Brolin.
INK sLives..
——Mr. Coolidge has found out
‘that it is hard to be “an easy boss.”
——One Congressman refused to
accept the increased salary but “a lit-
tle leaven” doesn’t always “leaven the
lump.”
Yes, there is sanity somewhere
in Harrisburg. Some of the Members
are of the opinion that Rockview
ought to be finished before the State
gets any more penitentiary irons in
‘the fire.
— Astronomers and other scientists
are engaged in a squabble as to the
weight of the earth. We don’t get the
big idea. We fail to comprehend what
difference it makes. We know of no
strong man who is trying to grab the
«championship belt from Atlas.
—With the passing of Walter Camp
there is no one left to pick the all-
American football teams. Camp’s
choice was never unanimously accept-
ed, but the player who hasn’t been on
one of his teams feels that he never
«quite got a niche in football’s hall of
fame. :
—We await with interest the vote
of our Member of the Legislature on
the Ludlow bill. It is a measure that
should be made law#for it will save
the tax payers thousands and thous-
ands of dollars, but Mr. Grundy is
against it and we shall be obsessed
with curiosity until we know where
Mr. Holmes lands on the bill: With
‘Grundy and the tax collectors lobby,
or with the people who have the taxes
to pay.
—Having specialized in spring
snows for the past thirty years we
feel competent to officially decide that
the one of Tuesday morning was the
robin snow. It wasn’t heavy enough
to bend the ‘saplins so it couldn’t have
been the saplin bender. There are no
onions in the gardens nor daffodils.
venturing from the ground, so. it
«couldn’t have been either the onion or
the daffodil snow. Ergo; it was the
. robin snow.
—Philipsburg had a big public
meeting last Friday night to discuss
“her Pine street bridge problem. The
town seems to be in earnest in the de-
mand for a structure to replace the
one recently washed away at the foot
of Pine street in that place. It will be
recalled that they sought aid from the
Commissioners of both Centre and
Clearfield counties and having been
refused. .are now. W beginning t to (demand
a . i ‘and ha
just set aside two and one-half mil-
lion dollars of it with which to edu-
cate poor boys for any calling they
desire. The only condition he impos-
es is a probation of two years during
which they must live clean lives and
refrain from drinking.
—Milady’s summer clothes are to
weigh just two pounds, including her
shoes. Her dresses are to be just be-
low the knees, but not to cover them
so that when she sits down they will
be in full view. The arms are to be
covered and the neck dressed high.
In the mid-Victorian period there was
a periodical descent in feminine inves-
titure. Now the vogue is ascendant
and the good Lord only knows wheth-
er it will be stopped before the fash-
jon makers issue the edict that ear
‘muffs alone will constitute the sum-
mer girls’ wardrobe.
—A bill that would put civil serv-
‘ice into effect in the various depart-
ments of the government of Pennsyl-
vania has been introduced by Senator
Snyder, of Blair. It provides for a
commission of three persons who
would draw an aggregate salary of
$14,000 per year and, if enacted,
would amount to a positive waste of
that much money. Republicans hold
all the jobs in Pennsylvania and prob-
ably always will, so we have no per-
sonal interest in the matter, further
than as a tax payer to protest on a
plan to create three more fat ones.
—While we have no desire to enter
into a discussion with any one on the
merits of the fight between the Pres-
ident and the Senate we can’t refrain
from expressing the thought that
there are a lot among the President’s
supporters now who were on the Sen-
ate side of the argument when Wood-
row Wilson was in the White House.
Of course it is to be expected that
they should be loudest in denouncing
partisanship on the part of the Demo-
crats because it is only by throwing
up a smoke screen that they think
they can conceal their own partisan-
ship of eight years ago.
—The Philadelphia Public Ledg-
er, stronger than most of the metro-
politan papers in many of its depart-
ments, is more puerile than any we
know of on its editorial page. Its
fatuous pleading with its readers to
believe that the Democrats in the Sen-
ate voted against the confirmation of
Warren, because he is a Republican,
suggests the thought that a commis-
sion in lunacy might well be engaged
for occasional sittings in the editorial
rooms of that journal. The Demo-
crats voted against Warren not be-
cause he was a Republican, but be-
cause he is not the right kind of a
Republican. They were unanimous in
their approval of John G. Sargent,
an inconspicuous country lawyer from
Vermont. Sargent is more of a par-
tisan Republican than Warren, but
he’s clean.
it may i. have Tad a
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL ‘UNION.
VOL. 70.
Bill Defeated
Legislature.
Governor Pinchot 1 lost his fight for
dry legislation by a vote of 99 to 107. |
The call of the bootlegger was louder
than the voice of conscience and the
practically unanimous vote of the big |
cities overwhelmed the strength of the
divided forces of the rural districts. |
For many years previous to the enact-
ment of the Volstead law the liquor
interests and the Republican machine
maintained a partnership. The com-
bination seems to have resumed busi-
ness with bootleggers providing the
capital and the machine managers di-
recting the operations. It is an un-
holy alliance but for the time being
has achieved its purpose.
But the Governor made a gallant
fight. His speech before the joint ses-
sion of the Legislature, on Tuesday,
was a masterpiece in force and logic.
But his appeal fell upon deaf ears.
Political exigencies are of greater
consequence than public morals or ec-
onomic welfare to those who control
the Legislature and the source of
slush funds more important than the
lives sacrificed by thousands to the av-
arice of the traders in poison. As
Governor Pinchot stated “it is not a
question of light wine or beer. It is
not a question of unadulterated liquor
of any kind. It is a question of stop-
ping tke flood of poison drink poured
out over the State.”
The bootleggers may imagine: that:
they won a great victory over the
Governor in this contest. One of the
speakers in opposition to the measure
practically admitted that the fight was
against the Governor rather than
against the measure. Viewed from
that angle it may be said that the ma-
chine scored heavily. The Governor is
certainly defeated. But it is a defeat
that reflects honor instead of humilia-
tion and before another election of
Senators and Representatives in the
egislature is held the truth will be
ed and the Governor rather than
chine will have Yedson to re-
United Dry in the
chance of passing had if not been. Hd
ten off to a bad start by arousing the
disapproval of the Grange and other
organizations by incorporating objec-
tional features that in reality were
trifling, and could. have been added
later, yet sufficed to provide a peg on
which to hang considerable opposi-
tion.
Mr. Holmes, Centre county’s Mem-
ber, voted for - the bill thus better
representing the majority of his con-
stituency than he did by his vote for '
Bluett for Speaker.
Coolidge Determined to Boss.
In pursuance of his purpose to boss
the government of the United States
President Coolidge has undertaken to
deprive the United States, Senate of
an important constitutional 'preroga-
tive. In fulfillment of what may have
“been a pledge of his party managers
to reimburse the monopolies for the
‘money they spent in the purchase of
his election he nominated an emissary
of the Sugar trust for the office of
Attorney General. After an exhaus-
tive investigation of the subject the
Senate refused to confirm the nomina-
tion. Thereupon the President con-
verted the White House into a trad-
ing post and began negotiations for
votes in favor of ratification.
he thought he had secured enough
he renominated the defeated candidate
and set up the excuse that the Presi-
dent has the right to name his own
cabinet.
In opposing the confirmation of Mu.
Warren Senator Walsh, of Montana,
showed that in his operations to sup-
press independent beet sugar manu-
facturers in Michigan Mr. Warren was
not in the capacity of a lawyer. Legal
talent wasn’t needed for the work. It
was the task of a shrewd stock jobber
and Warren simply the agent of H.
0. Havemyer, head of the Sugar trust.
In that capacity he procured title to
nearly a majority of the shares of
the several Michigan sugar plants
and forwarded the certificates to Mr.
Havemeyer to be entered in the books
of the trust as property of Mr. Wai-
ren, thus making him an influential
stockholder in the trust. In a court
trial which followed it was judicially
decided that the Michigan corpora-
tions owned and controlled ‘by Mr.
Warren were a part of the trust.
In renominating Mr. Warren, after
the Senate had refused to confirm
his appointment, the President not
only defied the Senate but challenged
it in a statement that if confirmation
were refused he would, after the ad-
journment of the Senate, give him a
recess appointment. In other.
tion, the laws and the a of
the government. And he is pursuing
this course without the approval of
the ablest lawyers and wisest leaders
of his party. But it is in line with
the commercial methods of Sena-
tor Butler and other political pirates
who came into prominence with Cool-
idge’s elevation to office. The attempt
of Vice President Dawes to boss the
Senate was part of the plan but it
failed.
——On the 4th of March President
. Coolidge solemnly swore that he
The Ludlow Bill in Danger.
Gossip in the corridors at Harris-
burg indicate that the question of the |
passage of the Ludlow bill, which al- |
ters the methods of collecting taxes, |
has been put up to Mr. Joe Grundy, of |
the recently formed political firm of
Vare & Grundy. It has long been
known that Mr. Grundy is deeply in-
terested in tax questions but hitherto
he has given more attention to the
levying than to the collection of tax-
es. The current reports convey the
idea that he is equally concerned in
the levy and collection of taxes and
the fact is not encouraging to the
hope of tax reform. Mr. Grundy is
not much on reform. His aim is to
exempt manufactories from tax, and |
that result achieved he is satisfied.
It has been shown by supporters of
the Ludlow bill that the cost of tax
collection in Pennsylvania is more |
than double that of any other State in
the Union, and that more money is
paid in this State for the collection of
county tax than it costs in some oth-
er States for collecting all the taxes. |
In our tax system there are school, |
city, borough or county, and in the
country districts road and township !
taxes. The tax collector gets a per
centage on each of these several tax-
es and in some sections the recom-
pense makes the office of tax collector
more lucrative than any county or city
office within the gift of the voters. It
is for this sinister reason that a cor-
rupt lobby has been organized to op-
pose the passage of the Ludlow bill. |
With Mr. Grundy in charge of the |
matter there is little hope for relief
from the unjust burdens incident to
the existing system of tax collection,
| would “preserve, protect and defend
, the constitution of the United States,”
' and ever since that he has been trying
to violate it.
An Absurd Claim.
The most absurd claim that has re-
cently been alleged in connection with
public service is that offered in sup-
port of President Coolidge’s efforts
to usurp the right to appoint an At-
torney General without the consent of
‘the Senate. Other Presidents have
nominated men for cabinet offices
which were not confirmed, but Mr.
Coolidge is the first to defy the Sen-
ate and renominate a man who has
been rejected after due deliberation
upon the ground that “it is custom-
ary” and that he is responsible for
the actions of his so called “consti-
tutional advisers, and “it is nobody’s
business but his own.”
The constitution of the United
States in Article 2, Section 2, para-
graph 2, declares that “he (the Pres-
ident) shall have power, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate,
to make treaties, provided two-thirds
of the Senators present concur: and
he shall nominate and by and with |®
the advice and consent of the Sen-
ate, shall appoint Ambassadors,
. other public ministers and consuls,
" judges of the Supreme court, and all
other officers of the United States,
whose appointments are not herein
otherwise provided for and shall be
established by law; but the Congress
may by law vest the appointment of
| such inferior officers as they think
| proper, in the President alone, in the
courts of law, or in the heads of De-
partments. »
There is neither uncertainty nor
unless the people of the State prompt- | ambiguity in that language and there
ly and vigorously assert an interest in
the question. It is said that the lobby ,
is liberally provided with money to in- fact recent experience
fluence legislation, but the voice of
the people is more potent than money, |
if it is expressed in the right way.
Every citizen in the Commonwealth
ought to get busy at once and let it be
known to their representatives in the
Legislature that this form of graft
; must stop and that Senators and Rep-
' resentatives in the General Assembly
who fail of their duty in this connec-
tion will be retired.
is not much doubt as to the reason
it was put in the fundamental law. In
proves the
value of it. If the Senate had exer-
cised its best judgment the scandals
i incident to the oil leases andthe ad-
| ministration, would never have been
heard of. A number of Senators real-
ized that Fall, Daugherty and Denby
were unfit for the offices to which they
were appointed, but because Mr.
Harding had been a Senator and was
When | “s.
personally popular they were con-"
firmed.
BELLEFONTE, PA.. MARCH 20, 1925.
7 Haak, or Imaginary Reason.
The office of State Superintendent.
of Public Instruction is “going beg-
ging,” according to news dispatches
from Harrisburg. - It is not because
the salary is‘inadequate that none of
the prominent and capable educators
of ‘the country decline to accept it.
The salary is $12, 000 a year, and $1,-
000 a month is generous reward for
even a high order of talent. But for
some reason the educators refuse to
“sign up.” It was tendered to a Mas- |
sathuseetts man some time ago and
following his refusal was offered to a
Maryland teacher who also declined.
Next a California man, Dr. Will C.
Wood, was importuned to come and
ke the plum tree,” but after de-
liberation he said “nay nay, dear Al-
phonso.”
Some of our esteemed contempor-
aries attribute this eurious situation
to the Finegan incident which occui-
red two years ago. During the gu-
bernatorial campaign the friends of
Dr. Finegan, then holding down the
job, exacted, or say they did, a prom-
ise from Mr. Pinchot that in the event
of his election he would reappoint Dr."
Finegan. But after the induction into
office Mrs. Pinchot changed his mind
on that subject and he tendered the
favor with a reservation which he
knew Dr. Finegan would not allow.
| Then he appointed Dr. Becht with or
without embarrassing. conditions. Now
Dr. Becht is in bad health and wants
to resign as soon as the Legislature
provides for a pension. ;
It is said that Dr. Wood declined
the office because he was informed
that “acceptance would be regarded
as a breach of ethics” by his profes-
sional. : brethren
There may be some foundation for
this rumor, for the executive council
of the State ‘Educational Association
last week and the subject was disenss,
ed. ‘But there is another theory that
§ or less plausible. It is said
Mrs Pinchot has some peculiar
ence, and possible that is the nigger
in the woodpile.”
——The Senate on Tuesday passed
the Betts bill validating the official
acts of justice of the peace S. A. Rob-
inson, of Snow Shoe, who failed to
qualify for office following his re-elec-
tion in the fall of 1921. The bill now
goes to the House for concurrence.
The Senate also passed the Quigley
bill increasing the minimum salary of
county school superintendents.
—Secretary Mellon denied Gov.
Pinchot’s inferential charge that he
had instructed his workers in the Leg-
islature to kill the United Dry bill.
Mr. Mellon wired the Governor that
he had formed no opinion in the mat-
ter. It is significant, however, that
most of the Secretary’s: followers in
the Legislature had, for they all vot-
ed to defeat it.
——Some ten or a dozen business
men met together at dinner at the
Brockerhoff house, last Friday even-
ing, and discussed the advisability of
reviving and reorganizing the old Bus-
iness Men’s association. No definite
conclusion was reached. :
——Chairman Madden, of the House
committee on Appropriations, thinks
the time for tax reductions are over.
But the Republican managers will find
some way to fool the people in 1927.
——The hunters of the State aré
not likely to approve the proposition
to put upon them the entire burden of
reforestation. They only get a share
of the expected benefits.
——Now that Coolidge and Dawes
have both been rebuked the govern-
ment at Washington may “resume
business at the old stand.”
——Maybe those friends who pre-
vailed on Pinchot to address the Leg-
islature on his pet bill simply wanted
to flatter the Governor.
——Don’t waste sympathy on Pres-
ident Coolidge or chairman Butler. It
is the Sugar trust that “got the worst
of it” in the struggle.
——To revive the old song it may
be said that Coolidge is the guy who
tried to put the Sugar trust in the
cabinet.
_ —If it is true that man was orig-
inally a fish it is natural that there
should be a good many suckers now.
——The bossing program has been
recommitted to the committee on rules
of the Senate for revision.
-—Get your job work done here.
officers, but the prediction that G
in - Pennsylvania. |
| be. very valuable officers if the
‘not much room for them.
NO. 18.
Airships and nd Battleships.
From. the. Philadelphia R Record.
There has . been unngeessary J eal
in the investigation of General Mi eh
ell’s opinion of the relative opin
airships and battleships, an hon
suported by some naval officers
antagonized by others. But i
any consideration is given to the rel-
ative merits of various figh ma-
chines the imposition ‘of any restraint
upon the expression of opinions, by of-
ficers of the army and navy ought to
be repudiated. Neither Congress nor
the President can possibly know any-
thing about the value of military and
naval machines. They must get their
information entirely from men in the
two services. They ought not to be
restricted to the information that
comes through all the official chan-
nels and is finally sanctioned by the
Secretary of War or of the Navy.
There should be the fullest possible
disclosure of opinions, :
This is not in accordance with mil-
itary and naval routine, in which no
one has any opinion except the. high-
est officer. That may be necessary in
warfare, but in peace, in the prepara-
tion for war, all" sorts of opinions
ought to be encouraged. ‘The War
Department denies. ‘censorship Upon
en-
eral Mitchell would be relieved of his
position has been verified. He has
beeen punished for expressing opin-
ions that are not these of the general
staff or of his: immediate rior.
That will make it more di t for
the President and Congress to get full
and honest Information. from ‘officers
of both services.
In regard
selves, the di
1s
not mote importan 1 that t between |
army officers regarding’ lative
value of the several’ Site Ue serves
ice. . Officers of the-infantry, gavalry
and artillery very natural Rg ly
and advantageously |
service to js Se ‘they lieve. fat rie
the most important. ..T
trenches and - fortifica
officers had to admit ¢t
never a war in which ar
“And - in Die of, the | impTece-
dented use of artillery, which was on)
to fire at unseen targets, fortified po-
| sitions were carried by infantry. The
general judgment of military author-
ities is that the foot soldier with his
rifle is still the most vital element in
an armed force. The cavalry and even
the artillery are still adjuncts to the
infantry.
We do not know whether airships
can destroy battleships. Of course
they can if they can score enough hits
with big enough bombs, but there are
always going to be large chances of
missing. Before the world war Ad-
miral Scott, of England, declared that
the submarine had put the battleship
out of service. Yet after the war was
over the highest naval authorities of
all nations declared that the battle-
ship was the determining factor in na-
val warfare. Doubtless a battleship
may be destroyed hy a submarine or
an airplane, just as a soldier may be
destroyed by a bullet. Yet the soldier
is the determining factor.
We need cavalry and artillery as
well as infantry. We need battleships,
and we also need submarines and air-
planes. The conditions of warfare are
changing constantly, and it is essen-
tial that we should have a reasonable
amount of all the arms and weapons
and apoliances sanctioned by exper-
ience. It would be the height of folly
to discard all but one because that one
has shown extraordinary efficiency on
some occasion.
Prisoners’ Indigent Dependents.
From the Pittsburgh Post.
An incident occurred in McKean
county Saturday which directs atten-
tion to the need of a reform in our
penal system. The wife of a farmer
convicted of violating the liquor law
and sentenced to serve six months in
jail brought her eight children, rang-
ing in age from 14 years to twins 18
months old, to the County Commission-
ers’ office and gave them to under-
stand that since the family had been
deprived of the support of the bread-
winner the county would have to
maintain them.
Situations like this arise frequent-
ly. One of the commonest excuses
given for asking clemency for a con-
victed criminal is that his family will
be reduced to destitution if he is sent
to prison or if he is not forthwith re-
leased. The courts properly should
not take cognizance of such a plea;
yet the judges, being human and com-
passionate, often are thereby influ-
enced to be lenient to offenders who
are not entitled to lenience and would
not receive it if there were no danger
of their dependents suffering.
Trout Fishermen Growing Uneasy.
From the Altoona Tribune.
Now doth the trout fishermen grow
more uneasy. Many a stream is call-
ing. April 15 is the time in Pennsyl-
vania. Just about a month. Between
this time and the opening date, how-
ever, the angler will get a lot of pleas-
ure out of life by going over the fish-
ing kit.
fp pe
—~Subseribe for the “Watchman.”
to’ ot) opinions them
SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE.
Titusville dtizens will vote “April 7 on
a proposal to issue bonds in the amount.of
. | $140,000 for street improvement.
—James Foust, for twenty-five years
‘head of pure food law enforcement in
Pennsylvania and since 1907 direstor of the
‘| Bureau of Foods in the State Department
of. Agriculture, will retire in June.
.—A- decision handed down at Pittsburgh
on Monday by the State Supreme court
upholds the constitutionality of the act
passed by the 1923 Legislature placing
county officials on a salary basis instead
of the fee system as in vogue heretofore.
—Clarence R. Sanford, well known Erie
undertaker, died last Thursday, a victim of
his profession. A week previous Sanford
prepared for burial a woman who had died
of smallpox. He refused to be vaccinated
before taking charge of the body. Three
days later he was siezed with the disease.
—Dr. Charles B. Rowan, a prominent
physician of East End, Pittsburgh, and
son of the late Mr. and Mrs. George Row-
an, of Hollidaysburg, was drowned near
Cape Hatteras, off the coast of North Car-
olina, last Wednesday. Dr. Rowan was
swept overboard from the steamer City of
Rome while en route to Jacksonville, Fla.
The body was not recovered. The physi-
cian was thrown overboard by a lurch of
the ship during a storm.
—Five young men, masked and armed,
held up the Germantown office of the Yel-
low Cab company late last Friday night
and escaped with the day's receipts
amounting to about $6,200. Three em-
ployees were in the office when the robbers
entered with drawn pistols. Commanding
the employees to throw up their hands, the
intruders snatched the cash box and sped
away in a waiting automobile. Another
cash box containing $3,000 was overlooked
by the robbers.
—~Clinton E. Cole, for five years super-
vising principal of the Birdsboro schools,
has resigned to take charge of the schools
at: Muhlenberg, the only third-class school
district in Berks county. He is a gradu-
ate of the Keystone State Normal school,
Muhlenberg College, and took special
courses at The Pennsylvania State College
and Teachers’ College, Columbia Univer-
sity. He has been teaching for twenty-
two years, at Northampton, Myerstown,
Palmerton and Birdsboro.
—Daniel -J. Shields, of Johnstown, Pa,
was indicted -at Washington, D.C, on
Monday by a federal grand jury charged
with having bribed a woman stenographer
in the prohibition unit to give him confi-
dential information from government files
eoncerning reports of alleged violations of
the prohibition law by breweries in Penn-
sylvania. He was charged with having
paid Della M. Hayes, an employe of the
internal revenue bureau,” a total of $3,400
during the years 1922, 2 and 1924 for
the information.
—Yeggs, who “spent , several days last
‘week at a- -Clearfield -hotel in ‘order to make
a study of the surroundings of the local
gis reds ‘and the various avenues afford-
ing a hurried escape from town, blew the
safe in the new postoffice on Friday morn-
{ing, stole stamps and cash to the value of
at least $6000, and departed in an automo-
3 bile. The total Amount of cash and useable
stamps, exceeded $500 in value.
Pre-can-
stamps valued at $5000 to postmaster
erry, but not worth a cent, t outside: of
“1 Clearfield; were taken alse. om
—The sum of $10,000 has been paid to the
trustees of the University of Pennsylvania
hospital, for the endowment of a free bed
for the ailing of Emporium, as a result of
the provisions of the will of Mrs. Ella A.
Parson, of that place. This gift is only
one of the many provided by the will of
Mrs. Parson. Several scholarships for
various colleges were started and other
charitable institutions were benefited.
After the estate was turned into cash, it
amounted to about $67,000, of ‘which
amount $30,000 went to charity.
~The temporary bridge across the Kish-
acoquillas creek in Mann's Narrows was
thrown open to vehicular travel of ten tons
or less last Wednesday afternoon. The
bridge collapsed the night of March 2,
dropping a furniture van from Philadel-
phia, into the creek. The rigging gang of
the Standard Steel works removed the
truck Friday night and J. C. McCarrell, of
the State Highway Department, with
twenty men, rebuilt the structure in four
and one-half days. The detour via. Mill
Creek, fifty miles, has been cancelled.
—A Corry man, through a newspaper,
has offered “to sell himself” for 30 months
for $1,250. The man, who requests $300 be
paid at once, and $700 more in 30 days, de-
clares that “he must have work, and will
do anything honest” so he can “repay
friends who have trusted him.” The man
states in his appeal that he has been ‘able
to earn $110 to $175 a month, and he be-
lieves this is a good chance for some per-
son to ‘double their money.” To protect
his employer against loss, should he die
during the 30 months of voluntary service,
he is ready to assign a life insurance pol-
icy amounting fo $3,000.
—The claim of Mrs. Ella Backas Christo-
poulos against Mr. and Mrs. Constantine
E. Contos, of Reading, for a wedding dow-
ery of $10,000, was dismissed by Judge
Thompson, in the United States District
court at Philadelphia, last Thursday. Mrs.
Christopoulos charged her aunt and uncle
brought her from Greece on the promise of
finding her a husband and giving her a
dowry. She said she found a husband for
herself, and after she did domestic chores
in the Contos home for several years her
aunt and uncle repudiated her. Judge
§hompson said she suffered no financial
loss, because her husband would have re-
ceived the money had it been paid.
—Mrs. Kathryn Cummings, of Erie, the
wife of one man and the “fiancee” of
another, was awarded $4000 life insurance
on Monday in a decision by the United
States circuit court of appeals. The in-
surance was taken out in her behalf by
Jesse J. Freeman, of Erie, whom she had
promised to marry as soon as she became
divorced from her husband. Freeman died
July 11, 1921, after he had named Mrs.
Cummings as his “fiancee and beneficiary”
in two policies for $2000 each. After Free-
man’s death his brother. Alfred J. Free-
man, an auctioneer for the government,
and Mrs. Cummings made demands on the
insurance company for the money. The
company filed a suit in the United States
district court at Pittsburgh, and Judges
Schoonmaker and Thompson decided the
case in favor of the woman. The circuit
court upheld the decision of the lower
court after the insurance company had
taken an appeal. It was pointed out in the
decision that although Mrs, Cummings’
husband was alive, it did not have any
, bearing on the case.