——————————————————————————
INK SLINGS.
—Slemp made the assertion and
Coolidge denied. It’s Slemp’s move.
—It’s back to the simple life for
Calvin and to “Hell and Maria” for
Dawes. -
—Whether they finally name a tick-
et in New York or not you all know
where we stand. We're ferninst Cool-
idge and Dawes.
—Of course there was nothing else
for the boys to do when the girls took
to knickers than retaliate by strut-
ting in wide-bottomed pants.
—That fellow who had the big
‘moonshine plant up at Scotia deserv-
ed to be discovered and raided. What
right had he to make it in Centre and
haul it all up to Blair to dispense?
— Lieut. Maughan’s successful flight
from New York to San Francisco,
from daylight until darkness, adds
another clincher to the superstition
that “the third attempt is the charm-
2d one.”
—The flower boxes are on the lamp
posts, but, considerately, they have
been suspended high enough to leave
anchorage below for any who might
come staggering under their loads of
rye, barley or corn.
—This thing of eating mackeral
‘and smoked herring between the fif-
teenth of April and the first of Au-
gust is a humiliation that we never
‘thought of enduring until the trout
-season of 1924 proved a “flop.”
—From a burning tailor shop in
Washington seven suits of clothes be-
longing to Chief Justice Taft were
rescued. Isn’t it too bad Congress
has adjourned? Otherwise we might
have an investigation as to what right
any man has to have seven suits of
«clothes.
—Everybody was complaining about
‘the cut and dried dullness of the
Cleveland convention—there was noth-
.ing breaking, as the news writers
would say. There is so much break-
ing in New York that if it all doesn’t
-get through pretty soon most of the
delegates will be broke.
—The spectacle of Vance McCor-
mick loitering about hotel lobbies in
New York hoping to get a ticket with
which to get into the convention
might have appeared tragic to some,
but it wasn’t. It was only the fortune
.of politics. In 1912 the wheel turned
him up and twelve years later it turn-
ed him down and that is the fate of
many, in politics, society and business.
—What’s the use of the band prac-
ticing all winter to get its pianissimo
movements as soft and smooth as
they shoud be when motor horns and
racing engines drown all the beauty
of the music of the open air concerts.
If-we were the band we wouldn’t play
another note “of concert music in
Bellefonte unless the burgess roped
off the square in which we were play-
ing.
—The Pennsylvania delegation to
New York played true to form. It
dedicated its headquarters in the Ho-
tel Pennsylvania, by staging a fight
the very first time they got together.
Judge Bonniwell thought enough def-
erence was not being paid him by Na-
tional committeeman Joe Guffey; Miss
Archer accused Joe of short-changing
some of the delegates on convention
tickets and somebody asked Bill Ber-
ry to have a drink, then the fight was
on. It was all “piffle,” of course, but
knowing as much of our party’s lead-
ers in the State as we do we are con-
strained to say that they thrive on
“piffie.” They couldn’t forget it for a
minute. If they did there’d be noth-
ing to fight about.
— Philipsburg is to have what her
newspapers call “a real, old time
Fourth of July celebration” with a pa-
rade, sports and fire-works. Philips-
burg is going to have nothing of the
kind. Doubtless there will be a lot of
money spent on bands, decorations,
floats, pyrotechnics and entertainment
and everything will be as fine as Phil-
ipsburg usually does things, but the
Potter house, the Passmore, the Coal
Exchange, the Continental and the
other hostleries of that place will not
have improvised bars running clear
back to the alleys behind them and
“Uncle Jack” Graham will not be
wearing the grand marshall’s sash, so
Philipsburg is not going to next week,
nor will it ever again have a “real,
old fashioned Fourth of July celebra-
tion. The truth of the matter is that
there are only a few Philipsburgers
today who know anything about the.
riproarious times they had on the
Fourth in their town thirty years ago.
—We are glad to note that many of
the State delegations to the New
York convention seriously discussed
the advisability of a return to the old
form of party conventions for the
nomination of State, county and local
candidates for office. We have been
for that ever since we discovered that
the direct primary proved a failure as
a guarantee that better men would be
named for office by a public referen-
dum than through a convention of
delegates. Since the direct primary
became operative men have gained
nominations and been elected by de-
fault, who would never have received
the approval of any party convention.
Aside from this abortive result there
has been a general decadence and dis-
integration of parties. The conven-
tions were the opportunities for men
of all parts of the counties or the
State to meet, form friendships and
discuss party principles. The result
was there was more real interest in
politics, more cohesive devotion to a
principle and a greater realization of
the duty of every one to fight for
good government.
VOL. 69.
Hopeful Information from Europe.
The most hopeful information that
has come from Europe in recent years
is contained in a statement from Ber-
lin to the effect that the League of
Nations is about to undertake an ad-
justment. of the differences between
France and Germany and the dis-
putes among other countries on ac-
count of boundary claims growing out
of the war. The process is for the
League to take over the functions of
the Interallied Commission and as-
sume responsibility for policing Ger-
many, Austria, Hungary and Bulga-
ria. It is stated that Great Britain
and France have consented to this
proposition and believed that Germany
will acquiesce. In that event there
would be little cause for quarreling
among those people.
The occupancy of the Ruhr valley
by French troops has been the dis-
turbing element in every attempt at
adjustment of the reparation question
since it began nearly two years ago.
At the time it was deemed by the
French government a necessary step
and full of promise. But Great Brit-
ain failed to give it moral support and
the “passive” resistance by Germany
proved too formidable to overcome.
Subsequent offers of Germany to re-
sume payments of reparations were
contingent on the evacuation of the
Ruhr section and France would not
agree to that. The result has been
years of expensive and destructive
bickering which got neither party
anywhere and brought advantage to
nobody.
Meantime the League of Nations
has been making progress and doing
good in various ways without feeling
able to extend a helpful hand in this
major controversy until now. But it
is better late than never and its prop-
osition to assume the obligation of
policing Germany will make possible
the evacuation of the Ruhr by France :
and the restoration of complete peace
throughout Central Europe. That
will be a great step in the direction
of world wide prosperity and the only
reason for regret is that because of
blind partisanship the government of
the United States has no part in this
beneficent achievement.
moving in the direction of member-
ship, but Mexico and Turkey are still
with us outside.
——The repeal of the war tax on
telephone and telegraph messages,
theatre admissions and amusement
fees of fifty cents or less, becomes ef-
fective next Wednesday, July 2nd.
The Slemp-Butler Mystery.
The mystery that envelopes the
break between the President’s secre-
tary, Mr. C. Bascom Slemp, and the
President’s campaign manager, Mr.
William M. Butler, increases in inter-
est as its details are developed. Mr.
Slemp, a more or less shady politician,
was appointed secretary to the Presi-
dent because he enjoyed the reputa-
tion of being the most expert dealer
in colored delegates in this country.
In pursuance of expectations he secur-
ed for the President all the southern
delegates in the Cleveland convention.
Having accomplished this result he
went to the convention expecting to
exercise considerable influence in the
deliberations. Manager Butler simply
flouted his pretentions.
Mr. Slemp naturally resented this
treatment of him by an amateur
whose blunders became the laughing |
stock of the convention and upon his
return to Washington made complaint
to the President. At this point the
mystery sets in. The President was
obliged to take one side or the other
of the controversy and after reason-
ing for an hour and a half with
Slemp, agreed Mr. Butler's power as
campaign manager would be with-
drawn, and an advisory committee ap-
pointed to manage the campaign with
Slemp as an important figure in the
organization. The President proba-
bly imagined this would be a secret
arrangement and that Mr. Butler
would never know that he had been
so summarily demoted.
But Slemp “spilled the beans.” In
his elation over the victory over But-
ler he took the newspaper writers in-
to his confidence and they revealed
the plans. What Butler said or did
in the matter has not been disclosed
but the President has since seen fit to
repudiate the statement of Slemp, in
doing which he revealed his own du-
plicity. Slemp is away from Wash-
ington on personal business at pres-
ent and his reaction to the President’s
statement is left to conjecture. But
all in all the incident has created a
situation that must necessarily be em-
barrassing to all concerned. It proves
Slemp a liar or Mr. Coolidge a pre-
varicator and the public can pay its
money and take its choice.
——It may be set down as certain
that the fellow who asks for a late
vacation has a hunting trip in mind.
A ——
——1If Europe really wants to bor-
row Herbert Hoover we freely give
! our consent.
STATE RIGHTS AN
D FEDERAL UNION.
BELLEFONTE, PA.. JUNE 27. 1924.
Right but on Dangerous Ground.
The friends and neighbors of Gen-
eral Dawes, Republicaan candidate
for Vice President, assembled at his
home in Evanston, Illinois, the other
evening, to felicitate him upon his
nomination. It was a nonpartisan af-
fair and the General appropriately
kept politics out of his interesting
talk on the occasion. “I know you
want me to say something,” he re-
marked, “and yet upon such an occa-
sion as this it would be unseemly in
me to speak in a partisan manner, but
it occurs to me that there is one sub-
ject which may be called political and
ject upon which all good citizens must
agree, and that is the curse of dema-
goguery in political discussions in
this country.”
This is a wholesome declaration and
a promising predicate at the begin-
ning of a campaign which is likely to
be both vigorous and intensive. But
if General Dawes pursues it he is
practically certain to get himself into
an uncomfortable mess before the
crucial period of the contest is reach-
ed. For example, it would be more or
less embarrassing to get into a men-
tal conflict with his associate and
chief on the ticket. That is during the
convention Mr. Coolidge acted very
much like a demagogue while he was
instructing his friends to be for one
candidate for Vice President and as-
suring the public that he had no
choice. There is a good deal of dema-
goguery also in his treatment of Sec-
retary Slemp in the matter of com-
plaint against chairman Butler.
Then the platform upon which Gen-
eral Dawes stands for election is
reeking with demagoguery. “We rec-
ognize the duty of constant vigilance
to preserve at all times a clean and
Germany is’
| bar of justice for speedy or
| prosecution, All this looks like dem-
honest government and to bring to
the bar of justice every defiler of the
public service, in or out of office,” is
a declaration which can hardly be rec-
'onciled with Mr. Coolidge’s attitude
toward Albert Fall, Harry Daugherty,
Detective Burns and Mr. Forbes, de-
spoiler of the Veterans’ Bureau. There
was certainly an absence of vigilance
while they were looting the country
and they have not been brought to the
agoguery to us.
——Whether the two-thirds rule is
abrogated by the New York conven-
tion or not it is not a good rule. Ma-
jority rule is a Democratic principle
and the two-thirds rule enables an or-
ganized minority to worry a majority
to death. +
Corruption Fund Committee.
The Senate committee to “investi-
gate campaign subscriptions and ex-
penditures” this year has an import-
ant and probably difficult work to per-
form. The committee is composed of
Senator Borah, of Idaho; Senator
Jones, of Washington, Republicans;
Senator Shipstead, of Minnesota,
Farm Labor, and Senator Bayard, of
Delaware, and Caraway, of Arkansas,
Democrats. Senator Borah has been
chosen as chairman and the headquar-
ters will be in Chicago. The resolu-
tion creating the commission author-
izes it to demand from the campaign
committees of each party a statement
of receipts and expenditures every ten
‘days with a list of the contributors
and the amount of each contribution.
It is well known that the ‘election of
the Republican candidates four years
ago was bought with money contrib-
uted by special interests and that how-
ever careless the administration has
been with respect to other pledges it
has tried hard to fulfill all obligations
to the slush fund contributors. In
some instances, as in the case of the
ship-subsidy legislation, it was disap-
pointed. But in the tariff legislation
and the disposal of the oil reserve
lands the recompense to the beneficia-
ries was sufficient to balance the books
and hold out the hope for equally lib-
eral contributions this year. The ac-
tivities of the Borah committee may
defeat their expectation, however.
When a partisan court practically
nullified the corrupt practices act of
a previous Congress, as it did in the
Newberry case, the Democrats in Con-
gress set about to enact a law that
would prevent a recurrence of his of-
fense. But the Republican leaders
prevented its enactment and up until
the closing hours of the last session
it looked as if the boodlers would
have a free hand in debauching the
ballot this year. In fact the Coolidge
campaign committee of Massachu-
setts served notice that immunity was
assured. But finally a resolution cre-
ating the committee of which Mr.
Borah is the head was passed, and if
it is sufficiently vigilant and coura-
geous, it will achieve much good.
——Two national conventions have
been held, one at Cleveland and the
other at St. Paul, but the next Presi-
dent will be nominated in New York.
. I ———— SE ———————
yet is thoroughly nonpartisan, a sub-
——The “Columbus crowd” is
unanimous for Coolidge and Dawes.
DEMOCRATS OF THE NATION
PICKING A PRESIDENT IN
NEW YORK
The National Convention of Democ-
racy in Session in New York, with
no Definite Indication of Who the
Choice Will be.
Madison Square Garden, New York,
is housing its last historic gathering.
Soon it will be torn down and forgot-
ten but forever will the work of the
Democrats of the Nation who gather-
ed there Tuseday to select a Presiden-
| tial candidate and build a party plat-
i form be remembered.
Notwithstanding the excessive heat
it is reported as being the most en-
thusiastic and earnest gathering of
party workers ever assembled under
the banner of Democracy. Repeated-
ly since the sessions opened the thous-
| ands of delegates have brushed aside
i bitter rivalries over candidates and
| policies and staged such militant
demonstrations of party enthusiasm
that even the casual observer has been
impressed with their determination
that the fires of Democracy shall not
flicker and that they all realize that
it is far better for the American peo-
ple and the future of the Democratic
party that they deny themselves some
vaunted expression or surrender some
temporary advantage and win than to
persist tenaciously and lose.
The convention convened at noon
on Tuesday and little was done other
than listen to the brilliant keynote
speech of Senator Pat Harrison, of
Mississippi, the temporary chairman.
After three hours of oratory, music
and wild demonstrations the body ad-
journed until 11 o'clock Wednesday
morning when it was opened by an
invocation by Bishop Thomas F. Gai-
lor and after hearing the reports of
various committees settled down to
enjoy the speech of the permanent
chairman, Senator Walsh, of Montana.
The committee on resolutions—the
platform committee—worked all of
Tuesday night under the chairman-
ship of Homer S. Cummings, of Con-
necticut, and on Wednesday named a
sub-committee to consider the various
platform drafts which have been pre-
pared by individual groups of party
leaders and planks submitted not only
by members but by a number of or-
nizations.
le proposal by the Texas delega-
to abolish the time honored rule
gates to insure a nomination and sub-
stituting a majority, like the Republi-
cans have, was supported by only
Florida and Utah. Had this proposal
prevailed McAdoo would probably
have won since he has nearly a major-
ity of the delegates already pledged
to him.
Under the two-thirds rule, 732 votes
are necessary for nomination, there
being 1,098 votes in the convention.
PENNSYLVANIA'S DELEGATION BE-
STOWS FAVORS.
The assignments to the big Penn-
sylvania delegation of 79 members
were bestowed by it at the first cau-
cus as follows:
Hon. Thomas H. Greevy, of Altoo-
na, for temporary chairman and Mrs.
Clarence Renshaw, of Pittsburgh, for
vice chairman.
was given a place on the resolutions
committee and Charles B. Lenahan, of
Luzerne county, was made chairman
of the delegation nothwithstanding
there was considerable insistence that
the honor should go to Judge Shull, of
Monroe county.
When McAdoo was placed in nomi-
nation on Wednesday those Pennsyl-
vanians supporting him took the State
standard and joined the howling pro-
cession of his delegates through the
aisles, There was protest on the part
of the other delegates from Pennsyl-
vania at this but no harm was done
nor votes made or lost.
Only the names of Underwood and
McAdoo had been presented to the
convention up to yesterday morning.
The body reconvened at 10:30 yes-
terday morning when it was expected
that if the platform committee was
not ready to report the names of oth-
er candidates would be presented.
As this edition went to press at 2
o’clock yesterday afternoon no fur-
ther definite report was obtainable.
It is likely that no nomination will
be made before Saturday and proba-
bly not then.
BETTING ON THE OUTCOME.
While the gambling fraternity
know little of politics they do know a
lot about the way the political game
is played. Inasmuch as they have no
personal favorites and don’t care a
whoop about who is to be the next
President of the United States their
dope is always canny and based on
only cold-blooded judgment. They
were placing bets a plenty on Tuesday
and you may gain some idea of what
is to happen by reading how the wa-
gers were placed, the odds offered on
the various open candidates, ete., on
Wednesday—Governor Smith took
second place to Senator Underwood,
of Alabama, in convention betting.
Thousands of dollars of Underwood
money found its way into Wall Street
to be placed at odds averaging 1 to
3% on his nomination.
The shortest odds previously quoted
on the Alabama Senator had been 1
to 4. The largest single bet yet plac-
ed on any of the dark horses was $5000
to $17,600 that Underwood would be
the Democratic candidate.
The company which handled this
wager placed about $100,000 in elec-
: tion bets during the day. Smith went
| definitely from 1 to 2 to 1 to 23, and
!
rn ere rs
0)
NO. 26.
$5000 was bet at 3 to 1 that he would
not be nominated.
McAdoo money became rather
scarce. One firm has $10,000 to place
at 33% to 1 that the Californian will not
be nominated but can find no takers.
A good deal more at 3 to 1 against
McAdoo was also unplaced.
The drift to Underwood was largely
at the expense of the other dark horse
candidates. Backers of Davis, Ral-
ston, Glass, Walsh and others did not
look on the prevailing odds for their
candidates—ranging from 1 to 3 to 1
to 12, as particularly favorable.
There were also bets of 4 to 1 that
neither Davis, Ralston, Glass nor Cope-
land will be nominated. Odds of 7 to
1 were offered that no candidate
prominently mentioned will be nomi-
nated. One bet of $200 to $1200 was
recorded that Smith will be the next
President.
About the hotels and along Broad-
way it was different. Here Smith was
a hot favorite and several bets were
made at even money on his chances.
The Governor’s backers in the lobbies,
barber shops, theatres and street cor-
ners had about $100,000 to lay and
most of it was taken. As in Wall
Street, McAdoo men were hard to find
but money was bet on both Ralston
and Davis at 1 to 2.
THE KEYNOTE SPEECH.
The oratory of Senator Pat Harri-
son, of Mississippi, is always as vig-
orous as it is picturesque. For that
was he chosen to sound the keynote
at the Democratic National Conven-
tion. Comment upon the manner in
which he acquitted himself, in a
speech loaded with TNT and spark-
ling with epigrams, seems almost
superfluous. It must be read in full
to be appreciated. There is not a dull
paragraph in it, nor one which fails
to ring out loud and clear as the
sledgehammer of logic strikes its ti-
tan blows upon the anvil of truth.
His declaration that we need a Paul
Revere, not a “Sphinx” in the White
House, brought the great audience in
the Garden to its feet with a mighty
roar of approval and, when talking
of the rejected Mellon tax proposal,
he laid his finger on the most vital
point of cleavage between the ideals
of Democratic and Republican forms
of government, he expressed a
thought that every man and woman
in the country should ponder over
long and well.
What is this melon that Mellon
ought to cut? Asked Senator Harri
1,089,039 icome a -paye Ss in Amer-
ica 51 per cent of the total reduction.
Under its benign provisions an in-
come of $5,000,000 was to receive a
reduction of $1,331,832, while an in-
come of $3000 would have received
only $8.75 reduction. Through its un-
restricted earned income provisions it
would have opened an avenue of es-
cape to every tax dodging capitalist
in America.
Out of the total 38,585,985 income
tax payers in America 3,580,585 will
receive a greater reduction in the
Democratic plan than they would have
received under the Mellon plan.
And this service was rendered to
those least able to pay by a Demo-
cratic minority in Congress because
Democracy has ever striven to exact
less in taxes from the less favored
ew. ‘ : vad
THE PLATFORM NOT COMPLETED.
Because of the number of planks
that have been suggested and because
from the first the convention has held
yidely divergent opinions on the way
the Ku Klux Klan and the wet and
dry issues should be handled, the plat-
form will probably not be presented
for approval until today and, at that,
many planks might be presented from
the floor thus throwing the conven-
tion into lengthy debates and bal-
loting. ‘
Most of the McAdoo supporters are
pro-Klan. Naturally all of the Smith
people are against the order and de-
mand an out-and-out condemnation
of it in the platform.
While it is hoped that our conven-
tion will not pussy foot as did the
Cleveland gathering on the question
of the Klan or the Volstead Act the
less radical members of the commit-
tee hope that planks can be built that
will clearly state the policy of the
party without giving too great offense.
CONVENTION MAY RUN INTO NEXT
WEEK.
As it looks now there is a strong
possibility that the candidate will not
be named before the fore part of next
week. The early balloting will show
McAdoo and Smith as the leaders, but
as their’s is a fight of elimination it
is probable that neither one will win.
If they see the futility of holding
their deligates longer then the dark
horses will come into the open and
probably scoop up more of the Mec-
Adoo and Smith delegates than any
of the remaining avowed candidates.
Senator Underwood, of Alabama,
will scarcely profit much because of
the mistaken notion that a southern
man couldn’t win. Senator Ralston,
of Indiana, might carry off the prize
though that is doubtful because of his
age. Were he a younger man we
think there’d be nothing to it. John
W. Davis, of West Virginia, former
Ambassador to Great Britain, the
most conservative of all the candi-
dates, could win and would be a
splendid choice, but his chances are
not so good because of his conserva-
tism, There are left Carter Glass, of
Virginia, Secretary of the Treasury
under ‘Wilson; Governor Silzer, of
New Jersey, and Governor Ritchie, of
Maryland, all receptive candidates,
(Continued on page 4, Col. 6.)
many than from the highly favored '
Judge McCann, of Cambria county, | f y : gnly
SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE
—A. hailstone, which struck Thomas
Kane, of Shamokin, under the left eye
while he was driving through Irish valley
on Sunday, caused the wrecking of the
machine and injuries to Kane and his wife.
Kane lost control of the car when blinded
by the hailstone and crashed into a stone
wall.
—A wife is not guilty of desertion just
because she refuses to live with her moth-
er-in-law, was the opinion delivered last
Friday, at Pittsburgh, by Judge Carpen-
ter. In refusing to grant a divorce to
Richard Wonderly, the judge disregarded
the report of the master in the case who
recommended a divorce.
—Penrose 8S. Boyer, of Altoona, who
looks after the enforcement of the dog tax
law in central Pennsylvania, is working in
Clearfield county and during the past few
days has caused the arrest of one hundred
or more dog owners who failed to pay a
tax on the dogs they own. It cost each
one of the defendants $8.50 fine and costs,
and the usual dog tax.
—Falling from a raft into a deep pool
at Elysburg, on Sunday, Jean Paul, of
Shamokin, chauffeur for federal marshall
John H. Glass, went down the third time
when D. Harry Kline, 21 years old, pulled
him to safety. He was unconscious and
lay in that condition half an hour before
companions could resuscitate him. Doc-
tors say he will recover.
—John Tracey, top filler at the furnace
of Lavino and company, at Watts, Lan-
caster county, was severely burned about
the arms on Saturday night. Tracey was
overcome by the gases from the cupola,
and fell on top of the large bell, from
which material is dumped into the fur-
nace. Medical aid was necessary to re-
store Tracey to consciousness.
—QGrief over the death of his wife, which
occurred April a year ago, was the motive,
apparently, that caused William A. Steph-
ens, retired farmer, of Scalp, Sinking val-
ley, to commit suicide by shooting himself
in the head, on Sunday afternoon. Steph-
ens was alone in the house at the time,
the other members of the family having
gone to Sunday school in the afternoon.
Upon their return they found him with
the top of his head blown off.
—During a heavy electric storm which
passed ever Lancaster county on Thurs-
day night, Paul Kruger, 38 years of age,
was struck by lightning and instantly kill-
ed. With three other workmen, Kruger
was on top of a fifty-foot elevator shaft at
the quarries of the Penn Lime company,
near Rheemes. The bolt of lightning
which caused his death traveled along a
high-tension wire, which is strung close to
the shaft. The other workers were shock-
ed, but not seriously injured. >
—Diving twenty-five feet from the toll
bridge into the Susquehanna river at Sun-
bury, on Saturday, Harry B. Hager, 18
years old, of Sunbury, High school foot-
-ball star, saved Miss Margaret Reitz, 18
years of age, and Miss Sarah Phillips, 16,
from drowning. The young women were
bathing and becoming exhausted cried
frantically for help. Without hesitation
the young man made the perilous dive and
quickly brought the girls to shore. First«
aid methods revived them and they were
none the worse for their experience, ¢
—For thirty minutes, Joe Buela, of Har-
1sburg, clung to a dam breast in, the.
EES
nin
ed him to safety. Buela had been canoe-
ing and his craft was swept over the dam
breast by a high wind. William Hamford
and John Dravenstadt, the rescuers, row-
ed out below the dam and performed the
difficult feat of saving Buela. Joseph Utzy
and Fred Welkenmeyer tried to reach him
from above, but were swept over the dam
in their boat.
-—-A bandit was so befuddled when he
was handed a pound of tea instead of the
money when he held up the P. H. Butler
grocery store, at Wilkinsburg, shortly be-
fore midnight, Saturday night, that he
tured and fled. Miss Elizabeth Winter-
mantel, clerk, and F. R. Shriver, manager,
vere preparing to close the store when a
stranger entered and leveling a revolver at
Miss Wintermantel ordered her to put the
money in his sack. Acting on an impulse
Miss Wintermantel poured a pound of fea
into the sack and handed it back. The
bandit looked at her and dashed frem the
store. el
—Mrs. Alexander Marshall, 50 years old,
was instantly killed in her home at Col-
orado, near Shenandoah, last Wednesday,
when a shotgun in the hands of her son
Michael, 16 years old, was discharged. The
woman had watched the boy clean the gun
and remarked when he had finished that
it looked bright and new. *Yes, mother,
it’s good and clean now,” said Michael as
he handed the weapon to his mother for
inspection. The woman had not touched
the gun when it was discharged. The boy
swooned and neighbors found Mrs. Mar-
shall dead in her chair and the youth un-
conscious on the floor. Young Marshall
said the gun had not been used since the
close of the hunting season, mn
—A joint meeting of the Mifflin county
commissioners, engineers of the Public
Service Commission Pennsylvania rail-
road company, officials of the State High-
way Department, Lewistown and Reeds-
ville Electric railway company and of the
road supervisors of Brown and Derry
townships was held at Lewistown on Sat-
urday, when plans were submitted for the
erection of a bridge over the tracks of the
railroad company at Mann’s Narrows, near
Yeagertown. Each of the townships
agreed to contribute $1,000 toward the new
bridge. It is planned to provide trolley
line facilities on the structure. The bridge
will eliminate a dangerous grade crossing
and replace the present bridge, condemn-
ed by the Public Service Commission.
—~Confined in the Friends asylum at
Frankford, near Philadelphia, during the
night hours as an insane patient, James
KE. MaCusker for more than a year has
been permitted under a court order to
leave the institution during the working
day of the week, journey to the central
part of Philadelphia and there conduct his
business of issuing a weekly paper. Lit
erally, he is adjudged sane by day, but
insane by night, according to the inter
pretation placed on the unusual ruling by
those versed in the law. The strange case
of MaCusker, experts in judicial proced-
ure declare, has no parallel in this State.
During the daytime he attends to all the
details of the publication he owns, and, in
addition, advises his guardian on the con«
duct of a $50,000 estate, which was taken
from his charge after the court found him
insane, When darkness descends he re-
turns to the Friends asylum and is treat
ed as the other inmates who are mentally
TU pana
unbalanced.