Deworraic Wada
ree oe
INK SLINGS.
— Good morning Mr. Fisherman;
did you have a good catch? 3
—Country bands and baseball teams
ought to be in fine form this summer.
They always are when times are hard.
—Yes, this is the day. If we don’t
have a mess of trout for supper we'll
be no worse off than we were yester-
day.
— Just naturally the average fisher-
man is more concerned about the
truthfulness of the other fellow than
he is as to his own.
— President Harding evidently has
some sort of a hazy notion that he
could hold up the world if some one
else were to play Atlas.
—The early fruit and berries are
gone and the Centre county housewife
will probably have a lot of leisure dur-
ing the preserving season.
—Of course Representative Asbury
had a perfect right to say that “from
this day on the negro will vote for
himself” but Representative Asbury
doesn’t know his onions.
— Cheer up! The Congress that
promised to cure everything from in-
grown toe nails to Yapsitis is in ses-
sion and soon everything that ain't
will be comin’ your way.
VOL. 66.
Repeal the Full Crew Law.
The Pennsylvania Railroad compa-
law. The public should be interested
in this measure since it is of doubtful
necessity as a safeguard to transpor-
tation and certainly adds a great bur-
It is estimated that the full crew law
costs the Pennsylvania $3,500,000 an-
nually. When it is known how useless
ture is it is time to consider removing
the cause of it.
Coming under our own observation,
locally, the evening passenger train
| over the Bald Eagle Valley is made up
{in Tyrone. The normal train is at the
i station but more passengers appear
than had been anticipated and the
— Under the proposed new Congres- trainmaster thinks another coach or so
sional apportionment bill Centre will
remain in the district composed of
Centre, Clearfield, Clarion and Mec-
Kean counties. Tt will be designated
as the Twenty-third instead of the
Twenty-first as now numbered.
—If you will stand for another ref-
erence to our long anticipated fishing
trip of today we merely want to sug-
gest the possibility of our having to
tell you next week how utterly true is
that old saying that there are just as
good fish in the sea as ever were
caught.
—Following the footsteps of Wilson
President Harding delivered his first
message to Congress in person. Imi-
tation, indeed, is the sincerest form of
flattery. Verily, our friends, the Re-
publicans would have had to take a
correspondence course in governmen-
tal practice had it not been for prec-
edents established by the discredited
and incompetent Democrats who pre-
ceded them.
—Cuff stockings and bare knees
that were rouged and powdered was
the sensation that the week-end sis-
ters sprung on State College recently.
Anne Pennington was the first, we be-
lieve, to start the foolish girls on the
hunt for Eve’s modiste but we don’t
recollect that Anne used powder or
rouge on the parts that her stockings
didn’t cover, probably because Anne
didn’t have house maids knees.
“The dope is all upset. They say
now that neither the handsome peti-
tion of G. Washington Rees nor the
lusty “pull” of Horatio W. Irwin will
land the Bellefonte postoffice. John
Liberty Knisely is to be our next
postmaster, so those who think they
are in the know say. We haven’t been
advised as to who spilled the Irwin
beans, but we do know that very pow-
erful influence is at work now in the
interest of Mr. Knisely.
_A recent meeting of the Hunting-
don Presbytery voted down a propos-
al to make women eligible as deacons
or elders in the church. What else
could have been expected from a lot of
men whose stomachs were probably
telling them if the women were made
deacons or elders there would be no
one left to cook the Brotherhood sup-
pers that are now so pleasingly satis-
-ating to all them that are gluttons for
other things besides religion.
—The proposed Congressional ap-
portionment takes Blair away from
‘Cambria and puts it in a district com-
prising Blair, Bedford, Fulton and
Huntingdon counties; leaving Cambria
as a district of its own. This change
might work two results. Cambria
might have a change of heart some,
day and send Col. Warren Worth Bai-
ley back to Washington. And Fulton
and Bedford have enough sleeping
Democrats who might be aroused to a
strength that would occasionally over-
come the Republican vote of Hunting-
.don and Blair.
— President Harding, to sum the
whole message up in a paragraph, has
a foreign policy that he doesn’t know
himself and is therefor unable to give
«Congress or any one else an idea of
what the chaos in his mind is.
tions and yet has the temerity to sug-
gest that some future arrangement
will be made whereby th: League ma-
chinery that other nations have built
up will be used to execute his plans.
In other words he wants to edit the
paper but he won’t help furnish the
plant to publish it.
—The Vares double crossed the col-
ored brethren of their bailiwick in
Philadelphia last year by beating one
of them for alderman and then when
they were threatened with the loss of
the colored vote, which they surely
needed, they came through by send-
ing two of them to the Legislature.
One of the brethren promptly intro-
duced an equal rights bill, Senator
Penrose vociferously endorsed it, and
it went through the House with a bang.
Then the gang went home for the
week-end and thousands of white con-
stituents wanted to know why their
Member had voted to give the colored
man more rights than the white man
has—and that is exactly what this bill
would give him—and now the equal
rights bill is “pickled” in the Senate
and the colored geammen who voted as
they were told last fall are supposed
to forget all about it before their
votes are needed again.
He
says he is out of the League of Na-
| hecessary
sengers.
"it is found that the crowd could be ac-
commodated in the cars originally in
the train. Thinking the extras might
be necessary along the line they are
left on the train and it is ready to
' start, but can’t go until another brake-
man is called because of the extra
coaches.
extra brakeman for he merely sits in
‘an empty coach and makes a day by
riding through to Lock Haven, with-
| out rendering service to any one. The
! full crew law compels the company to
: Beep him there and the public pays the
« bill.
ny is moving to repeal the full crew
den to the cost of railroad operation.
at least a part of this great expendi-
for the comfort of the pas-
They are hooked on before
"and 1920
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION.
Cost of Official Profligacy.
The profligacy of the present Leg-
islature has gone beyond the limit of
gossip. It has become a scandal, The
. Auditor General of the State who will
' become State Treasurer next month,
in a recent statement to a group of
Legislators said that he is obliged to
appoint inefficient officials to satisfy
political obligations and then it be-
' comes necessary to employ efficient
men, without the authority of law, to
' perform the work. For this and other
reasons the cost of administering the
office of Auditor General has increas-
ed from $55,150 in 1900 to $550,000
in 1920. In 1900 the per capita cost
of the office was less than one dollar.
In 1920 the cost of the Auditor Gen-
‘ eral’s office was nearly ten dollars for
each man, woman and child in the
State.
Almost the same discrepancy is
shown in other departments of the
State government. For the year
1900 the cost of administering the of-
fice of State Treasurer was $23,900.
In 1920 the expense of the same serv-
ice to the tax payers of the State was
$150,000. For the two years 1889 and
There is no necessity for an : 1900 the entire cost of the State gov-
ernment was $22,896,218. For 1919
it was $103,862,641. In
1900 the expense was $4.35 for each
man, woman and child in the State
and in 1920 it was about $12.00 per
' capita, an increase of about 176 per
| cent., while the increase in population
i The public is interested for two rea- { was only about 66 per cent. This dif-
| sons: Many needless bills of cost |
i have been added to the operation of
{our railroads and the public pays
i them. We buy a ton of coal in Osceo-
i 1a for $3.00 and then pay $2.06 to have
: it hauled to Bellefonte in car load lots.
Four years ago the freight was only
79 cents. Passenger fares have
mounted in the same way.
Simply because it is a corporation
nobody seems to be concerned. Its
property is destroyed, juries pile inor-
dinate costs onto it and generally itis
kicked around like the proverbial
“houn’ dawg.”
And who are the sufferers? Right
here in Bellefonte we opine that there
are more widows and orphans depend-
ing on their ificome from investments
in Pennsylvania railroad securities
tran from any other source.
Pennsylvania stock is a trust invest-
ment in this State and women, especi-
ally, have relied on it for years as the
repository in which to safely place
their scanty savings. The stock is
now lower than it has been since 1879
and unless we misread the signs the
next dividend will either be passed en-
tirely or reduced to 4%. Either action
will bring great hardship into some
homes in Bellefonte that we know of
and Bellefonte is only one community
in many in this Commonwealth.
The “Watchman” has always been
the laborer’s friend and is today, but
labor has no right to impose on that
friendship by insisting that this cor-
poration should be subjected to need-
less expenditure for its benefit, when
they contribute to the injury that is
being done the innocent persons who
have furnished the money to make the
business possible.
The full crew law more often makes
jobs for needless employees than it
makes for the safety of the passenger.
It is little more than a sinecure for
the employees of the Company and if
its repeal is going to help bolster up
the tottering financial position of this
once Gibraltar of securities it is time
the public wakens up to its own inter-
ests a bit, before the selfishness of
those employees who refuse to take a
reasonable wage cut contributes to
the distress of those whose all is in-
vested in Pennsylvania securities.
— Unless the signs are disappoint-
ing the opening of Congress is the be-
ginning of the end of Republican con-
trol in this country.
It Pays to Advertise.
In the issue of March 1ith the fol-
lowing item appeared in this paper:
WANTED.—A private bootlegger.
Lepore for duty all day the 15th of
April.
As is well known only very desper-
ate men go into the boot-legging
' game, for Rev. Johnson, Commission-
er Kramer and Miss Rebecca Rhoads
"are constantly on the alert to bring
them into the clutches of the law and
|
| Whether we could procure a good one
for today.
Advertising in the “Watchman” al-
ways did bring results, so we were not
greatly surprised when a rather like-
ly looking fellow rushed into the office
yesterday, took us into a secluded cor-
ner of the composing room and whis-
pered: “I am your man.”
Of course the very nature of the
! business makes it impossible for us to
give him away but if we were to so
far forget ourselves as to “welch” on
a real friend a certain congregation in
Bellefonte would be looking Tor a new
preacher. We couldn’t take him, how-
ever, because he was too late. The
job had already been pre-empted by a
very prominent elder in his own
! church. :
in consequence we had doubt as to
ference can be accounted for only in
the profligacy of the administration.
The system of appointments describ-
! ed by the Auditor General is responsi-
i ble for it.
But the Legislature pays no atten-
tion to these grim facts. It is going
on with the profligate program to
make the Sproul administration one of
“illustrious achievement.” Laws mul-
tiplying offices and increasing sala-
ries are being passed and approved
every week and the mountain of ex-
penses is constantly growing. To
meet these added charges new objects
of taxation are being sought in every
direction and it is now estimated that
the burden of taxes will be increased
1
to the extent of thirty million dollars.
Industry is paralyzed, commerce is
stagnant, wages are being reduced
and the future looks gloomy.
Legislature is not disturbed by such
signs of impending distress. The
Governor’s program of magnificent
achievement must be fulfilled.
—TIrish-Americans who supported
the Republican candidate for Presi-
dent in consideration of a promise of
help, received the first installment of
their recompense the other day in the
order that the Lord Mayor of Cork
leave the country.
Juggling Funds in Harrisburg.
The esteemed Philadelphia Record
describes one of the processes of ab-
stracting funds from the State Treas-
ury as follows: “The Department of
{ Public Grounds and Buildings was
| created at the last session of the Leg-
, islature, and presents one of the most
| peculiar phases of government in the
! State. It is presided over by a com-
i mission that is lavish in its expendi-
i tures and reports only to its own
, members. Sitting on this Commission
are the Governor, the Auditor Gener-
lal and the State Treasurer. The
| Treasurer, it is presumed, pays out
| the money authorized by the commis-
| sion of which he is a member. The
| Auditor General audits the accounts
i of the commission of which he is a
member.” °
| As our Philadelphia contemporary
| observes “this arrangement offers ex-
: cellent possibilities for the practice of
i economy. And by the same token it
| offers possibilities in the other direc-
| tion.” For example, the fact has been
' revealed that some time ago the sum
| of $350,000 was taken from the wel-
fare commission, without authority of
lav, and given to the Department of
' Public Grounds and Buildings. After
, an investigation was suggested the
sum was retransferred. It is admit-
| ted that the money was spent by the
Department of Public Grounds and
. Buildings but when the fuss was kick-
ed up a similar sum, for the original
had been disposed of, was dug up
from somewhere and put back where
it belonged.
This juggling of funds was mani-
festly for the purpose of concealing
i illegal practices. It was reasoned
' that the Welfare Commission having
finished its work with a balance, in
i hand the money could be taken with-
i out discovery for use in meeting ob-
| ligations ‘in another department. But
| the activities of Representative Alex-
! ander disturbed the plans and the De-
, partment which had wrongfully ac-
| quired the fund felt it expedient to
' make restitution. Thus far, however,
no statement has been made as to
where the Department of Public
Grounds and Buildings found so much
{ money. The big deficiency bills pass-
ed and approved without explanation,
may have been intended for such pur-
poses, but was hardly
soon.
But the.
available so, roll”
BELLEFONTE, PA. APRIL 15, 1921.
What’s the Matter With Penrose? |
There is a growing anxiety in the
public mind concerning the health,
physical or mental, of the Hon. Boies
Penrose, Senator in Congress for
Pennsylvania. Some time ago he was
positive, even emphatic, in his decla-
ration on public questions and the in-
dications pointed to a complete resto-
ration of his health. When the ab-
surd Fordney Emergency tariff bill
was introduced he promptly denounc-
ed it as a preposterous expedient.
Shortly afterwards he said openly
that it didn’t matter who was Secre-
tary of State in the Harding cabinet,
the Senate would shape the foreign
policy of the government. When
Sproul’s purpose to tax industry mer-
cilessly was announced he emphatical-
ly put his foot on the plan.
But recently he has adopted an op-
posite course and “roars as gently as
any sucking dove.” Instead of carry-
ing out ‘his announced policy of
strangling the Fordney bill he became
its champion in the Senate and instead
of dictating the foreign policy of the
administration he tamely submits to
any proposition which Secretary
Hughes advances. Finally he has
yielded to the demands of the Gover-
nor fipon the tax question and given
his dssent to any exactions His Excel-
lency feels disposed to lay upon the
people. Lastly, and it gives us pain
to refer to it, he has “re-nigged” on
the equal rights bill. After all the
colored brother has done for him in
the past he now lays him, a sacrifice,
on the altar of prejudice.
There must be a reason for these
things. He has either lost his nerve
or his gizzard has ceased to function.
Everybody knows what he might do
if so inclined. As chairman of the Fi-
nance committee of the Senate he is
second only to the President of his
own creation, in power. But he does
nothing. His colleague, Senator
Knox, is making himself felt as a dis-
penser of patronage. He has named
an Ambassador, a District Attorney
and several postmasters. But Pen-
rose has had nothing and seems inca-
pable of asserting himself. It is not
his customary attitude. He has not
always been so docile or indifferent to
official patronage and control. = That
is why we think there must be some-
thing the matter with him.
——Grover Bergdoll is likely to
give Germany as much trouble as he
has given this country, though he is
not expected to be as expensive a lux-
ury there. :
Fooling the Negro Voters.
The hearing on the Asbury bill,
popularly known in the Legislature as
the “Equal Rights bill,” before the
Senate committee on Law and Order,
at Harrisburg, on Tuesday afternoon,
was a comedy. The bill, introduced by
Representative Asbury, of Phliadel-
phia, colored, purports to guarantee
to the colored brother political, civil
and social equality with the whites.
As a matter of fact it gives the col-
ored persons special privileges to
which whites never laid claim. A bar-
ber, theatre manager, hotel keeper or
school proprietor may refuse to serve
a white person who is undesirable,
but under this law such treatment of
a negro would be severely penalized.
Of course such a law would be in-
valid as a violation of the constitu-
tion. But the Republican managers
have been promising such legislation
to the colored voters for many years
and now that the colored vote has been
vastly increased by the female suf-
frage amendment, they made up their
minds to call the promise. With that
purpose in view two colored men were
elected to the Legislature and the bill
presented. At first the prospects of
its passage were meager. But the
alternative was laid before Penrose
and he issued orders that it should
pass the House. Upon reaching the
Senate it got into Senator Salus’ com-
mittee by some fluke, and instead of
strangling it he had it reported favor-
ably.
Naturally a howl of indignation was
aroused upon its passage in the
House but Senator Salus, whose seat
in the Senate is an unearned donation
from the negro voters, railroaded it
through the committee and got it be-
fore the Senate before the opposition
| woke up. It was never intended to let
it go so far and with the view of
pickling it was recommitted to the
committee. A hearing was held on
Tuesday afternoon and more or less
acrimonious language was used on
both sides. But the friends of the
legislation got no where. Action of
the committee was postponed until
another hearing has been held when
it will be too late to get it to a vote. '
The negroes will be fooled again. 1
——The death of the ex-Empress of
Germany removes about the only
member of the Hohenzollern family
upon whom public sympathy centered.
——1If you can’t get on the “pay
don't dispair. The “voucher
roll” is almost as good. :
NO. 15.
President Harding’s Message.
As might have been expected Pres-
ident Harding’s first message to Con-
gress is platitudinous and ambiguous.
“To establish the state of technical
peace without delay, I should approve
a declaratory resolution by Congress
to that effect with the qualifications
essential to protect all our rights,” he
said, and added, “it would be idle to
declare for separate treaties of peace
with the Central Powers on the as-
sumption that these alone would be
adequate, because the situation is so
involved that our peace engagements
cannot ignore the old world relation-
ships, nor is it desirable to do so in
preserving our own rights and con-
tracting our future relationships.”
If his purpose was to confuse the
public mind by involving himself in a
dense forest of verbiage he has suc-
ceeded, for it is impossible to guess
what he has in mind. At the outset
he declares that “in the existing
League of Nations, world governing
with its super-powers, this Republic
will ‘have no part.” In a subsequent
paragraph he states that “the wiser
course would seem to be the accept-
ance of the confirmation of our rights
and interests as already provided and
to engage under the existing treaty,
assuming, of course, that this can be
satisfactorily accomplished by such
explicit reservation and modifications
as will secure our absolute freedom
from inadvisable commitments and
safeguard all our essential interests.”
If the President’s aim was to as-
semble as many big words as possible
within the compass of an official ad-
dress, he has achieved wonders. But
he has given Congress and the country
no information that is intelligible up-
on either the foreign or domestic pol-
icies which the administration will
pursue. He favors decrease in the
cost of living and recommends. emer-
gency legislation which will keep
prices up by adding tariff charges to
the present cost of production. Of
course he would limit this as to time,
but only for the reason that he hopes
for early legislation making for the
same result in permanent form. Al-
together the first message is a
ble of meaningless platitudes.
——The wool manufacturers are
wise in refusing to quote prices for
next fall. There is no certainty at
this time how far the tariff mongers
will go.
Passing Away of the Country Hotels.
On Monday Howard Lambert made
a trip to Howard to look over the ho-
tel at that place with a view of pur-
chasing or leasing the property but he
found it in such a dilapidated condi-
tion that he reached no decision in the
matter. The hotel has been unoccu-
pied for some time and the ceilings
are falling down and marks of gener-
al decay are evident in many places.
But ‘the above is only incidental to
the fact manifest now for some years
past, and that is the passing out of
existence of the country hotel. The
time was years ago when every town
and hamlet in the country had its ho-
tel or “inn,” where the tired and hun-
gry traveler could get a meal and a
night’s rest. But the wayside inn was
the first to go, then the small town
hotel began to deteriorate and finally
to pass away until now not a dozen
remain in Centre county that are
worthy of the name. Take the Old
Fort hotel for instance, for many
years it was the most popular coun-
try hotel in this county, now it is a
farm house. Millheim at one time had
three hotels, now it- barely supports
one.
Of course some people might as-
cribe the passing of the country hotel
to the passing of booze, and while that
may have something to do with it, the
probability is that the advent of the
automobile has more to do with the
passing of the country hotel than any
other thing. In the days when all
travel was by the horse drawn vehicle
it was impossible to make big towns
in a day’s travel, but with the automo-
bile it is no trick at all, and everybody
on the road makes it a rule to get to
the large towns and the comforts of
an up-to-date hotel.
——1It looks as if Dr. Finegan is to
be the goat. He is blamed for all the
profligacy of the State administration.
“In again, out again, in again, Fne-
gan.” .
i pe pert
——1It’s all right for Governor
Sproul and Senator Crow to cherish
ambitions but they oughn’t to expect
the public to “pay the freight.”
——There may be some advantage
in postponement but Germany may as
| well understand, first as last, that the
indemnities must be paid.
— If Wilson were still President
Republican editors could easily find a
place to put the blame for the frost on
the fruit blossoms.
——Subscribe for the “Watchman.”
“is ajume
| further inquiry.
| SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE.
—During the absence of the family, a
thief entered a basement window of the
rectory occupied by the Rev. Charles
Noyes Tindell, rector of Christ Episcopal
church, of Williamsport, and ransacked
every room in the house, but took nothing
of value.
—Sweethearts and others who occupy
benches in York's parks will have to obey
certain rules issued last week by Mayor
Hugentugler. On moonlight nights lovers
will have to sit one foot apart. When the
weather is cloudy two feet apart is the reg-
ulation. The mayor intimated that on chil-
ly nights the regulations may be relaxed.
—Burglars Saturday night blew the safe
of the Smith & Clark Ice Cream company,
at Scranton, but secured only 75 cents in
pennies, although it contained $1000. When
the charge exploded it forced a safety bar
on the inside of the safe so tightly against
the cash-box that it could not be opened,
although the explosion blew the door off.
—Returning from Cresson last Thurs-
day night in an automobile, William Far-
ber, who was driving; Francis and Warren
Donoghue, Nellie Huff and Mary George,
all of Altoona, plunged into the Hollidays-
burg borough reservoir on the mountain
when the brakes refused to hold on the
steep grade, but escaped with slight inju-
ries.
—Stricken while opening the Bible to
look for his text at 10:45 Sunday morning,
the Rev. B. F. Kautz, pastor of the Spry
Lutheran church of York, dropped dead in
the pulpit. The Rev. Mr. Kautz was 70
years old and is survived by his widow
and four children. The churches of the
charge are Windsor Park, Spry ahd Bly-
mires.
—Earl H. Jamison, of Hazleton, who
served as a private with Battery A, 109th
field artillery, during the war in France
and was commissioned a second lieuten-
ant before returning home, has been nam-
ed cadet from Luzerne county to the na-
val academy at Annapolis. Jamison has
been a student at Lehigh University since
returning from overseas.
—When he mounted an ice chest to do
some repairing, J. Fred Super, a Mount
Hope business man, fell through the box,
breaking his leg and running a spike sev-
eral inches up his foot. His condition is
critical, blood poisoning being feared. Su-
per has had a run of misfortune lately
among other things an expensive fire de-
stroying part of his property two weeks
ago. .
—Forced to seek a new place of business
because his shop's location is on the site
of Williamsport’s new $1,000,000 hotel,
Mathias Engel, a barber, this week moved
from the city block on which he had done
business for forty-seven years. One of the
last customers who passed out of his shop
was a man whom he had shaved on the
first day he worked as a barber in Wil-
liamsport.
—Fines and costs collected from dog law
violators in Brandford county during the
last five weeks soared above the $1000 mark
last Thursday, when fifteen dog owners,
arraigned before local justices, paid fines
aggregating $237.46. Oteher violators in
the county will be rounded up during the
coming month by special agent Shoemak-
er, who hopes to finish his work in that
county within that time.
‘—Accusing Mitro Mitrowicz, star board-
er in his family, of disappearing with his
wife, daughter and $100 savings, John La-
bacz, of Reading, has brought suit before
a magistrate to recover the $100. Labacz’s
wife and four year old child are believed
to have gone to another town in eastern
Pennsylvania with Mitrowicz, and a con-
stable with a warrant charging larceny is
hunting the former boarder.
—Hurrying to take the week’s washing
from the line before last week's approach-
ing wind and rain storm broke, Mrs. Dan-
iel Gross, of Seager Station, was rapidly
filling her clothes basket at her side. With
her arms full of clothes she stoopped to
place them in the basket when the wind
suddenly lifted the basket and carried it
across a fence and several lots away into
a neighbor's yard, where it was deposited
right side up.
—Squire James Fowler, of Montgomery,
accompanied by his daughter, walked 2a
distance of eleven miles over the Bald Ea-
gle mountain, from his home to Williams-
port, on Monday, in celebration of his 87th
anniversary. He performed the same feat
five years ago on his 82nd anniversary, and
was then also accompanied by his daugh-
ter. He carried a cane to assist himself on
the trip, but most of the time he was
! swinging the stick over his head or using
it to point out objects of interest on the
road.
— Thirsty travelers who scan the time-
table of the Kinzua route, the little rail-
road that runs westward from Smethport,
get a thrill when they reach the announce-
ment that passenger service is operated on
“moist Mondays, Wednesdays and Satur-
days,” but the thrill disappears upon’.
The Kinzua route passes
through a heavily timbered part of Me-
Kean county. Some bad fires have occur-
red along the route. The State Forestry
Department has asked co-operation and
the owner of the road has gone so far as to
suspend operation completely when the
timbered country through which the rail-
road passes is dry.
—A huge hydro-electric plant to cost’
$3,000,000 or more is to be located at Sha-
mokin Dam, according to plans of the
Pennsylvania Power and Light company,
it was learned last week. The old Penn-
sylvania Coal company dam which spans
the Susquehanna river between Shamokin
and Sunbury is planned to be utilized and
the big plant would be located just below
what is known as the “Lock House,”
whete there is a fall in the water. Much
of the land thereabouts is owned by: the
Pennsylvania Railroad, which also owns
the dam. It is declared that the enormous
use of coal by the power company at its
eleven central Pennsylvania plants would
be entirely done away with.
—The Bethlehem Steel company has or-
dered the razing of the twin Bird Cole-
man blast furnaces at Cornwall and work
will be started next week by Edwin Helms,
a Lebanon contractor. For more than a
half century the twin Bird Coleman fur-
naces were prominently identified with the
iron industry in the Lebanon valley. Sit-
uated on the edge of the Cornwall iron ore
mines the furnaces for a quarter century
were operated by the Freeman estate, of
which the late William Freeman, father of
former Assemblyman William Coleman
Freeman, of Cornwall, was the head. Later
they were leased to the Lackawanna Iron
and Steel company and two years ago be-
came the property of the Bethlehem com-
pany at the time of its purchase of the ma-
jority interest in the Cornwall mines, the
Cornwall Railroad and the Lebanon plant
of the American Iron and Steel Manufac-
turing company.