A —_— em
Beworaiy adn
“Bellefonte, Pa., April 3, 1925.
Editor
P. GRAY MEEK,
“To Correspondents.—No communications
published unless accompanied by the real
name of the writer.
Terms of Subscription.—Until further
notice this paper will be furnished to sub-
scribers at the following rates:
Paid strictly in advance - - $1.50
Paid before expiration of year - 17
Paid after expiration of year - 2.00
Published weekly, every Friday morn-
fng. Entered at the postoffice, Bellefonte,
Pa., as second class matter.
In ordering change of address always
give the old as well as the new address.
It is important that the publisher be no-
tified when a subscriber wishes the pa-
per discontinued. In all such cases the
subscribtion must be paid up to date of
cancellation.
A sample copy of the “Watchman” will
be sent without cost to applicants.
src no
Interesting Accumulation of “Old
Stuff” on the Editorial Desk.
A Diary of 1822, The Nittany Asso-
ciation and a “Watchman” of ’64.
From the Pennsylvania Magazine of
History and Biography, for Jaunary,
we here republish several paragraphs
from a diary that is now the property
of the Carnegie Library of The Penn-
sylvania State College. The copy is
unsigned so that the identity of the
author is uncertain. The record is of
a trip he made from Horsham, Mont-
gomery county, to New Lisbon, Ohio,
and since his westward course brought
him through Centre county, over the
old Erie pike, you will doubtless be in-
terested in the notations made one
hundred and three years ago.
As we have said, the identity of the
writer has not been definitely estab-
lished though there is much to sug-
gest the thought that it must have
been Dr. William Bye, son of Hezeki-
ah and Sarah Pettit Bye and a broth-
er of Mrs. Packer, whose son later
was Governor Packer, of Pennsylva-
nia. The Pettits came to Centre coun-
ty in 1794, a William Pettit having
been register of the county from 1824
to 1836. The Pettits intermarried
with the Boultons, . McBrides, Beals,
McEwens and other early Bellefonte
families so that the family alliance of
Pettit and Bye with the later location
of the Pettit branch in this place gives
a fairly reasonable assumption, that,
the diary is that of Dr. Bye and that
he made the journey through Centre;
county to visit relatives here. This
theory is strengthened by the fact’
that the traveler evidently left the di-
rect course west by way of the Erie
pike to journey to Howard where the
Packers lived and the Packers were
near kin of the Byes, as we have
stated. a
The diary begins with the depart-
ure of the writer from Horsham, Oc-
tober 14th, 1822. On the morning of
the 18th he had reached the lower end
of Penns valley, but you shall read
his own notes of the trip through Cen-
tre county:
“4% * * here we came into Penns
valley, another fine, rich settlement
but very uneven and stony Lewistown
(Aaronsburg or Levystown founded
by Aaron Levy) is four miles up the
valley and has about thirty houses—
has but one street its whole length,
this is about 160 feet wide filled with.
stumps and wood so as to make it al-
most impervious to carriages, inhab-
ited chiefly by Germans—society, I
would suppose, not of the best—con-
tains four taverns and one store, this
appears to keep a very good assort-
ment. One mile further up is Mill-
heim, another village of about forty
houses; street narrow and muddy—-
houses poor and old. Came on six
miles over a very rough road when we
put up for the night. As usual, I
killed one pheasant this day.”
19th. “We got a middling early
start from the Red House and came on
seven miles to a small town (probably
Earlystown) and fed. Thence it was
two miles to where we began to as-
cend the Nittany mountain, which is
four miles over and as rough a road
as ever man traveled with a wagon.
Three miles to Bellefonte, the capital
of Centre county, situated in the
midst of hills and on the Spring creek,
a fine, large stream that issues at one
out of a mountain close by the town.
It has four stores and nine taverns.
Here the Erie turnpike commences.
From thence two miles to Milesburg,
a small town at the junction of the
Spring creek and Bald Eagle—from
this place to my sister's ten miles—
very bad road—got there at dark, in
the rain.”
The journey from Howard back to
Milesburg and thence to Unionville, is
not included in the diary, but at Un-
ionville it takes up the record as fol-
lows:
“Left William Fishers (known to
have been located at Unionville) this
morning after taking breakfast, by
candle-light, on the best coffee, fried
ham, buckwheat cakes and honey that
a man could wish for. We came on
four miles to the foot of the Alleghe-
ny mountain. I killed one pheasant
and came on up the mountain. Here
is the most delightful prospect of hill
and dale that could ever be presented
to the eye of a spectator. Just as we
got over the mountain a deer hopped
across the road just before us. I out
with the gun, put in three balls and
fired at its broadside, distance thirty
paces—reloaded with same charge,
got within twenty paces and fired
right at its eyes—took no effect. Came
to Philipsburg, twenty miles, and fed
—proceeded twelve miles to Clearfield
creek, put up at the widow Arderys,
received good treatment.”
WHO RECALLS THE NITTANY ASSO-
CIATION?
While we are in the mood we have
decided to clean up a bit more of the
“The Centre county Sheep and Wool
accumulation of “old stuff” that is
ever finding its way to our desk. We
have in hand a copy of the constitu-
tion and by-laws of the “Nittany As-
sociation’ ’that was printed in this of-
fice in 1859. We had never heard of
the “Nittany Association” until H. J. !
Walkey put us in possession of the old !
folder which states that “the object of
this Association shall be to protect its
members against horse stealing.”
Its charter was granted by the Cen-
tre county courts in January, 1859,
and is attested by Jesse L. Test, Re-
corder. There are 118 signatures to
the application, many of them names
still familiar in Nittany valley where
the Association held its meetings once
a year at Hublersburg.
Among its officers were fifteen mes-
sengers and three branding masters.
The duty of the messengers was, im-
mediately upon being notified by the
president that a horse had been stolen,
to start in its pursuit and continue, “at
least fifty miles, even if they have no
trace of the thief or stolen horse and
if they have such trace to continue
pursuit until the animal is recovered.”
For this they were to receive fifty
cents per day and four cents per mile
traveled.
The duty of the branding officers’
was to brand all horses owned by
members of the Association and they
got six and one-quarter cents a horse
for doing the work.
The members paid annual dues of
twenty-five cents and got for it eighty
per cent. of the appraised value of any
horse stolen from them and not recov-
ered. Nittany Valley, for the purpose
of establishing eligibility for member-
ship in the Association, was consider-
ed as all that territory between the
Bald Eagle and Nittany mountains
and running as far west as the “pub-
lic road from Stormstown to Pine
Grove.”
IN THE “WATCHMAN” IN 1864.
~ Next in hand is a copy of the
“Watchman” under date of April 29th,
1864. It was then a seven column,
four page paper carrying nineteen col-
umns of advertising and nine of read-
ing matter, a money-making percent-
age that wouldn’t be tolerated for an
issue by newspaper subscribers of to-
day.
Allegheny was then known as Main
street and most of the business houses
of the town were located on that thor-
oughfare. Among all the lawyers and
dentists who had “Business Cards” in
the “Watchman” only two are at pres-
ent represented in the profession by
posterity. They are the firm of Orvis.
and Alexander and A. O. Furst. Ly-
on & Loebs were advertising the open-
ing of a new store in the Lipton room
in Milesburg. Wheat was quoted at
$1.50, corn $1.15, oats 65c., butter 30c.
and eggs 15c. Carpenters were being
paid $2.25 per day and board was $4.50
per week. a!
A firm styled We Ketcham & Co.
of New York, was advertising to send 4
free on application a small treatise on
“the philosophy of ice cream manu-
facture.” We don’t know what the
philosophy could have been but the
name of the firm should have been
significant enough to have scared any
readers out of the notion of sending
for the treatise.
The paper carried but one column
of local news and most of that seems
to have been “puffs” for readers who
had apparently presented the editors
with something to eat or drink. The
complete destruction by fire of the ed-
itor’'s parental home in Patton town-
ship, was told of in five lines,
while a runaway team from the Cum-
mings house on Bishop street drew
seven.
2
Annual Meeting of Wool Growers. .
Growers’ association held its annual
meeting Thursday of last week in the
court house, Bellefonte. A sales com-
mittee was appointed and it was de-
cided to load the wool June 2nd and
3rd.
Success of the wool pool in Centre
county as a co-operative selling or-
ganization was discussed by W. B.
Connell, sheep extension specialist.
The fact that the per centage of re-
jections in Centre county wools has
not decreased in the last few years
was brought out. This is the only
county in the State that this has been
the case. In other words, it is time
that the wool growers take better
care of their wool. A little care in
feeding will keep out a lot of hayseeds
and other foreign matter which is
objectional. Buyers have criticized
Centre county wools for not being
tied with paper twine.
Proper preparation of a fleece for
market pays. For this reason R. C.
Blaney, county agent, urges Centre
county wool growers to tie their
fleeces with paper twine instead of
sisal or jute twine. The advantages of
the paper twine are that it can be re-
moved more easily from the fleece
than the jute or sisal, and any parti-
cles which adhere to the wool will
dissolve in the wash bowls, which is
not true of jute or sisal, especially the
latter. These strands of sisal come
through in the finished product and
they will not take the dye. Thus,
considerable cardage of fabric is often
spoiled.
——State police made a raid on the
home of William Burns, at Julian, last
Saturday afternoon, and captured a
still and a quantity of mash and
moonshine. Burns was also taken in-
to custody. This is his second arrest
for breaking the Volstead law and
when asked why he did it replied that
“it was the only way to make an easy
living.”
EMERICK.—Joseph A. Emerick,
Jury Commissioner of Centre county,
died at his home at Nittany at 6.10
o’clock on Monday morning. For sev-
eral years past he had been a suffer-
er with hardening of the arteries but
never gave up and during the
winter made his regular trips to Belle-
fonte while engaged in the work of
filling the jury wheel for 1925. About
four weeks ago other complications
developed and he was compelled to
take his bed and from that time he
gradually grew worse until the end
came on Monday morning.
He was a son of John and Mary
Huggins Emerick and was born at
Nittany on November 16th, 1850,
hence had reached the age of 74 years,
4 months and 14 days. His entire
life was spent in the neighborhood
of Nittany. As a young man he en-
gaged in farming, an occupation he
followed until his retirement some
six or seven years ago, when he moved
into a comfortable home in Nittany.
He was a life-long member of St.
Mark’s Lutheran church, of that place,
and one of its most dependable sup-
porters. He was a staunch Democrat
all his life and an ardent supporter
of President Wilson and his policies
during thé world war. He was serv-
ing his third term as a Ju y Commis-
sioner and always discharged the
duties of that office with serupulous:
fidelity. ! ;
He married . Miss Josephine A Kes-|
singer who survives with three chil-
dren, Mrs. L. A: Zindel, of Punxsu-
tawney; Miss Dorothy, of Williams-
port, and Charles M., of Detroit,
Mich. He also leaves one sister and
two brothers, Mrs. Frances Rodgers,
of Pittsburgh; E. C. Emerick, of Wil-
liamsport, and John, in California.
Rev. W. J. Shultz had charge of
the funeral services which were held
iat 2 o'clock on Wednesday, burial
being made in the Cedar Hill ceme-
tery. :
Il : Il :
LOVE.—John D. Love died at his
home on Reynolds avenue, Bellefonte,
on Friday evening, following a pro-
longed illness. In fact he had been
confined to the house for almost five
months, his last trip in town having
been on election day last November.
He was a son of William and Sarah
Love and was born in Bellefonte on:
January 12th, 1860, making his age:
65 years, 2 months and 15 days. He
was a laborer by occupation and an
honest and industrious workman. He
served two terms as overseer of the
poor of Bellefonte and previous to
his last. illness was a janitor at the
court house and later tipstaff.
He married Miss Elizabeth Long
who survives with the following .chil-
dren: Edward Love, -of Brecken-
ridge; John L., of Altoona; Linn; of
Bellefonte; Fred, M. G., Misses Sarah
and Catherine, at Jhame. He also.
leaves one ;brother and a sister, Wil-
Raufman,
liam Love ‘and Mrs. G. W.
both of Altoona. a pif?
He was a member of the Episcopal
church, but inasmuch as that church |
is ‘now without a pastor Rev. William
C. Thompson, of the Presbyterian
church, had charge of the funeral
services which were held at - 2.30
o’clock on Monday, burial being made
in the Union cemetery .
ii fl
WHALEN.—Mrs. Rut Beezer
Whalen, wife of William Whalen, of
Osceola Mills, died quite suddenly at
the Philipsburg State hospital on
Tuesday morning as the result of an
embolus. She was taken violently ill
on Monday night and early Tuesday
morning was taken to the hospital
but passed away three hours later.
Mrs. Whalen was a daughter of
Ferdinand and Grace Biederman
Beezer and’ was born in Bellefonte
on February 14th, 1902, hence was a
little past twenty-three years of age.
The early part of her life was spent
in Bellefonte but nine years ago they
moved to Philipsburg where she lived
until her marriage to Mr. Whalen on
June 10th, 1924, since which event she
lived in Osceola Mills. She was a de-
vout member of the Catholic church,
and a young woman of charming per-
sonality.
Her mother died almost two years
ago but surviving her are her hus-
band, her father and these brothers
and sisters: Mary, Ferdinand, Charles
and Christine, all at home. Funeral
mass will be held in the Catholic
EE ore ere
‘Locke.
church at Osceola Mills at ten o’clock |
this (Friday) morning, by Rev. Fath- |
er Renehan, after which burial will be | :
| places in Centre county, finally enter-
made in the Catholic cemetery at that
place.
Il I)
DUKEMAN.— Mrs. Mary Ann
Dukeman, wife of Miles Dukeman,
died at her home at Curtin at 3.45
o'clock last Friday afternoon, as the
result of complications incident to her’
advanced age.
She was a daughter of Jacob and
Eliza Shultz, and was born at Centre
Furnace in 1844, being 80 years, 4
months and 1 day old. She married
Mr. Dukeman on November 19th, 1864,
and practically all her married life
was spent at Curtin. Surviving her
are her husband and the following
children: Harrison. Dukeman, of
Clearfield; William, of Altoona; Mrs.
J. C. Osman, of Sunbury; Mrs. C. N.
Aikey, of Tyrone; Mrs. William Bil-
lett, Mrs. Howard Martin, Mrs.
Edward Kline and Harry Dukeman, of
Bellefonte. She also leaves two sis-
ters and one brother, Mrs. Fern Reed,
of Blandsburg; Elizabeth and Henry
Shultz, of Curtin.
Funeral services were held in the
Methodist church at Curtin on Mon-
day afternoon .by- Rev. M. C.. Piper,
after which burial was made in the
Curtin cemetery. Fl oe
ZEIGLER.—Josiah -T. Zeigler, a
well known Tesident of Bellefonte,
passed away at the Centre County
hospital at 8.15 o’clock on Saturday
evening, following only two days ill-
ness. He was taken. sick on Thurs-
day night and early Friday morning
was taken to the hospital. His death
was caused by peritonitis, the result
of an obstruction of the bowels.
Mr. Zeigler was a son of Henry and
Lydia Wolf Zeigler and was born in
Centre county on January 21, 1861,
hence had reached the age of 64 years,
2 months and 7 days. He was a
painter by occupation and for many
years lived at Pleasant Gap and plied
his trade in that place and vicinity.
Some fourteen years ago he was ap-
pointed a janitor at the court house,
and shortly thereafter he moved his
family to Bellefonte and this had been
his home ever since. He was a devout
member of the Methodist church and
the only organization to which he be-
longed was the Bellefonte Camp P. O.
S. of A.
As a young man he married Miss
Myra I. Stone, who died on November
24th, 1923, but surviving him are four
sons, Charles, of Bellefonte; Edgar
M., of Juniata; Homer H., of Clear-
field, and Clarence J., of Bellefonte,
with whom he made his home since
the death of his wife. He also leaves
five brothers and two sisters: Samuel
and Howard Zeigler, of Spring Mills;
Adam, of State College; William, of
Vienna, Va.; Irvin, of New Cumber-
land; Elizabeth and Catherine, of State
College. Funeral services were held
and at 1.30 the funeral cortege left
for Pleasant Gap where services were
held in the Methodist shurch by Rev.
E. E. McKelvey, assisted by Rev. C.
C. Shuey, burial being made in the
Pleasant Gap cemetery.
The family and friends are very
appreciative of the many kindnesses
extended them during their bereave-
ment.
( i!
PIFER.—The reamins of Mrs. Har-
riet L. Pifer, who died at her home in
Philadelphia last Friday as the result
of general debility, were brought to
Bellefonte on Monday morning and
taken direct to the Union cemetery for
burial.
' Mrs. Pifer was a member of one of
the old-time families of Bellefone, her
parents having been Mr. and Mrs.
George Livingstone, who lived in the
house now occupied by Dr. M. J.
Mr. Livingstone for many
years conducted a book and stationery
store in the Brockerhoff house block
where the A. and P. store is now lo-
cated. Mrs. Pifer was born in Belle-
fonte and was 79 years old last Octo-
ber. She married George Pifer, who
in his early life clerked in his father-
in-law’s book store. Later he became
a traveling salesman and thirty-five
years ago the family moved to Phila-
delphia. Mr. Pifer has been dead for
some years and their only daughter,
Mame Pifer, - who married ‘a Mr,,
"Shontz, also préceded her mother to
the .grave, so :that.her: only survivors
are one grand-daughter and a number
of nieces and nephews.
‘Mrs. Pifer was a great reader and
had an amazing knowledge of books
and their authors. In fact she is cred-
ited with having originated the game
of “Authors” which was much in
vogue two score years ago.
1] I
WATSON.—William Watson died
at his home in Milesburg on Sunday
afternoon following three week’s ill-
ness as the result of a stroke of par-
alysis. He was a son of John and
Catherine Watson and was born in
Milesburg on March 1st, 1853, making
his age 72 years and 25 days. He was
a laborer by occupation and an indus-
trious ‘citizen. He married Miss Ra-
chel Taylor, who preceded him to the
grave but surviving him are one son
and a daughter, John Watson, of Ak-
ron, Ohio, and Nancy, at home. He
also leaves the following brothers and
sisters: Mrs. Sarah McGinley, Joseph
and Charles Watson and Mrs. George
W. Sheckler, of Milesburg, and
Aaron Watson, of Tyrone. Rev. Wil-
liam C. Thompson, of Bellefonte, had
charge of the funeral services which
were held at two o’clock on Wednes-
day afternoon, burial being made in
! the Treziyulny cemetery.
il I!
KERLIN.—Rev. Albert A. Kerlin, a
well known minister in the Lutheran
church, died at his home at Sharps-
burg, Md., on February 27th. He was
born in Bellefonte on April 1st, 1840,
hence was almost 85 years old. In his
early life he taught school at various
ing the Susquehanna University, at
| Selinsgrove, to study for the ministry.
He completed his course and was or-
dained in 1875. He served pastorates
at McAlevy’s Fort, Alexandria and
Glasgow, Pa., finally accepting a call
from the church at Sharpsburg, Md.,
where he was located twenty-eight
years, retiring a few months ago after
completing almost fifty years of ac-
tive ministerial life. His survivors in-
clude his widow, a son and daughter
and two brothers living in Nebraska.
I} Il
GRENOBLE. — John L. Grenoble
died on Monday at the home of his
daughter, Mrs. H. F. Long, at Wood-
ward, as the result of a stroke of par-
alysis, aged 74 years, 2 months and
14 days. He is survived by three chil-
dren, Mrs. Frank E. Haines, of Can-
-at ‘thé Clarénce: Zeigler home, on Cur- |
tin’ streét, at’ one* o’clock on Tuesday;
yon, Texas; Mrs. Long, of Woodward, |
and Harry E. Grenoble, of Gregory,
S. D. Burial was made at Woodward
yesterday morning.
il ll
SUNDAY.—Elwood Calvin Sunday,
eleven days old son of Mr. and Murs.
Paul Sunday, of Pleasant Gap, died
YARNELL.——Bruce Yarnell, su-'
perintendent of farms at the Pennsyl-
vania State College, died at his home
at State College, last Thursday morn-
ing, following eight day’s illness with
pneumonia. Several weeks ago he
caught cold while attending the fu-
neral of his cousin, Russell Lowery, at
Mill Hall, one of the men killed on the
Pennsylvania railroad near Tipton,
and while it did not trouble him much
ati first it finally developed into pneu-
monia.
He was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Wil-
liam Yarnell, of Lemont, and was 42
years old. He married a Miss Jones,
of Wilkes-Barre, who survives with a
three year old daughter, Margaret.
He also leaves his parents and the fol-
lowing brothers and sisters: Mrs.
Ruth Parsons and Mrs. Phoebe Breon,
of State College; Mrs. Blanche
Strouse, of Mill Hall; Mrs. Alice Poor-
man and Mrs. Grace Spencer, of State
College; Charles, whose present
whereabouts are un 10own; Francis
and Isaac, of Union kurnace.
Funeral services were held at his
late home at State College at two
o’clock on Sunday afternoon.by Rev.
Bower, of the Evangelical church, and
on Monday the remains were taken to
‘Wilkes-Barre for burial in the Forty
Fort cemetery.
Boxing Bouts to be Staged Again.
The Bellefonte Amusement Co. will
.stage - another boxing: show at .the
Moose Temple theatre on ‘Wednesday
night, April 22nd.
All of the fistic talent will be im-
ported. There will be no local mitt
men to show their skill. The big sue-
cess of the last show “a battle royal”
will be staged again and if it should
afford half as much amusement as the
last one did great sport is in store for
those who attend. :
The feature bout will be between
“Kid” Lavang, light weight champion
of Central Pennsylvania, who appear-
ed in. Bellefonte in the first show this
association staged and succeeded in |
winning a K. O. Lavang will meet
“Fighting” Lawson, of Philadelphia,
in an eight-round bout.
Other bouts scheduled are: “Young”
McGee, of Sharon, Pa. with “K. 0.”
Duncan, of Steelton, both of the ban-
tam weight class.
“Young” McCoy, of Sunbury, Pa.,
will meet “Sol” Blum; of Harrisburg,
in six rounds. Both of these fighters
are of the feather-weight class.
In semi-finals Roy Davis, of Balti-
more, will meet “Battling” Wilson, of
Johnstown, in six rounds. This will
be a welter weight fight and should
prove fast. ei
“Hap” Frank, Penn State’s former
star boxer, will referee the matches.
Retired After - Fifty-three Years’
: 3 Service: Hi i
ET 6s 1G
"William A ‘Bouse, -assistant train
| master at Tyrone, who had: been in the
service of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Co. for more than fifty-three years,
He began:
‘was retired on “April ‘1st.
as a blacksmith’s helper and rose.by
faithful attention to duty through
various positions until he had attain-
ed the responsible one he relinquished
when it became time for his name to
be emblazoned on the Company’s
“honor roll.” And his name will be
an honored one there, for throughout
his half century of service his record
shows no accident nor discipline for
infraction of rules. :
His retirement was the occasion for
a dinner and reception in his honor at
which two hundred of his fellow em-
ployees gathered last Tuesday even-
ing to personally testify as to his ster-
ling worth as an official and a man.
Aside from railroading Mr. Bouse
found time for very active Christian
work. He has taught a men’s class in
the Methodist Sunday school for over
fifty years, and for eleven years was
president of the Tyrone R. R. Y. M.
C. A. . ;
“Musical Comedy,
The “Girl from Babylon,” will be
given by the glee club of the local
High school at the Moose Temple
theatre April 15 and 16. It is a musiec-
al comedy of great merit, just out of
the La Salle theatre, of Chicago, where
it had a long and very successful run,
and has been procured for this year’s
play to be given by the glee club of
the Bellefonte High.
With twenty-two leading parts and
choruses, placing over one hundred
pupils, who are members of the club,
and almost as many from the grades
in an extravaganza specialty between
acts, this promises to be a real treat.
Three elaborate settings are being
rented direct from one of the coun-
try’s finest scenic studios, and the
costuming is correspondingly beauti-
ful. The glee club is making every
effort to make this its most preten-
tious and pleasing presentation. Don’t
forget the date, Wednesday and
Thursday evenings, April 15 and 16,
at the Moose Temple theatre. Price
of admission 75 cents.
——The Clearfield—Centre base-
ball association was reorganized at a
meeting held in Clearfield last week
and decided to carly on a schedule
of games during the season of 1925.
The Hon. Harry B. Scott was re-
elected president; Fred Newmyer, of
DuBois, vice president; and Harold M.
Griest, of Philipsburg, secretary-
treasurer. The teams represented
in the league are Philipsburg, Clear-
field and DuBois, Osceola Mills having
dropped out. An effort will be made to
| replace that town so that a schedule
on Tuesday and was buried in the ean be made for'a four team series
cemetery at that place on Wednesday. running from Memorial to Labor day.
‘ground, °
—— atl;
Dr. Glenn Writes of Spring in Florida
West Palm Beach, Florida, 3-27-25.
Dear “Watchman:”
_ After four days and nights of con-
tinuous rain we are surely grateful
Tor today’s perfect nature production.
When it rains here there is no fooling
about it. It simply pours, but as the
sand drinks it up as fast as it falls:
there is no mud and little evidence of
it an hour after the rain ceases. Car-
dinal and mocking birds are here in
great numbers, singing early and late.
They seem to be happy because spring
is here, an indisputable evidence of
the seasonal advent is the roasting
ears that we are now enjoying. Corn
is planted at intervals so that one sees.
some fields just breaking through the
ground while others are in tassel. I
am told that oats is in head in some
parts of the State and new potatoes
are a part of the daily menu.
.. The amount of food products Flor-
ida will produce by and by remains
only to conjecture. Certainly it will
be enormous, as it seems that the seed
is scarcely sown until the planter has
to start right in pulling the grown
plant out. A friend we have known
was here yesterday and told us that a.
party of men, eighteen in number,
have formed a company and just
bought 1,300,000 acres at $8.50 per
acre, the land being south of St. Pe-
tersburg and bordering on the Gulf of
Mexico. They intend starting at once
on development work in such divis-
ions as they regard as immediately
desirable.
Much. building is planned for the:
summer months here. ‘A new Catho-
lis School to cost $120,000 without the:
was - started within twe
squares of us this week and many oth-
er large and expensive buildings are
ready to be started. I never saw any
place where they do big things so
quick. Buy, sell, build almost while
we would be thinking about it up at
homie. :
The Tourist club held its last meet--
ing for the season last evening. As
there was a great crowd there we:
know that all of the birds of passage
have not as yet started their northern
flight. When asked “How many in
this assemblage will be back next
year?” almost every hand went up.
Judge Woodcock, of Altoona, gave a.
nice talk by way of introducing Chas.
E. Graffius, of the same place, who
has been a missionary among the
Alaskan Indians. His talk, a very in-
teresting one, was illustrated.
I still think there is no winter cli-
mate that I know of quite as nice and
even as that of the section of the east:
coast of Florida, from Vero to Home-
stead, and in all that stretch of coast
the prettiest spots are the Palm:
Beaches.
With best wishes for all, I am
Cordially yours
W. S. GLENN.
This is the seventh of the series of letters
Dr. W. 8. Glenn, of State College, is writ-
ing for the Watchman while sojourning im
Florida.
——Herbert Beezer has resigned
his position as local editor of the
‘Bellefonte Republican, effective. April
first, and: has, been succeeded by Phil
D. Ray, ‘a: Bellefonte High school
graduate. Mr. Beezer will go to
South Bend, Ind., where he will spend
a month at a special school of instruc-
tion in the handling and care of Stu-
debaker cars and when he returns will
become an assistant of his father,
George A. Beezer, in his big garage.
In fact the latter has visions of lead-
ing an easier life in the future and ex-
pects to throw much of the manage-
ment of the business onto his son's
shoulders. He has invested in proper-
ty at Miami, Florida, and if all his
plans work he and his wife will spend
their winters in that State.
——Last Saturday evening, at the
Y M. C. A. the High school basketball
team defeated the Spartan Five, from
McKeesport. The latter team, com-
posed of High school boys, put up a
good game but were not able to
penetrate the local defense. Since:
the visitors, particularly Jimmy Lane,
are well known here, a friendly spirit
existed throughout. the fray, which
for the most part waged fast and
furious. The final score was 27 to 15,
with B. H. S. on the long end.
——At the recent session of the
Central Pennsylvania conference
of the Methodist Episcopal church,
Rev. H. Willis Hartsock - was
transferred from the Ridge Avenue
church, Harrisburg, to Bedford. Rev.
Hartsock is a native of Centre county,
having been born and raised in Buffa-
lo Run valley.
——AIll the occupants having de-
parted from the old Wilson property
on Wednesday the electric service con-
nections were cut, and it is said that
as soon as architect Anna M. Keich-
line completes the plans for the new
theatre building which it is said will
be erected there the demolishing of
the historic old house will be begun.
——Ruth Malcolmson, of Philadel-
phia, who won the all American beau-
ty prize at Atlantic City last fall
and the honor of the title “Miss
America,” was one of the attracticns
at the Philipsburg auto show. She
was there yesterday afternoon for the
admiration of the crowd.
——Isaac L. Gates, of Tyrone, a
brakeman on the Pennsylvania rail-
road, and a native of Centre county,
is in a Chicago hospital as the result
of an attempt to commit suicide in a
hotel in that city by slashing his
throat and wrists with a razor. His
condition is regarded as serious.
——Paul Miller, aged 30 years, of
Howard, is in the Lock Haven hos-
pital as the result of injuries sustain-
ed in a fall from a horse he was rid-
ing.