- INK SLINGS.
—What good is the Governor's
budget going to be if the Legislature
won't budge.
' — The full measure of futility
is expressed in an attempt to repeal
a tax law.
As usual Senator Borah got on
the band wagon in the vote for the
confirmation of Justice Stone.
- —The Legislature is said to have
more grist in its mill already than
ever before at such an early date.
‘Will it grind it?
The only encouraging promise
that can be made concerning the pres-
ent session of the Legislature is that
it will be short.
——The girl who offers to “marry
any man who will give her $5000 as a
wedding present” sets her price too
high. A nickel would be a fair val-
uation.
The child lab r constitutional
amendment is as dead as a lame-duck
politician and by the same token the
time for freak amendments to the
organic law has “gone where the
woodbine twineth.”
— Judge Gary, of the Steel trust,
is enamored of Pittsburgh “as a man-
ufacturing base, as a business loca-
tion, as an educational centre and as
a desirable place in which to live.”
Pittsburgh hands him a million or so
in unearned profits every year.
" —Dempsey is to stage his last fight
by taking on either Gibbons or Wills,
or both, for a little bout, ere he weds
Estelle Taylor, the screen star. Jack
may think it’s his last one, but we're
from Missouri. Some moons after the
wedding will be time enough to tell
just when the champ had his last
scrap.
—Gaston B. Means, once trusted
employee of the U. S. secret service
and either a liar extraordinary or a
man so truthful that none believe him,
has been sentenced to two years in the
federal prison at Leavenworth and to
pay a fine of ten thousand dollars.
There Gaston will have time to reflect
on the advantage of moderation.
—The slender, shapely feminine an-
kle is said to be passing because of
the continuous wearing of low shoes.
We hadn’t noticed it, but since Mr.
Malloy, of Boston, has called attention
to the matter the need of being well
informed on all subjects reminds us
that it is our duty to get first-hand in-
formation by beginning personal ob-
servations at once.
—A bill to be introduced in the Leg-
islature is designed to upset our cal-
endar again. -As-a boy we came to re-
-...gard April first as our real New Year's
day. en came a Legislator who
moved it up to April fifteenth. Now
comes another who wants to push it
on to May first. Possibly, if we can
stick around long enough, we’ll be leg-
islated out of an opening day for troui
fishing entirely.
—The entire country is thrilled with
the daring and endurance of Leonard
Sepalla, Shannon, Jim Kalland and
those other Alaskan mushers who
drove their dog teams over the six
hundred and fifty miles of arctic
wastes to get diphtheria serum into
scourged Nome. In a temperature av-
eraging sixty degrees below zero
they made the run at the rate of five
miles an hour, going night and day.
Such things men do, one for another,
out where men are men, where nature
builds strong bodies, warm hearts and
great souls.
—The speedy verdict that an Ad-
ams county jury arrived at in the con-
viction of Hartman, the young bank
robber who shot and killed a state po-
liceman who stood between him and
liberty; the salty sentences that Judge
Dale gave three Clarence moonshiners,
on last Thursday, are the law’s best
defense against lawlessness. The
country doesn’t need more laws.
It doesn’t need more police officers.
There are more than enough of both.
What it does need is jurymen who
will convict and judges who will sen-
tence drastically enough to make the
criminally inclined really fearful of
consequences.
—Disappointment is a state of mind
in consequence of failure to realize
things hoped for. Nearly always it is
transient, swept away by something
compensatory that follows. Last week
we announced that we wouldn’t win the
cross-word puzzle prize.
truth of the statement, but hope held
on until Sunday when we discovered
that we hadn’t come within fifty miles
of even honorable mention. The near-
est we came to contact with a winner
was Williamsport, where some one
was mentioned as an also ran, and
We felt the
_ VOL. 70.
BE
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION.
LLEFONTE, PA..
Pinchot Presented Tough Problem.
Those who expected Governor Pin-
chot’s “budget” to reveal a policy of
cheese-paring economies were not
only surprised but actually dumb- |
founded by the text of that insthu-
ment submitted to the Legislature
last week. The correspondent of an
esteemed Philadelphia comtemporary
declares it “the most comprehensive
programme of land acquisition and
permanent construction ever outlined
for the Commonwealth.” In pro-
viding for the expenditure of $136,-
122,950 within a period of ter rears
on “health, education and land ac-
question” alone, with $50,060,000 for
road construction and maintenance
within two years and one millien for
prohibition enforcement in a year, it
is no piker’s proposition.
The Governor proposes to be es-
pecially generous in educational sub-
sidies, according to the budget. He
asks the Legislature to appropriate
$6,544,000 to the University of Peun-
sylvania, an admirable institution
over which the State has absolutely
no control. He would give $4,401,950
to the University of Pittsburgh, and
half a million to Temple University,
of Philadelphia, also institutions of
great merit and entirely free from
State control. The $15,000,000 he
asks for the Normal schools is not too
much if they were really State insti-
tutions, and no one will complain of
the $42,041,469 for the public schools.
Education is the solution of most of
the vexed problems of life, and educa-
tion costs money.
In the matter of public hezlth and
welfare the Governor would be equal-
ly munificent so far as the State in-
stitutions are concerned. His proposi-
tion to make the Commissioner of
Welfare the sole administrator of the
fund is likely to encounter opposition.
The State constitution provides that
all such appropriations “shall be
made by separate bills, each embrac-
ing but one subject.” But as the late
Tim Campbell said to the late Grover
Cleveland: ‘“What’s the constitution
between friends?” Outside of the
‘Eighteenth amendment to the Fed-
eral constitution Mr. Pinchot doesn’t
pay: ~aitention .‘to- fundamental
laws. In pi however, the bud-
get will be a tough problem for the
Legislature to solve. |
Group Six of the Pennsylvania
bankers’ association will have its an-
nual meeting in Altoona on Lincoln’s
birthday anniversary, February 12.
The meeting will be held at the Penn-
Alto and will be addressed by P. B.
Detwiler, of Philadelphia; F. P. Wea-
ver, of Cornell University, and Robert
Willis, of New York city.
Science or Signs.
The timing of the recent eclipse of
the sun to within four seconds of its
actual occurrence was merely a mat-
ter of astronomical calculation. A
simple problem for the scientist. It
should impress the lay mind, however,
with the incalculable value of science.
Who invented the instruments, who
worked out the formulas by which the
magnitudes, motions, distances, con-
stitutions of the heavenly bodies have
been charted so that, though millions
of miles away from them, the record
was made years ago that on Satur-
day, January 24, 1925, moon would
pass between earth and sun, causing
a total eclipse. i
They are of the group of men we
too often class as “batty.” They are
the workers buried in research for
the mysterious in every phase of our
existence. They are the men who
spend their lives doggedly proving or
disproving every clue that presents
itself as a possible lead to their goal.
Think of it! It was one of them
who, upon learning that sheep did not
thrive in a certain section of Michi-
gan, after a salt well they had been
‘drinking from had been plugged, got
Williamsport is over fifty miles away. :
We had intended spending that five
hundred on a trip to Florida, just to
see if there really is the easy living
down there that the recent migration
of so many Centre countians indicates. |
Besides, the last snow having been too
heavy for the boys to handle, proved
the straw that almost broke the old
man’s back. The itch for Florida was
exceedingly aggravated by scratching
in the snow most of Thursday night.
‘When we found all hope gone, we
sloshed around in the slough of “it
might have been” until Monday. Then
came the compensation. It was
ground-hog day and he didn’t see his
shadow. Spring is here.
what we laymen might have called a
damphool notion that somehow it had
| @ connection with the cause of human
goitre on which he had been working
and today the world is ready to be-
lieve that the increase of goitre is
due largely to the refining of all the
iodine out of the salt we use. The
human system needs iodine. Salt in
its natural crystal is reddish with the
stain of iodine. It didn’t look well on
the table so the refiners made it white
and goitre has been on the increase
ever since.
Those who have a certain sign to
‘tramp down their onions or won’t lay
There'll be |
no more snows to shovel and even if '
we had won the thousand we would
not know how to spend it, since there
is no use in going to Florida when
there ain’t goin’ to be any more win-
ter here to flee from.
chestnut shingles in the “up sign of
the moon” may stick to their super-
stitutions. We're pinning our faith
to the men of hundreds of years ago
and their torch bearers of today who
told us within four seconds the time
the sun would go into eclipse.
ig fib ine
——The deep snow in the woods is
hard on all kinds of wild life, and es-
pecially pheasants and wild turkeys,
but a little feed put out for them at
this time will tide them over until
warmer weather melts the snow.
will pursue its
Changed Attitude of Coolidge.
Official Washington is amazed, ac- .
cording to press dispatches from the
national capital, at the changed at-
titude of President Coolidge since the
election. Before the vote in Novem- '
ber he was as silent as a sphinx, as
cautious as a fox and as “cool as a
cucumber.” Since that he has be-
come loquacious, domineering and
self-assertive. He talks freely upon
any subject and declares his favor or
opposition to men or measures now
almost as adroitly as he concealed
them then. It is no longer “Silent Cal”
or “Calculating Coolidge” that per-
vades the White House. It is a domi-
nant figure in fighting mood with a
big stick held in a steel fist. It is said
that the politicians are fairly bluffed.
This change in the method and
manner of President Coolidge is
most clearly revealed in his recent
appointments to high office. By the
exercise of even ordinary caution he
might easily have avoided the fric-
tion that has developed in the Senate
against the confirmation of his nomi- !
nation of Mr. Stone, for Justice of
the Supreme court, Mr. Kellogg, for
Secretary of State, and Mr. Warren,
for Attorney General.
real, personal objection to either of
these gentlemen. They are entirely
satisfactory to Wall Street and big |
business generally, and that is the
present Senatorial measurement of |
fitness for important public office. |
But Coolidge didn’t ask the Senate
about it. He just appointed. ;
The average Senator in Congress |
imagines that he is a man of consid- |
erable consequence. Under the con- |
stitution he has a voice in the ratifi-
cation of appointments and feels
more or less “cocky” about it. If,
Coolidge had gone to the leaders in |
advance of the appointment and said !
Wall Street wants these particular
men in these particular offices, there
wouldn’t have been a whisper of op-
position on the Republican side. But |
in his newly developed character of
master of the machine he didn’t sav a
word about his purpose and the result
is a lot of talk about rejecting the
nominations. But that is all it will
amount to. Wall, Street will issue.
orders in due tim
will follow,
|
|
There is no |
i
——Judge Reeder, of Beaver coun-'
ty, will sit on all the criminal cases at
the regular session of Centre county |
court, which will convene on Monday, ;
February 23rd. Judge Reeder is noted '
as one of the driest judges in the
State. Judge Miles I. Potter, of the
Union—Snyder judieal district, will
hear the civil list at the same term
of court. |
Legislative League Moving. |
es i
The Legislative League, the official
title of a group of country Represen-
tatives in the Legislature, organized
to guard the interests of the rural
sections, has set for itself an import-
ant public service. That is, it propos-
es to make inquiry and ascertain if
possible the cause of the considerable
difference in the estimates of the
revenues of the State for the next
i biennium as made respectively by the
! Auditor General and the Governor, !
There is a discrepancy of something
like twenty million dollars between
these estimates and as it is almost
vital that the law makers should know
as nearly as possible the exact.
figures, it is to be hoped the League
rpose. !
It has been, since time out of mind,
the custom of the Legislature to ac-
cept the estimate of the Auditor Gen-
eral as the basis for making appro-
priations. We recall no exception to
this rule and see no reason why there
should be. The Legislature has not
always or even often limited the ap- |
propriations to the estimate of reven-
ues thus given. But by the exercise
of the veto power the Governor has
cut the appropriations to the measure
of the estimates or relied on “deficien-
cy bills” to bring the figures togeth-
er. This year, however, the Governor
refused to accept the Auditor Gen-
eral’s figures and made an estimate
of his own. He presents a vastly
different result, but fails to show how
he gets it. ;
The Auditor General has not been
entirely frank on the subject, either.
He declares the revenues will be so
much and invites any one to examine
the books in his office. Of course
everybody can’t do that. The Gov-
ernor, with equal eriphasis, proclaims
that the revenues will be some twen-
w millions greater than the Auditor
eneral estimates but refuses to
divulge the source of his information.
Because of these facts the Legisla-
tive League is making preparations
to find out, and has already invited
the Governor and the Auditor Gen-
eral to supply such information—if
they can. It is to be hoped they will
succeed, not-for the reason that it
will prove somebody wrong, but be- |
cause the information is needed.
——Now that assurances have been
received that France will pay there
is little left to worry about except
when.
|
——LEven if the groundhog failed to
see his shadow he didn’t miss much.
t
FR peoples, unattached to '
the League of Nations and disinter- |
of Nations and its among the!
most influential of its members.
{It it not likely, therefore, that
and confirmations
. increase in the rates of postage which
! adversely affects
‘gress to prevent the passage of such
| President.
FEBRUARY 6. 1925.
Lord Thompson Flatters Philadelphia.
Lord Christopher Birdwood Thomp-
son, who lives somewhere in England, '
addressed the Philadelphia Foreign
Policy association, the other evening, |
and flattered his audience by declar- |
ing the future affords “opportunity
form a great organization of Eng-
{
ested in the internal affairs of Eu-
rope,” which will wield more influ-
ence than the League. Besides the!
United States the only nations un-!
attached to the League of Nations are
Germany, Turkey and Mexico, and
they are not English-speaking peo-
ples. So that reduced to the last an-
alysis Lord Thompson has in mind a
combination of the United States and '
Great Britain against the whole
world. i
It is only fair to say that Lord
Thompson, who was Secretary of
State for air during the brief tenure of |
a: large majority and consequently is
not authorized to speak for the Brit-
ish public. Great Britain was among
the first to affiliate with the League |
a’ private subject of the King of
England speaks by authority when he
says that “the League of Nations is a
mere child and cannot be expected io
shoulder a man’s work.” It has cer-
tainly made a bold and brave effort
to accomplish the “work cut out for
a giant.” It has at least made pro-
gress.
The League of Nations has achiev-
ed more in the direction of outlawing
war than any or all other agencies
created by man within the history of
the world. It has operated as a crip-
ple from the beginning, for in the
malice of the Republican machine the
United States, the most powerful na-
tion of civilization, has thus far re-
fused to co-operate in its efforts for |
permanent peace. But the League
has moved forward, undismayed by
appointment and unabashed by
jal failure, to the heneficent work
ae he Jones abundant
hope of ultimate success. It is not
an alliance of two or three rich and
dominant nations that is wanted to
complete the task, but the co-opera-
tion of Christian civilization.
——President Coolidge on Monday
signed the Kelly bill providing for the
carrying of air mails by commercial
enterprises. One mail route already
contemplated is from New York to
Bellefonte, thence to Pittsburgh and
from there south west to New Orleans.
Postal Increase Bill Doomed.
The Senate in Washington passed
the bill to increase the wages of post-
al employees by a very strong ma-
jority, but that doesn’t mean any-
thing to the proposed beneficiaries.
The House will refuse to concur if it
gives the measure any consideration
at all, and thus the contract with
the Republican machine to econo-
mize at the expense of small sal-
aried officials will be fulfilled. It is
universally admitted that employees
of the Postal Department are under-
paid. A bill increasing their wages
passed both houses just before the
close of the last session by practi-
cally unanimous votes. But it was
vetoed by President Coolidge. After
much maneuvering the veto was sus-
tained a week ago. :
To guarantee the ultimate defeat
of the proposition a new bill was in-
troduced containing additional mat-
ter. The new matter consisted of an
the publishers of
periodical literature. These publish-
ers have sufficient influence with Con-
lagislation as they had to prevent the
signing of the original bill by the
The Senate passed the
bill not because the members of that
body favored it but for the reason
that it might pass for a gesture in
favor of labor that would deceive |
those concerned in it. It is an old!
trick of political false pretenders and
it is surprising that labor falls for it. |
It is a well known fact that em- |
ployees of the Postoffice Department
are not sufficiently paid to support
their families. A New York jurist,’
only a few days ago, dismissed a case
against a couple of postal employees
who had been convicted of violation
the law because their wages are
inadequate to support their fam-
ilies. = They have to steal or
starve, the judge declared sub-
stantially, and every Senator and
Representative in Congress as well as
the President knows he told the truth.
Yet the justice of fair recompense is
denied them. Wall Street and the
Republican machine are in agreement
on that point and the suffering of
ordinary and uninfluential working
men is of no interest to them.
——It may be noted that the Gov-
ernor’s budget makes liberal provis-
ion for departments under his control
and offers scant support to others.
—The “Watchman” gives the news
whila it i3 newa,
NO. 6.
France Will Pay.
From the Philadelphia Record.
Ambassador Daeschner’s address on
being presented to the President
leaves no doubt that his government
recognizes the absolute necessity of
acknowledging its pecuniary obliga-
tions to the United States. Such
speeches as that of Louis Marin are
good for home consumption, but men
responsible for the French govern-
ment understand perfectly that inter-
national relations cannot be conducted
on any such basis. To balance French
blood against American dollars may
do for constituents, but it has no place
outside the field of oratory. We spent
some blood ourselves, and the French !
soldiers died fighting for their own |
home land; almost anybody will die
for his own country.
The Ambassador’s reference to
debts of gratitude which have been
discharged on both sides, and to the
common desire of both countries to
effect the settlement of pecuniary ob-
ligations, derives unusual significance
from the fact that speeches on the
' Premier MacDonald’s administration, | presentation of Ambassadors are cus-
| was recently retired to private life by | tomarily mere expressions of mutual
esteem and compliment. That this
reference to France’s war debt was in-
serted in the new Ambassador's ad-
dress indicates the anxiety of the
French government to put a stop at
once to talk at home and abroad of re-
pudiation; and the recent speech of
Marin and the applause of the Cham-
ber and the disorder when the govern-
ment refused to accept Marin’s speech
as an expression of its own sentiments
explain why so unusual a thing was
done as to include in the presentation
speech a significant reference to a
subject of negotiation between the two
countries.
Very possibly France will suggest
some scaling down of the debt; very
probably it will ask further time be-
fore it begins to pay, and very cer-
tainly it will wish to extend the pay-
ments over a long series of years. But
the French government has done what
it could to stop the talk of repudiation
at home and in this country, and to as-
sure us and Great Britain and the
world that France does not repudiate
and that it pays as it has the means
of paying.
The Price of Peace.
From the Harrisburg Telegraph.
United States eleven billion dollaxs.
By cancellation of this debt William
Jennings Bryan believes this country
could purchase world peace.
If Mr. Bryan were right the price
would be cheap and America would
be more than willing to pay.
To abolish war would assure hu-
manity of such prosperity and hap-
piness as this blood-stained old world
| has never known.
But to free Europe in its present |
state of mind, from the necessity of
paying America the eleven billions
owing, would be merely to give the
governments of the continent eleven
billion dollars with which to create
new armies and to prepare for the
next war.
Instead of abolishing war, it would
but speed the day of the next great
conflict, and American taxpayers
would contribute the money.
No, the price of peace does not con-
sist in relieving Europeans of being
compelled to pay for their folly, but
in making war so burdensome that
Europe will not want another, at least
within this generation or the next.
Mr. Forbes’ Conviction.
From the Philadelphia Public Ledger.
Colonel Charles R. Forbes, former
director of the United States Veter-
ans’ Bureau, has been found guilty of
conspiracy to defraud the government
in contracts for soldiers’ hospitals. He
is said to have been very much sur-
prised at the verdict. John W. Thomp-
son, St. Louis and Chicago contractor,
charged with having paid $5000 to
Forbes, was only found guilty of con- |
spiracy. He also is reported to have
been astonished. Their astonishment
seems to have something in common !
with that of Gaston B. Means, sen-
tenced to two years in Federal prison,
also on a charge of conspiracy. Was
it actually that they believed them-
selves innocent or a conviction that a
charge of conspiracy such as was
brought against them could not be
sustained in American courts? This
latter conviction seems to be rather
widespread. In these two cases the
courts have shown that they are ef-
fective instruments in handling cases
involving suspicion of graft and
crookedness in dealing with the gov-
ernment. There should be no surprise
at this fact. That is what the courts
are for, and these convictions should
have a salutary effect.
——Notwithstanding last Thurs-
day’s snow fall was deeper than or-
dinarily occurs in this section the
State Highway Department had most
of the main roads open for travel by
noon on Friday and all of them by
evening of that day. The work would
probably - have been accomplished
sooner had it not been for a break-
down. of one of their big tractors out
in the vicinity of Pleasant Gap, which
put one of the heaviest plows out of
commission until the tractor could be
repaired. , :
——Auditor General Lewis will
probably let tl:e code alone from now
on.
'SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE.
—Every boy named after David H. Lane,
for many years Republican leader of Phil-
adelphia, who died last week, will receive
a legacy of $5600 under his will, which was
admitted to probate on Friday.
—Marlin © Kasseman, 22, former chief
‘clerk at the Shamokin State hospital, has
i pleaded guilty in the Northumberland
| county court to the embezzlement of more
than $4,000 of the institution’s funds.
—Stricken ill while he stood in the court
.room at Sunbury, on Tuesday, Thomas
Danlan, 55 years of age, a former deputy
prothonotary of Northumberland county,
! and a Democrat, died of paralysis. He was
! serving as a court tipstaff. .
——Miss Pauline Rossler, 23 years old,
of Williamsport, is under guard at the
Williamsport hospital pending the results
of the investigation into the death of her
+ four-day-old child which was found, badly
burned in a furnace in a home in the
northern part of that city.
—Stricken by heart trouble as he stood
watching his home being burned to the
ground at Hummel’'s Wharf, Northumber-
land county, on Tuesday, Hiram Gamby,
61, dropped dead. The property represent-
ed a loss of $6000 and the savings of a life-
time. It was only partially insured.
—The road-house conducted by Nicho-
las Alexander at Pond Creek, north of
Hazleton, was badly damaged on Tues-
day when two sticks of dynamite were ex-
ploded under it. One stick at the rear of
the building tore off a porch. Another un-
der the bar-room section of the building
ripped up the floor.
—Max Jones, 55 years old, of Sunbury,
i was convicted in Philadelphia on Thurs-
, day on charges of false pretenses and mak-
ing a false financial statement, with intent
| to defraud Daniel Lang, of that city, in
{ 1922, by obtaining a loan of $15,000 from
| Lang through false representation as to
, his financial standing. Jones was released
| under $10,000 bail, pending disposition of
his case.
—The Union National bank of Mt. Wolf,
York county, has made final settlement
with those depositors who had lost money
through a $55,000 robbery several years
i ago. On December 21, 1921, thieves enter-
led the bank and robbed safety deposit
boxes. There was not sufficient insurance
to cover the loss and the stockholders
agreed to pay the victims of the robbery
out of the bank’s earnings.
—Samuel H. Etter, 60 years old, of Guil-
ford Springs, Franklin county, fell over
dead on Friday, while shoveling snow on
the campus at Wilson College, Chambers-
burg, where he had been employed as a
laborer for six years. He was found by a
fellow employee. Although he had accu-
mulated a small fortune in his life time
and could have retired from active life in
comfort, Etter continued regularly at
work.
——Charges in the Northumberland
county court against John D. Kalinoski,
Williamsport, Villa Nova college prepara-
tory student, were droppeed on Tuesday
when his parents agreed to pay relatives
of Mrs. Miles D. Stratton, Wilkes-Barre,
, $600 and all record costs of the case.
| Kalinoskie’'s automobile ran down the
Stratton car on a state road near there
August 28, last, and Mrs. Stratton was
killed.
—Falling from a step ladder Saturday
, afternoon at his home in Ore Hill, near
| Roaring Spring, Blair county, John C.
i Ickes suffered a broken neck and died
almost instantly. Members of his family
: found his body lying headfirst in a snow
bank a short while after the accident. Ickes
| was trimming trees in front of his home.
| Whether he was seized with an attack of
heart trouble or just tumbled off the lad-
der is not known. He was 70 years old.
—Having been missing for 21 years,
Archie Shoemaker, formerly of Upper
Gwynedd, Montgomery county, on Satur-
day was declared legally dead by Judge
Solly in Orphans’ court, and Register of
Wills Miller was authorized to grant let
ters of administration in the estate, which
amounts to $3347. Shoemaker disappeared
in 1903. He was of a roving disposition
and started for DuBois, but never reached
there, Two brothers are living, Walter I.
Shoemaker, of Collegeville, and Mervyn C.
Shoemaker, of Landsdale.
—The troubled conscience of a once up-
on a time robber has enriched the pocket-
book of 3. P. Kreider, of Driftwood, with
a brand new fifty-dollar bill. Mr. Kreider
received a letter postmarked DuBois and
the typewritten contents stated that the
' writer was enclosing $50 to defray the loss
incurred when merchandise was stolen
i from the Kreider store in Driftwood sev-
. eral years ago. Mr. Kreider remembers
" the incident of the robbery well, but states
that to his knowledge only about fifteen or
twenty dollars worth of goods were taken
at the time. x
—The number of divided checks of the
Westinghouse Airbrake company, stolen
from the Pittsburgh postoffice “will not
, exceed five hundred,” 8S. C. McConahay,
. treasurer, of the company, declared in a
statement issued late on Wednesday. The
! number, the statement added, affects “only
ia small proportion of our stockholders.”
| Hederal officers are searching for a man
who registered at a local hotel as Allen
| Stone. of Philadelphia, in connection with
| the theft. Information which authorities
declared may lead to the arrest of the
robber was provided by William Mustin, a
; messenger boy.
—A bomb contained in a package mailed
i last Wednesday in the South Fork post+
! office by a man who said he was Giuseppe
{ Siourella exploded a few seconds after it
i had been placed in a mail bag and wreck-
"ed the rear end of the postoffice building.
! No one was hurt. Siourella handed the
i package to James Cooney, postoffice clerk,
{ who dropped it into the bag. He had tak-
. en but a few steps when the explosion oc-
curred. Cooney caught Siourella, who de-
clared the package had been given to him
by a man at the Pennsylvania railroad sta-
tion. John Macalla, of Beswell, Pa, was
arrested and identified by Siourella as the
man who gaye him the package,
—John M. Egan, former warden of ihe
| western penitentiary at Pittsburgh, is
under consideration for appointment as
superintendent of Federal prisons to suc-
ceed Herbert Votaw, who has resigned,
effective March 1. Mr. Votaw, a brother:
in-law to the late President Harding, will
have served four years when he retires
on account of ill health. Mr. Egan, who
has the indorsement of Senator David A.
Reed and Representative Guy E. Campbell,
was in Washington early in the week and
{ had interviews
with Attorney General
Harlan F. Stone and Mrs. Mabel Wille-
brandt, assistant attorney general. When
an appointment will be announced is not
stated.