BY P. GRAY MEEK
INK SLINGS.
—_This weather makes one feel more
like spending a vacation in Florida
than in Maine.
— Wheat has ripened very unevenly
in Centre county and made the har-
vesting of it a difficult matter.
— The recent cold weather has had
the effect of giving the late potatoes
and the late corn a serious set-back.
— Poor old John Barleycorn! Every
time Congress sits in consultation on
his case he is given a shorter lease of
life.
—If you haven't planned for some
satisfactory heating system for your
house or business place go to it at
once. Last summer you deluded your-
self with the hope that the Steam
Heat Co. would eventually come to
your rescue and you nearly perished.
—Many readers of the “Watchman”
enjoyed Empey’s “Over the Top” im-
mensely when it ran serially in this
paper several weeks ago. We are
going to start a great new war serial
next week, when we will begin the
publication of Lieut. Pat O'Brien’s
“Qutwitting the Hun.” Get in on the
start of this story if you want to know
how a clever American Irishman evad-
ed all the Hun pussyfoots that the
Kaiser's military organization could
get on his trail.
__Senator Penrose’s idea of conserv-
ing food and fuel is to let the produc-
ers push the prices so high that indi-
viduals won’t be able to buy them—
that is, all individuals except the very
wealthy class to which the Senator be-
longs. Which idea are you for: * The
Senator’s or that of the administra-
tion which regulates prices so that
we can all have the necessities and
then appeals to our patriotism and
spirit of fair play to curb our purchas-
es to the point where there will be
enough for everybody.
— Now is the time for Congress to
seize the opportunity of making it un-
lawful for any newspaper, magazine
or other publication of general circu-
lation to be issued in this country in
any other than the English language.
What's the use of trying to American-
ize our foreign residents if they be
fed up in their foreign language con-
tinually? Make it necessary for them
to learn to read and speak English
and there will be a speedy break-down
of cliques of nationality, a freer inter-
course among all our peoples and an
elimination of the dangers that lurk
in spoken tongues that all do not un-
derstand.
— Let us begin now to advocate the
slogan “Berlin or Bust.” We have a
million men in France now and soon
there will be two million of the best
fighters the world has ever seen over
there and, if needs be, more and more
millions of the same kind will follow
them. We can help our allies lick the
Huns or do it ourselves for that mat-
ter, but no final decision should come
on French or Belgian soil. Germany
should be invaded and given a taste
of what France and Belgium have suf-
fered, for unless it is her people will
not have the chastened spirit they
should have when their representa-
tives to sit around the peace table are
chosen.
— Philipsburg, having adopted the
borough management plan, under
which one man will make all purchas-
es, pay all bills and manage all of the
business of the borough, has estab-
lished a bureau of complaints. This
looks to us like a bad start. Any
change of system so radical as that
from the old councilmanic way of do-
ing things to a modern business pro-
cedure is bound to provoke criticism
and needless complaining while it is
being put across. After that is done
and the people have had a taste of the
beneficent results the bureau of com-
plaints would be a valuable assistant
to the manager, but before, it will be
only an irritant.
—Agents of the State Department
of Labor and Industry are arresting
employers of child labor and at the
same time all the boys and girls in the
country are being urged to do some-
thing to help win the war. What an
anomalous situation. Centre county,
for instance, has enrolled boys under
sixteen years of age in the Boys
Working Reserve and some of them
are already doing valiant work on the
farms of the county. The case in
question comes from Williamsport
where a boy under sixteen was work-
ing in a shoe-shining parlor and prob-
ably releasing a man for a man’s sized
job somewhere else. It seems to us
that during the war, at least, the
ubiquitousness of a lot of inspectors
might be adjourned in all lines except
where life and limb are in danger.
—tThanks largely to the careful sur-
vey and splendid work of John L.
Holmes, of State College, who hap-
pens to be county manger for farm la-
bor for the Council of National De-
fense and Committee of Public Safety
of Pennsylvania, there has been no
real shortage of farm labor in the
county this season. Mr. Holmes has
been working with the result that he
has supplied every call made upon him
and his emergency organizations in
Bellefonte and State College have sent
out all the men they have been asked
for. There isn’t much blow made by
the various sub-committees in Centre
county that are doing war work, but
the fact that we are getting on so
smoothly in all branches of endeavor
may be accounted for by the activities
of the men to whom the work has been
assigned.
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION.
BELLEFONTE, PA. JULY 12, 1918.
_ NO. 217.
President Wilson was true to form
in his great speech at Mount Vernon
on the Fourth of July. He has lost
no part of his vast force of expres-
sion. His speech is like a new decla-
ration of freedom not only for the
whole world. It was appropriately
delivered at the tomb of Washington
and though his audience was small it
was heard around the world and will
command attention wherever the
English tongue is spoken. It marks
him anew as the accredited and hon-
ored spokesman of civilization. His
voice is the voice of justice, his
speech the utterance of truth. No
other living man could have delivered
his message.
The President lays down four fun-
damental principles essential to the
ending of the world war. Arbitrary
power anywhere that can separately,
secretly and of its single choice dis-
turb the peace of the world must be
destroyed forever. Every question of
territory, sovereignty, economic or
political relationship must be settled
by the people concerned “and not up-
on the basis of material interest or
advantage of any other nation or peo-
ple.” The consent of all nations to be
governed in their conduct toward each
other by the same principles of hon-
or and of respect for the common law
of civilized society and the establish-
ment of an organization of peace
which shall make it certain that the
combined power of free nations will
check every invasion of right.
In other words as the President con-
cisely phrases the conditions prereq-
uisite to. peace: “What we seek is
the reign of law, based upon the con-
sent of the governed and sustained
by the organized opinion of man-
kind.” Nothing less will satisfy and
the full strength of the United States
in men and materials will be freely
offered to achieve such a result. We
are now performing wonders in the
preliminary work. We are building
ships faster and better than has ever
been done before and we are supply-
ing food and munitions in ample
quantities to keep the million men al-
ready on the firing line and the other
millions to follow in courage and con-
tentment: ; ’ :
— Captured by the Germans, un-
dergoing all kinds of horrors while
effecting his escape and then writing
a thrilling account of his experiences
is what Lieut. Pat O’Brien did in his
story of “Outwitting the Hun,” which
will begin in the “Watchman” next
week. Don’t fail to read it.
“Daniel Come to Judgment.”
Senator Penrose’s more or less sar-
castic speech in opposition to certain
features of the Agricultural Appro-
priation bill was not altogether a ven-
ture in persiflage. It was in reality
one of the most serious features of
the present session of Congress. It
marked the beginning of an organized
movement to embarrass the President
in his herculean work in the war
against autocracy. President Wilson
is gaining too firm a place in the af-
fections of the people to suit the pro-
fessional spoil-mongers whom he has
separated from the patronage trading
posts and they are arranging for a
“drive” against his lines. ' Penrose
has taken the initiative because he
has least regard for public opinion.
But the Senator won’t fool many
people by camouflaging treason in the
guise of humor. He pretends to dis-
cern much folly in an appropriation
for the purpose of lessening the de-
structive activities of vermin and
fairly falls into a paroxysm of laugh-
ter at the proposition to conserve food
for the poor by limiting the price.
“Price fixing,” he declares, “interferes
with the fundamental laws of supply
demand the government has indulged
in. Low prices curtail production and
stimulate consumption, and then to
restrict consumption we have these
Hoover boards and Garfield boards
with appropriations running tens and
twenties and fifty million dollars to
keep the people from consuming.”
sion to the laws of supply and demand
which as tariff champion he has op-
posed all his life, he ‘proceeds to ex-
emplify his faith. “Why,” he says,
“the way to keep too much sugar from
being consumed is for sugar to go up
in price, even if it is twenty or thirty
cents 2 pound, and it will automatic-
ally regulate itself and the consump-
tion will be curtailed.” Sure it will
and as certainly we have “a Daniel
come to judgment.” Only the very
wealthy can consume at such prices
and while the less fortunate may de-
cay from malnutrition, the Senator’s
jovial companions and plutocratic as-
sociates may sweeten their foods to
their heart’s content.
—Doesn’t your heart just swell and
thump with pride at the way our boys
“carry on” “over there?” The pace
they are getting leaves no doubt in
our mind as to what is going to hap-
pen when we get there in force.
people of the United States but of the
Wilson’s Mount Vernon Speech. | Punishment Must be Adequate. |
, The Federal Trade Commission has
made report of its investigation of
prices of meats and flour and to say
!its findings are startling is a mild ex-
| pression of a disgraceful fact. It
| states that the millers have been
, making three times the normal prof-
it on flour and that the packing hous-
! es have “embraced every device which
is useful to them without regard to
the law,” to wring excessive profits
from the consumers of meats during
the years since the beginning of the
world war. In other words these
“malefactors of great wealth” have
been coining the suffering of our sol-
diers and the privations of our people
into dirty dollars in order to multiply
their already vast wealth.
During the Spanish war these des-
picable hyenas in human form, not
content with the excessive profits
which opportunity afforded them, sup-
plied soldiers in the field of battle
with rotten meats, thus making pes-
tilence a more destructive agent than
the bullets of the enemy. The same
crimes would have been perpetrated,
no doubt, during this war if the ad-
ministration of the government at
Washington had been less vigilant or
more indifferent. But they have done
whatever they could to loot the gov-
ernment and defraud the people and
professing patriotism have deliberate-
ly given aid and comfort to the ene-
my by adding to the privations of the
people and the miseries of the sol-
diers.
There is only one form of punish-
ment which fits this crime against the
country. That is death and the only
regret possible in the
penalty is that it must be administer-
ed in a humane way. It is reported
that a sort of fine is to be put upon
the millers and probably the same
punishment will be applied to the
meat packers. But that will not sat-
isfy a public that has been outraged
beyond endurance. The Armours and
Swifts and other miscreants who have
been practicing these crimes could
easily pay any fine that the imagina-
tion might estimate out of their un-
holy profits. No doubt they would
be willing to divide but it won’t do.
The punishment must be physical and
adequate. .
and demand and is the most vicious
Having thus proclaimed his conver-.
——A Florida newspaper declares
that that State is capable of produc-
ing sufficient sugar to supply the
whole country. If that be true let the
good work begin. After awhile there
will be scarcity.
Labor Troubles of the Country.
It ought not to be necessary to ad-
monish any employers against com-
peting with the government for labor.
The materials and munitions of war
must be provided in abundance. This
result can be achieved only by giving
concerns engaged in supplying them
the “right of way” in the labor mar-
ket. The army and navy have taken
a large toll from the working force
of the country and will continue to
draw in even greater numbers for a
time. And as the force in the serv-
ice increases the need of supplies mul-
tiply and the urgency is augmented.
Because of these obvious facts it
should be the aim of every employer
to aid rather than impair the indus-
trial force of the government.
Of course the civil population of the
country must be maintained and such
industries as supply the necessaries
of their maintenance must be kept in
motion. Clothing is as necessary to
non-combatants as to the troops and
food must be supplied in sufficient
quantity to support health and vigor.
But one of these agencies need not
prey upon the other in order to keep
both in operation. In other words by
the complete conservation of all the
industrial power of the country the
complement may be kept up and each
element made to help the other in the
work. There is no natural antago-
nism between the civil and military
necessities of the country.
For the existing troubles both sides
are to blame in part. The system
adopted in the beginning in awarding
contracts was faulty in that it created
unnecessary and unnatural competi-
tion among employers of labor. Some
contractors found it advantageous as
well as profitable to offer high wages
and allure workmen to leave other
jobs in order to get the advantages
thus offered. ‘This condition of affairs
no longer exists, we believe, but it
never ought to have existed and
should not be allowed te recur. And
speaking of competition in labor one
war industry should not be allowed to
prey upon another. Every working
man ought to get ample wages for
his maintenance and nobody ought to
ask more.
man” enjoyed its rest last week but
it is too fearful of getting an answer
that it doesn’t want to hear to ask you
if you did.
—Even July has been acting like it
thought the fuel administration busi-
ness ought to be an all the year’s job.
execution of the
. party organization.
—Yes, thank you. The “Watch- |
Mitchell Palmer and the Party.
i
One day last week Judge Bonniwell,
Democratic candidate for Governor,
{and Senator Sproul, Republican nom-
'inee for the same office, happened to
‘be in Stroudsburg, the home of A.
‘Mitchell Palmer, member of the Dem-
. ocratic National committee for Penn-
sylvania. Mr. Sproul was the guest
of Mr. Palmer and introduced in the
community as the personal friend of
the Democratic National committee-
man. Judge Bonniwell was cordially
and generously entertained by unoffi-
cial Democrats who recommended him
to the favor of the voters as a man
fit for the office to which he aspires
and for which he was recently nomi-
nated over the hand-picked candidate
‘of Mr. Palmer. ;
In the primary election vote Judge
Bonniwell carried Monroe county for
the Democratic nomination by a very
large majority. But in the annual
“meeting of the Democratic State
, committee three weeks later Mr. Pal-
mer appeared, as a substitute, and
voted to deprive the candidate of the
right to have a personal friend as
manager of his campaign, though he
‘ admitted on the floor that it was a
| reasonable and just right. Northamp-
ton county gave Judge Bonniwell an
overwhelming majority at the prima-
ry but in the State committee Park
Davis, of Easton, voted, as a substi-
‘tute for the committeeman, to deprive
the candidate of the right to which
Palmer declared he was justly enti-
tled. Palmer and Davis had entered
.into a conspiracy to nominate a Nor-
‘thampton county friend of Davis for
Justice of the Supreme court.
| The Stroudsburg incident reveals
the purpose of Palmer in depriving
ithe Democratic nominee of the right
(to which Palmer subsequently admit-
ited he was entitled. The action of
Park Davis in misrepresenting the
community in which he lives by vot-
ing with Palmer to deprive Judge Bon-
niwell of a just right, reveals the con-
spiracy to nominate a Northampton
county friend of Mr. Davis for Justice
of the Supreme court. And taken to-
gether these incidents expose to pub-
lic view and deserved popular execra-
tion the reasons why Mitchell Palmer
“clings so tenaciously to control of the
pal asset of the patronage brokerage
business of which he is the head.
lars before July 20th in order to pay
for a car-load of paper that is now in
transit. To be absolutely honest we
haven’t nine hundred cents to our
credit in bank. We have a lot depos-
ever, and we’d like to draw it right
now. If you happen to be one of the
fortunates with whom we have left a
subscription account stand for a year
or more won't you please send the
amount in at once.
——1If Penrose isn’t careful
thoughtful persons will begin making
comparisons between the management
of this war and that of the little
“tiff” we had with Spain some twenty
years ago. That affair was managed
by his party and will hardly stand as
an exemplar of efficiency.
— Germany is not likely to rob
the western front by sending troops
to help Austria on the Italian front.
Self-preservation is the first law of
nature and Butcher Bill needs all the
| force available where his flesh and
blood is operating.
— Conditions in Russia are going
from bad to worse but have not reach-
ed the hopeless stage. “A little lea-
ven leavens the lump” and when time
develops the fittest means of rescue
will be devised.
— It may sound harsh but a care-
ful analysis of conditions compels the
impression that most men are prof-
iteers and that lack of opportunity is
all that prevents exposure of the fact.
— Emperor Karl of Austria shows
the malign effect of keeping bad com-
pany. He congratulates his army on
the Piave on their victory. He prob-
ably means their escape.
— Nobody ever knew why Roose-
velt got the Nobel prize in the first
place but now that it is to be put to
such good usé nobody will care.
— Colonel Arthur Lynch must
‘have some evil design on Ireland.
Otherwise he never would have invit-
— In order that the sea may be
made free for war ships Germany is
trying to sink all the hospital ships
in commission. ;
— The Sultan of Turkey is dead
but he never will be missed. His suc-
cessor will probably be just as bad.
—_If there were no hospital ships
afloat the German U-boats would have
no congenial employment.
— Keeping the war gardens grew-
ing may help to keep the home fires
burning. »
It is the princi-
—We will need nine hundred dol-!
ited with readers of the paper, how- !
BUSY DAYS FOR OUR BOYS IN
FRANCE.
' Another - Interesting Letter from a
Bellefonte Soldier On Duty
“Over There.”
Somewhere in France, June 13.
I suppose you think I write by
jerks, and I guess you are more or less
| right, but there are times when we are
| very busy and few times when we are
!not. As this is one of the latter I
will clean up some of my correspond-
ence. First of all, I would like to
| drop into Bellefonte all of & sudden
{like and have a good Sunday dinner,
‘but I guess that event will have to
wait awhile. :
Back home we thought seeing an
aeroplane was some sight, didn’t we?
But they are like the birds in the air,
so numerous. There are thousands of
things I would like to write you, and
1 know you would like to hear them,
but it can’t be said.
nese coolies, trying to tell them what
to do. And when you work them too
hard they hold up their litfle finger
and say “Mellican man no geod a la.”
This life is certainly full of exper-
| jences, and let me add, excitement. I
have almost forgotten there is a Sun-
day and as to the days of the week,
one can’t keep track of them.
The weather here has been ideal
summer weather for three weeks now
and I hope it will continue. I have
not received a copy of the “Watch-
man” since the March 80 issue and I
don’t understand what has held them
up, as all my other mail seems to be
coming through on time. Was glad
to hear that all at home are well, as
that is the greatest news to me, so far
from the old home town.
The boys I came to this post with
are Baker Royer, of Lancaster, a
State College man class of 1916; Sel-
lers Kite and William Morgan, of
Philadelphia; Thomas Allen, Walter
Tag and Arch Colby, of New York
city; Lewis Silverman, of Chicago; a
chap named Simmons, from a town
in New York State, and Robert Mc-
Rae, of Springfield, Mass., and as I
never ran into a better bunch.I am
fixed 0. k. Our commanding officer is
first lieutenant Geo. Coombes. ~
We have been quite busy here late-
ly and are working tonight, it now be-
ing 9:30 o'clock. I sprained my arm
lifting the other day, and as it is a
little bum today I am net doing much
heavy work, only helping every now
and then when needed. I have been
| developing some muscle lately, as we
+ have quite a bit of strong arm work
'to do, and I am trying to do my share.
What do you suppose I ran into to-
‘day? Something I suppose you nev-
ler saw. I managed to get them from
one of the Chinamen we have work-
ing here. They were a couple of
cooties, insects that sneak in under
your undershirt and play around on
your hide. It kind of took me down
a peg when I discovered them. At
first I though of organizing a base-
ball team but as I didn’t relish the
idea of them using my back for a ball
diamond I immediately proceeded to
rid myself of them, and hope it will
be final. Some of these days I intend
having a picture taken to send home.
We have been pretty busy in the
warehouse lately and it is some job.
I can imagine that everything is
being done over there that can be
done for the successful prosecution of
the war, and I can assure you that
the boys over here are doing their
part. I thought a few days ago I
would get a chance to accompany a
consignment of cars to the place
where Bucky Smith and Sam Rhine-
smith are located but it was not my
luck.
I have been smoking some genuine
Bull Durham lately, some I managed
to get off of some troops that were
over only a short while. Wil! close
now with best wishes for all Belle-
fonte friends.
CHAS. E. GATES.
Outwitting the Hun.
The “Watchman” next week will
begin the publication of the tale of
Lieut. Pat O’Brien, “Outwitting the
Hun,” an intensely interesting story
of the persenal experience of this dar-
ing Irish aviator who was captured
by the Germans, later made his es-
cape and is now sending his story
broadcast over the country in an’ ef-
nations at war with Germany. Read
the opening installment in next week’s
issue and we feel sure you will want
to finish the story.
ooo —
__A party of Ebensburg people
motored to Penn’s cave on the Fourth
and returning home told a story in
effect that they had seen a man har-
nessed to an old-fashioned plow, with
his wife doing the driving, shovel-
plowing potatoes in a field near
Penn’s cave.
— Even if those Austrians did
trust inthe German Gott, they proba-
bly neglected to “keep their powder
dry.”
Imagine me bossing a gang of Chi-:
fort to show up the true nature of the
Hun and enlist the full support of the
SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE.
— Oke C. Finberg, of Houtzdale, is im
the “missing” column of the casualty list
cabled from France on Sunday.
_Ex-Judge Harold McClure, of Lewis-
burg, was last week appointed by Gover-
nor Martin G. Brumbaugh to fill the va-
cancy existing on the State Public Serv-
ice Commission since the death of Robert
K. Young. He will qualify immediately.
—On July 1st the Petersburg Co-opera-
tive Grain and Supply company began
business at Petersburg, Huntingdon coun-
ty, taking over the Gregory store proper-
ty which was purchased some time ago.
Quite a number of the farmers of Shavers
Creek valley are interested. H. H. Kell,
a Petersburg merchant, has closed out his
business and will be the manager for the
new company.
—Mr. and Mrs. James Smell were burn-
ed to death and a property loss of $25,000
entailed in a fire which wiped out a busi-
ness block in Montrose, Pa., on Sunday.
Five buildings were destroyed. The fire
is thought to have started in a laundry.
Aid rendered by the Binghamton fire de-
partment prevented other buildings from
being ignited by the fire, which for a time
threatened the entire business section.
—A. Roy Chase Esq., of Clearfield, en-
tered suit in the Prothonotary’s office at
Clearfield on Saturday on behalf of Mer-
cie E. Graffius, who seeks to recover $5,000
from the Stott & Hartley Coal company,
of Philipsburg, for coal removed from a
tract of land in Decatur township, Clear-
field county, owned by the plaintiff and
which she claims was never leased to the
coal company. The mining of the coal be-
gan in March of 1917.
—Four highwaymen beat Joe Korkas te
death and fractured the skull of his com-
panion, Joe Karpollo, near West Newton,
Westmoreland county, Saturday morning
about 2:30 o'clock. The victims of the
thugs were Austrians and recently em-
ployed at mines near Ebensburg. They
had gone to Westmoreland county to
spend the Fourth. The highwaymen got
away with a loot of about $55, but local
constables and state police are on their
trail.
—Maggie Smith, of Lewistown, was lock-
ed up last Thursday night on the charge
of larceny, officers claiming she had taken
$37 from a man which she had stowed
away in her mouth when she discovered
her arrest was imminent. Sheriff Davis -
forced the woman's mouth open and with
the aid of an electric searchlight recover-
ed $17 of the money, but said he did not
have the power, without an order from the
court, to order the use of a stomach pump
in an effort to recover the remaining $20.
—Smiths Mills, Clearfield county, is
seemingly the star spangled banner burg
of the United States. The village has a
population of only 550, with about 100
houses, but has gone many times over the
top in the third Liberty loan campaign.
Its allotment was $5,500, but the thrifty
and prosperous villagers subscribed a
grand total of $183,000 for the bonds, giv-
ing them an honor flag bearing 34 stars.
So far as known the achievement has not
been equaled elsewhere in the United
States.
—The Penn Garment company, of Wil-
liamsport, has just received a government
contract for 12,000 army uniforms to be
delivered in eight weeks. And if this con-
tract is completed satisfactorily, the com-
pany has the assurance of larger orders
in the future. General Manager Planken-
horn secured the contract in New York, to
which city he was summoned to show sam-
ples. The plant will have to be enlarged
and more employees taken on to get the
order out in record time. This is the larg-
est contract for army uniforms the compa-
ny has yet secured.
—Men connected with the State govern-
ment who have been observing the devel-
opment of the farm tractor service in
Pennsylvania say that about 1700 tractors
are employed in the fields this year and
that the number will be materially in-
creased by fall and very largely by next
summer. The State has 35 tractors and if
needs arise it will increase the number.
The other tractors are owned by farmers,
commercial organizations, chambers of
commerce, farmers’ clubs and other asso-
ciations, while the number operated as
threshing machines in certain territories
has increased rapidly. {
—Last Friday was a Jonah day for Da-
vid W. Corson, of Mifilin county, a veteran
of the Philippine war, who lost $57 of his
$59 pension money while on his way to
Lewistown to pay some bills. Corson had
his skull fractured in the islands in 1899,
when a horse was shot from under him
and as he attempted to regain his feet a
native hit him over the head with a heavy
rifle. He has been under seventeen opera-
tions in eight years and has been confined
in a straight jacket forty-seven days at
one time while suffering from convulsions.
The money was his pension for three
months and represents the support of his
wife and six children.
— Because he alleged his wife lived with
him on the instalment plan, Charles M.
Qister, of Milton, was recommended an ab-
solute divorce, by Edwin Paul, special
master appointed by the Northumberland
county court in his report last Friday. Ac-
cording to the findings they were married
October 19th, 1910, at Milton, and she de-
serted. him March 27th, 1911. During the
period of their living together she would
live at home two weeks, then disappear
two weeks. Returning at the end of that
time the wife would stay home two weeks
more and again do the disappearing act.
Finally she went away and said she would
never come back. He asserted that he
walked twenty-two miles to Jerseytown
to try to get her home, but failed in his
mission.
—Fire, which started from a motor in
the duplex heater house of the Aetna
Chemical company at Mount Union, on
Tuesday of last week, destroyed four
buildings comprising the entire recovery
and purification departments and the main
portion of the plant. About 450,000 pounds
of gun cotton and much valuable machine-
ry were consumed. The loss is estimated
at $900,000. There was no loss of life, but
several employees were severely burned.
The company announced that it would re-
quire four or five months to rebuild and
that the fire would delay its plans for
moving its plant at Oakdale, near Pitts-
burgh, to Mount Union. An explosion at
the Oakdale plant recently resulted in the
loss of more than 100 lives. The Depart-
ment of Labor and Industry on Friday is-
sued a statement that the report of the in-
spectors on the Mount Union fire setting
forth that further inquiry would be made
to determine the exact cause. It is stat-
ed that the fire has not in any degree in-
terfered with the production of munitions
at the plant.