Democratic watchman. (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1855-1940, August 21, 1925, Image 1

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    yt
INK SLINGS.
—The Kane prophet who predicted
a killing frost between the 15th and
28th of this month didn’t say anything
"that the public cared specially to hear.
—Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt thinks
that war can be talked to death. Sure
it could, if those who want to make
war could only be induced to sit still
and listen to Carrie talk.
—Anthrax, as we understand it, is
a hoof and mouth disease of cattle
that can only be exterminated by kill-
ing the infected animals. Flappers
have a form of the same malady. All
a lot of them want to do is eat and
dance. That’s a hoof and mouth dis-
ease, Should we kill them?
—As we look at the splendid re-
sults of the street making efforts of
borough manager Seibert, on the two
squares of Spring, from Bishop to
Howard, we feel repaid for the space
used in urging council to do some-
thing. For perfect surfacing there
isn’t any section in town quite its
equal.
—Federal government reports indi-
cate a decrease in coal mine fatalities
during the first half of 1925 and pat
somebody on the back for greater ef-
ficiency in seeing that safety devices
are employed. We're from Missouri.
Why shouldn’t fatalities be less when
less than half of the mines in the
country were in operation over that
period.
—It is with more than passing re-
gret that we note the death of Wil-
liam A. Moore, of North Tonawanda,
N. Y. For a few years he lived in
Bellefonte. While here he was super-
intendent of the Nittany Iron Co., and
made friendships that were very. dear.
Certainly ours was. And it all grew
out of the sunshine in “Bill’s” nature.
He didn’t try to be, he just naturally
was “the man worth while is the man
with a smile.”
—After thirty years of concentra-
tion on politics we have come to the
conclusion that Republicans are smart-
er politicians than Democrats They
get in control and let everything go to
the demnition bowwows until it is
time for another election. Then they
step on the gas, their pampered indus-
tries fatten up the pay envelopes and
good times—if he votes for the Grand
Old Party—are dangled in the eyes of
the voter just when he enters the polls
—and he usually falls for it.
—Tuesday was the last day for fil-
ing petitions of candidates to be
named on the primary ballots. No-
body can get on the primary ticket,
but any one who wants to get off can
do so under the law. This being so,
four of our candidates for Judge have
a chance to write their names high in
the history of politics by withdraw-
ing and letting the fifth blurt his eter-
nal gratitude from the folds of the ju-
dicial ermine. They might as well do
it, because only one can be elected.
But which one? Ah! if that were only
known four would be glad to withdraw
and save expenses.
—Our friend Willis Reed Bierly,
lawyer, Democrat, philosopher and
publisher, writes from his office in
Harrisburg that we are wrong, all
wrong, in our occasional criticism of
Governor Pinchot. Possibly we are.
It will take more than the facile pen
of the sage of Rebersburg to convince
us of our misjudgment, however. We
think Governor Pinchot is 4 Boulang-
er, a bombast of the most aggravated
type. Any Democrat, even one of me-
diocre type, would have done more by
way of “cleaning up the mess at Har-
risburg” and had no thought of where
it was going to get him.
—Judge Fuller, of Luzerne county,
has put in words a thought many have
been entertaining for years. He is of
the opinion that if all the statutes on
our books were enforced half the pop-
ulation would be in jail and the other
half engaged in putting them there.”
It sounds extravagant, doesn’t it?
Yet the Judge has scarcely gone far
enough. We should say that if every
real infraction of laws was detected
and punished three-quarters of our
population would be in trouble. To-
day we could appear before a Justice
and make information against enough
people in Bellefonte, who know that
boys under eighteen are driving their
cars, to set the whole town in an up-
roar. And some of them act and spiel
like the Volstead law is the only one
that is really intended to be obeyed.
How in the world are bootleggers
going to acquire respect for law when
they see no attention paid to infrac-
tions of all but those that affect them.
—Up to this moment we had lost
sight of what ought to be a very in-
teresting political scrap in Centre
county this fall. We refer to the con-
test for District Attorney. John G.
Love Jr., who was defeated by Judge
Arthur Dale, Republican, running on
the Democratic ticket with Prohibi-
tion endorsement, has announced and
William Groh Runkle, Democrat, is
out for the position. Mr. Love lost
two years ago because the Prohibi-
tionists viewed him with alarm and
joined with the Democrats, who voted
for Dale because we had no candidate
of our own party and chose him to fill
up the ticket. 'It will be interesting
to watch the Prohibs this fall. If they
go back to Love it will be proof, pos-
itive, of their insincerity, because they
will be admitting that, whereas, be-
tween two Republicans they prefer-
red Dale, yet when it comes to a choice
between a Democrat and a Republi-
can—that’s a horse of another color
with most of them.
etacrad
20)
V
:
(
RO
Wate
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION.
VOL. 70.
Benefits for the Rich.
The plutocrats who are directing
the policies of the administration at
Washington are devoting their mental
energies at present to studies of tax
reduction. Some time ago President
Coolidge announced that a cut of
something like $300,000,000 would be
made during the coming session of |
Congress. Six years after the demo-
bilization of an army of four million
men and seven years after the close
of the greatest war in history an idea
seems to have penetrated their skulls
that something in the nature of tax
relief must be achieved. After a la-
borious struggle of months with the
problem they have finally arrived at
the conclusion that a twenty per cent.
reduction of tax on big incomes and
one per cent. on small incomes will
satisfy a credulous public.
The other day, under pretense of
considering the question of adjusting
the Belgium debt, Secretary of the
Treasury Mellon, chairman of the
Senate Finance committee, Smoot and
floor leader Tilson, of the House, vis-
ited the President at his father’s
home in Vermont and decided to en-
act legislation reducing the tax on in-
‘comes of $12,000 and over to twenty
per cent. and on incomes under $12,-
000 one per cent. That would fix a
rate of one per cent. on incomes of
less than $4,000 and work a total de-
crease of income tax to the extent of
$300,000,000. As analysis of this
scheme shows, most of the benefit of
this operation will inure to the receiv-
ers of big incomes. The $50,000 fel-
low would save $10,000 and the $3,000
fellow stands to save about $5.
But there is to be no cut in the tar-
iff tax rates which really impose the
burdens on the people. The $5 tax
which the $3,000 income tax payer
hands over goes into the treasury but
seventy per cent. of the $100 tariff
tax he pays on clothing, shoes and
other necessaries of life go into the
pockets of political favorites and the
treasuries. of corporations and monop-
olies while’ only about thirty per cent.
of it finds its-way into. the public
treasury. It isn’t the income tax that
holds the noseiof the wage earner on
the grindstone. The tariff tax accom-
plishes that vicious purpose, and so
long as excessive tariff taxes are im-
posed the rich will grow richer and
the poor poorer until the people of the
United States are divided into million-
aires and paupers.
Sr —————— eee:
——Vare will not be satisfied until
he can make all the judges of Phila-
delphia serve as messengers.
Hopeful Sign of the Times.
The statement that William Green,
president of the American Federation
of Labor, will ask Congress to “with-
draw the tariff protection afforded
textile manufacturers who have in-
augurated and carried out a policy of
wage reductions,” is an encouraging
sign of the times. Of course it will
prove a futile gesture so long as the
Republican majority continues. Tar-
iff protection is the fountain from
which flows the stream of gold that
buys majorities for the party in Con-
gress, and that party advantage will
not be relinquished willingly. But if
the wage earners of the country will
join the president of the great labor
organization in a genuine effort to
withdraw tariff protection, it will suc-
ceed.
The textile manufacturers who
have “inaugurated and carried out a
policy of wage réductions” are the
most favored beneficiaries of tariff
protection. Under the provisions of
the present law the tariff tax on tex-
tile manufactures is higher than ever
known. The reason given for this
exorbitant tax rate was that the rate
of wages paid in the production of the
fabires is proportionately high and
that the advantage gained by the oper-
ation of the tariff tax accrued to the
employees rather than the employers.
After securing the high tax rate the
employers reduced the wages of em-
ployees - practically to * the level of
those received by European . opera-
tives, thus absorbing all the advan-
tages of high taxes.
It may be possible that in the per-
iod of the infancy of textile manufac-
tures in this country a tariff tax
equivalent to the difference in the cost
of production in this country and Eu-
rope was justified and the three to
five per cent. levy of a hundred years
ago was reasonable, But within fifty
years there has been no time in which
the cost of production was greater
here than abroad, and upon those con-
ditions tariff taxation above the reve-
nue level was sheer robbery of the
consumers for the benefit of the em-
ploying producers. Protective tariff
taxation has never benefitted labor in
any industry. It has been a constant
source of expense to employees in ad-
ding to the price of necessaries.
—piid BT
——Now we know who the candi-
dates are, but “many are called and
few are chosen.”
BELLEFONTE,
PA.. AUGUST 21. 1925,
ST ———
Philadelphia Surrenders to Vare.
| As predicted in these columns last
week the only place of power in Phil-
adelphia which had hitherto refused
to bow to Boss Vare has surrendered
unconditionally, and that political con-
spirator stands now as the absolute
boss of the metropolis of Pennsylva-
nia. Upon a survey of the field, after
his return from Europe, Samuel P.
Rotan withdrew as a candidate for
district attorney. He had been dou-
ble-crossed by the Mayor during his
absence, betrayed by the president of
councils and abandoned by all the re-
maining members of the Penrose
force, and recognizing the certain
signs of impending defeat at the pri-
mary election, he took himself out of
the running.
For eighteen years Mr. Rotan has
been the head of that department of
the government of Philadelphia which
has to deal with the criminal element,
and he knows exactly the temper of
the community. “Corrupt and con-
tented,” those who control the elec-
tions prefer the ignominy of vice to
the virtue of independence. Mr. Ro-
tan had held out against the efforts
and influence of Vare to prostitute his
office for many years. But when all
the sub-bosses deserted him and he
knew the people were in sympathy
with vice rather than virtue, he capit-
ulated. One of the servile tools of
the “big boss” will take his place and
the criminals will enjoy easy picking
at an auspicious time.
In withdrawing from the contest
Mr. Rotan intimated that the better
element of the community might pos-
sibly organize a movement of rescue.
But it created only a vague hope, for
the lawyers of the city almost unan-
imously expressed their approval of
the new order of things, and what-
ever expectations of resistance were
anticipated quickly vanished. The
Vare candidate will be elected by the
usual majority and the Vare domina-
tion of the city will be complete. The
work which Penrose accomplished
when he defeated Vare for Mayor sev-
eral years ago is lost as well as for-
corruption and return to vice like “a
worst they deserve it.
——LEvidently former Governor
John K. Tener is serious in his ru-
mored intention of becoming a can-
didate again. The State is being
tration and that looks mighty much
like there is “a nigger in the wood
pile.”
Pinchot’s Sincerity Questioned.
It would be unjust to withhold from
Governor Gifford Pinchot generous
praise for the effort he is making to
discredit the corrupt political machine
which is preying upon the people of
Pennsylvania. For years every agern-
cy of good has been prostituted and
every medium of evil employed by the
managers’ of this “criminal conspira-
cy” to serve their selfish purposes at
the expense of the public. It is the
civic duty of every man and woman to
join in the work the Governor has un-
dertaken and give such moral and ma-
terial aid in the movement as is found
available. Political corruption is a
disease as harmful to public’ welfare
as any malignant epidemic. It is more
destiuctive than any plague.
But while according just praise to
the Governor it is impossible to drive
out of mind a suspicion that he is not
altogether sincere in his efforts. That
is to say, he makes his drive not on
the greater but on collateral evils.
Profligacy in administration, perver-
sion of charity to base uses, misappro-
priation of funds and other evils to
which he has made eloquent and earn-
est objection are reprehensible. - But
debauching elections is the greatest of
all crimes in a “government of the
people, for the people and by the peo-
ple,” and Governor Pinchot has not in
all his public speeches uttered a word
against carrying elections by fraud.
He has not made a single appeal for
real ballot reform.
There may be a reason for his fail-
ure to attack the greatest of all crimes
against the people. He must know
that under the laws of Pennsylvania
it would be impossible to expend a
quarter of a million dollars in a can-
vass for nomination for the office of
Governor, and he ought to have a sus-
picion that if the election of 1922 had
been honestly conducted and accurate-
ly computed he might never have at-
tained the distinction of a residence
in the Executive Mansion at Harris-
burg. . He was importuned during the
Legislative sessions of 1923 and 1925
to urge legislation that would prevent
fraud in subsequent elections but fail-
ed to respond. For this reason there
are doubts in many minds now.
————————————————
——Judge McDevitt, of Philadel-
phia, is likely to “get himself disliked”
in machine headquarters if he contin-
ues to make hard lines for criminals.
gotten. The people of that city like
dog to his vomit.” If they get the:
flooded with a pamphlet exploiting the |
achievements of his former adminis- -
Courageous if Not a Wise Plan.
The wisdom or expediency of Gov-
ernor Pinchot’s plan of campaign for
the Senatorial seat now occupied by
George Wharton Pepper may be ques-
tioned, but his courage is unmistaka-
ble. In a statement given to the
press, at Wilkes-Barre, on completion
of the first week of his “trip around
the State inspecting the work of the
State government,” he declared that
he will fight the Republican machine
of Pennsylvania “to the last day of
his administration.” The Republican
machine of Pennsylvania is a power-
ful force. Entrenched in prejudice,
strengthened by crime and supported
by patronage and monopoly it enjoys
vast advantages in conflict with any
antagonist, however well equipped.
“The truth cannot be told about
what the politicians have cost the peo-
ple of Pennsylvania,” Governor Pin-
chot declared, “without using strong
language. When politics get into
health work, prison work, hospital
work and the work of institutions, it:
is paid for not only in money but in
human life. * * * When the poli-
ticians run the State for their own
benefit instead of the benefit of the
people, the penalty is death. Death
and injury to working people who
would have been saved by mine and
factory inspection, death to people
who could have been saved by non-
political health work. Death and in-
jury to many others, and on every
side a heavy toll of crime, misfortune
and needless expenses.”
This is a grave indictment against a
body of men in public life in Pennsyl-
vania, but not an unjust one. Every
charge embodied in the statement of
the Governor is known to be true by
all observing citizens. But the power
of patronage and “the cohesive force
of pyblic plunder” has been success-
fully employed in support of these in-
iquities. Yet the citadel of erime and
vice which has thus been built up is
not invulnerable. The majority of
the people of Pennsylvania are law-
abiding and justice-loving men and
and Governor Pinchot’s appeal
highs and. (zove) Enos S appea.
to their sense of civic duty may work
a result of destruction to the machine.
If the Governor were more sincere the
hope of this result would be strength-
ened.
—A correspondent of the Harris-
burg Telegraph, who signed himself
“Shorty” Mumma, of Mount Gretna,
is rather positive in his belief that an
Indian couldn’t lay a thousand brick
in a day. We are not familiar with
what Indians can do by way of laying
brick. We have seen them pitch their
tepees, rope cattle, bust bronchos and
do most everything else that Indians
are supposed to have been good for
before the government undertook to
uplift them. And we have watched
Jim Thorpe from the day “Pop” War-
ner discovered him in the Carlisle In-
dian school to the moment of this
writing. If Jim, given a three week’s
course in aay vocational school,
couldn’t lay a thousand brick in eight
hours then all we know about the
brick laying business is bunk. Twen-
ty years ago the brick layer who
didn’t lay a thousand in eight hours
wasn’t. He was probably a “tender”
for real brick layers thought they
hadn’t done a day’s work until they
had laid from a thousand to fifteen
hundred. And it wasn’t so long ago
that a Bellefonte building contractor
discharged his entire crew because
they were not averaging more than a
thousand a day. The contractor, him-
self, usually laid up fifteen hundred
before he knocked off.
——According to a schedule sent
out last week by State Treasurer
Samuel Lewis, Centre county was en-
titled to a refund on gasoline tax, on
August 1st of $6,870.82. This repre-
sents the county’s share of the tax of
two cents per gallon paid by buyers
of gasoline for the first six months of
1925. There are twenty-seven coun-
ties in the State that have paid in less
and will get less back than Centre.
——————e—————————————
——The chances are that even if
the public highways were twice as
wide the crazy drivers would make
travel as hazardous as it is now.
————— ye ee—————————
——Governor Pinchot refuses to
talk about anthracite coal now. His
experiment of two years ago must
have been disappointing.
————————————————
——The first of September will
soon be here and the politicians are
likely to get busy in settling the coal
dispute any time now:
rr ———— lp ———————
Pinchot “packs” in the interest
of the public and Coolidge “packs” in
the interest of the Sugar trust. There
is a difference.
a
——Swimming the English channel
may be a great achievement, but few
men or women can estimate its value
to the world.
NO. 33.
Tariff and Peace.
From the Philadelphia Record.
Although Chancellor Luther asked,
and received, authority to make 2 con-
siderable increase in customs duties,
he is evidently no protectionist. He
does not regard a high tariff as a
means of making his country prosper-
ous, but only as a defensive measure
against commercial enemies who were
recently military enemies, and are
now very heavy creditors. He impos-
es high duties to check imports when
German exports are already checked
by the increased tariffs of all the Al-
i lied and Associated powers to which
Germany must pay vast sums of mon-
ey.
i If the Allies and the United States
had not erected tariff barriers against
German exports Germany could pay
, its indemnity either in goods directly,
"or indirectly through the excess of its
exports over its imports and the cre-
ation of a favorable balance of trade
to offset Germany’s liabilities under
the peace treaty. But the other coun-
tries shut out German goods and the
- only course open to Chancellor Luther
is to check German imports and pre-
i vent the shipment abroad of German
. money.
But the Chancellor recognizes that
if there were no tariff wars all rela-
tions between nations would be much
better than they are.
It is a fond delusion of our protec-
tionists that free trade, or even an ap-
proximation to it, is beneficial to one
party to the agreement and ruinous to
the other. Yet this is refuted by the
existence of the United States, and
hardly less by the German Zollverein
before the war. Americans may not
| be familiar with that, but they know
their own country well enough. The
absence of tariff barriers between the
States is not a benefit solely to the
older Northeastern States, where in-
dustries were first established, but to
all the States, North, South, t and
West. Large manufacturing interests
have grown up in the West and South,
although they had no protection
against the New England and Middle
States, The German Zollverein bene-
fitted all its members.
Our protectionists regard it as nec-
essary to maintain a tariff against
Canada, and yet most of them would
be perfectly willing to annex Canada
in which case the tariff wall wou
disappear. e prosperity of Eur
war therein would be greatly dimin-
ished if there were low tariffs or none
at all to impede natural traffic. be-
tween them. And as the United
States has flourished exceedingly, in
all its parts, because there are no tar-
iff barriers in a continental domain,
so the United States and all the rest
of the world would flourish better than
ever if they constituted one commer-
cial union or Zollverein. Nothing
would do so much to avert the danger
of war and promote prosperity as well
as peace as the abandonment of pro-
tection, which is, like slavery, a relic
of barbarism.
A Real Issue.
From the Harrisburg Telegraph.
If either Governor Pinchot or Sen-
ator Pepper are looking for a real, live
issue for ‘the coming Senatorial cam-
paign they can find one all ready-
made and tied up for delivery in the
price of gasoline in Pennsylvania, as
compared with the price in neighbor-
ing States. ;
Pennsylvania, home of some of the
best gasoline producing oil in the
world, pays more for its gas than
most of its neighbors.
There may be a very good reason
for this, but it has never been explain-
ed to the wondering consumer.
To be sure, we in Pennsylvania pay
a gasoline tax, which is not added to
the price in some other States, but
even so Maryland, New Jersey, Vir-
ginia and many other States are pay-
ing 2 to 4 cents less than is demanded
n this State, which, with the" tax,
makes the price 4 to 6 cents higher
here than in more favored States.
The man who patronizes the filling
station cannot understand this. He
only knows that it costs more to run
a car on the good roads of Pennsylva-
nia, which has done about everything
any State could do to encourage the
use of motor vehicles, than it does in
neighboring Commonwealths with less
extensive road-building programs.
Somebody is going to make a lot of
political capital one of these days
leading a movement to find out just
why this condition exists, and why, if
there is not a good and sufficient rea-
son for it, relief is not granted.
—
——Governor Pinchot persists in
the statement that he has greatly re-
duced the expenses of the State gov-
ernment. But the books fail to show
any decrease in the disbursements.
——The Iowa Senatorial election of
last year appears to have gone Dem-
ocratic, though Brookhart holds the
certificate and if he promises to obey
the bosses may hold the seat.
mime iio
——Governor Pinchot accuses the
party machine of every crime on the
calendar except that of election
frauds, which is probably the greatest
offense against good government.
: He rm—
It was cruel to intimate that
Uncle Joe Cannon played poker with
his colleagues in the House and the
statement that he was “a plunger”
was positively outrageous.
would be increased and the danger of |
—— ew
-
SPAWLS FROM THE KEYST' NE.
—With fourteen bullet wounds = his
body, Joseph Bruno alias Joseph - Vhite,
aged 26 years, is in a Philadel;’ a hos-
pital presumed to be the victim «' a gang
feud. He refuses to tel police who he
thought were his assaila
) oR
—During a quarrel with ‘her .sband in
their home in Philadelphia, ast Friday
night, Mrs. Elizabeth Egner, aged 47 years,
committed suicide in a horrible manner.
She first threw a bucket®o? turpentine over
her clothing and then applied a match to
her garments.
—Charles Robb, 41 years old, of Altoo-
na, who had been a patient in the Altoona
hospital for the past eight weeks was re-
moved to his home on Thursday. © Robb
suffered second degree burns of the entire
body when his engine went over the em-
bankment near the Kittanning Point.
—The plague of mosquitoes which re-
cently overwhelmed Altoona and suburban
districts has been followed by a mild
plague of fleas. It was necessary to sus-
pend worship in two churches until the
mosquitoes could be eliminated and citi-
zens are now seeking a means to drive the
fleas out of their homes.
© —Scott Parker, aged 76 years, who re-
sided alone in Loganton, died at the Lock
Haven hospital last Wednesday night from
injuries sustained when he fell from the
rear of a truck on which he was riding in
Loganton, Wednesday afternoon. He sus-
tained a fractured skull. The coroner,
after an investigation, announced that an
inquest would not be necessary.
—In a last desperate effort to collect
$8,000 delinquent taxes due from women,
Captain A. G. Kostenbauder, tax collector
of Plymouth borough, has made an offer
of $50 to any who will make the first ar-
rest. So far all have declined. The tax
collector faces the loss of his position by
his inability to collect from the women,
and with this amount charged up against
him, he is unable to obtain a bondsman.
—Two bandits held up the clerk of the
Metropolitan hotel in Pittsburgh, on Sat-
urday, robbed the office of $75 in cash and
considerable loot and escaped after threat
ening to kill the clerk if he made an out
cry. Marie Chak, 18 years old, was arrest-
ed in a restaurant shortly after the rob-
bery charged with being an accomplice.
This the girl denied, saying she was rob-
bed of $17 by two men who came to her
room.
—Mrs. George Nesbit, of Lewisburg, was
atapulted from her seat on a trolley car
when two cars on the Lewisburg, Milton
and Watsontown line met in collision be-
tween Harveys Run and Milton. The crash
was due to wet rails, the motorman of one
car jumping when he saw the brakes
would not hold, while the motorman of
the other trolley stuck to his post. Mrs.
Nesbit was found to be only shocked and
bruised.
—Pleading not guilty Harry D. Swank,
former councilman of Danville and now
candidate for sheriff of Montour county, on
Thursday waived a hearing om a charge
of embezzling $1,242 from the Danville and
Mahoning poor district, of which he was
treasurer, and was held under $2,000 bail,
for trial at court. The poor board made a
1 statement alleging that Swank took $300 in
Marc] 8200.40. May. $312..in. June, $430 in
tly an $100 on August 5.
—Miss Ethel Hoffer sustained: injuries to
her left’ hand when her arm was caught
under her sedan as it overturned near the
Mann ax factory above Mill Hall, Monday
morning. Mrs. Hickson, another occupant
of the car also was injured about the left
arm and hand, while the other two occu-
pants of the car, Mrs. Medell and Miss
Pearl Reed, escaped with minor bruises.
The car was badly damaged. All the la-
dies are residents of Altoona.
—Physicians, nurses and orderlies in
the Uniontown hospital were thrown into
a panic on Monday night when a man
rushed into the institution with a large
knife and demanded that a doctor be sur-'
rendered to him. “I want to cut up a
doctor like they used to cut me up,” de-
clared the man wielding his long-bladed
weapon. Before he had an opportunity to
indulge in any amateur surgery, the police
were called and he was arrested.
,—Held up by three masked men when
an auto in which they were riding be-
came stalled on a lonely road several miles
west of Shamokin, late Sunday night,
Joseph Swatt, aged 20 years, and Miss Vi-
olet Chiboski, both of Shamokin, were
blackjacked by the bandits and robbed.
One hundred and sixty dollars in cash was
taken from the young man, while the girl
was robbed of a diamond ring and gold
watch valued at $200. The highwaymen
fled following the robbery, leaving their
victims in a semi-conscious condition.
—Martin Tabor, 32 year old convict serv-
ing a five year term for burglary escaped
from the Lancaster county prison at two
o'clock on Sunday morning. After crawl-
ing through the window of his cell short-
ly after guards had made their inspection,
Tabor dropped seven feet to a roof, from
which he reached a pole. Three heavily
charged electric wires are strung from the
pole above the wall of the jail yard to
another pole outside the prison enclosure.
‘Walking on the one wire and grasping the
others for balance, Tabor made his way
outside the yard and then dropped to the
ground, winning his gamble with possi-
ble electrocution.
—Dragged from their bed at their home,
in Uniontown, by chief detective Charles
Mallick, Mr. and Mrs. Albert D. Gold late
on Saturday filed a suit for $20,000 damag-
es against the detective. It is said that
the man and wife were placed in separate
cells, kept all night and discharged the
next day. When detective Mallick entered
the bedroom, Gold said he told the police-
man that the woman was his wife and
that the officer replied: “I'm from Mis-
souri; you've got to show me.” Gold al-
leges that, notwithstanding the fact that
he showed Mallick a marriage license dat-
ed August 14, 1914, they were compelled
to dress and were taken to the police
station.
—Fire of incendiary origin last Thurs-
day night destroyed the new county home
of the Indiana county Ku Klux Klan, with
2 loss estimated at between $30,000 ‘and
$35,000. The building was recently com-
pleted and was to have been taken over by
the Klan August 27, with an elaborate cer-
emonial. The loss is partially covered by
insurance. The fire broke out about 9:30
o'clock, when a loud explosion was heard.
Flames immediately burst from the build-
ing and within a few minutes the entire
structure was ablaze and fanned by a
strong wind, the fire was beyond control
when Indiana firemen arrived. It is
thought that the place was saturated with
kerosene and a bomb exploded.