INK SLINGS.
—And this is the first day of |
spring.
—Easter has been too late for the
girls this year. They just couldn’
save their new straw hats until April
20th. |
—We are not so much interested in
Senator Lenroots’ statement to the ef-
fect that Germany is whipped, but we
are earnestly interested in a plan to
keep her whipped.
—ZEnrico Caruso, the great tenor,
will have to pay $153,933.70 income
tax for 1918. It is a fortune in itself,
but the singer can be consoled with
the thought that it came easy.
—Exert your influence with your
returned soldier boy to have him car-
ry on the insurance the government
sold him at a rate so cheap that he can
never hope to duplicate it in any reg-
ular company.
—The bugologists tell us that we
are to have a plague of seventeen year
locusts during the coming summer.
The winter has been so soft that we
must surely expect a few flies in the
weather dumpling.
On and after July 1st letter post-
age will be at the pre war rate. Let-
ters will go for two cents and postal
cards for a penny postage. It might
be well to keep this fact in mind so
that that date doesn’t find you over-
stocked with two cent post cards.
—The United Mine Workers of
‘America have adopted as a fundamen-
tal principle; a six-hour work day,
five days a week, and a substantial in-
crease for all work. They don’t want
much, do they? And yet they cry,
“No beer, no work.” If they don’t in-
tend to work any more than thirty
hours a week they don’t deserve any
beer.
—At the one hundred and three roll
calls of the short session of Congress,
from December 2nd to March 4th last
our Member, the Hon. Charles Row-
land, answered present twelve times.
‘At that he wasn’t absent as much as
Congressman John R. K. Scott, of
Philadelphia, who has only one “here”
to his credit throughout the entire
session.
—A great deal of criticism and
some abuse was heaped on George
Creel when he organized the govern-
ment’s work of publicity for the war.
He has just resigned his post and the
aftermath is the gratifying news that
he made one feature of his publicity—
and one that was greatly appreciated
too—pay all of the expenses of his de-
partment. The profitable publicity
was the movie films sent out.
—We have had only four snowfalls
of any consequence during the entire
winter and none of them were to be
compared with the least of the snows
of the winter of 1917.. The season has
gone all awry and few of us would
have a bit of regret if nature fails to
come through with the “onion snow,”
the “saplin’ bender,” the “daffodil
snow” or the “poor man’s manure,”
all of which we have been wont to con-
sider as preliminary to real spring
weather.
—On its editorial page the Altoona
Tribune declares that “Great Britain
will never do other than good to the
United States.” And on the first page
of the same edition it throws a seven
column scare head over Lenroot’s dec-
laration that Britain has drafted the
peace treaty so as to revolutionize the
foreign and domestic policy of our
government. Evidently the left tele-
graph editor on the Tribune never lets
the right paragrapher know what he
is doing. :
—It is beyond us to figure out a
reason for the wonderful prices horses:
are bringing at farm sales this spring.
With tractors, trucks and pleasure
motors displacing them, with grain
and hay higher in price almost than
they have ever been and with the gov-
ernment releasing to industry thous-
ands upon thousands of its overstock
of horses it would seem that of all of-
ferings at farm sales horses would be
in least demand. Quite the reverse is
the fact and it is a very poor speci-
men of equine that isn’t being knock-
ed off anywhere from two to three
hundred dollars.
—The stuff the average American
soldier boy is made out of was shown
the other day when one of them re-
fused to accept a pension of $5,000 be-
cause he had apparently lost the sight
of an eye while in the service. The
records were clear and nothing could
have stopped him from taking the
government’s bounty for his injury
but his own honesty. His eye was
gone when he enlisted, but he tricked
the enrolling officer into accepting him
‘or service to his country by commit-
ting to memory all the letters and
their position on the vision test card.
Any one would know that a boy with
such patriotism would be too honest
to turn it to a handsome profit.
|
—The Altoona Tribune is trying to
shift the odium for the outrageous
filibuster at the close of the last Con-
gress from the shoulders of the Re-
publican party. It states that “it was
not the Republican party but a group
of foolish Senators, led by Sherman,
of Illinois.” Inasmuch as Sherman,
of Illinois, and all the other foolish
Senators in the group are Republi-
cans and the Republican party is re-
sponsible for them it looks very much
as if the Tribune is trying to ladle out
flapdoodle. Certainly a Senator of
that party is a unit of the Republican
party, for if such were not the case
why would Gif Pinchot and all of his
followers be declaring that the party
will be wrecked if Penrose is given a
certain committee chairmanship in the
next Senate.
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION.
VOL. 64.
Senator Penrose a Humorist. |
Senator Penrose is becoming a real |
humorist and gives promise of con- |
tributing liberally to “the gayety of |
nations” during the declining years
of his eventful life. Some time Sao
“More Power to His Elbow.”
The public generally and particu-
watch with sympathetic interest the
inquiry into the cost of coal which
Governor Sproul has promised to in-
Penrose and His Ambitions.
| The interesting information comes
{ larly the people of Pennsylvania will | from Washington that “Senator Pen-
rose may be saved from humiliation
through the handy process of ‘Demo-
| cratic acquaintances.’” That is to
the New York World suggested that | augurate. Ever since the beginning | say it is alleged that if a certain num-
if Penrose and other Senators who | of the world war coal prices have been | ber of Democratic Senators absent
are opposing the League of Nations
would resign, as Conkling and Platt |
did when President Garfield refused |
to yield to the Senatorial mandate, |
and submit themselves for re-election !
upon the issue which would thus be |
raised, they would find out exactly |
what the people think upon the ques-
tion. In reply to the suggestion Sen-
ator Penrose proposes that the Presi- |
dent resign and thus “test the senti-
ment of the American people.”
To any mind less susceptible to hu-
mor it will not appear how the resig-
nation of the President would put the
question to a test. The constitution
provides for the succession to the
Presidency in the event of death or
resignation and so far as we have been
able to ascertain there is no alterna-
tive. The Vice President automatic-
ally succeeds :o the office and remains
in undisturbed and undisturbable pos-
session until the expiration of the
term. There is no possible way of
testing public opinion on the question
of the League of Nations through the
resignation of the President as every
intelligent grammar school boy
knows. But humorists have license to
play upon their fancies.
On the other hand the resignation
of Penrose any time between now and
the first of September would afford
an excellent opportunity to measure
public sentiment on the question. He
would have considerable advantage in
the vast party majority in this State
but there are plenty of Democrats
willing to make the contest upon a
platform of endorsement of the Pres-
ident’s attitude on the peace plans. If
Mr. Penrose should be elected in the
circumstances it would be freely ad-
mitted that public opinion here is
against the League of Nations. But
if his antagonist is elected it cannot
be denied that it would express ap-
proval of the President’s work both
in Paris and Washington.
What is really needed is a dic-
tionary which*will. point out the dif-
ferences between the Bolshevicks, the
Sparticans and the Socialists of mid-
dle Europe. The want of information
on the subject is confusing.
Troubles of Nick Lon gworth.
We would like above all things to
work up a little genuine sympathy
for Congressman Nicholas Long-
worth, of Ohio, in his fight to seize
control of the machinery of the next
Congress from the stalwarts under
the leadership of Mr. Mann, of Chi-
cago. In the first place there is little
or nothing to admire in Mann. He
has been attorney on the floor of the
House for the meat packers for a long
time and tried to ride into the Speak-
ership of the House on the back of a
“bucking broncho” presented to him
by the Beef trust. Even at that he
has something on Longworth, whose
only claim to consideration is that he
is the son-in-law of the late Colonel
Roosevelt.
The burden of Longworth’s com-
plaint against Mann is that he said
recently that the Republican party
ought to support President Wilson in
his efforts to secure enduring peace
throughout the world by the process
of the League of Nations. Mann has
been the floor leader of the Republi-
can minority ever since old Joe Can-
non relinquished that job to become
Speaker fifteen or eighteen years ago
and it must be admitted that he is a
shrewd politician and cunning parlia-
mentary boss. But every now and
then he kicks over the party traces
and asserts some decent thing, as he
did in reference to the League of Na-
tions, and the narrow minded hither-
to Progressives won’t stand for such
breaks.
In the recent contest for Speaker
of the next House Mr. Mann was de-
feated by Mr. Gillett, of Massachu-
setts, largely for the reason that dur-
ing the canvass Mr. Mann’s relations
with the Beef trust were exposed and
even his closest friends realized that
to put him in the chair would impair
the party in public esteem. But his
defeat in no respect detracted from
his personal and political influence
among the Republican members. They
couldn’t take chances involved in his
election to the Speakership but had
no real complaint concerning the mor-
al aspect of his position with the trust
and though the gavel was ostenta-
tiously handed to his rival the power
of the place was given to him.
——The esteemed Philadelphia Rec-
ord is afraid somebody will accuse
that city of starting the sleeping sick-
ness. There is no occasion to worry.
Philadelphia hasn’t energy enough to
start anything.
——The next Congress will be real
interesting if the several Republican
leaders tell what they think of each
other as frankly as Longworth and
Mann have set out to do.
navies of the allies offered a plausi-
ble reason for some enhancement in
values and the weather conditions of
last winter made it impossible to com-
plain at any price. But the recent
threat to increase the price in the near
future has aroused indignant protest
in all directions. Neither the weath-
er nor the exigencies of war can serve
as excuse for the proposed robbery.
When the coal barons began their
extortion operations President Wilson
undertook to check their rapacity by
appointing fuel controllers. But in
his anxiety to keep politics out of the
consideration he named a Republican
as head of the organization and his
first act was to increase the price of
the coal required by the poor people
of the country. The next step was to
appoint a fuel controller for Pennsyl-
vania and another Republican was
named who decided every dispute that
arose in favor of the coal owners.
Possibly these men were simply doing
then what all the Republican leaders
are doing now, namely trying to
“queer” the administration at Wash-
ington.
It is quite possible that Governor
Sproul has been moved to activity in
the matter for the same purpose. It
is known that an investigation has
been in process for some time and
there are reasons to believe that an
exposure was imminent. Therefore,
our very capable and political Gover-
nor may have made up his mind “to
beat the Democrats to it” by getting
a report in advance of that of the
slow-moving Senate. But even the
Democrats who have been victims of
the extortion will not complain if good
results are achieved. They,K want a
square deal on this coal question at
the earliest moment possible and are
all ready to shout “More power to the
Governor’s elbow.”
——Of course there will be criti-
cism of General Pershing. He was
‘part ofthe administration plan “for
conducting the war and every part
must be condemned to condemn the
whole.
False and Fraudulent Pretense.
The pretense of Senator Lodge and
others who are opposing the plan of
the League of Nations that they are
in favor of the purpose of the League
is fraudulent and false. There can be
no other plan and there can be no
peace without such a guarantee as the
covenant provides. Senator Lodge
knows this as well as any other living
man. If the plan is not adopted the
armistice will end and war resumed
under far less favorable conditions
than when hostilities ended. Why
should any American citizen desire
that result? Haven’t we lost enough
men and spent enough money al-
ready? Most thoughtful men will say
yes, but the leaders of the Republican
party act no, whatever they say.
There is one element in the citizen-
ship which might like to see a renew-
al of the conflict and a continuance of
the carnage, but there are not many
of them. The munition makers and
some of the producers of war imple-
ments may be willing to see the blood
of their brothers flowing in order that
the flow of gold into their coffers may
be resumed. But the vast body of
American citizens are not of that
mind. They want peace because it
brings tranquility and prosperity and
leads to the highest civilization. Prob-
ably Senator Lodge represents this
element in the population but it is not
creditable to him.
The President has gone to great
pains to formulate this covenant of
peace. The finest minds in the world
worked together to produce it. If
adopted it will achieve the purpose of
preventing war for all time. But it
wil! exalt President Wilson. It is
largely the work of his intellect and
energy and if it becomes the funda-
mental law of the world it will re-
dound to his credit. But that ought
not to influence Senator Lodge to op-
pose it in: the circumstances. He
ought to be broad enough to give
credit where credit is due and patri-
otic enough to favor the welfare of
the public without regard to where
the credit falls. Unfortunately, how-
ever, he is not built that way.
——The State Highway Depart-
ment has plenty of money, according
to reports from Harrisburg and it may
be added that there is a good deal of
promise coming from that source. But
results are what are wanted.
——Some of the Republican lead-
ers would rather see war resumed and
continued indefinitely than a peace
planned by Woodrow Wilson.
——Naturally the Germans are dis-
appointed in Wilson and so are the
German sympathizers in the United
States Senate.
increasing. First the demand of the ' thmeselves or decline to vote on the
: question, Senator Penrose will be
| elected to the chairmanship of the
| Senate committee on Finance, but
| otherwise some Republican more ac-
; ceptible to the Progressive wing of
i the Republican party will be chosen |
to that important chairmanship. The
leader of the opposition to Penrose in
this supreme fight of his life is Sena-
tor Borah, who is supported by Sena-
tors Grona, Kenyon, Johnson and La-
Follette.
to Senator Penrose but it owes less to
those who are fighting him in his own
party. Borah has been the most per-
sistent and pestiferous opponent of
President Wilson and those behind
him have been equally active and an-
noying in proportion to their intellect-
ual power. They are opposing Pen-
rose not because the Pennsylvania
Senator is morally delinquent or de-
ficient in patriotism, though some
charges might be made. But their
complaint is that he has not consented
to turn the control of the party over
to those who entertain different views
as to policies and who are willing to
wreck the party temple if they can’t
run it.
The ostensible reason given by Bor-
ah and his associates in the fight
against Penrose is that the election of
Penrose to the office he covets would
“wreck the Republican party.” If
that be true no greater service can be
given to the country than by electing
Penrose. The Republican party has
become the refuge of the enemies of
the country and the opponents of
every purpose which makes for endur-
ing peace and continued prosperity.
It is a patriotic duty to destroy that
| conspiracy against the tranquility of
the world. Of course if this result
can be achieved by electing Senator
Simmons to the office, well and good.
But that is not likely and the alterna-
tive is to confuse Borah at any cest:
Centre: countians have reason
to be thankful to the United States
Department of Agriculture. The
sages of wisdom who guide that ship
of state through the troublous waters
and dangerous shoals of public opin-
ion have given out a list of counties
in Pennsylvania which will this year
be visited by myriads of cicada (the
seventeen year locusts) but Centre
county is not on the list. In fact the
Department even goes further and
specifies seven counties in which they
will not appear and our county is one
of them. Hence we say, Glory be! to
the U. S. Department of Agriculture.
Farmers and hucksters in up-
per Bald Eagle and Halfmoon valleys
are very much perturbed over the
movement precipitated in Philipsburg
to establish a curb market by ordi-
nance of council, providing a fee for
all hucksters and regulating the hours
in which they will be permitted to
peddle produce from door to door.
The kick comes especially from huck-
sters who have a regular clientelle of
patrons in the town over the moun-
tain, and it is quite evident that back
of it all is the fear that a well estab-
lished curb market might also prove
a price regulator.
—We can’t understand why there is
so much public interest in what a lot
of reactionary Senators are saying
about President Wilson's peace treaty.
Their time is coming. Any peace
treaty that this country contem-
plates entering into must be ratified
by the Senate before it becomes bind-
ing and the fewer obstacles these Sen-
ators throw in the way of its comple-
tion the sooner it will be presented to
them for acceptance or rejection. It
is surprising that a lot of supposed
statesmen would resort to such moon
barking as they are doing over the
peace treaty.
Mayor Rhodes, of Altoona, evi-
dently wants to make the Mountain
city circus proof, as he is trying to
get through council an ordinance in-
creasing the license for a three ring
circus from $100 to $300 for each day’s
performance. If the ordinance is
passed and becomes a city law it will
be interesting to note whether circus
managers will readily pay that
amount in order to exhibit their at-
tractions in Altoona.
——A story was circulated around
town on Monday that the Lewistown
bus had been held up on Saturday
night on the Seven mountains in the
regular old Lewis and Connelley style,
while returning to Lewistown from
Bellefonte. It was a good story while
it lasted but the bus driver knocked
it into a cocked hat on Tuesday morn-
ing when he declared that there
wasn’t a word of truth in it.
—If the Legislature is wise it
will adjourn early and avoid anything
like a collision with Senator Vare.
The Democratic party owes nothing.
BELLEFONTE, PA., MARCH 21, 1919.
Keep Coal Prices Down.
From the Philadelphia Press.
The coal operators are, it is said,
not a little disturbed by Governor
Sproul’s instructions to his Attorney
General to investigate their proposed
increase in coal prices. The coal men
have done about as they pleased in
times past in the matter of fixing
prices. They have raised them little
by little for some years, dropping a
half dollar a ton in April in order to
induce winter buying in the slack
spring season. Now, having nearly
doubled the price of coal over what it
was a few years ago, they seek to in-
duce early orders for stocking cellars
not by a reduction but by notice of a
fresh advance of ten cents a ton
monthly after April 30.
Patience with this coal extortion
has ceased to be a virtue and Gover-
nor Sproul speaks forthe people and
represents their real feeling by put-
ting the coal companies on the defen-
sive and. instructing the Attorney
General to investigate this conspira-
cy to raise coal prices and see if there
is not law enough somewhere to stop
it. The coal operators have been al-
lowed to go their own way so long
that possibly no statutory power can
at once be found to bring them to
terms. But the Legislature is in ses-
sion and can create that power if nec-
essary. There certainly should be
authority placed somewhere that is
able to keep coal operators within
bounds and check this tendency to ex-
tort from coal consumers excessive
prices for often inferior coal.
. While the Attorney General is us-
ing what weapons he can find to pre-
vent this threatened coal advance and
perhaps even reduce the present high
rate, the Legislature should, on its
own account, investigate the anthra-
cite coal. High wages and high
transportation charges which wipe out
profits are pleaded as an excuse for
the advance in the price of coal. Let
us find out the truth of the matter.
It is highly probable that the railroad
charges for carrying coal are much
higher than they should be. Let us
know the truth of these things.
Governor Sproul has started some-
thing that holds out the hope of cheap-
er anthracite coal. It was clearly the
right thing to do and some real good
should come of it.
The Country Will Not Forget.
From the DuBois Express.
In their desperate purpose to em-
barrass the administration at any and
all costs, the Republicans in .. Sen-
ate have brought the country face to
face with a situation that might very
easily develop into a serious financial
and industrial crisis. To say the
blame for such a crisis would lie with
the President for refusing to call an
extra session at once to remedy the
damage dene is absurd. On that ba-
sis any murderer could expect acquit-
tal if it could be shown that a third
party might have saved the life of his
victim, but failed. The country is not
going to forget that the Republican
party in the Senate, totally indiffer-
ent to the country’s welfare, deliber-
ately drove the knife into legislation
that was urgently needed to insure
employment for returning soldiers on
public works and to steady the financ-
es of the railroads,
For the country to expect relief
even from an extra session is a dubi-
ous project. The Republicans in that
extra session would be in control of
both the House and Senate. They
have no constructive program to of-
fer. Their program in the Congress
just past, and their program in the
coming Congress ,as far as any one
can judge, is a program of obstruc-
tion, a program to embarrass the ad-
ministration, to undermine the pres-
tige of the President abroad, if that
is possible, and to cripple the admin-
istration’s conduct of domestic af-
fairs. Boies Penrose being at the
head of Republican affairs in Con-
gress, the country easily can ‘judge
what to expect when the new session
does convene. The kind of politics
which the Republicans played in the
last session is the only kind of poli-
tics that Penrose knows. His slogan
is reactionism, and if he cannot bring
back the good old days of corporate
control of the government, he can at
fast furnish a drag on progressive
ideas.
Pepper Logic.
From the Philadelphia Record.
In stating his objections to the
League of Nations as proposed in the
published covenant George Wharton
Pepper, who is mentioned as the exec-
utive official of a new organization
formed to combat it, says that “we
believe that the thing offered is so
dangerous that under no circumstanc-
es should we accept it.”
A little later he concludes, after re-
ferring to two types of league, that
“in the attempt to compromise be-
tween two vital but inconsistent prin-
ciples its framers have produced a
thing without life.”
Thus we see that in one breath the
proposed League of Nations is “so
dangerous” that its acceptance would
imperil the very existence of the Unit-
ed States, and in the next that it is
“a thing without life,” a dead one.
We leave it to Mr. Pepper to explain
how such a lifeless organization could
be a menace to a great nation of over
100,000,000 persons, and to reconcile
this inanimate condition with the pos-
session of such dangerous possibili-
ties that he and such patriots as Sen-
ators Reed, Borah, Sherman, Lodge,
et al, are absolutely aghast at it. It
is a task worthy of the legal subtle-
ties of Senator Knox himself.
——The recent frost probably nip-
ped Senator Lodge’s round robin.
| SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE
i —The highest average yield in the past
| five years for buckwheat was made in
| Northampton county with 26 bushels in
! 1915.
| —For the second time within a month
| the retail price of milk has dropped one
i cent in Gettysburg. A month ago milk
{ was selling at thirteen cents a quart. It
| is now eleven cents.
—Irwin C. Keller, of Cleona, Lebanon
county, sold three of his monster rabbits
of the Flemish Giant breed, all does, and
of his own raising, for $175. They weighed
14 pounds, 12 pounds and 8 ounces, and 16
pounds and 8 ounces, respectively.
—While there has been very little snow
protection this winter, neither has there
been much alternate freezing and thawing
to cause heaving, consequently the grain
is in good condition. Present indications
point to large wheat and rye crops in Penn-
sylvania this year.
—George E. Smith and Charles W.
Swank, two Pittsburgh division brakemen
of the Baltimore and Ohio, were arrested
at Connellsville by railroad detectives on
the charge of stealing whiskey. The offi-
cers say the two men had in their posses-
sion thirty half-pints of whiskey.
—Alleging her husband starved her, so
that she was compelled to leave him in
Butler, Pa., Sarah R. Elmore has brought
suit at Reading for divorce from John B.
Elmore, of Mt. Washington, Allegheny
county, on the grounds of desertion. The
couple lived together only six months.
—While walking along State street,
Doylestown, Mrs. Wynne James was at-
tacked by a muskrat or sewer rat, and se-
verey bitten on the ankle. The rat then
attacked Peter Siegler and two daughters,
who warded it off with an umbrella,
knocking it over three times before it gave
up.
—A freak of nature in the vegetable
kingdom that is attracting much attention
at Castanea, Clinton county, is a grape ar-
bor on the premises of O'Neil Marticello,
some of the vines of which are in full
bloom, even when the temperature is at
and below the freezing point. If the cold
does not kill the blossoms Marticello will
have ripe grapes muect earlier than his
neighbors.
—200 Mexican quail will be distributed
in Lancaster county, in the near future,
arriving there from Levado, Texas. 36
pair of Gamble quail will also be distrib-
uted in this country. Last year, 15 pair
of the same were distributed with good re-
sults. 15 rabbits were also distributed
through the country. Samuel S. Keene, of
Christiana, Pa., State Game Warden, is in
charge of this work.
—Oscar H. Zinneman, who enlisted when
ony fourteen years old and is said to have
been the youngest soldier in the United
States army, has just arrived at his home
at Hanover, after eighteen months’ service
overseas without a scratch. He enlisted
immediately after the United States enter-
ed the war. His father is a German and
at one time was an engineer on the for-
mer Kaiser's yacht, Hohenzollern.
—A canvass made among the potato
growers in Lancaster county shows that
not a single one will plant more than usu-
al and only a few who would plant as
much as last season. Most of the men said
they would reduce their acreage. One who
has been planting largely for years will
plant only one-half what he did last sea-
son. Many farmers will plant only what
they consider necessary for their own use.
~Henry W. Bucher, a farmer living
near Lititz, Lancaster county, has an Al-
derny grade cow which gave birth to
twins. At two weeks of age the calves
weighed 230 pounds, and since they have
been taken away the cow is averaging 13
pounds and 6 ounces of butter a week. Mr.
Bucher’s five cows yield 53 pounds of but-
ter a week. A cow which came from his
stable and is now owned by Harry B.
Snavely, at Rome, is with calf and besides
nourishing the offspring gives over six
pounds of butter a week.
—Charged with having rifled the United
States mails of $8,000 worth of war sav-
ings stamps, Robert Bradley, of Chambers-
burg, was taken into custody late Satur-
day by Deputy United States Marshal
Harvey T. Smith, of Harrisburg. Brad-
ley is railway mail clerk and is also ac-
cused of taking about $15 in cash and a
gold clock valued at $100. The clock he
pawned, and it, with the rest of the stolen
articles, has been recovered. As the theft
is alleged to have taken place near Pitts-
burgh, Bradley was turned over to the
federal authorities there.
—A bunch of foreigners entered the office
of John H. Moore, prothonotary of Clear-
field county, Monday for the purpose of
securing their first citizenship papers.
They were much pleased over the prospect
of becoming American citizens, one of
them being so delighted that in his joy he
went away leaving a hat that cost him all
of $2.50. But this prospective son of Amer-
ica has no reason to regret his oversight,
because he took with him the $6 fedora of
Prothonotary Moore. It is remarkable
how quicky the foreign population catch
on to the ways of Americans.
—Isaac Warmkessel, of Henningsville,
Bucks county, went to town on the anni-
versary of a very unlucky day, and relat-
ed some of his experiences that took place
since he was stricken blind thirty-nine
years ago, by a premature dynamite ex-
plosion. One eye was shot out of his head
and the retina in the other was injured so
badly that five operations performed in a
noted eye hospital failed to bring back the
sight. During all these thirty-nine years
he has done his own farming and assist-
ed his son, on the latter’s farm. He husks
corn in season, spreads manure and mirae-
ulously does almost any kind of farm
work. A few years ago, he constructed a
stone wall around his farm house that is
considered a model for neatness. Then in
winter time, when the groundhog hiber-
nates, he is ever so lively in his workshop
and makes from 2000 to 2500 brooms every
winter.
—A short time after making a public
confession in the East Main street Meth-
odist Episcopal church, Lock Haven, on
Sunday night, of his desire to lead a bet-
ter life, William J. Merritt, aged 55 years,
a woodsman, went to the Susquehanna
river and committed suicide. His body
was found floating in the river about nine
o'clock on Monday morning, by Harry
Bowers, in shallow water about two hun-
dred feet below ithe dam, and was pulled
into shore with a pike pole. A crowd
gathered and the body was soon identi-
fied. Investigation showed that Merritt
had removed his hat, coat and vest at a
point some distance above the dam and
placed them on a rock. A gold watch and
a bank book, showing deposits of over
$400 in a local bank, were found in his
clothing. Merritt’s home was at Lowville,
N. Y., but he had been employed in lum-
bering throughout the North Tier coun-
ties and in New York State.