Penorralic atm
ES
INK SLINGS.
—March, the blustery, dreary,
longest month of the year, is almost
©n us.
It may be accepted as renewed
assurance that the cherry tree was
cut down.
" — The last salary grab in Con-
gress cost a good many Congress-
men’s salaries.
— Mr. Coolidge is ready and will-
ing to try any expedient to promote
peace but the right one.
— Pinchot might compromise by
inviting the Senators and Represen-
tatives to lunch in his Washington
mansion.
——Sunday was the warmest 22nd
of February experienced in some
years, and there are a lot of people in
Centre county who are giving all the
credit to the groundhog.
—February has been a delight-
ful month but blustery March stands
between us and garden making time,
‘then instead of shoveling coal it will
‘be pushing the lawn mower—just one
darn thing after another all the time.
—The Mitchell episode in Washing-
ton is rather paradoxical. If he
doesn’t know more about the things
‘he has been telling Congress of than
‘Secretary Weeks he ought to be fired,
‘yet, if he is, it will be because the
~ ‘Secretary of War believes he doesn’t.
—If Leon D. Quick, who was sen-
‘tenced to jail here last Saturday, was
telling the truth it would seem that
“the W. C. T. U. and the Law and Order
League of Clinton county have been
taken a lovely little ride. He told
the court that they employed him to
catch Volstead violators and he spent
‘their money catching chickens.
—We congratulate Harry Keller
"Esq. on his success as a cross-word
puzzle solver. While the dollar that
he won last week won’t go far toward
paying the expenses of a judicial
campaign he has probably booked up
on. a lot of new words which he can
spring with elan in his campaign if he
isn’t anile in the way he goes after
votes.
—Of course we don’t wish King
‘George any bad luck as a sequence of
‘the influenza that has affected one of
his lungs and started him in quest of,
-a milder climate than is England’s at
this season, but the whole world is
curious to see what kind of a King
the Prince will make and if he doesn’t
get a chance soon hell be too
-old, entirely, to carry on like his ad-
mirers anticipate.
—Will some one tell us why men,
‘who haven’t an idea of buying any-
‘thing, will walk miles over muddy
roads, and stand in the cold all day
“to. get the: sandwich, ‘cookie: and tin
of coffee that is handed out at farm
sales. They could stay ot home, work
just one hour, and earn enough to
buy three times as much eats as they
‘get at any of them and, at home, they
wouldn’t be in the way of people who
go to sales to buy.
—Many are discouraged, some are
resentful a few disgusted with the re-
sults of the Volstead act. All are
.entitled to their opinions. Oursis that
out of the welter of corruption, drunk-
enness and death that has followed
in the wake of the Eighteenth amend-
ment there will come good. The habits
of a cosmopolitan people like we are
can’t be changed over night, and we
‘must wait——possibly until the gen-
eration that had been accustomed to
its tipple has died off. The great
problem of enforcement is, to our
mind, not one for the law so much as
for the home to see that the coming
generation does not take up the bot-
tle that the passing one throws down.
—This paragraph is not placed here
as an advertisement.- It is a lamen-
tation, verging on infraction of the
tenth Commandment, that leads us to
grope and hope for the craftiness of
Edgar Buzzell, Philipsburg pharma-
cist and reader of original creations,
in advertising. Edgar was billed for
a number at a big function in his
‘home town last week. Just before
the event he contracted a hoarseness
so hoarse that when he started te give
voice to the original things he had
created to tickle his audience he had
no voice. Nothing but a rasping
whisper. When cries of “Louder”!
were heard, Edgar explained the
cause of his disadvantage, then hap-
pily thought of some of “Buzzell’s
cough drops” that were accidentally
(?) in his pocket, chewed two and:
Presto! He was right in voice again.
—We are impressed with the una-
nimity of editorial opinion throughout
the country as to the cause of the
failure to ratify the child labor
amendment to the Federal constitu-
tion. Almost without exception the
abler papers ascribe it to a wholesome
public awakening to the dangers of
centralization of power and forfeiture
of the sovereign rights of the States.
Centralization hangs out danger sig-
nals all along the line. If you can’t
see it, look about you. Bellefonte
permits a public utility to establish
itself here then votes to vest all its
inherent rights of regulation in a
Public Service Commission at Harris-
burg. Centre county, lured by the
hope of money from the State for
schools and roads, ties its hands so
effectually that it can’t build a school
house or dig a ditch on a highway
until some one at Harrisburg has des-
ignated the way it must be done. And
Pennsylvania, overwhelmed with the
burden of cost of it all, has gradually
been bartering her rights away to the |
federal government for relief through
the treasury at Washington.
Ct
VOL. 70.
BELLEF
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION.
AS
Governor Pinchot Coming Back.
The rapid progress of Governor
Pinchot’s “united dry bill” in the
Legislature is convincing evidence
that before adjournment the Governor
will have recovered the full power
over legislation that he exercised
during last session. At the opening
of the present session the Vare—-
Grundy opposition pranced into the
arena and knocked the forces of the
executive for what seemed like “the
count.” But the triumph was of brief
duration.
himself together and by skilfull ap-
peal to the gallery turned the tide of
popular favor in his direction. Since
that, one egregious blunder by the op-
position has followed another until
now it seems certain that the Gover-
nor will come into full control.
The Governor’s legislative pro-
gramme consists of the budget bill,
the giant power bill and the united
dry bill. He will reveal sympathy on
one side or the other for other meas-
ures under consideration during the
session. But it will be of the languid
variety and employed mainly in the
interest of the more important legis-
lation in which his heart and hopes
are centered. But his programme will
be carried out in practically complete
form. The blanket appropriation to
local charities may be cut out but
the other provisions including the
funds for Gifford and Cornelia’s
Washington junket to the inaugura-
tion will be agreed to as written by
the budget master, Dr. Clyde King,
Secretary of State.
There has seldom been so complete
a reversal of conditions in the politi-
cal history of Pennsylvania. At the
organization of the General Assembly
appearances indicated an utter col-
lapse of the administration. The
dominant force didn’t even try to con-
ceal their contempt for the Governor.
‘In making the committee lists the
wishes of the minority as well as the
promises of the majority were flouted.
That is the blunder that “was worse
than a crime.” In packing the Law and
Order committee in the interest of
booze - popular indignation was
aroused and the Governor got his first
chance for a “come back.” Since that
{he has beek’ gaining everyday and
unless personal ambition betrays him
he will win.
— Senator Borah wants to expose
the Senators who voted for the salary
grab, which leads to the belief that
the Idaho statesman was “agin” the
increase.
Lloyd George Right and Wrong.
Former Premier Lloyd George
writes entertainingly about present
European conditions to the news-
papers that were fortunate enough to
secure his syndicated letters. In his
last contribution he justly declares
that “to the friends of world peace
the stubborn reluctance of America to
take a hand in the disentanglement of
the European imbroglio is discour-
aging. Unless and until the great
western Republic, with its prestige
and with its detachment from Euro-
pean traditional quarrels, comes ef-
fectively and wholeheartedly into
the council chamber of the nations,
the prospect of peace must continue
precarious.”
we join the League of Nations there
is little hope of future peace.
But the British statesman, or poli-
tician, is less accurate in his appraise-
ment of the causes of the present
attitude of the government of the
United States on the subject. He im-
agines that the people of the United
States are in sympathy with the isola-
tion policy of the administration in
Washington and that the efforts of
the Dawes commission and the repre-
sentatives of the United States in the
London and Paris conferences “scared
American opinion into reaction.” As
a matter of fact the results of the
Dawes commission and the attitude of
the unofficial representatives of the
United States in the London and
Paris conferences were cordially and
with practical unanimity approved by
American public opinion.
It is not unlikely that President
referred to by Mr. George but the
people of the United States did not
share in the fright. The President
may imagine that the attitude of the
United States as expressed in those
events may lead to a just and proper
condemnation of the late Senator
Lodge and those who joined him in
his malignant fight against Woodrow
Wilson. In justifying this attitude of
the administration in Washington
Lloyd George is probably trying to
curry favor with the Coolidge crowd
and may win an invitation to one of
the now famous White House break-
fasts. But he will not elevate him-
self in the estimation of the Ameri-
can people as a statesman.
—The LaFollette party is dissolved
but there will be another movement of
the same kind to help the monopolies
at the next Presidential election.
The Governor gathered
In other words, unless
Coolidge was scared by the incidents |
The congressional salary bill in-
creasing the government pay roll up-
ward of a million dollars a year, and
the salary of each Senator and Rep-
resentative in Congress from $7500
to $10,000 a year, was railroaded
through both houses last week without
the formality of a roll call. The bill to
increase the wages of postoffice em-
ployees to a decent living standard is
still dragging along with chances of
ultimate failure. The number of
towels allowed to each wash room in
the government buildings has been
reduced, and the stationery and lead
pencil supply to clerks cut to the limit.
“saving at the spigot and wasting at
the bung.”
There may be a few Senators and
Representatives in Congress worth
$10,000 a year to the country, and it
lis possible that the cost of living in
Washington exceeds the present re-
compense of a few of the high fliers
in the law making department, but
those now in commission and those
elected to serve in the next Congress
are under moral obligation to serve
for the salary provided by law at the
time of the election and the increase
violates their contract. They were
not conscripted into the service of the
country and are not held in by force.
So far as the public is informed any
Senator or Representative in Con-
gress may resign at any time and turn
his attention to other pursuits.
Near the close of the last Congress
a bill increasing the inadequate com-
pensation of postoffice employees was
vetoed by President Coolidge on the
ground that the treasury couldn’t
meet the increased drain. It remains
to be seen whether he will adopt the
same course with respect to the vastly
greater and infinitely less meritorious
increase in the salaries of Congress-
men. The subject also invites con-
jecture as to what Congress would do
with a veto of the bill increasing the
compensation of Senators and Repre-
sentatives. These gentlemen were
cajoled or coerced into sustaining the
veto of the postoffice employees’ bill.
Possibly they might prove less tract-
able in the other salary increase bill.
a a Se Tl A GE Th A
Representative Madden, of Illi-
nois, put one over on the Pennsylva-
nia Congressional delegation in the
matter of the aviation field, which
proves that he “laughs best who
laughs last.”
First Sign of Protest.
The first sign of protest against the
inauguration junket of Governor and
Mrs. Pinchot was expressed in a coun-
ter proposition contained in a resoiu-
tion offered in the State Senate by
Mr. Shantz, of Lehigh county, on
Monday evening. The resolution pro-
vides for a junket of all Senators and
Representatives in the General As-
sembly as well as all employees of
both Chambers and the Legislative
correspondents. It would be an ex-
pensive as well as an imposing enter-
prise, but it seems to have met with
high favor for it was adopted by the
Senate without opposition or a roll
call. That is, there is no official rec-
ord as to how any Senator voted.
There was no doubt, however, as to
the purpose of the proposition.
It seems that President Coolidge
has suggested, in the interest of econ-
omy of course, that the inauguration
ceremonies be conducted on a less
ambitious scale than usual, and that
instead of the customary pageant the
parade be limited to a small represen-
tative delegation from each State. In
accordance with this suggestion Gov-
ernor and Mrs. Pinchot took upon
themselves the privilege of selecting
the delegation and according to popu-
lar estimation used it to advantage for
political purposes. Each guest would
naturally feel under obligation and
the selections were made with consid-
erable discretion. It might even be
said that the group chosen is com-
posed of men and women representa-
tive of the best element.
But as a rule representatives of the
people of Pennsylvania are not chosen
in the arbitrary manner adopted by
| Governor and Mrs. Pinchot. The Sen-
"ators and Representatives in the Gen-
eral Assembly are the official repre-
sentatives of the people of the State,
and if the Governor and Mrs. Pinchot
| had invited them to the hospitality of
their Washington mansion on the oc-
casion of the inauguration, the wishes
| of the President would have been ful-
| filled and the proprieties fully main-
| tained at the expense of the State
treasury. But the Governor would
have acquired no political capital from
such a procedure and the Governor “is
. sly, devilish sly.” Possibly his expec-
tations will be disappointed.
— A ——————
| ——The aircraft investigation must
have been leading close to some one
of importance. It was called off under
the false pretense that the funds at
command of the committee were ex-
hausted.
Thus the country is presented with a |
Salary Increase for Congressmen. ! Lower Pennsvalley Irritated Over |
: From the Philadelphia Record.
Road ‘Conditions.
The Millheim Journal has recently
been reflecting the irritation of the
people of that section over road con-
ditions in their immediate neighbor-
hood.
Millheim is the terminus of the last
i two pieces of turnpike, or toll roads,
| in Centre county. One providing its
route to its rail head at Coburn; the
other being the only road over in to
! the Rebersburg section.
Viewers appointed by the court ear-
ly last year condemned both thorough-
fares and later damages were award-
ed the owners. $2,000 was awarded
as sufficient damages for the Mill-
heim to Coburn road and $3,000 for
the Millheim to Madisonburg piece.
To both awards the owners took ex-
ception and appealed to court for a
revision of the appraisement of the
viewers. The case will probably come
to trial at the May term.
Since the condemnation proceedings
were started very little, if any, work
has been done on the pikes notwith-
standing they are subjected to very
heavy daily trafic. They have fallen
into a condition not only irksome to
travelers, but dangerous as well, for
the reason that at least two bridges
are declared to be unsafe. The pro-
test of the people of that section ap-
pears wholly justifiable when it is
known that toll is still being demand-
ed from those who are forced to trav-
el at least one of the roads. In other
words they are being forced to pay for
the use of something that is scarcely
usable, at the same time taking risks
on their own lives and on their vehi-
cles.
It is little wonder that editor Hos-
terman demands action of some sort
for his people. Somebody must surely
be responsible for the conditions. The
law is a bit vague, as to what the
rights of the owners and the county
are, respectively, in the circumstances,
but it seems to us that since both have
been condemned it would be economy
for the county to take them over at
once and put them ina condition of
safety, at least. It would be cheaper to
repair a road now than entirely re-
enstruct it later. The matter of the
‘Faward to the owners will be settled]
{by the courts anyway. The county
would have no more nor less to pay in
consequence of taking the roads over
and it would be acting in the inter-
est of a large body of its citizens by
rendering them relief in some way.
mn ees.
—1It looks like spring and feels a
good deal like it, but don’t shed your
winter underwear until the signs are
corroborated.
Hot Fight in Washington.
The conte¥t*for the Republican nom-
ination for Speaker of the House of
Representatives in Washington is de-
veloping some curious angles. In the
first place it is 2 contest between sen-
timent and service. One of the candi-
dates is a son-in-law of the late Theo-
dore Roosevelt with little else to rec-
ommend him. The other is a gradu-
ate from the university of Hard
Knocks and a product of the slums of
Chicago. Both have had long exper-
ience in Congress and thoroughly un-
derstand the rules of the game. It is
universally agreed that Mr. Long-
worth would make the more dignified
Speaker while Madden would be the
more practical.
Curiously enough this contest for
the Speakership in Washington is
causing considerable disturbance
among the leaders of the Republican
machine of Pennsylvania. At the out-
set Congressman Vare took it upon
himself to pledge the solid vote of the
Pennsylvania. delegation to Mr. Mad-
den. Thereupon Senator Reed, of
Pittsburgh, began a canvass for votes
for Longworth and secured pledges
from some twenty-six of the mem-
bers. Since that time Vare has been
busy and it is now said that Madden
will have a majority of the delegation.
His canvass shows that most of the
veterans in the delegation are among
the Madden supporters.
In any event it is said that the fight
among the Pennsylvania statesmen
will not end at the caucus. It will be
brought home and made use of as amu-
nition in the contest for Senator and
Governor next spring. The election
of Madden, it is believed, will greatly
strengthen Congressman Vare in his
aspiration for the Senatorial nomina-
tion and increase his power in the
contest for Governor, though he has
not yet indicated a preference for that
nomination. Senator Reed is working
in the interest of his colleague, Sena-
tor Pepper, who stands in grave dan-
ger of a most humiliating defeat.
Sn ——— A ————
——There will be no monkeying
with the “special funds” in the treas-
ury. The administration needs those
deposits to meet bills on the sly.
——The mourners over the death of
the child labor amendment to the con-
stitution were “few and far between.”
ONTE, PA.. FEBRUARY 27. 1925.
NO. 9.
The Inheritance Tax Muddle.
President Coolidge’s vigorous ar-
raignment of the inheritance tax mud-
dle now existing, and his suggestion
that the federal government should
surrender this form of taxation and
leave it to the individual States,
added nothing new to the subject, but
gave the authority of his high posi-
tion to the movement for a reform
that is as imperatively needed as is
uniformity in the divorce laws of the
country. Many magazine articles
have been written on this topic and
striking examples have been given of
the way in which estates are eaten up
by the demands of different States for
slices of a decedent’s property. The
withdrawal of the federal government
from this unseemly scramble would be
a move in the right direction, but it
would only be a minor alleviation. A
thorough reform demands united ac-
tion by the States themselves.
The situation is somewhat compli-
cated by the action of Florida in
adopting a Constitutional amendment
prohibiting forever both income and
inheritance taxes or more than a five-
mills tax on intangible property. The
purpose of this, of course, is to induce
wealthy persons to take up their legal
residence in Florida and thus escape
all sorts of taxes. As one contempo-
rary puts it, “Florida has become a
bloodsucker State in this effort to in-
crease its population of legal resi-
dents with wealth by tempting them
away from other States where taxes
are levied on the principle that wealth
should bear heavy burdens.”
This experiment in partisanism, as
it has been called, has appealed
strongly to some people in Maine, who
have suggested that their State, which
attracts a large number of summer
residents, adopt a similar policy in or-
der to secure such persons as legal
residents. It is easy to see how, if
this example should prove catching,
those States which do not follow it
might lose a large revenue which is
rightfully theirs. 3
cw that President Coolidge has
directed attention to the subject it is
likely to receive more of the attention
which it deserves. The situation bris-
tles with difficulties, but. they are not
insuperable. Unless the States decide
to take some sort of concerted ‘effort
to reform existing evils, Florida and
other Comomnwealths may bag a
large amount of wealth to which they
are not fairly entitled.
Geom,
French Loans and Debts.
From the Philadelphia Public Ledger.
The French government again is
coming into the American money
market for loans to stabilize its un-
steady finances. According to the an-
nouncement made in the Chamber of
Deputies by Finance Minister Clem-
" 1'this Week.
entel, $100,000,000 will be borrowed
for the treasury and $35,000,000 for
the devastated regions.
Undoubtedly there is a sufficient
number of Americans ready and will-
ing to take French I O U’s to make
this flotation as successful as the
one of a few months ago. There is a
certain sentiment attached to any
move to help France in her financial
distress. Economically, France is
sound and steadily improving. More-
over, it is widely recognized that the
period of depreciated currencies, so
disruptive of world trade, must be
brought to an end.
There is a point about these loans, |
however, that should also be brought
home to the French people. They are
recognized in France as commercial
debts, while the war obligations are |
held to be “political.” The French
people should know that, from the
American point of view, there is lit-
tle or no difference, though lenient
terms will be accorded on a war-debt
settlement.
Another consideration bears upon
the national credit of France. It is
good, but it might be much better.
France will pay high for these loans;
she might obtain them at a lower rate.
A settlement of the war accounts
would be the best thing that could
happen to French credit; and the
sooner French credit is brought up to
the mark the sooner the present finan-
cial stringency will be relieved.
s—y lpr
Wheat Price Troubles.
From the Pennsylvania Farmer.
It was but a few months ago that
the public was listening sympathetic-
ally to the troubles of the wheat
growers brought on by the then low
price of wheat. Today the papers are
carrying the news of troubles caused
by the high price of wheat. With the
price near two dollars per bushel
and May wheat selling in London at
two dollars and five cents the English
government is considering the ques-
tion of government control. The
world’s shortage of wheat has caused
keen buying in European countries and
the consequent high price strikes hard
those countries which are still a long
way from pre-war conditions. It is
said that in England alone the num-
ber of unemployed is yet well over one
million. The former supply of cheap-
er Russian wheat is no longer availa-
ble so that European importations
must come largely from the higher
priced markets of the United States
and Canada.
——Next month will mark the pub--
lic sale season in Centre county and
while quite a’ number are booked, there
are less than a dozen of real big giles
scheduled to take place.
SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE.
Helen Taft Manning, daughter of Chief
A Justice William Howard Taft, was ap-
pointed dean of Bryn Mawr College, on
Monday. She will take office next Septem-
—J.. R. Bailey, of Williamsport, tempo-
rary receiver, was made permanent receive
er of the Columbia and Montour Telephone
company at the final hearing on the pe-
tition and injunction of the bondholders
against the Penn State Telephone compa-
ny, lessee, at Danville on Monday.
—Believed to have been asphyxiated by
fumes from a gasoline engine he was using
in pumping water from a miae near the
Summit, in Blair county, David W. Gai-
| ley, 31 years old, was found dead Sunday
morning in the mine. He had started
1 work in the mine on Saturday afternoon.
—Suit was entered in the Cambria coun-
ty court on Monday by County Treasurer
Lester Larimer against Thomas O. Gute-
lius, deliquent tax collector for the county,
to collect $77,238.38, claimed due from the
tax duplicates of 1921 and 1922. Five
bondsmen for Gutelius were also named in
the suit.
—The life savings of Paul Fronczek, a
miner, and his wife, of Windber, amount-
ing to $4,500, went up in smoke one day
last week. The couple hid the money
among some old clothes in the cellar. An-
na, 18 years old, a daughter, gathered up
the clothes not knowing about the money,
and burned them.
—Mystery surrounding the disappear-
ance last Thursday of two inmates of the
Beaver county poor farm has beem .¢leared
up with the finding of the bodies of Steph-
en Hager and Frank Watson in the silo at
the poor farm. Elmer Johnson, farmer at
the home, found the bodies on Monday
buried under the ensilage in the silo.
—One man is dead and another is in a
serious condition in the Columbia hospital
as the result of the explosion of a coal
pulverizer at the Kennedy plant of the J.
BE. Baker company neear Billmeyer, Lan- .
caster county, late Saturday afternoon.
Jacob Garboise, 44, was burned to death.
Frank Screvaski, 37, is in a serious condi-
tion.
—Joseph Parker, 14 years old, was killed
when he stepped on the station road
bridge, at Erie on Monday, just as a pole
holding high tension wires over the bridge
dropped. Parker, a messenger boy whose
home is at Wesleyville, near Erie, was
hurled several feet and so badly burned
that ha died in a few minutes. The pole
had been undermined by high waters in
the creek.
—Alex Zarembo, of Sugar Notch, Lu-
zerne county, and his pet poodle were
smothered to death last week when fire
broke out in his room. Zarembo took the
dog to bed with him, lit a cigarette and
commenced the perusal of a book. Appar-
ently, he fell asleep and the bed clothing
caught fire. Firemen found Zarembo’s
body near the bed with the dog stretched
across him.
—-Louis Braznik, of Crows Nest, near
Greensburg was wounded seriously, at
‘Jeannette, last Thursday. by two robbers
whe: ‘eseaped ' with $900. While walking
along the street Braznik was accosted by
one of the robbers, who forced him to get
into an automobile. He was taken to Oak
Park, shot, robbed and then thrown from
the machine. Braznik went to Jeannette to
yisit relatives prior to sailing for Europe
—As Mrs. Orrie Leitzell, a widow who
keeps a small confectionery store, near
Lock Haven, opened the cash drawer to
make change for two men who were buy-
ing cigarettes on Monday, she was told to
hand over the ten dollar bill which the
men had seen in her hand. As she was
alone in the store, she complied with their
request, and was so frightened she failed
to secure the license number of the car in
which they fled.
—Frank H. Kone, engineer of the Balti-
more-Washington section of the Pennsyl-
vania limited, fell dead of apoplexy in his
engine cab at Harrisburg, on Monday, as
Le was preparing to take his train to Wash-
ington. O. E. Quay, fireman, saw Kone
keel over as the locomotive was backing
into the trainshed of the station. The fire-
man brought the locomotive to a stop and
then summoned aid for the stricken engi-
neer. Kone piloted a train there Monday
morning from Baltimore. He was 56 years
old and lived in Baltimore.
—The Teagarden Gas company last week
drilled in a natural gas gusher on the
John McKerrihan land in Wind Ridge
township, Greene county, with a daily pro-
duction of 4,500,000 cubic feet. The well
! is one of the largest ever drilled in the dis-
trict and has caused a rush on the part of
promoters to lease and take option on
available land in the section. With the
coming of spring the Charleroi and Pigeon
Creek valley districts promise to enjoy the
most extensive drilling boom in their his-
! tory as a result of recent strikes.
—With their last few dollars, which they
had saved through years of hard work at
the shoemaker’s bench, gone, Mr. and Mrs.
Charles Houck, deaf mutes, of Gettysburg,
made a vow last week that they would
meet death together by starvation rather
than tell of their plight. This became
known on Saturday after a subscription
had been started for their relief when it
was learned that the Red Cross had given
them assistance. Visitors at their home
discovered that they were without coal,
had eaten no solid food for several days,
and that both were on the verge of col-
lapse.
—Miss Betty Deem, of Reading, although
in splendid health and working regularly,
on Saturday gave a dinner at her home
to six male friends whom she has selected
to be pallbeearers at her funeral, “if any-
thing happens.’ The men are: William
Custer, Monroe P. Long, Howard Man-
willer, Harvey Gift, William A. Specht
and George M. Yocum. The six men work
in the cigar factory where Miss Deem is
employed. Recently her mother died and
she said she decided to make arrange-
ments for her own funeral. She has
bought a burial lot, selected a tombstone
and made her will.
—QGeorge Dobbs, a brakeman on tha
Pennsylvania railroad, escaped death near
Pottsville, on Saturday, even though a
whole train of cars ran over him. When
Dobbs fell directly between cars of a mov-
ing coal train he grasped the air compres-
sor hose and swung himself away from the
wheels and lay between the rails and sills.
The train passed on and his fellow crew
members thought he .had been cut in
twain. Instead he stood up after the train
passed, almost uninjured. He was some-
what bruised and suffered severely from
i the great shock of facing a horrible death,
but was ablé to work again on Monday.