BY P. GRAY MEEK. INK SLINGS. . . —This is the last day cf August. — Peace rumors are more persist- ent. — Tomorrow the oyster will be in the soup again. Anyway the Kaiser’s opinion of the English army has had a good chance to change. —It looks like Germany’s new Chancellor, Michaelis, is a very prom- ising candidate for the h-ok. —Do you realize that everything vou are buying has gone up in price except your family newspaper? —1I% is beginning to look as though there will he no brick highway be- tween Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap this year. — Centre county's cora crop is going to be a bumper one, due to wonderful- ly favorable weather. The corn is made now. —Hogs are fully exemplifying their names. They want about all the mon- ey we’ve got before coaverting them- selves into bacon and ham for our de- lectation. It is suspected that the Vares are buncoing Penrose but on the prin- ciple that “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” the Senator pretends to be fooled. —Our Girls band of Milesburg will probably become a great musical or- ganization if Cupid can be kept from flying between them and Our Boys band of the same place. —N. B. Spangler Esq. has been ap- pointed as the man who will carry the appeals for exemption for conscript- ed men from the local board to the district board. He will represent Pro- vost Marshall General Crcwder. — Anyway Viscount Ishii, Japan’s special Ambassador to this country, might have been expected to make just such a flowery littl speech as he made at Mt. Vernon on Sunday. He came from the Flowery Kingdom. —We have seen Fords shake them- selves and go on after being knocked about by almost all other makes of cars but it remained for & cow to put William Gfrerer’s “Lizzie” on the blink out along the Lewistown pike Wednesday evening. —“How old is Ann” was a much easier puzzle for any on2 to solve than the thin-seam bituminous coal opera- tors have on hand in trying to put coal over their tipples at $2.00 a ton with- out losing anywhere from twenty-five to fifty cents on each ton. —If the fable of the cow that jump- ed over the moon was to have been written in these times she would never have been wearing medals for having cleared a planet such a dinkey little distance from the earth. Beef rises too easily for a 238,000 mile jump to be a feat. A revised version shoul be: Hey diddle, diddle The cat and the fiddle The cow jumped over Uranus The little dog laughed To see the great sport And the dish has no meat, Blame us! —During a recent visit to a num- ber of the most fashionable of the Jer- sey coast resorts the writer was im- pressed with the craze for knitting that seemed to have seized most every woman. Old and young alike were knitting as if their lives depended up- on it and be it said in all truthfulness only one in the thousanis we saw was knitting with yarn the color of which indicated that she might have been doing it for a soldier. Being just out of Bellefonte where so many fingers are nimbly expressing their admira- tion for the boys who ars going to the front we couldn’t understand why their sisters of the watering places were all selfishly knitting for them- selves. —Just when most people thought Bellefonte was going to go through a local election without even a simmer in the political pot she started boiling all of a sudden. Candidates galore have jumped in and we wouldn’t like to venture a guess at what is going to happen. True to its long established precedent the “Watchman” will es- pouse the cause of no candidate at the primary and will likewise refrain from advocating the election of any of the men who shall be nominated unless it regards them as unfitted for the offi- ces they seek. At a loca! election, in a small community like ours it is pre- sumed that the entire electorate knows quite enough of the individual candidates to require no newspaper assistance in forming their judgment as to which ones would make the best officials in the positions to be filled. —Dr. Samuel Hamill, of Philadel- phia, a son of the late Dr. Robert Hamill whose memory is revered in Centre county because of his long and faithful ministry in the Presbyterian church at Lemont, was in town yester- day as advocate for the committee of Public Safety for Pennsylvania in its child welfare work. Dr. Hamill is preparing the way for the accumula- tion of statistics and the spreading of propaganda that will be of incalcula- ble value to our country of the future. The “Watchman” is heartily in accord with the movement for if it bears any fruit at all it will mean a more rug- ged, a more perfect man and woman- hood in coming generations. The American physique is deteriorating from causes wholly possible of correc- tion and if we are to continue a great people in mind we must continue a great people in body. VOL. 62. BELLEFONTE, STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION. PA., AUGUST 31, 1917. Magee’s Hazardous Enterprise. The resignation of Public Service Commissioner W. A. Magee, of Pitts- burgh, continues a subject of mental speculation among politicians. Ten thousand dollars a year is a handsome | recompense for the labor which the job entails and Mr. Magee had some years of that fat picking before him. The office of Mayor of Pittsburgh car- ries a snug salary with it also but it doesn’t last as long or afford half the independence and comfort. Of course there was a good and suificient reason for the action and the nroblem is to run it down. It is not an easy task but there are plenty willing to give the time and energy to the solution and guessing is an entertaining ex- ercise. One theory, and it has plausibility to support it, is that Mr. Magee is simply putting himself in training to become the Brumbaugh faction can- didate for the Republican nomination for Governor next year. The Vares have entered into a tentative agree- ment to support Senator W. C. Sproul, of Delaware county, for that nomina- tion but it is generally believed that this was a temporary arrangement to bridge over the coming municipal election in Philadelphia and that when the polls close on the evening of No- vember 6, next, it will be all off. If Penrose will agree to support Bill Vare for Mayor of Philadelphia at the next election for that office the agree- ment might be renewed. But it is hardly possible for Penrose to do that and the Brumbaugh faction must have a candidate. No one who knows the man and un- derstands the politics of Pennsylvania will question the availahility of Mr. Magee for this emergency. He is am- ply capable, quite wealthy and not too conscientious. It doesn’t require the highest standard of ability to fill the office of Governor and Magee certain- ly measures up to the level of the present incumbent. But to be the Re- publican candidate will require vast capacity for dodging and diving and the Pittsburgh Pubiic Service Com- missioner is both artful and illusive. He is taking a long chance in his present enterprise, however. If he loses either at the primary or the gen- eral election he will be a “dead duck” alike for next year and forever after- ward. ——The 1. W. W. ruffians are not making as much noise as usual now but that fact should not check the pur- suit and punishment of them. They are playing ’possum to distract public attention from ther criminal pur- poses. Bright Prospects for Farmers. Both the Federal and State agricul- tural departments are urging the far- mers of Pennsylvania to increase the production of wheat next year, and with a guaranteed pric2 of two dol- lars a bushel little urging ought to be required, for ever: the overage yield to the acre will make wheat growing profitable. The department at Wash- ington estimates that an average gain of thirty-three per cent. is expected from Pennsylvania, and suggests that the result be achieved by increasing the acreage sown. The department at Harrisburg expresses tha hope of such increase, also, but intimates that it ought to be accomplished by intensive cultivation. In other words the State authorities recommend *ertilization. The average yield of wheat in the State is much below that of what is known as the “wheat belt.” It can hardly be said that the farmers in Minnesota and the Dakotas cultivate more intensely than ‘those of Penn- sylvania, yet the best yield in Penn- sylvania would not satisfy the farm- ers of those States. The soil there 1s newer and vastly differe .: in other re- spects, which makes the differing re- sults. It is certain, however, that more liberal use of feriilizers would greatly increase the yield and at the price which may be expected farmers in this State may well aiford to strive for the increase in production by gen- erously feeding the soil. Money spent for fertilizing will be well spent. The State Department of Agricul- ture wisely cautions farmers against cultivating meadows and pasture fields in order to increase the yield of wheat. There is quite as much dan- ger of a scarcity of meat as there is of a short crop of wheat and the meadows and pastures will be needed to feed cattle in order tn secure the supply of meat. At present prices cf beef, mutton and. pork the business of stock raising must be an alluring proposition to the farmers of Penn- sylvania and there is no probability of a decrease in the value of meats. Butter and eggs are also soaring “out of sight” and if the farmers of Penn- sylvania are just to themselves next year will be a prospercus one for them. The German Crown Prince was eager for war and now the indications are that the war will deprive him of a rown Neither Discrimination Nor Censor- ship. The Philadelphia Ledger complains ‘that the government at Washington has been exercising a secret and dis- sent to it exclusively from London. The Ledger ought to be grateful that the government hasn’t suppressed it altogether, or at least deprived it of the use of the mails. No paper, not even the German language papers, has tried as hard to defeat the purpos- es of the government. While the President and the State Department were striving to keep out of the war the Ledger was printing almost every day rubbish written by von Meyer, or Reuterdahl, or some other German sympathizer alleging the worthless- ness of our navy and haiplessness of the country. ? If Germany had known the facts this country would not now be in- volved in the war. But through the misinformation conveyed by the Phil- adelphia Ledger and other traitorous publications -in this country the Ger- man Kaiser and cabinet were persuad- ed that the United States could inflict no serious damage upon Germany even if they did declave war. This misunderstanding of the facts enticed Germany to provoke war and ncw the Ledger is afraid that the government is interfering with its opportunities to make money out of the war. As a matter of fact the authorities in Washington have not discriminated against the Ledger or any other newspaper. That they have exercised the right to censor is possible. False reports of the weakness of our navy, the meagerness and poor equipment of our army and the ab- sence of preparedness for war gener- ally speaking had more to do with getting us into the war than any oth- er agency. The Kaiser was led to be- lieve that it would be impossible to send a soldier or a ship to Europe in- side of two years and the Ledger { took a leading part in the perfidious work. We believe in the largest lib- erty and greatest freedom of the press but the press has no right to take advantage of this traditional pol- icy of the government by making it- self an instrument to serve the sin- ister purposes of the encmies of the country. But for such things there would be no need of censorskip. The pacifists are keginning to realize how the tories of this country felt during the War of the Revolu- tion. It is a sad feeling but an emi- nently fit reward for their mischiev- ous work. LaFollette’s Real Object. Senator LaFollette is probably more anxious to embarrass the administra- tion than he is to put tax burdens upon excess profits, and insisting up- on so amending the war tax legisla- tion is the most effective way he can think of to embarrass the administra- tion. Naturally the Senators who draw inspiration from Roosevelt and those inoculated with the virus of Populism are supporting the Wiscon- sin demagogue in his campaign of embarrassment. But th2y will not be able to continue the fight much long- er. It is expected that a vote on the measure will be taken early next week which will reveal the weakness of the opposition as well as the futili- ty of its efforts. Every sensible person will agree that the best method of levying tax is upon a basis that will be least bur- densome. That is to say tax levies upon those abundantly able to pay cause the least distress. But a tax that is confiscatory, even upon wealth, is unwise for the reason that after the exhaustion of the subjec: the revenue from the levy would cease. Senator LaFollette’s proposition is therefore hazardous. It might ’:ave the gov- ernment without means to carry out enterprises undertaken o: contemplat- ed. The excess profits are proper subjects of taxation and they should be taxed heavily. But the levy ought not to be so burdensome as to wipe them out. The truth is that a greater part of the war expenses ought to be left for posterity to pay. The war is for the safety of posterity and the future will present greater resources and more ability to pay. Since the War of the Rebellion this country has been com- paratively free from war expenses. But since the close of that war the re- sources of the country have been mul- tiplied by many fold. Sources of wealth not dreamed of then are abun- dant now and presumably the future will uncover other agencies equally potential. Pay as you go is a good motto but there is no necessity for crippling the commerce and industry of the present in order to relieve the future. Labor is entitled to generous recompense during this period of high prices and big profits. But stopping industrial operations is a poor way to get even what working men are enti- tled to. criminating censorship upon matter ' | President Wilson Answers the Pope. | Our allies in the great war for ' democracy against autocracy, wisely ‘left to President Wilson the import- ' ant service of replying to the Pope’s peace proposition and the President has completely fulfilled the obliga- tion. He reveals a high appreciation of the lofty purposes of his Holiness and the dignity and force in which his hopes for peace were expressed. But with equal force and no less eloquence he presents the futility of a peace predicated upon the status quo ante, which is what the Pope contemplated, for the reason that it would mean nothing more than a temporary arm- istice to be broken the moment the military spirit of Germany felt able to resume hostilities. “The object of this war,” President | Wilson declares, “is to deliver the free peoples of the world from the ‘menace and the actual power of a | vast military establishment, controll- 'ed by an irresponsible government, which. having secretly planned to dominate the world, proceeded to car- i ry out the plan without regard either to the sacred obligations of treaty or the long established practices and | long cherished principles of interna- tional action and hono~.” The res- | toraticn of the status quo ante, there- fore, would simply mean another at- tempt in the same direction the mo- | ment that recuperation had been ac- | compyishied: The people of this coun- try and those of other belligerent countries cannot agree tc that. President Wilson makes clear in his masterful presentation of the case that we are not in war against the people of Germany. The people of Germany have had no voice in creat- ing the war or in the manner of man- aging it. The people of Germany are not blood-thirsty beasts who desire ruthless: murder and savage warfare. inaugurated such a system of .nassa- cre that the people of the United States cannot consent to an armistice until this crue! spirit of militarism is completely extirpated. This result will be achieved in due time and though at great expense in life and treasure it will be worth the price to humanity in the future. ——In one month the heating prob- lem will confront the people of Belle- fonte as a stern reality and not the merely nominal question it has been during the hot summer months. Per- sons who claim to be in a position to know aver very positively that the steam heating plant will be put in op- eration and those who are still rely- ing on it for heat are naturally anx- ious to see some preparations started looking toward such a solution of the question. Others, however, and there have been quite a number of them, are not so sanguine over the prospects of the town plant being operated and either have done so already or have arranged for the installation of heat- ing plants of some kind in their own homes and places of business. Not- withstanding the fact that these indi- vidual plants have been installed the big majority of the owners would con- tinue using the town steam if the plant is operated and plenty of heat given for an equitable payment, mere- ly keeping their individual plant for use in case of emergency. In this connection, it might be stated, the Lutheran church congregation is plan- ning the purchase of stoves for heat- ing their church and Sunday school room. A brief item in the “Watch- man” last week told of Rev. James P. Hughes’ knowledge of the altitude of Bellefonte. At the time the item was written the “Watchman” editor failed to recall the fact that in 1906 when a topographical survey was made of Centre county by the U. S. geological department and the State of Pennsyl- vania a copper disk was imbedded in the base stone of the south west cor- ner of the court house on which the correct altitude of 809 feet is given. Any person can find it there any time they care to look for it. The name of John J. Bower Esq., was unintentionally omitted from the list of candidates having fil- ed nomination papers ior tax collec- tor published in the “Watchman” last week, and we willingly announce the fact this week. Mr. Bower’s entrance didates after the job, and the job of selecting the right man is now up to the voters. If the Democrats of Russia fail to establish a government it won’t be Kerensky’s fault. He has certainly done a grown man’s share of the work. We don’t believe that Congress- men are practicing pistol firing in the basement of the capitol. Congress- men fire off nothing but their mouths. Eight months of 1917 have passed away and we have entered up- on the last month of summer. But the government of Germany has’ into the contest makes just seven can- NO. 34. All’s Well—in Spite of Russia. i From the Lancaster Intelligencer. {| The prevailing trend of the war news continues highly favorable des- pite the disappointing news from the Russian front. There has never been much confi- dence among the well-infcrmed in the firmness of that front; although there did seem ground for hope that it the efforts of Kerensky to keep a great many German and Austrian di- visions busy and to prevent any ex- tensive further conquest of food-pro- ducing Russian territcry by the hungry Central Powers. The collapse of the brief Russian counter-offensive in Galicia appears to have been com- plete, and the situation at Riga is most menacing, while there is :eason to fear the early development of an Austro- Bulgarian offensive, under German leadership, from the Rumanian front towards Odessa, on the Black Sea. But the Germans and Austrians are much too busy and anxious about their west fronts to deal any very powerful blow to so big a thing as Russia. It is 320 miles, as the crow flies, from Riga to Petrograd and lakes, swamps and big rivers lie between, so that the fall of Riga, although menacing to Petro- grad would leave time and opportuni- ty for Russian recovery. Meanwhile, however, the internal and political conditions in Russia are evidently so disturbed that there is danger, also, of civil war, so that it is fortunate in- deed that the Central Powers are be- ing kept so busy in the west. That the war would have to be won in the west, and parlicularly in France, has long seemed evident and the slow progress of the Entente of- fensive has therefore been depressing in its suggestion of years of warfare and of incalculable sacrifice, and the thorough ruin of all the region where the Germans are being hammered back; but there are multiplying signs of the exhaustion of the enemy who is confronted and discouraged by ac- cumulating evidence of the * over- whelming power mustered against him by his own inhuman and defiant policy. The successive great offen- sives along the Aisne, at Lens, in Flanders and at Verdun may seem to win very little, but they are unques- tionably winning. Finally the failure of the German submarine warfare is now fully dem- onstrated persistently though it may be continued. We ere sending vast quantities of supplies and-waf mate- rial and pushing tremendcus plans of ship building so that the determining effect of our participation im the war is becoming self-evident even co the blindest of our foes. Stirrings in Germany. From the New York Evening Post. The reichstag resolution of last month for peace without annexation and indemnity was neither a solemn comedy nor a flash in the pan. The majority representatives of the Ger- man people have not been content with an academic asserticn of princi- ple only to sink back into the ancient habits of obedience. Wadnesday’s de- bates in the main committee show plainly that the peace resolution was the product of mature and courageous convictions. Irom the Centre and the Socialists came direct warnings to the stop-gap chancellor thas the peace of reconciliation for which the reichstag has voted cannot be interpreted away to suit the plans of the government. The wailings of the Pan-German press over the menace of the interna- tional trade, Socialism, Catholicism and Judaism, is direct confession that the peace stirrings in Germany have not been allayed by Michaelis’ cryp- tic acceptance of the reichstag formu- la. It may very well be that the ap- pointment of this obscure bureaucrat was a play for time on the part of the ruling powers; that the intention was to wait and see how far the reichstag would insist on the realization of its ideals. If so, the proof that the reich- stag is in a serious mood is now ut hand; ard as a consequence Michaelis is shaky in his high placa. Foreign Secretary von Kuhlmann was right when he spoke of the cur- rents of public opinion that waft across the trenches. Across the Hind- enburg line there has drifted int. Ger- many the allied assertion that peace may be had by a German government truly responsible to popular senti- ment. Chinese as Trench Diggers. From the Johnstown Democrat. Up to the present time there has been no serious endeavor to utilize Chinese labor in trench digging. And yet China could supply millions of la- borers. A Chinaman may be a China- man, but a trench is a trench. It does not matter a great deal who builds one, but it matters a whole lot if there |is no trench. For that reason it would he to the interest of the allies to have as much of the manual labor connect- ed with the war—and modern war is | three parts manual Jabor—dcne by | Chinese. A coolie from China would {make a hand in the trenches and | would release one more fighting man | for active service. Just why the al- i lies have not availed themselves of | China’s teeming millions in meeting i the labor situation is a question that | puzzles a great many observers. There | would undoubtedly be labor disturb- | ances if any attempt were made to , make the Chinese a part of the work- ing force in any cf the recognized home industries in France, Great Brit- ' ain or the United States. But no such | objections could be raised if they were | ntilized just back of the firing line. would be bolstered up sufficiently by SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE. —Under a penalty of $30, beginning Sep- tember 1, Pennsylvania apples must be as good all through the barrel or other con- tainer as those packed on top. —Edward Hause, son of Harry Hause, of Milton, was instantly killed while at work in Labanon Wednesday, where he had been employed for the past seven weeks. He formerly resided at Milton, leaving there about six years ago to livein Danville. —John J. Lingenfelter, of Roaring Spring, who has been arr.sted three times on the charge of operating an automobile while under the influence of liquor, can no longer drive an automobile legally, as he has had his license for the year annulled by the State Highway Department. —James A. Gleason Esq., filed a suit in the prothonotary’s office at Clearfield last Friday in which Luck Vetrore seeks to re- cover $1,000 damages for injury to her property at Tyler by reason of the turning of a stream of water onto same by Carmil- la Pirraglia. The case will be tried at September court. —Ira Bayer, of Tyrone, a salesman for Munn & Blackburn, merchandise brokers in the Central Trust company building, Altoona, is confined to the Harrisburg hos- pital with his wrists slashed and a cut in his side, evidently inflicted with a knife, when he attempted to take his life in a capital city hotel. —The Cambria Freeman, sold some months ago to Albert McConnell, has been resold to Attorneys John H. McCann and Philip N. Shettig, of Ebensnurg. Mr. Mec- Connell, who has been conducting the pa- per, will shortly be called to a military training camp, having been selected in the recent draft. He claimed no exemption. —Ex-Judge John W. Bittenger, eighty- two years old, died at his home in York on Monday evening after a three week's sickness with chronic nephritis. He serv- ed on the York county bench twenty-one years, having first been appointed to the office in 1890 by Governor Beaver to ill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge John Gibson. He was elected twice to the office by the Democratic pa-ty. —John Dreese, of Kissimee, a village west of Middleburg, Snyder county, was maimed for life in a fall of brick at the Paxtonville brick plant late Tuesday after- noon, when his right hand and arm were smashed almost to the elbow. Dreese, with a number of workmen, was removing brick from one of the large kilns, and was just in the act of picking up bricks when the slide occurred, catching his right hand. —Fire Marshal T. G. Ryan, of Danville, on Tuesday secured a confession from Thomas Carter, aged 12, that he had set fire to the wagon and hay sheds on the farm of E. B. Evans, near Thompsontown. The lad’s 14 year old brother had confess- ed to burning the barn on this farm some time before, and Thomas wsed the match to get even with Evans for sending his brother to jail. The boy is held for juve- nile court. —An epidemic of hog cholera has broken out in Northern Cambria ccunty and far- mers through that section have visions of the loss of hundreds of dollars. Hogs are selling on the markets at $17 per hundred weight and in anticipation of the high price more were raised this summer than in previous years. The cholera is said to have killed many hogs already and is spreading rapidly despite the efforts of the farmers to check the disease. —With farm labor scarce, Lohr, seventy-seven years old, of Pine township, Northumberland county, “did his bit” for the government last Thursday and lost his life as the result. The old man was in the barn loft throwing back sheaves of oats being unloaded from a wagon. He lost his balance, fell to the barn floor and fractured his shoulder blade, several of his ribs, and suffered in- ternal injuries, He died within twenty- four hours. Benjamin —Repairmen have been put at work at the Emporium guncotton plant, which is the most encouraging sign since the plant went into the hands of receivers several months ago. It is said that only a part of the plant will be used and that pyrocot- ton, instead of guncotton, will be manu- factured. This was made necessary on ac- count of the fire at the Indiana plant. From fifty to one hundred men are to be employed, according to the word that has been passed around. — Heinrich Grove, a German who had about completed a two years’ term in the Huntingdon Reformatory for house break- ing and theft, was taken in charge by offi- cials and placed in the Huntingdon coun- ty jail several weeks ago, but made his escape last Friday night in the absence of ‘the sheriff or any guard to look after the care of the jail. Grove was a young Ger- man of a fine educational make-up. The U. S. marshall with his deputies are now in search of the prisoner. —W. J. Webb, a salesman employed by a burial lot concern at Somerton, Pa., was on Tuesday held in $2,000 bail for court by United States Commissioner Long, of Phil- adelphia, under the espionage act. Webb was arrested by postal inspectors as the result of complaints that he had sent through the mails to men selected in Phil- adelphia for the national army, circular matter urging them to purchase burial lots in the company’s cemetery. Relatives of chosen registrants protested. —A few months ago, under sentence to be electrocuted for complicity in the mur- der of his father, Ernest Haines is today a free man. A jury in the re-trial of his case, after ninety hours of deliberation, re- ported a verdict of ‘not guilty” shortly before noon last Friday. The case went to the jury on Tuesday. Convicted in the first trial, Haines’ case was appealed to the Governor and a campaign seeking the abolition of capital punishment in Penn- sylvania resulted. Finally a new trial was secured. Ward Mottern is now under sen- tence for the actual killing of the elder Haines, the date of his execution being set for September 10. He is endeavoring te secure a re-trial. —By a fall of rock in the Rich Hill mine, near Hastings, Cambria county, on Satus- day, Howard Bradley was killed instantly and Michael Angelo and his brother, Joseph, were injured. Joseph Angelo is a patient in the Miner's hospital of Spang- ler, suffering from a fracture of the pelvis and is expected to recover. Michael Ange- lo is at his home in Hastings nursing sev- eral bruises about the body but no broken bones. The fall of rock broke Bradley's neck and he died before assistance could reach him. Joseph Angelo was not under the direct fall but rushed to the rescue of his fellow-workmen and received minor in- juries. Other workmen completed the res- cue of the three.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers