A SB
Bellefonte, Pa., September 4, 1925.
SC
NOCTURNE.
By Rebecca Pugh Lyon.
The sun at length has sunk to rest
Beneath the mountain's western crest,
And softly on the quiet town
The shades of night are stealing down.
From gardens fair the perfumed breeze
‘With warm caresses stirs the trees
‘Whose amorous boughs extend and meet
In arches high above the street.
From curving brow of Nittany far
Ascends the moon in silver car.
How swift her flight through starry skies
While under her in beauty lies
Hill and valley, town and stream,
Bathed in magic, pale as dream.
The hour grows late, the silence sweet
Scarce broken is by passing feet.
O lovely night, thy beauty rare
With faery glamor fills the air
And as through dewey, misty veil
The moonbeams soft and glowing trail,
And clear and slow the town clock’s bell
Reluctant tolls the twelve hours knell,
I yield my spirit to the sway
Of dreaming fancy’s idle play,
And, as from stem the petals torn
Are scattered far by summer storm,
So emotions long repressed
With tender power possess my breast.
With beating heart I venture in
To memory’s corridors so dim,
A mirror fair invites my gaze
And lo! as through a luminous haze
Appears with all their wonted grace
The courteous, low-voiced gentle race,
Like harmonies that soft and low
The sweetest anguish can bestow,
Or thrilling, faint ethereal chimes
Seem vanished forms of olden times.
Ah, fragrant charm of days of yore,
Charm that, alas! I see no more.
O’er recollections fond I sigh
And weep for days long since gone by.
The hour has passed, the swelling tide
Of feeling must not long abide,
Nor dark regret her shadow cast
On hallowed memories of the past.
So swiftly wings old time his flight
That soon Aurora, fresh and bright,
Will tint the east with rosy glow
And drowsy zephyrs wake to blow
From summer hills their greetings fair
All scented on the morning air.
Farewell dear night, so cool, so still!
The birds now wake with sleepy trill
And nature’s voice salutes the dawn,
Exhaling sweet the breath of morn.
THE ROMANCE OF PETROLEUM.
I have just written an article for a
well-known literary journal in which
I make the pertinent inquiry, “Why
have writers of modern fiction over-
looked the oil industry as a vast store-
house of action and romance?”
My own conclusion is that the oil
industry has never had a press agent.
No other industry seems to be so ut-
terly steeped in mystery. Ask the or-
dinary person who discovered gold in
California, and you will receive not
only names and places, but exact dates.
Inquire who invented the cotton gin,
who made the first steamboat, or who
constructed the first working model of
a telegraph, and you will be assured
of a very intelligent answer. But,
should you ask who drilled the first
oil well, your question will remain un-
answered. Yet today the total sum
invested in oil industries is more vast
than a combination of the capital in
the lines of business mentioned above.
And the drilling of the first oil well
dates only a half-century back.
Today this oil industry is almost
world-wide, and covers a scope of ter-
ritory from Pennsylvania to Califor-
nia and from New York to Texas.
Russia, Rumania, South America, In-
dia, China, Japan and Canada all boast
of their oil fields, and are daily ad-
ding their quota of products to the
commerce of the world. Heat, light,
power, and lubrication are necessary
to the world and petroleum has given
the world all of these.
The discovery of crude oil or petro-
leum and the subsequent development
of it is full of romance and action.
In northwestern Pennsylvania there
is a stream called Oil Creek, having
along its banks many “oil” springs or
springs through which a small amount
of oil finds its way, by seepage, to the |
creek. At times the surface of the
Tater is covered with a thin scum of
oil.
In 1629, Joseph de la Roche d’Allion
came down this stream in charge of
an exploring expedition sent out from
Quebec by the French. He observed
the scum of oil on the water, and made
a brief note of it in his report to his
suparior officers.
In 1721, Captain de Joincaire, Lieu-
tenant Raoul de Lingry, and a Jesuit
priest and party arrived, very much
fatigued by forced marching over very
rough ground, and with a majority of
the soldiers suffering greatly from
foot-sores. So serious was the condi-
tion of some of the soldiers that Cap-
tain de Joincaire announced his inten-
tion of resting here a few days to al-
low time for his men to recuperate.
Along the bank of the creek they met
the friendly Seneca Indians, who gave
the soldiers vessels filled with oil they
had collected on the creek by means
of dipping blankets on the surface and
wringing them out. On the advice of
the Indians the soldiers washed their
sores in the oil. Captain de Joincaire
records that his men were so marvel-
ously cured that they were enabled to
start on the march the very next day.
In 1750, General Montcalm and a
small army made an expedition into
this territory with a view to promot-
ing friendly relations with the Sene-
ca Indians. While they were camped
here, the Indians presented him with
a very startling spectacle. The waters
of the creek were thickly coated with
a scum of oil, and one night at a gath-
ering of tribes for conference with
General Montcalm a lighted torch
was thrown into the water. The oil
caught fire, and great leaping flames
covered the surface of the stream for
miles. It must have been a weird and
wonderful sight, and itis certain that
it impressed the General with great
thoughts.
On my desk at this moment is a
copy of the report of this expedition
as given by General Montcalm to the
commander of Ft, Duquesne, In this
da
report the General gives what he in-
sists is conclusive evidence that he has
found in the Senecas a rival of the
fire-worshippers of the East!
It was many years before any ef-
fort was made to make commercial
use of the seepage from these springs
or to increase the flow of oil. Many
small towns and villages came into
being through the untiring efforts of
sturdy pioneers.
and fearless women hewed out a sem-
blance of civilization in the hills.
At Tarentum several artesian wells
were bored to a depth of four hun-
dred feet to a vein of salt water, This
water was evaporated; and the pro-
duct, a sort of crude commercial salt,
found a ready market among the ear-
ly settlers. The owners of these wells
complained heartily of greasy fluid
that sometimes accompanied the flow
of water and in the evaporation spoil-
ed the flavor of the salt. At times
this flow of oil was so great that the
owners of the wells moved away in
disgust. . :
In 1848, Samuel M. Kier, a druggist
of Pittsburgh, traveled out to see
these wells, and investigated these
wells and the oil which came from
them. He found the oil to be of the
same quality as was found on Oil
Creek. Before returning to Pitts-
burgh he made a deal with the own-
ers of the salt wells, and they joyfuliy
agreed to sell for a nominal price all
of the oil that they could collect.
With the arrival of the first supply
Kier caused it to be bottled in half-
pint containers, with a label on which
was a wood-cut of a derrick used in
drilling artesian wells. This label re-
sembled a four hundred dollar bill,
and laid great stress on the fact that
the fluid came from four hundred feet
under the surface of the earth. This
label appears to have played a leading
part in the coming discovery of crude
oil by boring a hole to the producing
oil sand.
This product was peddled as a med-
icine under the name of Kier’s petro-
leum by men covering the country by
driving in large gilded and brightly
painted wagons. The circulars de-
signed by Kier and widely distribut-
ed at this time made great claims for
the medicinal value of petroleum, and
evidence was presented indicating
cures of rheumatism, gout, and sun-
dry ills and pains. For some time
Kier enjoyed an unusual prosperity
due to this; and, being of a very pro-
gressive mind, he spent much time and
money experimenting with petroleum
as a lubricant and illuminant.
Lack of knowledge of chemistry
seriously handicapped him, and he
traveled to Philadelphia to consult a
chemist, who advised distillation. By
working on this principle a fluid of the
color of cider was produced, but it was
found that it burned with considerable
smoke and a residue of carbon. Kier
now devoted months to producing a
burner that would use his product,
and at last made a crude burner with
four prongs and holes for air, which
would burn the fluid and make a
bright light with no smoke. His new
product, called “carbon” oil, produced
a white and steady light, and found a
ready market, but did not furnish any
remarkable monetary returns, as
there was a distinct scarcity of the raw
product; and Kier died a comparative-
ly poor man, not realizing the remark-
able influence his product would have
in the future.
Meantime, New York capitalists had
heard of the product, and investigat-
ed with a view to investing if the ven-
ture was practical. A combination of
New York and New Haven capitalists
in 1854 became interested in the oil-
springs near the village of Titusville
on Oil Creek, and after investigations
and a considerable period of financing
formed a company, operating under
the name of the Pennsylvania Rock-
Oil company, whose purpose was to
market the oil saved from the oil
springs on Oil Creek. Plans were
made for installing devices for saving
us great a proportion of the oil as pos-
sible. But even with the improve-
ments it was found that the supply
was so limited that the investment did
not pay.
Mr. George H. Bissell, an attorney,
of New York city, was president of
the concern, and spent much time and
reflection on ways and means of in-
creasing the flow of oil from the
springs. One day in the summer of
1856 he stepped into a Broadway
druggist to make a purchase. He no-
ticed a bottle of Kier’s petroleum on
the counter, and upon invitation of the
druggist took it home. Bissell exam-
ined the label with the picture of the
derrick, and noted the fact that the
oil came from four hundred feet un-
der the surface of the earth. He be-
came convinced that the only practic-
al method of increasing the flow of oil
in their springs was to bore a hole in
the ground.
Filled with this idea, Bissell was
more than a year in convincing his
business associates, and in December
of 1857, Edwin L. Drake, of New Ha-
ven, was sent to the village of Titus-
ville to take charge of operations, and
was ordered to bore a well at the site
of the largest spring on the Watson
farm.
Drake was beset from the first with
numerous difficulties. He found that
it was impossible to secure tools at
the few small stores in the village,
and he was forced to drive over rough
roads a distance of eighteen miles to
buy even a shovel or pick. Further to
his embarrassment, the company un-
derwent a re-organization, and did not
deluge him with funds for operating
expenses, and further expressed them-
selves as frankly skeptical to the out-
come of the idea. :
Nearly a year was spent in trying
to secure a practical borer of wells
from the Tarentum salt-fields, but at
last Drake succeeded.
Work was immediately started, and
from the very first it was a hard fight
against nature. Machinery came only
after long delays, and the erection of
the crude derrick was a matter of
weeks, A majority of the tools need-
ed could not be purchased at any price,
but were fashioned at a local forge in
the village. Few people in the village
believed in the new venture, and the
majority scoffed, and treated the
whole thing as some sort of swindle.
Drake was very often laughed at in
those days, but in the face of all ad-
versity he maintained a high courage
and tenacity of purpose that was re-
In time hardy men
' markable under the circumstances.
A few feet under the surface of the
ground the tools struck a vein of
quicksand against which no headway
could be as in incerasing the depth
of the hole. Work was carried on for
some time; and, as no material prog-
ress was made, Drake suggested that
an iron’ tube be driven through the
quicksand to the solid rock. This en-
tailed an immense amount of labor,
but proved effectual, andisa guiding
Seinciple in the drilling of oil wells to-
ay.
The capitalists in New York, dis-
gusted with the slow and expensive
progress being made, refused to ad-
vance further funds to Drake. Noth-
ing daunted, Drake used his own mon-
ey until it was exhausted. Now came
a very dark period for Drake, for he
was entirely without funds; but in
some way he managed to convince two
merchants of the village of his sincer-
ity, and secured their endorsement on
his note for money to complete the
venture.
By the last of August, 1859, the
well had reached a depth of only six-
ty-nine feet; and on Saturday when
the men quit work they were feeling
very discouraged, as no trace of oil
had been found. On Sunday, August
30, 1859, one of the men employed on
the well went there, and discovered
that the hole was nearly full of oil.
In a very short time the news
spread to the village, and great ex-
citement was the result. Drake was
vindicated; the problem of ages had
been solved; and petroleum was
launched on its astonishing career,
Property values increased; stran-
gers came to the village in such num-
bers that the place rapidly became a
busy and bustling city. Many new
and large flowing wells were drilled,
and fortunes were made over night.
Investors and adventurers came by
the thousand to the new El Dorado,
and with the constant drilling of new
wells the vein was traced over a large
tract of territory in Pennsylvania. A
large flowing well was struck at Pit-
hole, where there were a few poor and
struggling farms.
In a little more than a month the
village became a large city with two
railroads, daily papers, hotels, thea-
tres, fire department, water works,
and all of the advantages and im-
provements of a eity in those times.
In volume of mail handled, it was the
third largest in the State.
As is usual in boom towns, vice held
the cityinits grasp. For nearly two
years the attention of the whole coun-
try was directed to this city.
One farmer, living near there, sold
his oil interests, and, not believing in
banks, kept more than a quarter of a
million dollars in a small safe. One
night this safe was broken into, and
nearly the whole sum was taken; and
today in police circles the Benning-
hoff robbery is spoken of as the larg-
est of its kind.
The price of oil ranged from fifty
cents to thirteen dollars a barrel dur-
ing this period; and, as each large
well was drilled, a corresponding in-
crease in the value of adjacent land
became so great that farmers whose
land normally was worth only a few
dollars an acre could scarcely believe
it when they were offered hundreds of
thousands of dollars for their land.
At the end of two years, coincident
with a decided decrease in the produc-
tion of oil, the little city was burned
down and has never been rebuilt.
Today the site of this remarkable
village is evident only by the rows of
empty cellars that mark where the
streets were; the unused grades for
the water-works are still there. The
only remaining building of the orig-
inal town is a church which is still
used on occasion by the scant dozen of
farmers now living there.
The excitement moved to other
places, which lived for a brief space
in the manner of Pit Hole City and
whose names are highly suggestive—
Cash Up, Pioneer, Red Hot, Oil City,
Sodom, and Enterprise.
It was in this manner that the
greatest of our national industries
was launched on its career. Today
there are hundreds of billions of dol-
lars invested in oil properties and,
were it not for the agency of oil and
its products, more than ninety-eight
per cent. of the industry of this coun-
try would not be able to operate for
lack of lubrication, light, heat, and
motive power,
For more than half a century the
site of the original Drake well has
never been marked by a monument to
show it as a place of great historical
interest. A few years ago the chap-
ter of the Daughters of the American
Revolution of Titusville raised a fund,
and erected on the site a large and
imposing stone, entirely unmarked by
chisel. It is a native stone, and came
from the hills near the well, and in its
bulk and solidity represents in a sub-
tle and suggestive manner the
strength and character, untiring en-
ergy, and steadfast purpose of the
man who took the first steps which
led to the discovery to which we owe
so much of our present civilization.—
Harry Botsford, in Christian Endeav-
or World.
ete fpf:
A Salesman.
Thinking to save money a jeweler
discharged his regular salesman and
hired an inexperienced boy. One day
when he returned from lunch he said,
“Well, Frank, did you sell anything
while I was out?”
Yes, sir. I sold five plain band
rings.
Fine, my boy, fine! said the jeweler
enthusiastically. We’ll make a sales-
man out of you one of these days. You
got the regular price for them, of
course ?
Oh, yes, sir. The price stamped on
the insde was 18c. and the man tock
all that were left, sir.—Boston Trans-:
script.
She Didn’t Think So.
My sister is awfully lucky, said one
little boy to another. She went to a
party last night where they played a
game in which the men either had to
kiss a girl or pay a forfeit of a box of
chocolates.
Well, how was your sister lucky ?
She came home with 13 boxes of
chocolates.—Everybody’s Magazine.
—Subscribe for the “Watchman.”
ing the winter months for the pur-
IMPORTANT GAME LAW CHANG-
ES—1925 LEGISLATURE.
The 1925 Legislature made compar-
atively few changes in the game laws,
but some of them strengthen the game
code very materially. One of the most
important changes, the result of a
conference between land-owners and
sportsmen, it is believed will make it
possible for the Board of Game Com-
missioners to reduce game depreda-
tions on private property, thereby
eliminating a sourcce of much contro-
versy in future sessions of the Legis-
lature. Another amendment will
make possible the creation of many
more refuges, particularly for small
game; and a third protects “spike”
bucks and baby bears.
A summary of important changes
follows:
1. To relieve game depredations,
and place proper game administrative
power in the hands of the Board, the
Game Commission is given power to
demove game, open seasons or extend
seasons; or to save game that has suf-
fered from severe winters or bad
breeding seasons from extermination,
the Board may close or reduce sea- :
sons as necessary.
2. The law permitting land-own-
ers to protect their property from
game depredations is clarified and re-
quirements clearly stated. Game kili-
ed as a protection to property must
be sent to a charitable institution, ex-
cept where depredations from game
become too serious the Board may
permit land-owners to retain the car-
casses of deer and bears for food. The
penalty for failure to comply with the
provisions of this law is more specific
than heretofore.
3. The fifty-fifty deer-proof fence |
law was amended to provide an alter- |
nate plan under which the Board may |!
furnish the wire and staples, and the
land-owner furnish the posts and erect
the fence, principally for the protec-
tion of the small land-owner.
4. Special licenses to hunt deer in
a section where an extra season is de-
clared by the Board because deer are
too plentiful are reduced from $5.00
to $2.00, and farmers may secure such
licenses without charge to hunt on
their own lands within territory
opened by the Board.
5. Persons killing game or fur-
bearing animals by mistake, under
certain conditions, may now have re-
turned to them one-half instead of
one-fourth of the penalty prescribed
by law, if reported immediately.
6. No male deer may hereafter be
killed with less than two points to one
antler; baby bears are absolutely pro-
tected during their first year; the
bear season opens November 10 in-
stead of November 1; and the raccoon
season closes January 15.
7. The only bag limit change was
a reduction in the season limit on rab-
bits from forty to thirty; and the es-
tablishment of state bag limits on |
wild ducks of fifteen per day and six- |
ty per season, and wild geese and
brant of five each per day and thirty
each per season.
8. The auxiliary game refuge law
has been simplified, and with proper |
co-operation it should now be possible
for the Board to establish many more |
|
i
i
|
i
than two hundred auxiliary game ref- |
uges, as contemplated in their pro- |.
gram. Refuge agreements may now |
be cancelled under certain conditions |
within sixty days; the minimum dis-
tance between refuges is two miles; !
and any suitable lands may be used |
for auxiliary refuge and public hunt-
ing ground purposes without interfer- i
ence with the operation of such lands |
for all other purposes. Pennsylvania |
should have considerably more than |
two hundred of these auxiliary game |
refuges.
9. Special protection is accorded |
dogs used under permits, which the
Board may issue without charge, dur-
pose of destroying foxes and wild cats
to protect game.
BOARD OF GAME COMMISSIONERS,
SETH E. GORDON, Executive Secy.
Peaches From Africa
South Africa has recently been
sending peaches to England in rather
large quantities, and a few are find-
ing their way to this country by way
of novelty. It is no doubt &ue to
the facility of raising the peach from
the stone that it has spread to so
many countries, and to such a num-
ber of varieties. Wherever it has
gone it has taken a foremost place
in popularity, especially among epi-
cureans, such as the Romans, who,
it may Le gathered from Pliny, in-
troduced it from Persia and assoclat-
ed its name with that country—Per-
sica. It has been grown in England
since the middle of the Sixteenth cen-
tury, but climatic conditions are gen-
erally against it for outdoor culture,
and has forced growers to resort to
glass.
Wedding Rings That Lie
Jewelers in many towns in the
United States report that wedding
rings are losing their significance;
that is tc say, a wedding ring on the
finger of a girl is ceasing to be a sure
sign that she 1% married.
Hundreds of girls are buying cheap
wedding rings, according te the jew-
elers, some because they believe the
ring will make them more attractive
to men, and others because they be-
lieve wedding rings offer girls protec-
tion against men.
Engagement rings also are selling
in great numbers, presumably owing
to a desire on the part of girls to
prove they are sought after by one
man at least.
Sprinkle Lawn to Music |
Musical lawn sprinklers are becom-
ing popular in Boston suburbs. House:
holders hitch sleighbells and similar
chimes to the whirligiz which spins
the water. Experimenters have en-
joyed considerable rivalry in their
tonal effects and have amused the
children with a brand new toy. Inci-
dentally, claim the inventors of the
bell stunt, Ms jingle reminds them not
to go away or to bed with the water
unintentionally left running.
Early Ship Lanterns
Valued by Collectors
One of the phases of the present
vogue for collecting anything connect-
ed with the old-time ships is that of
earnestly seeking their lanterns or
lamps, and very interesting and decora-
tive, with the right surroundings, many
of them are.
Numerous lamps are traded as ship's
lanterns which never went to sea, says
Capt. E. A. McCann in the Antiquarian,
New York. If, however, it is a good-
looking lamp and the owner is pleased
with it, its history is perhaps not so
very important, but if one wishes to
be sure of the right nautical flavor,
some recaution is necessary,
Ar intimate knowledge of ships and
their ways is the best method of dis-
criminating; but as a general index
it may be stated that, to circumvent
the uneasy motion of a vessel at sea,
every ship lamp is built, either to
swing from a handle or ring, or to se
curely fasten by the back, or, occasion:
ally, by the base; within these limits
there are many types.
The very earliest ship lanterns were
metal cages erected in some prominent
part of the ship, as a rule over the
stern, into which some combustible,
such as tow and resin, could be ignited
to give warning to another ship and
avert cuilision. This, in fact, is the
only purpose, for exterior lights to this
day, and they are carefully screened
80 as not to shine aboard, because any
, light on the deck is only a nuisance;
so far as navigation is concerned, and
even on the brilliantly lit modern
| steamship it may be noticed that all
lights are screened from the bridge.
The frigates and ships-of-the-line
which followed in the Seventeenth and
Eighteenth centuries had very similar.
ly designed lanterns, only more elab-
orate in their ornamentation and care-
ful in construction.
Any of these are, however, almost
impossible to obtain, and are more
suited to museums than to domestic
use. Those vessels would also use
cabin, gun-deck and other hand-lan-
terns, which again are extremely rare,
though very desirable,
Italy’s New Air Service
it is announced semi-officially that
within the coming months Italy is to
have its first regular civilian air traf-
fic. Four lines are now decided upon
—from Rome to Barcelona, Turin to
Trieste, Trieste to Venice and Brindisi
to Constantinople via Saloniki. It is
not announced what subsidy will be
supplied by the state, but it is taken
for granted that a large subsidy will
be necessary. Italy feels she has been
backward in civil aviation. The news-
paper Epoca says that when the fascist
government came into power it found
that the mechanical equipment of the
aviation department consisted chiefly
of typewriters. Now, it feels, Italy
| will be able to take her place on a
basis of equality with Germany, France
and England.. Meanwhile Italy . has
consistently rejected offers of foreign
companies to extend their air service
to Italy. Such international lines will
now be permitted, it is stated, but only
if Italy retains the predominant part
of the traffic.
In Buddy’s Family
Buddy is a very little boy living in
a city in northeastern Indiana. Al-
though he is only three years old, his
sayings are sometimes very eloquent.
Buddy, like many other little boys, is
sometimes naughty and he is some-
times punished. A few days ago he
was visiting a’, the home of one of his
little girl playwates. This girl was an
only child and aithough she was some-
times naughty sh: was not punished
very many times. She was, at the
time of Buddy’s visit, exceptionally
bad and her mother wishing to quiet
her said to Buddy, “Marjorie is
naughty today, isn’t she Buddy?” “Uh
huh; if she was one of my mother’s
children she would get a whippin’,”
said Buddy knowingly.—Indiznapolis
News.
$50,000 Radio Story
Aere is a prize radio story told te
€ric H. Palmer on his visit in connec-
tion with his radio exploration tour of
the country. According to a San Fran-
cisco dealer, he was asked to ship a
receiver with full equipment, including
a power amplifier and a score of extra
tubes, to China. Asking the purchaser
how much he expected to hear in
China, the dealer was told:
“Oh, I don’t expect to get much
broadcasting out there, but I've Zot to
do something evenings. I've been play-
ing poker and mah-jongg and what
not and losing $200 to $1,000 nightly
and I just can’t stop, but if I get the
‘listening-in’ habit I'll be about $25,
000 to $50,000 ahead in about a year,
the way my luck’s going, and I'll be
having more fun besides.”
Almonds in Demand
An indicated increase in the pro
duction of almonds in the United
States has led to a study by the bu-
reau of plant industry of the possible
utilization of certain varieties of do-
mestic almonds in the manufacture of
food products. The domestic crop is
at present largely consumed in the un-
shelled nut trade, while the large
quantity of nuts required for such
products as almond bars and almond
paste is supplied principally from
European sources.—New York Ties.
Population Estimate
The popalation of the United States
is now nearly 114,400,000, according
to estimates by the National Bureau
of Economic Research. This, accord-
ing to the bureau, indicates that our
growth in this respect is slowing
down. :
, ful of salt,
‘and corn cobs.
{ keeping in the same direction.
ER
SUGGESTIVE CONTRASTS IN
COUNTY TAX COLLECTION
COSTS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
Philadelphia collects all of her taxes
for about $400,000 a year. Based on
the population according to the latest
census, this means that Philadelphia
collects taxes at the rate of $219 for
each 1,000 population.
Allegheny county’s estimated annu-
al cost for collecting all taxes is
about $625,000, although, according to
the same census, the population is up-
wards of 600,000 fewer than Philadel-
phia’s. Thus the collection cost in Al-
legheny county is $527 per 1,000 of
population, according to one compu-
tation.
It costs Allegheny county, which in-
cludes Pittsburgh, more than twice as
much in proportion to population to
collect taxes in the county as it does
in Philadelphia. This big difference
exists despite comparatively the same
favoratle facilities for easy collec-
on.
Fayette county’s cost for collecting
all taxes, according to reputable bus-
ness men of the county, is about
$250,000 a year. Thus, although hav-
ing only about one-tenth of the popu-
lation of Philadelphia county, which
is the same as the city of Philadelphia,
Fayette’s tax payers have to pay
nearly as much in the aggregate for
collection as do Philadelphia’s tax-
payers.
The cost per 1,000 of population in
Fayette county is about $1,329.
It costs Fayette county six times as
much as it does in Philadelphia, in
proportion to population.
_ Delaware county’s cost of collec-
tion, per 1,000 of population and bas-
ed on the very lowest possible esti-
mate, is more than three times the
Philadelphia cost per 1,000
Montgoirery county’s tax payers,
likewise, have to pay, per 1,000 of
population, at the very least, more
than three times the Philadelphia cost
per 1,000.
Complete surveys would undoubted-
ly show that the differences between
the Delaware and Montgomery coun-
ty costs and the Philadelphia costs
are yen greater than are here indi-
cated.
Luzerne county pays upwards of
$337,000 a year to collect taxes. The
cost per 1,000 of population, therefore,
is at least $862, or about four times
the Philadelphia cost per 1,000.
There is one township in the State
(undoubtedly there are many others),
where the cost of collection, per 1,000
of population, is $1,000, or nearly five
times the Philadelphia rate. It would
be much cheaper to collect in a small,
compact township than in a large city.
Chester county, according to one es-
‘timate, appears to pay at least three
times the Philadelphia cost per 1,000
of population.
For the fiscal year 1923-24, it cost
tax payers $1,867,129 to collect $104,-
536,327 in school taxes. In addition,
tax payers had to pay also for the col-
lection of the following local and
county taxes: For poor taxes, road
taxes, city taxes, county taxes, town-
ship taxes and borough taxes.
Therefore it is probable that the
cost of collecting all these county and
local taxes throughout the State is be-
tween $4,000,000 and $5,000,000 a
year. ;
A more efficient plan of collection
would save tax payers at least $3,-
000,000 a year in unnecessary over-
head.
It costs $17 to collect every $1,000
of school taxes in Pennsylvania.
Ohio collects all taxes for $4.06 per
$1,000 of taxes. :
Pennsylvania pays four times as
much for collecting school taxes alone
as Ohio and a number of other com-
parable States pay for collecting all
taxes.
Steeple
“Dressing Up” School Grounds De-
lights Eye.
Town pride, enthusiasm, and co-op-
eration can accomplish wonders in
beautifying public grounds. Tanners-
ville, in Monroe county, has one of the
most beautiful and complete public
landscape projects in swing in the
whole State. J. R. Bracken, landscape
gardening extension specialist of The
Pennsylvania State College, is the °
guiding spirit. Behind it all looms
real town pride and enthusiasm on the
part of the school board, which decid-
ed on the beautification in front of the
new consolidated school.
The school board has torn out brush
and part of the foundations of an old
tannery, installed pipes for draining
the surface water, effected a shade
tree and plaza approach to the build-
ing, all in natural settings, with wa-
ter prominent in the scene. There is
a handsome concrete walk, with two
curves, at the front of the school.
Native rhododendron and other
growths will make beautiful much of
the large space before the school. The
plants will be secured near at hand.
Of particularly delightful beauty is
the bridge walk, on either side of
which there are two small lakes. The
water is not dangerously deep in
either one. Study will be given to
water plants and settings for this
part of the scene.
A New Political Dodge in Walker
Township.
A Hublersburg correspondent writes
the “Watchman” to the effect that the
Republican bosses down that way have
a new method of getting their voters
home for election day.
He writes that “they take a hand-
go out on a lawn, walk
around a stump or stone three times,
Then
they place the salt on the stone or
stump and hide. When ‘the voter
comes home to lick the salt they catch
him and give him a sumptuous meal
of the goodies from silos, hay loaders
After whieh he is
ready to do anything he is told.”
——Get the Watchman if you want
the local news.