists between the United States and Germany, the Department of Fisher- ies requests the fishermen of the State of Pennsylvania to co-operafe with the military authorities in every way possible and to remain away from the protected water-sheds, thus avoiding much trouble. While the law allows fishing at the breasts of dams with rod, hook, and line, this privilege, due to the present conditions, has been withdrawn in many instances, and no fishing of any kind is permitted. The Department of Fisheries feels sure that the fishermen and ‘wt pub- lic in general will heed this warning and co-operate with the authorities in charge on the various water-sheds throughout the State. Don’t Get Excited. Last Friday morning when officials of the Centre County Lime company discovered they were short one fifty- pound box of dynamite the story was heralded all over the town and even telephoned to Harrisburg -and inter- mediate points that two hundred and fifty pounds of the explosive had been stolen and two Austrians were mis- sing with it. The truth of the matter is that the company is one box short of dynamite and they believe it to have been stolen, but by whom they do not know, but they do know it was not by Austrian employes, as no for- eigners of that nativity work there. Another incident last week was the discharge of an Austrian interpreter at the new penitentiary because he seemed unduly intimate with a Ger- man prisoner and immediately it was reported around that all kinds of plans and photographs had been found in his luggage, when the fact is that nothing but letters in the Austrian language were found. Therefore it behooves all of us to keep cool and not get excited. There may be men in the community who are not too friendly, but if they show it in their actions they will be promptly taken care of by the proper authorities. » — The Senior class of the Belle- fonte High school gave a reception on Tuesday evening in honor of the members of the class who have vol- unteered for service in the navy, namely: John Smith, Linn McGinley, Robert Taylor, Malcolm Wetzler, Al- len Cruse, William McClure and Wil- liam Malone, and Gideon Payne, who has joined Troop L. Each of the eight young men was presented with a small silk flag. ——The board of road and bridge viewers will meet in the grand jury room on May 14th to hear and consid- er petitions for a public road in Gregg and Miles townships, leading from a point at the home of John Gingerich, in Gregg township, to the home of W. H. Limbert, in Miles township; and for a county bridge over the Bald Eagle creek near Snow Shoe Inter- section in Boggs township. A——— — On Saturday of last week Wal- ter Cohen bought the entire grocery stock of G. Edward Harper at receiv- er’s sale and moved it to his store in Crider’s Exchange. r SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE. — Fire on Tuesday destroyed the Ralph Gregory home at Petersburg. — Johnstown now reports 24 cases of scarlet fever, 38 cases of measles and 29 cases of chicken-pox. — Howard James Lowrie, a Scottdale resident, married over six years, has just discovered that i§ married to the wife of another living men. So he has asked the Westmoreland county court to annul his marriage. —It is not probable that any suspension of work will occur in district No. 2 United Mine Workers of America, the Du- Bois Courier announcing that a joint meeting of miners and operators will be held soon, when differences may be ad- justed. .—James Belford, a young man residing near Mahaffey, the other day attempted to commit suicide because his sweetheart went walking with another fellow. The bullet from his revolver passed into his shoulder. Belford is in the Clearfield hos- pital and he will recover. — Judge Bell has dissolved the prelimi- nary injunction asked for by the Central Pennsylvania coal operators against Con- gressman Charles Rowland, the claim be- ing made that Rowland had increased wages to his miners contrary to an agree- ment among the operators: _D. E. Parks has offered to contribute : $25,000 toward a union church or a fed- eration of the four Protestant churches in Wbensburg. The denominations repre- sented are the Congregational, the Metho- dist Episcopal, the Baptist and the Christ- ian. They have a month to decide. —Prathonotaries throughout the State have received information from the natur- alization department that final citizenship papers are not to be granted any subjects of nations mow at war with the United States. The same letter sets forth that the prothonotaries are not, however, jus- tified in refusing first papers. Extensive developments are to be made in the coal fields of Elk county during the next few months. Several mines will be placed in operation in the vicinity of Trout Run and Benezette, where valuable veins were struck last fall. The most important mines to be opened will be those located at Trout Run and owned by the Hall- Kaul company, which contemplates build- ing a railroad from the mines to St Marys. —QGeorge E. Sponsler, of Lime Ridge, has donated one hundred lots near Ber- wick to any one who wishes to farm them during the coming summer. These lots ar- all near the steel plant and all any one needs to do is to get in touch with Mr. Sponsler, and arrangements can be made whereby the one who cares for them may have all the vegetables he raises without cost other than the labor and price of the seeds he may buy. —D. M. Clemson, of the Carnegie Steel company, Pittsburgh, Monday handed over to H. J. Heinz, director of the department of the food supplies of the Pennsylvania committee of public safety, 150 acres of land which had been bought for manu- facturing purposes, but will not be used this year. Mr. Clemson in his letter said he and his associates had purchared trac- tor plows, and the land would be given to the committee plowed and ready for plant- ing. — The First Methodist church at Sharon, of which Rev. J. Bell Neff is pastor, was practically destroyed by fire on Sunday, entailing a loss of $30,000. The fire is thought to have started from a defective flue. A large American flag, suspended in front of the building, was in imminent danger of being burned. When the pastor, the Rev. J. Bell Neff, asked that it be saved, two foreigners climbed a telephone pole and rescued it. The crowd gave vociferous cheers. __At a conference of managers of the Western Union Telegraph company held in Altoona Tuesday it was decided to pay the salaries of all the employees of the company who have been in the service more than one ‘year and who have joined the National Guard, provided such half pay plus the compensation received from the government does not exceed the full salary paid by the company. This policy will be maintained until the end of the service of the employees of the telegraph company. — The finishing department of the Aetna Explosive Company, at Emporium, which was destroyed a few weeks ago by a mysterious explosion and fire, has been rebuilt and is expected to be ready for operation this week. The officials of the plant are taking extra precaution to avoid any attack on the plant by German spies and since last week’s explosion at the Eddystone plant, near Chester, the guard force at the plant has been doubled. The mammoth searchlight on the hillside which throws its powerful rays about the plant each night is also closely guarded. Pittsburgh manicurist, who was engaged to James A. Kilkenney, a clerk in the employ of the Pennsylvania railroad for three years, and often sat on his lap but never discovered that he had two wooden legs, was awarded $750 damages as heart balm by a jury in common pleas court, in that city. Counsel for the defendant ar- gued that a person who would testify that she was engaged three years, and sat on his knee, and say she did not know he had wooden legs, was not worthy of be- lief, and her testimony could not be relied upon. Between 250 and 300 employees of the Rich Hill Coal company, in Hastings, re- turned to work Friday morning following a strike of more than two weeks. The men held a mass meeting Thursday even- ing, when a proposition submitted by J. H. Allport, head of the company, was ac- cepted. It is understood that this propo- sition is that a certain official of the com- pany work a ten days’ notice and then leave the service of the company. Some of the unmarried employees of the company have left Hastings, but none of the mar- ried men moved away. Almost all of the men who remained in town secured work at other mines. — Steve Lucas, of Ernest, hanged him- self in the Indiana county jail last Fri- day. Lucas was fouud near Cummings, Indiana county, early Friday morning, wandering around with only his night shirt on. He told the constable that he had been robbed and then forced out into the cold without his clothing. He was taken to Indiana and preparations were being made to take him to Cummings in the hope that he could point out the men whom he said robbed him. ‘When the sheriff went into the jail shortly before twelve o'clock he found him dead. He had used a blanket to hang himself and death resulted from strangulation. — Pretty Anna Mary Moore, the young