INK SLINGS.
—There isn’t a chance of New being
the new Senator from Indiana.
— This being music week we have
the spirit but not the voice to sing.
—Sunday will be the anniversary of
the day the Lusitania was torpedoed.
—France says she'll pay us when
she gets hers, which might prove
more satisfactory if it were not con-
ditioned upon our helping her get it.
—Naturally the Germans would
make a great fuss over Jack Dempsey.
Wasn't he one of the very few who
tried to shyster out of fighting them.
—Mathilde McCormick, the Ameri-
can heiress, has not thrown the Swiss
riding master. He is still in the sad-
dle, her friends say, and will lead her
up the bridal path next month.
—Now it has developed that not
nearly all of the fruit was killed by
the freezes and frosts of April. Ap-
parently none of the apples, the late
cherries, peaches and pears were in-
jured.
—Have you ever stopped to think
what would have been the result if a
frost had killed the blossoms on that
apple tree in the Garden of Eden the
season that Adam got an itch to do
something bad.
—The more we read of the mental
processes of the Bolsheviki the more
convinced do we become that they will
only yell enough after they are flat on
their backs with all the rest of the
world menacingly astride of them.
—The Red Men of Central Pennsyl-
vania will come here next week to
camp on the ground that such real red
men as Bald Eagle and Mingo made
historic long before their white em-
ulators took to the tomahawk and
tepee.
—Mr. McSparran will be at State
College on Monday, May 22nd. The
occasion of his visit will be to confer
the Sixth degree on a class in Pomo-
na Grange, but he will take the op-
portunity to address a mass meeting
at that place at some hour during his
visit.
—The Republicans of Indiana have
recorded a crushing rebuke to the
Harding administration. The defeat
of Senator New in the primaries for
renomination and the selection of for-
mer Senator Beveridge as the party
candidate can be construed in no oth-
er sense.
—Gif. Pinchot is still raving about
a lot of things at Harrisburg that he
knew all about when he was in a po-
sition to call a halt on them. How
can reasonable people believe his pro-
fessions that as Governor he will do
what-he- failed to do while. one of the
chief advisers of the Governor.
—So President Harding has a so-
lution for the coal problem, as well as
for ending the strike of the workers
in that industry. Recalling that he
also had a solution for the troubles of
the farmers and handed them that
lemon of an emergency tariff bill we
don’t look for a Hardingesque utopia
in the coal fields for some time to
come. 2
—The Prince of Wales, that good
looking, democratic heir to the Brit-
ish throne, who set the hearts of a lot
of American debutantes thumping
when he was here two years ago, 1S
journeying in Japan and on the side
buying kimonos. The Prince is any-
thing but a Sis so they can’t be for
himself. Rumor has it that the girl
to whom he presents them will be
chosen for his bride. If that be true
we opine that a Cavendish Lady will
get the kimonos.
— Talk about looking a gift horse
in the mouth. Some time ago a char-
itably disposed gentleman learned that
a couple of ladies of Bellefonte were
trying to support a large family of
hens on an adulteration of air and
water. After more than a year of
careful investigation of the merits
of the case he sent them five steel
drums full of corn. His thought-
ful generosity was rewarded by an in-
jured-air inquiry as to why the corn
was not shelled and why the drums
didn’t have handles on them,
—The fight for the Republican Sen-
atorial nomination between the Hon.
Harry Scott and Dr. Pollum seems to
have turned definitely in favor of the
former. The personal attacks that
some members of his own party have
been making on Mr. Scott have been
discovered to be the figments of fa-
natical or personally prejudiced minds
and have had the effect of turning
many to his support who had original-
ly expressed intention of supporting
the DuBois physician. Our survey of
the situation leads us to conclude that
Scott will get the nomination easily
and that he will be defeated by Mr.
Betts, in November, just as easily.
—Did you know that when Gifford
Pinchot was appointed Commissioner
of Forestry of Pennsylvania the sal-
ary of his office was five thousand dol-
lars a year? Did you know that when
the orgy of salary raising and other
squandering of the public money be-
gan at Harrisburg ‘the’ salary of the
office he filled was raised to eight
thousand dollars? Did you know that
while the _ constitution prohibits the
present incumbent of an office from
taking “advantage of a raise in the
emoluments of the office he is then
filling, Pinchot resigned one day and
had himself re-appointed the next? A
pretty trick for a ‘man.who is now
shouting himself hoarse for honesty
in state government. What a faker!
‘What a hypocrite!
Democratic
HO
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION.
VOL. 67.
= B
Pepper a Servile Tool of the Machine.
Senator George Wharton Pepper’s
first vote in the chamber to which he
had been called by the order of Gen-
eral Atterbery revealed his moral in-
firmity. Truman H. Newberry, with
a swollen and tainted fortune, had
purchased a seat in the body for the
State of Michigan. For this crime
against the government he was indict-
ed by a Republican grand jury, tried
by a Republican jury before a Repub- |
lican judge and sentenced to a term
in prison. But his vote was needed
to give the Republican party control
of the Senate and an appeal was tak-
en to a packed higher court and the
sentence was set aside, not because
the evidence didn’t justify the convic-
tion but for the reason that party ex-
igencies required his presence in the
Senate in order to pack the committee
on Foreign Relations against the rat-
ification of the covenant of the League
of Nations.
Mr. Pepper's first vote in the Sen-
ate was to ratify the corrupt bargain
under which Newberry bought the
seat. A prolonged and searching in-
vestigation by a Republican commit-
tee of the Senate confirmed the ver-
dict of the jury which convicted New-
berry and justified the sentence of im-
prisonment by the court. Even the
resolution awarding him the seat ad-
mitted that he had commited grave
crimes against the laws of the United
States and those of the State of Mich-
igan and expressed the hope that such
a thing would never happen again.
But Senator Pepper, without reading
the evidence and without understand-
ing the facts, voted in favor of New-
berry’s retention of the seat in ful-
fillment of the alleged bargain made
with the political machine before he
was appointed to the office. He pre-
served the rule of “honor among
thieves” at the expense of justice.
For many years George Wharton
Pepper lusted for public office. Sen-
ator Penrose, who hated a hypocrite
as “the devil hates holy water,” would
not trust him and he was forced by his
inordinate ambition to appeal to the
reform elements and by professing |
morality ‘and prac the, forms of
religion, he managed at frequent in-
tervals to get himself mentioned, and
we believe once or twice nominated
for some unimportant office. But fe
was never elected because most vot-
ers saw through the veneer of his
false pretense. It was not until Pen-
rose died that he came into favor and
now he out-Vares Vare in his obedi- |
ence to party discipline and is more
servile than any of the Vare syco-
phants in obeying the orders of the |
The election of Vare |
machine bosses.
himself would be more creditable to
the State than the choice of this arch-
hypocrite and corporation lobbyist.
Democratic Governor Necessary.
Mr. Gifford Pinchot volunteers the
information that in the event of his
election to the office of Governor he
will promptly introduce the “budget
system.” It will be “as easy as roll-
ing off a log,” he declares, and sup-
ports his assertion by indicating his
plan. “Each department of the State
government,” he says, “will be called
upon to submit an estimate of the
amount necessary and that amount
will be appropriated.” If the expen-
ditures of the department are in ex-
cess of the estimate the subsequent
action ‘is left to conjecture. The de-
partment will necessarily cease to
function or operate on credit, depend-
ing upon a deficiency appropriation to
balance the books.
But that is precisely what has been
done in the past, with the result that
the last session of the Legislature en-
acted deficiency appropriation bills to
the extent of eight or ten millions and
left a balance of upward of forty mil-
lions to be taken care of later. Where
a deficiency could be concealed it was
‘allowed to remain and by process of
shifting funds from one account to
another, or “borrowing from Peter to
pay Paul” would serve the purpose,
that policy was adopted, with the re-
sult that even expert accountants are
unable to find out how much the State
owes or where the money to pay is to
come from. Mr. Pinchot is not likely
to fool any. intelligent voters by such
promises of reform.
It is true that the budget system
may be introduced at Harrisburg and
made effective but an essential pre-
requisite to the operation is the elec-
tion of a Governor who has had no po-
litical affiliations or -official relations
with those responsible for the defi-
ciencies and delinquencies of the past.
If John A. McSparran is elected Gov-
ernor next fall, for example, he will
have no personal or party friends to
shield and he may lay down and en-
force such restrictions upon depart-
ments as will © secure the result. If
Mr. Berry hadn’t been elected State
Treasurer in 1905 the people would
never have heard of the capitol graft.
Unless -a- Democrat is elected Gover-
nor this year there will be no reform.
| Both Statements Probably Correct.
i In his speech supporting the candi-
dacy of Gifford Pinchot, at Indiana,
on Saturday evening, former Banking
| Commissioner Fisher declared that un-
"less Pinchot is nominated the Repub-
'lican party of Pennsylvania will be
irretrievably wrecked. Senator Larry
‘Eyre and Senator Vare have publicly
{ declared that unless Attorney General
| Alter is nominated for Governor the
Republican party of Pennsylvania will
be hopelessly ruined. The Philadel-
phia Inquirer and the Public Ledger
of that city earnestly concur in the
opinion of Mr. Fisher. The Pittsburgh
Gazette-Times and a number of less
influential party organs of the State
; vehemently reiterate and support the
' opinions of Eyre and Vare.
{ This is a gratifying condition of af-
fairs and we most cordially agree with
| both statements. For a quarter of a
' century the Republican machine has
been exploiting the resources of the
' State and looting the public. During
‘the life of Penrose, by force of his
‘dominating will, the lid was held on
: and the people were held in ignorance
‘ of the facts. But recently, as a result
rof a quarrel among the small calibre
‘leaders who have assumed control of
{ the party organization, an exposure
has been made and the public con-
i science has been aroused. Men and
{women who have been indifferent
- heretofore are interested now and that
iis the reason that the future of the
! Republican party is in jeopardy.
But we can see no reason for regret-
ting the peril of the Republican ma-
chine or lamenting the danger that
confronts it. The Democratic party,
aided and abetted by the independent
voters and the best element of the cit-
izenship of the State, are offering a
candidate for the votes of the people
who may be depended upon to guide
the affairs of the Commonwealth along
safe lines and in straight paths to
safety. John A. McSparran is honest
and capable. He knows how to de-
fend the interests of the people and
has the courage to do that which is
necessary to accomplish
view of th 58 ;
joicing rather than regret.
——If the Republican candidates
for Governor are truthful it is fortu-
nate that the Democrats are offering
the voters a man fit for the office.
America Then and Now.
When Woodrow Wilson was “work-
ing his heart out” at Versailles two
years ago to secure enduring peace
for the world and guarantee perma-
nent safety for humanity the United
States was the most potential power
in civilization. Lloyd George, Clem-
encau and all the great statesmen of
the world deferred to the judgment of
Woodrow Wilson, and though he yield-
ed unimportant points every essential
recommendation he made in the peace
conference was adopted in the settle-
ment of the great war. Since the
work of that body of statesmen was re-
jected by the United States Senate
the prestige of our government has
been receding until now it is almost
at the vanishing point. .
At Genoa the other day Mr. Lloyd
George gave expression to the disap-
pointment of the world at this lamen-
table turn of affairs. “I wish America
were here,” he said. “We want Amer-
ica because she exercises a peculiar
authority,” he continued. But he wants
the America as expressed by Woodrow
Wilson. He wants the unselfish, the
helpful and the humanitarian Ameri-
ca that led the thought and shaped the
purposes of the peace conference at
Versailles. The America that sneak-
ingly made separate peace with Ger-
many and entered into a sectional al-
liance with Great Britain and Japan
to frighten the weak nations of the
far east should be of no more use in
Genoa than it is at home.
In an address delivered before the
Central Democratic club, of Harris-
burg, the ' other evening, James M.
Cox, of Ohio, expressed the belief that
within a comparatively brief period
of time the America which Lloyd
George had in mind will be in
the League of - Nations and whole-
heartedly rendering the service to the
world in which our late associates in
the world war are now engaged. Rea-
son will resume her place and perform
her part in the affairs of the people of
this country and when that has come
about the “spleen of Lodge” will no
longer determine the policies of our
government. The American people
‘are just as sensible as courageous and
will perform their part. ,
. :
- ——Senator Pepper may be defeat-
ed for the nomination but Senator
Vare can get him:appointed ward con-
stable which: will ‘be just as good.
——————————————
——DeValera doesn’t sound like an
Irish name but; the Irish ex-Presi-
dent’s pugnacity qualifies him to claim
that he is Irish.
the result. In.
ELLEFONTE, PA. MAY 5. 1922.
Shady Deal in Oil.
The administration forces of the
Senate have been forced into provid-
ing for an investigation of a “deal”
said to have been entered into by the
Secretary of the Navy and the Secre-
tary of the Interior on one side and
the Mammoth Oil company on the oth-
er, some weeks ago. It is the first in-
vestigation the Senate has allowed to
go through and interest in it increas-
es because of its striking resemblance
to the “timber land deal” of the then
Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Balling-
er, during the Taft administration.
The Mammoth oil company is a Del-
aware corporation apparently organ-
ized for the purpose of defrauding the
government out of some exceedingly
valuable oil deposits in Wyoming.
It appears the government owns
some very promising oil territory in
that western State which has been
placed under the control of the Navy
Department with the view of secur-
ing oil reserves for use of the war
ships and other naval vessels in com-
mission, when needed in the future.
The public lands in which this oil
pool, commonly known as the “Tea-
pot Dome,” is located is under the con-
trol of the Secretary of the Interior.
The Mammoth oil company controlled
by a few pet politicians wanted the
oil and entered into secret negotia-
tions with the two government offi-
cials and secured the lease on condi-
tions very favorable to the oil compa-
ny and correspondingly unfavorable to
the government.
Senator King, of Utah, brought the
matter to the attention of the Senate,
and other Democratic Senators joined
in a protest against the deal. But
Secretary of the Interior Fall found
it convenient to take a vacation and
the Department reported that no in-
formation on the subject could be giv-
en in his absence. Meantime the oil
company was proceeding with increas-
ed energy to complete the deal by tak-
ing possession of the property. At
this stage of the proceedings Senator
LaFollette introduced a resolution for
an. investigation and the whole crowd
been thrown in ‘a panic. TI
Eb. Th
in the case and Secretary Fall’s vaca-
tion may be extended indefinitely.
——The treasurer’s sale of unseat-
ed lands is advertised in this issue of
the “Watchman” and can be found on
page 2. Time was when the number
of tracts advertised for sale filled al-
most a page in the county papers but
the list has been gradually cut down
until now there is only about one-third
of a page. But most of the tracts
now advertised exist in fact and
net in title only, but at the forth-
coming sale many of them will not
bring enough to wipe out the taxes
against them.
——For the hunting season of 1921
the number of resident licenses iss ied
in Centre county was 5331, and non-
resident 11. Of this number only 640
hunters sent in a report of game kill-
ed to the State Game Commission.
While this is a small per cent. it per-
haps represented the number of hunt-
ers that got game worth reporting.
——Senator McCumber is back
home trying to make the farmers be-
lieve that the tariff bill when enacted
into law will be of great advantage to
them. But the result of the emergen-
cy bill makes them credulous.
——————————e nat ere ——
——However loud Mr. Pinchot
shouts now the thoughtful voter will
wonder why he kept so quiet about the
profligacy of the Sproul administra-
tion during the long period he occu-
pied a seat in the cabinet.
——Every department of the gov-
ernment is able to show big savings,
but the fact remains that there is no
decrease in the total expenditures of
all the departments together.
——The times are certainly out of
joint when reasoning men and women
can feel a hope that Albert J. Bever-
idge, of Indiana, may be nominated
for Senator in Congress.
——Those Chinese factionalists are
exceedingly inconsiderate in starting
war just after the Washington confer-
ence had settled amicably all’ differ-
ences in the East.
——Andy Mellon, of Pittsburgh,
was never considered an adroit poli-
tician but he appears to be the safety
valve of the Harding administration.
——The vast amount of money
spent in trying to sell bogus stocks re-
veals the . inexaustible optimism of
the average crook: :
—Thus far ‘May has” brought far
more seasonable weather than April
gave us,
«Subscribe for the “Watchman”
NO. 18.
Frenzied Red Finance.
From the Philadelphia Public Ledger.
Requisition follows inquisition in
Russia. Requisition is a prettier name
than robbery. But it means that the
long arm of Bolshevist brigandage is
reaching out to loot the shrines.
In the history of our own land, pa-
triots melted lead statues and vessels
and even rain-gutters to make bullets.
The Soviets might be gathering the
eikos, the gold and the jewels to pay
the arrears of debt to France and oth-
er lands. But the temper that brought
the Russians to Genoa with a demand
for $25,000,000,000 does not suggest
that they are gathering the spoil
from the temples for the sake of pay-
ing their debts.
For debts, there is the paper mon-
ey. You can have as much of it as
you like at a million rubles—and
sometimes even four million—to the
dollar. The money market in Mos-
cow is reeling drunk. Today it is
holding high wassail with 100,000,000-
ruble notes. This is the fulfillment,
it would seem, of the Soviet threat
made a year ago to issue so much pa-
per that money would become worth-
less and reversion would be made to
the cumbrous archaic system of pay-
ment in kind.
But the exchanges and bourses that
cannot have the “acres of diamonds”
taken from the cathedrals, where the
lamps and crosses glittered through
the blue haze of the incense and the
voices of singers were reverently re-
verberant, are not going to accept the
output of the teeming printing-press-
es as a substitute. Pillaging the
churches and persecuting the priests
do not increase the faith of foreign
financiers in the good intentions pro-
claimed by Tchitcherin at Genoa. One-
half the Bolshevist house is forever
in the field as Krassin was in London
or Martens was in New York, to per-
suade the world that the Soviet reg-
ime is cruelly maligned and really
just and generous; while at home, un-
happily, the tactics that no craft can
keep from outer ears destroy belief
in the heralded sincerity and self-sac-
rifice. : 2
Receivers of stolen goods are the
last people who have a right to expect
honest men to open an account and do
business with them. The paper prom-
ises that issue from a den of thieves
and cutthroats hoarding their loot are.
A the poorest
the business world today.’ * » =.
ests. ||
G. O. P. Fear of the Truth.
From the Philadelphia Record.
Republican partisans in Pennsylva-
nia have frequently accused “The Rec-
ord” of unfairness in its efforts to tell
the truth about the management of
the business of the State and to let in
the light upon the methods employed
in controlling the G. O. P. machine.
Now that we have a contest for the
Republican nomination for Governer
and future control of the machine,
both of which are to be settled at the
May primary election, we wonder
what the critics of “The Record” think
of the things the rival candidates and
their supporters are saying. Cannot
they now see for themselves that the
State has been misgoverened and that
things have been dominated by the
few bosses who have thought more of
plans to keep control of party ma-
chinery than of giving the people hon-
est and economical government?
In the face of the efforts to get
votes by telling part of the truth, is it
any wonder that the organs of the G.
O. P. and those individuals who are
looking ahead to future control of the
machine are beginning to warn the
candidates and their spokesmen to
stop telling the truth, on the ground
that the truth is harmful to the fu-
ture prosperity of the machine and
those who control it?
The machine managers are certain-
ly in a bad position, but their troubles
are hardly less than those of the oth-
er machinists who hope to take over
the organization and are fearful that
too much of the truth now may make
it more of a liability than an asset.
rm — mi
Croker Finishes.
From the Altoona Tribune.
For about a score of years Richard
Croker, who died at Dublin, Ireland,
on Saturday, has been living on the
other side of the Atlantic, chiefly in
Ireland, his native land. He came to
America when a mere boy but soon
became inerested in politics, especially
the politics of New York city. In the
beginning he was poor but he man-
aged to pick up gradually so that
when he left the leadership of Tam-
many hall in 1902, after a busy and
not too nice reign of sixteen years, he
was immensely wealthy. He succeed-
ed John Kelly as boss of Tammany
and during the period of leadership
was absolutely supreme. Along about
1902 the situation became too danger-
ous for him here and he abandoned
politics and went across the seas. He
lived to the age of four score but
there is no outward evidence that he
was ever other than a demoralizing
and evil force in the world.
‘Call to Throw Away “Bricks.”
From the Harrisburg Telegraph (Rep).
George E. .Alter and Gifford Pin-
chot are both clean and able Republi-
cans who are a credit to their party.
This being so, why the bitterness and
mud-throwing among their over-zeal-
ous supporters here ‘and there? If
the nominee is to have the united sup-
port after May 16, a little less of the
superheated atmosphere is desirable.
SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE.
—Since August 15th, 1921, the Rev. Alex-
ander Agnew, pastor of the Mill Hall
Church of Christ, has added 2552 names to
the roll of his church. The population of
Mill Hall is 1281.
—James B. Aurand and his mother, Mrs.
Maggie E. Aurand, left Lewistown on Sat-
urday Tor Salt Lake City, Utah, where they
will visit Mrs. Aurand’s sister, Mrs. Mary
A. Goss, now 90 years old. The two sis~
ters have not seen each other since the
close of the Civil war.
—Fire which broke out Monday morn-
ing completely destroyed the Frank R. Ot-
to Furniture company plant in Williams-
port, causing an estimated loss of $50,000.
The origin of the fire is not known as there
was no watchman on duty. The fires had
been drawn under the boilers Saturday
night.
—For the first time in Northumberland
county a woman was sent to jail last week
for failure to send her children to school.
Mrs. Annie Besteigge, of Marion Heights,
police say, declared she didn’t have to send
her boy to a public educational inmstitu-
tion. She was fined $2 and costs and in
default was sent to jail for two days.
—Burglars risked capture in the busi-
ness district of Allentown and wrecked the
office of Edwin Koch. flour and feed deal-
er, to blow open a large safe on Friday
night only to find it empty. They did not
know that it had been left open. A small-
er safe in an adjoining room, which also
had been left open, was locked by the bur-
glars.
—The Keystone Power company, of
Ridgway, has purchased the land from
Tom Callagan, located along the banks of
the West Branch of the Susquehanna riv-
er and Sinnemahoning creek, at Keating,
and propose building a large power house
to supply power to the entire West Branch
valley, extending its lines as far east as
Harrisburg.
—When an ax slipped while cutting cord-
wood last Saturday, William Coveleskie,
aged 52 years, of Elysburg, cut his right
foot almost off. He made a tourniquet
out of his shirt and hobbled a mile to the
farm house of Galen Clark, where he was
rushed to the State hospital at Shamokin.
Doctors say he probably saved his life by
using his shirt.
—William Shade, aged 92 years, the old-
est man in Mifflin county, is dead at his
home near Newton Hamilton. Deceased
was a life long resident of the farm on
which he died in Wayne township, served
in Company F, 102nd Pennsylvania Vol-
unteers, during the Civil war, and is sur-
vived by ten children, fifty-four grand,
134 great-grand and twenty great-great-
grandchildren.
—=Suits for $30,000 damages have been
brought against the Philadelphia and
Reading Railway company by Mr. and
Mrs, Stephen Hudock, of Mt. Carmel, as
the result of a wreck that occurred near
Ashland the night of July 2, 1920. The
woman alleges she was permanently hurt
and asks $20,000, while the husband is
seeking $10,000 as a result of the loss of
his wife's services.
—W. C. Moulton, of Scranton, has ap-
pealed to the State Supreme court in an
effort to have set aside a decision of the
Northumberland county court holding that
he has no title to a $2,000,000: culm bank
| on his. land in Treverton, Northumberland -
county. Ownership “of the culm pile has
been in question in the courts for the last
six years, and at ome trial the first, the
jury held that he was the owner of the
culm pile. .
—YVandals on Sunday wrecked the mine.
of the Baylor Coal Mining company two
miles from Coalmont, in the Broad Top
bituminous field. Cables were cut, mine
cars were smashed, the office was wrecked
and the steam hoisting engine damaged.
Harry Weyandt was developing the mine
under contract for the ‘Baylor company
with non-union miners. Officials of the
company say the men who wrecked the
mine first. made certain the watchman was
too intoxicated to offer resistance.
—=Seeking permission to trap or shoot a
wild turkey gobbler which for years has
caused her all manner of trouble, Mrs.
Warner Baldwin, who lives in the heart of
the Black Log mountains near Newton
Hamilton, has appealed to the State Game
Commission for the necessary sanction.
Mrs. Baldwin breeds turkeys for the mar-
ket, and she says the intruding gobbler,
who annually constitutes himself king of
the flock, thrashes the domestic gobblers
and literally “rules the roost.” She is anx-
ious to end the reign of terror among her
domestic fowls. :
‘—A gas well with an estimated flow of
1,000,000 to 3,000,000 cubic feet was struck
on the farm of Frank Gear, Fairview Hill,
about four miles from Johnsonburg, Elk
county. The well is’ on the lease belong-
ing to S. P. Oakes. The gas came in with
tremendous force just as the Speechley
sand was to be penetrated. Two days pre-
vious a 500,000 foot flow was encountered
in the Tiona sand, but the drilling was
continued to a depth of 2020 feet. The gas
field in which the new well is located is
an old and much prospected area and there
are several producing wells within a radi-
us of 1000 feet.
—Escape of three prisoners from the
Franklin county jail was discovered Sat-
urday morning by Sheriff Mayer. The fu-
gitives are Frank Lochbaum and Owen
Fleet, sentenced for wife desertion, and
Samuel Shockey, committed on a charge
of larceny. A fourth prisoner, Eugene
Roberts, was found on the ground beneath
a third-story window with a broken hip.
Shockey, who was a trusty, is believed to
have aided the other two in the escape.
The four prisoners made a rope of blan-
kets to reach the ground from the cell
room on the third floor of the building.
Roberts fell and was injured when the
rope parted. %
—Judge Thompson, of the Orphans’
Court of Philadelphia, handed down an
opinion on April 27 dismissing the contest
in the case of William Thompson, wealthy
steel broker and former resident of Alex-
andria.’ The case was a contest of the will
of Mr. Thompson by William T. Stewart,
a nephew. Judge Thompson declared no
undue influence had been brought to bear
upon Mr. Thompson and that he was not
only not mentally incapable of making a
will, but had a mind of unusual vigor, vi-
rility and independence. It is not likely
an appeal will be taken. The J. C. Blair
Memorial hospital, at Huntingdon, receives
the income from $10,000 under the terms
of the will. John Scott, the executor, is
authorized under the will to distribute the
bulk of the estate to charitable uses. Mr,
Thompson's estate is estimated at approx«
imately $1,000,000.