Democratic watchman. (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1855-1940, February 21, 1919, Image 7

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    Diemer atc
Bellefonte, Pa., February 21, 1919.
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.
The “sand bag” of the thug used to
stun his victim has been introduced
into polite society in the shape of an
exercising apparatus as a substitute
for the Indian clubs. These are long,
slender bags of stout fabric, filled
with sand or some other similar ma-
terial, made of any desired weight,
and provided with rope handles at
either end. On the sides of webbing
into which are loops the feet can be
inserted for leg exercises. Besides
serving the purpose of several types
of exercisers, it is pointed out that the
sand-bags are preferable to Indian
clubs and dumb-bells in that they can
be used noiselessly.
Nearly all the German planes built
within a year are found to be provid-
ed with a clockwork bomb, which is
designed to make them self-destruct-
ive in case of capture by the enemy.
One of these is installed near the fuel
tank, and is suppplied with a handle
within easy access of the aviator. In
case of capture or being compelled to
descend within the enemy’s lines, he
may manipulate this handle, and in
ten minutes his machine will be a to-
tal wreck.
A ‘new and interesting route to the
Far East will be in operation at no
distant date, definite plans now being
in the course of preparation. It will
be possible for a tourist to board a
train in Paris at noon on Saturday
and proceed by way of Milan, Venice,
Trieste, Belgrade, Nish, arriving in
Athens Tuesday morning. It will car-
ry Anglo-Indian and other Far East-
ern mails and passengers, and will in
this way vastly increase the import-
ance of the port of Piraeus which in
future will be the starting place of
steamers for the Far East. This will
bring Greece hundreds of miles near-
er Western Europe in distance and
several days nearer in time.
The annual average number of boil-
er explosions in this country since
1868 is 281, which caused the death of
256 persons and injuries to 380 others.
A Swiss electrical publication gives
particulars of a new process for re-
moving the temper from hardened
steel. The piece to be softened is
placed on a plate of iron at red heat
and covered by a plate of cold iron.
After the whole has cooled, the piece
of steel, whatever was its previous
quality and degree of hardness, is de-
tempered completely, and can easily
be worked without its quality having
undergone any change by, for exam-
ple, decarburization. The method is
specially applicable to the unharden-
ing of tools, more particularly punch-
es and dies. Tests have given excel-
lent results, and the method has the
advantage that shaped pieces of steel
do Dat show any shrinkage after treat-
ment. :
Some South African capitalists are
endeavoring to create a market for
what is known as Eri silk, which is
obtained from the cocoons of an In-
dian moth, the caterpillar of which is
reared for the production of silk in
Assam and to a smaller extent in cer-
tain parts of Bengal and northern In-
dia. This silk cannot be reeled like
that of the mulberry silk worm, as the
thread is not continuous, and it there-
fore has to be spun like ordinary silk
waste. Eri silk takes dyes well, and
when woven into cloth far surpasses
cotton in durability.
_ One of the developments of the war
is a 20-shot syringe for hypodermic
injections. Obviously its merit is that
of convenience when physicians and
surgeons are working under fire and
in dark dugouts where continual re-
charging of syringes entails difficulty
and retards operations. The instru-
ment is supplied with a platinum nee-
dle which permits sterilization in a
flame. The cap that protects it, when
not in use, is kept filled with iodine or
alcohol. When large numbers of per-
sons are being inoculated with typhoid
serum, for instance, an instrument
such as the magazine syringe evident-
ly saves much time.
The most active volcano in the
world is Mount Sangay. It is 17,190
feet, situated on the eastern chain of
the Andes, South America. It has
been in constant eruption since 1728.
A superior waterproof paper, trans-
parent and impervious to fat, may be
prepared by saturating good water
with a liquid prepared by dissolving
shellac at a moderate heat in a sat-
urated solution of borax. Such a mix-
ture may be colored by the addition
of various analine dyes.
Seventy per cent. more coke than
ever before will be available this year
to help solve the fuel shortage, accor-
ding to electrical Review. This sup-
ply will be further increased by the
development of tar, coke-oven gas and
other by-products newly dignified in
war time as available fuels. Pulver-
ized coal to attain the greatest effi-
ciency is also a subject that is inter-
esting fuel men just now. Some of
the advantages of pulverized coal are:
The utilizinz of every heat unit in the
coal; the reduction of labor for hand-
ling coal, and the maintenance of a
constant temperature in the furnace.
——Experiments in Norway with a
view to extracting salt from ocean
water by means of electricity have
been successful, and two salt factories
will be started for this purpose in the
near future. Each factory is calcu-
lated to produce 50,000 tons of salt a
year for a start, but they will be so
built that the production can be
brought up to double the quantity, if
necessary. Besides the salt, different
by-products will be made.
A Table Made With a Jacknife.
A table containing eight hundred
and thirty-two separate pieces, includ-
ing many animals, has been made by
a California man. The only toel em-
ployed in the work was a jacknife. It
took just four years to complete the
work, and the owner of the table val-
ues it at five thousand dollars.
—— Advertise in the “Watchman.”
Eugeni¢c Mating Uurged as Duty of
the State.
Harrisburg.—A bill providing for
eugenic marriages and setting forth
in great detail men and women who
should not be permitted to wed, was
introduced in the House last week by
Representative Charles T. Hickernell,
of Lebanon county. Those who would
be under the ban, in the event the
Hickernell bill is enacted into law,
are:
The insane, epileptics, habitual
drunkards, persons of unsound mind,
and others. The words ‘unsound
mind” as used in the bill, means men-
tal unsoundness due to causes other
than accident or disease. The word
“insane” as used in the measure,
means the state of a person whose
mental unsoundness is due to acci-
dent or disease.
The bill goes farther and states:
“That neither of the parents of either
party has been or is of unsound mind,
or epileptic; that neither of the par-
ties has pulmonary tuberculosis in ad-
vanced stage, or any venereal dis-
eases, or any other transmissible dis-
ease; that the man contracting has
not within five years been an inmate
of any public or private home, asylum
or institution for indigent persons, or
if he has been such an inmate that
the cause of such condition has been
removed and that the male contract-
ing party is physically able to sup-
port a family.”
The bill provides that a health cer-
tificate, setting forth the physical and
mental condition of each applicant
must be presented with the applica-
tion for a marriage license, reputable
physician or an examiner of the State
Department of Health, are authorized
to issue such certificates. There must
also be an accompanying affidavit
from a person who has known the
male contracting party for at least
five years.
The State Department of Health is
authorized to appoint as many as 30
examiners, “who shall, upon applica-
tion, conduct the examination and
tests herein required, and who shall,
if such tests and examinations are
satisfactory, issue the proper health
certificates.”
The bill provides that a bill of $2.50
shall be paid by each person examin-
ed; that the department shall furnish
each examiner with complete clinic-
al and laboratory equipment and that
the annual salaries of the examiners
shall not be more than $3000 each.
The bill also contains a fac simile of
the certificates to be granted.
Hermitage Pictures Safe.
Ifamediately after the collapse of
the Czar’s government, the Hermitage
Palace at Petrograd, where was dom-
iciled one of the finest art collections
in the world, was plundered by the
revolutionists and converted into a
mere barracks for the Bolshevik mob.
The priceless canvasses disappeared
from the walls, cut from the stretch-
ers and the frames left empty in the
usual place.
It was generally supposed at the
time that Germany, acting largely
through Dutch agents, had bought up
the masterpieces and shipped them to
Berlin, paying members of the Rus-
sian revolutionary clique a laughably
small amount for pictures which were
almost priceless.
Now comes a rumor, unfortunately
it does not appear to be satisfactorily
substantiated, to the effect that only
a small and insignificant number of
these pictures reached Berlin, the
cream of the collection having been
hastily removed by the Provisional
government early in 1917, after the
capture of Riga by the Germans, and
sent secretly to Moscow.
The need for secrecy and the haste
in which the work had to be done made
it impossible to move the frames, the
canvases being cut from their stretch-
ers and rolled up for transportation.
According to the present story, the
original intent was to store them in
the Kremlin, but for some unexplain-
ed reason they were sent to a private
palace and left in the care of several
eminent Russian artists.
Shortly afterward the Kremlin,
after being bombarded for five days
by the Bolsheviki, was looted, so that
what was intended as temporary quar-
ters for the Hermitage collection be-
came the permanent storage house,
in which it remains today.
This is mighty important news if it
be true, but even if it be true the
Hermitage pictures are still in dan-
ger, with Russia in such a state of po-
litical unrest and ferment.
Although an American would hate
to think of Germany owning them,
they would be safer there than in Rus-
sia. Unless, indeed, the Bolshevik
movement is to overrun Germany as
it did Russia.
A similar thought was back of Sir
Claude Phillips’ expression of satis-
faction in hearing that these master-
pieces have been taken to Berlin, his
idea being that Germany, wishing to
retain them, would treat them with
care.
Certainly Moscow does not seem an
ideal place for the storage of master-
pieces each of which is worth a for-
tune.
The history of art is full of stories
of lost masterpieces. Let us hope that
those which went to the making of
the Hermitage collection are not ad-
Sod to their number.— Francis J. Zeig-
er. :
Paper Famine in Old Times.
There was a paper famine in Eu-
rope in the seventh century. In A. D.
640 the Saracens conquered Egypt,
ad at the same time, by order of
Omar, their Caliph, the renowned li-
brary at Alexandria, consisting of
400,000 volumnes, was burned. The
paper supply of the then known
world was derived from the papyrus
bark, a reed which grew only in
Egypt. Consequently, when the Sar-
acens gained possession of the coun-
try the paper supply was cut off.
This led to the adoption of a curious
expedient. The writing on used pa-
pyrus paper was erased and the pa-
per which was thus made available
again brought into use. An old au-
thor has suggested that probably ow-
ing to this many valuable contribu-
tions from classic writers, Tacitus,
Livy and others, were lost to the
world.—Ohio State Journal.
——Subscribe for the “Watchman.”
FLED IN DISGUISE.
Noted Men Who Escaped Captivity
by Subterfuge.
Gen. Hans von Beseler of the Ger-
man army is said to have escaped out
of Poland in disguise as a stowaway
on board a Vistula river steamboat.
In the fall of 1914 Von Beseler was
glorified as the conquerer of the city
of Antwerp, the chief stronghold of
Belgium and the chief port of conti-
nental Europe. Germany’s conquer-
ing heroes of 1914 have been van-
quished and Von Beseler is but cne
of a great company of notable fugi-
tives who have saved their lives by
fleeing in disguise. Judge Jeffries of
English history, whose name is asso-
ciated with the “bloody assizes,” tried
to hide himself and escape the ven-
geance his savage cruelty merited by
donning the garb of a coal miner
and hiding in a tavern at Woking, but
he was recognized, captured, impris-
oned in the Tower of London, where
he soon died. Prince Charles Edward
Stuart, pretender to the throne of
Great Britain, escaped from Scotland
in petticoats, disguised as Betty
Burke, maid to Flora MacDonald.
Louis Phillippe, the “citizen king” of
France, fled to the coast of Normandy
where he posed as “Mr. Smith,” a Brit-
ish subject, in order to secure passage
to England on a steamboat. Napoleon
III, while a pretender to the throne
of France, was imprisoned in the
fortress of Ham. After several
months of confinement repairs were
begun on the fortress. Napoleon
bribed one of the carpenters to smug-
gle in a workman’s garb for his dis-
guise. He dressed himself in the
coarse overalls and blouse, shouldered
a short plank, which he carried on
edge so as to conceal his face, and
walking past his guard he escaped to
Belgium and thence to England.
Porfirio Diaz was twice compelled to
flee from Mexico and seek safety in
the United States. He made one trip
from New Orleans to Vera Cruz dis-
guised as a stoker on board a steam-
ship and was soon leading a new band
of revolutionists. Empress Eugenie,
disguised as a servant woman, was
taken out of Paris by Doctor Evans,
an American dentist, in whose house
she had been hidden. Thus she es-
caped the blind fury of the French
mob and gained safe asylum in Eng-
land. Jefferson Davis, fallen presi-
dent of the Southern Confederacy, is
said by his enemies to have tried to
escape out of the country and evade
his pursuers disguised in woman’s
garb, but he was captured and im-
prisoned until the passions of some
of the northern fire-eaters had cooled.
The General's Drop.
I have been told this story of a
“flying” general, who has had expe-
rience as a parachutist, says a writer
in the London Evening News. A few
days ago he was a passenger in an
airplane going north. After a while
he picked up a village where he in-
tended to stop for a day or two, and
informed the pilot, who at once sig-
nified his intention of making a land-
ing. “Oh! don’t stop!” shouted the
general. and he proceeded to attach
himself to a parachute and his suit-
case to another. He dropped the case
overboard and then stepped off him-
self. General and suitcase floated
down gently and safely to earth,
while the airplane continued its flight.
Comfortable Beds.
Mattress and pillow used In the
berths of sailors and firemen aboard
government-operated merchant vessels
are of the most approved type for sea
use, for besides making good bedding,
they are the best sort of life preserv-
ers. Their filling is a soft, resilient
tropical fiber known as kapoc, which
can sustain 25 times its own weight
in salt water for 48 hours.
On each of the new merchant ships
built under the direction of the United
States shipping board, shower baths
are provided for the crew, there being
one for the firemen and another for
the deck force.—Merchant Marine.
Kaiser's Thankless Dentist.
“Now that Doctor Davis has finished
his revelations,” says Nate Saulsbury,
as reported by the Chicago Evening
Post, “the kaiser may realize how
sharper than an ulcerated tooth it is
to have a thankless dentist. We should
like to have held the doctor’s job and,
when it appeared necessary to draw
the kaiserlische molar, warbled as we
closed down on the forceps, ‘The
yanks are coming, the yanks are com-
ing!” ”—From Outlook.
An Awful Waste.
“When a senator dies at least eight
thousand volumes of eulogy are print-
ed and distributed by the government,”
said Professor Pate. “This is an ap-
palling waste, and—"
“It is indeed,” replied J. Fuller
Gloom. “In most instances three cheers
would be more appropriate.—~Kansas
City Star,
The Right Sort.
Two Aucklanders were talking about
a mutual friend. Said one: “So Jim
has gone into the navy and is now on a
destroyer. I thought he was a pacifist.”
“He is; a naval pacifist.”
“And what is naval pacifist?”
“One who plants depth bombs for
the purpose of spreading oil on the
troubled waters.”
——There is no state of life with-
out its obligations. In their due dis-
charge consists all the nobility and in
their neglect all the disgrace of char-
acter.
——It is easier to preach than to
practice. Therefore it must be easier
to be a clergyman than a physician.
a thousand times no.
FIFTH ARMY FOUGHT WELL.
British Troops, Battling Against Des-
perate Odds, Allowed Enemy to
Gain Only by Inches.
Then I was with the British Fifth
army, and I'll tell you why they didn't
hold against the Boche—they simply
couldn’t. They were outranged and
outnumbered cruelly. Never in my
life did I see such heroism and gal-
lantry displayed against frightful odds
as by those men, and if they didn’t
fight then there never was any fight-
ing anywhere upon the face of the
earth, Maj. Cushman A. Rice, U. S. A.,
writes in Leslie’s Magazine. Attacked
by a tremendously superior German
force, they lost almost all of their ar-
tillery of any weight the first day, but
stuck at the Somme line until almost
annihilated. For every inch of ground
they gained the Huns paid the highest
price in men, and I could tell 500 in-
stances in which the British battlers
proved to be magnificent heroes. 1
saw a ¢sptain who was in charge of
a battery of six-inch howitzers have
a hand shot away. He stopped fight-
ing only long enough to have tempo-
rary dressing applied and then return-
ed to his post and assisted his men
in removing the guns. He was killed
the next day. I was with a machine
gun company until all but three of the
men had been killed or incapacitated.
I told them that I was going to fall
back and urged them to do likewise.
The leader, a little Lancashire ser--
geant, answered: “No, the Boches
have chased us far enough. Here we
stick.” And they stuck and were
killed tc the last man.
And these Canadian units. Man, I
simply can’t tell you how they fought
against odds for five days and six
nights, going back only inch by inch.
One division of 10,000 men, sent in to
replenish the line, fought continuously
for three days and nights. A roll call
showed 916 left. Still there are those
who ask if the British ran away. No,
With compara-
tively few reserves they hung on. They
were sacrificed, but it was their duty
to stay, and they did. Too much can-
not be said in praise of the Fifth
army, for it saved the day and pre-
vented the Huns from breaking through
to Abbeville until the French came up.
Was Taking No Chances.
One of Lucy’s friends was giving a
little birthday party for the little
boys and girls of the neighborhood,
and of course the children were much
excited about it, particularly as it was
customary for each little boy to ask
to take the little girl he was most
proud of. Several days passed and
no one asked Lucy. And then one
afternoon she came home from schoo!
in great glee.
“Mother,” she said, “I have asked
Bobby to go to the party with me.”
Mother was shocked. “You asked
Bobby to go with you! Why, Lucy,
that wasn't a very nice thing for you
to do. Bobby might prefer to take
some other little girl.”
“Well, you know, mother,” Lucy re-
plied, “that’s just what I was afraid
of.”
The Airplane Runabout.
At last there is being produced in
England a small airplane, with wings
extending only 15 feet, or actually
less than the wing extension of a real
bird, the albatross. This, to be sure,
would be a large albatross, but cases
have been known of these birds meas-
uring 17 and 18 feet from tip to tip.
There is evident advance toward the
day when anybody who can afford the {
price will be able to own an airplane,
without the need of a special landing
place for it. The one referred to can,
it is claimed, come down in the street
without blocking traffic any more than
would a hay wagon on its way to mar-
ket.
Famous Generals.
Admiral Keyes of the Dover patrol,
who landed at Ostend not long ago,
was present at the siege of Peking in
1900. He was then a lieutenant and
naval A, D. C. to Gen. Sir Alfred Gase-
lee, commandant of the British force,
and in that capacity took part in the
famous march to the relief of the lega-
tions. The British were the first to
effect an entrance to the Chinese capi-
tal, which they did by the water gate
under the city wall. Besides Admiral
Keyes there were present two naval
officers whose names have become
famous during the war just ended—
Admirals Jellicoe and Beatty.
Too Old for Little Folk.
An Indianapolis teacher in the early
thirties was recently transferred from
the first priroary to teach in one of
the upper grades of the same build-
ing. Most of the youngsters missed
her, but it took little Carl L——, a
particularly bright youngster, to ex-
plain.
“You see, Miss Anne used to teach
us in the first grade,” he told one of
the other teachers, “but she just got
too old to teach the little children and
had to go up to teach the big ones.”
Opened by Mistake.
I sent a friend of mine in the army
a box of cookies, candy, and gum.
When it came he was on sentry duty.
Two of his friends opened the box
and in the next letter we received he
said: “Thanks for the empty box you
sent me.”—Chicago Tribune.
What He Got.
Kind, Strange Old Lady—And what
did you get for Christmas, little boy?
Little Boy—Why, I got dis-dis-dis—
er.
K. 8. 0. L.—Oh, tut, tut, my hoy,
not dis; you should say ‘this.’
Little Boy—Well, if you know so
much abeut it, I got thisappointed,
- a m—
Sh]
Yeager’s
Shoe Store
$8 Shoes Reduced to $5.50
I have an accumulation of sizes---
8, 824, 9 and 10--in
Men's Genuine Army Shoes
These shoes sell at $8.00 per pair.
You can Purchase a Pair at $5.50
Until they are All Sold
This is $1.25 less than the Gov-
ernment is paying for Army Shoes
today.
Yeager’s Shoe Store
THE SHOE STORE FOR THE POOR MAN
Bush Arcade Building BELLEFONTE, PA.
58-27
RE A TS Tr a Te Te ar
Come to the “Watchman” office for High Class Job work.
RE RE RE TE TSS TSS] STS TT TT ST Te Te Te TT Te Te TT VT TT DT TT TH a
Lyon & Co. Lyon & Co.
Reconstruction Sale
Now at Its Best
We will Continue this Sale
Until March 1st
Ladies’ Winter Coats and Suits
36 Winter Coats, all sizes and all colors,
including black, will be sold at less
than wholesale price. ;
8 Winter Suits, black and colors, at sac-
rifice prices.
Woolen and Silk Mixed
Dress Goods
See our table of Dress Goods—36 inches
wide, all colors—special 50c.
Shoes Shoes Shoes
Men’s, Women’s and Children’s Shoes at
special low prices.
Spring Coats and Suits
Advance showing of New Models in
Coats and Suits, here for your inspec-
tion.
Lyon & Co. on. Lyon & Co.