! INK SLINGS. : Seat] all vote thieves were sent to : jail the Philadelphia jail would be * crowded. —September, 1925, has gone, leav- ing behind it memories of a month of unusually lovely weather. . ——Some Philadelphia judges seem to imagine that courts are maintained to shield rather than punish criminals. —As long as “Old Sol” keeps on the job as he has been doing we should worry about when the coal strike is going to end. . ——General Wood must have donc ‘something to Colonel Proctor. Bring- ing the Wood slush fund of 1920 into public notice was a hard blow. —Our single-tracked mind has been so preoccupied with what is going to happen next November 3 that we for- got to run off on a siding long enough to wire back to you that itis only eighty-two days until Christmas. —Some wheat is up with a promis- ing stand while some farmers are still waiting for their ground to get in con- dition to plow, all due to vagaries of rain clouds that have recently passed over Centre county depositing copious showers in some sections and giving others the go-by. —The sooner the subscriptions are paid in the sooner the new hospital unit will be ready for occupancy. The board is very wisely declining to an- ticipate these payments. It is only spending the money that contributors give it to spend, so if progress ap- pears slow it is not to be censured. —An old Bellefonter, gone many years from scenes still dear and cher- ished, looked at the improvements .about the “Big Spring” last week and exclaimed: “Well, I never thought I'd live to see the day when nature’s gift to us would be appreciated to the extent of giving it such a setting as “this.” —There were twenty-nine inmates ‘in the Centre county jail on Wednes- day night, almost the high-water mark in boarders that a local sheriff has been called upon to entertain. Funny, how often we are disappoint- ed in the way things turn out. When the Volstead law went into effect we had visions of the need of jails van- ishing entirely. —In all of his years in the legal profession Mr. Walker has made a practice of doing it now. He never procrastinates, his clients will tell you. Business entrusted to him is attended to at once. It is a splendid habit and one that insures the Centre county court dockets against becoming clog- ged with litigation when Mr. Walker is elevated to the bench. —The Governor will be in Centre county on Menday. Every goed eiti~- zen should remember that Centre county was erected long before Gif- ford Pinchot was heard of and it has traditions to maintain. It has always ‘been respectful of constituted author- ity. Let there be no lack of cordiality and let none of the fellows who refus- ed to sign the petition to Commission- er Buller to protect the trout in Spring creek lead “His Excellency” out along the walk to admire them. —A very unpleasant little encoun- ter with our Congressman on the streets of Clearfield within the week was not utterly regrettable. For once self-control failed us not and we re- ‘mained silent while the grandiose Billy Swope did his best to “high-hat” us. Aside from the ridiculousness of ithe “boy orator of the Susquehanna” assuming a manner with those who know him it was politically edifying to hear him say that he has not yet come to a conclusion as to whether he ‘will be a candidate to succeed himself. —To us, State’s alleged trouble in «defeating Lebanon Valley, last Satur- day, was only the touch-piece that will «cure her of the actinomycosis that has been her greatest trouble in recent years. Running wild with college teams under their class isn’t good for men who, as the football season pro- gresses, have to meet many teams in their class. State needs to win this fall only from Notre Dame and Pitt and the more trouble the others of her opponents can give her the more chance she has to win the games that mean something. —Judge Potter has been presiding over our courts this week. The hon- orable gentleman from Snyder county ‘has comported himself with a dignity that commands respect for the Bench, yet he has not been so austere as to find no leaven in the drab progress of the law. We are in perfect agreement ‘with “His Honor” in the idea that a ‘moonshiner who makes good liquor shouldn’t be soaked as hard as one who dispenses poisonous stuff and that the five hundred Mooses whom he fined two smackers each had had more than two dollar’s worth of fun out of ‘what he fined them for. —Col. Bill Mitchell will probably get no further than Gen. Smed. But- ler has gotten in his attempt to clean up Philadelphia. Mitchell has been trying to tell why a man who risks his life daily for his country should ‘know more than those who wear gold lace, look over charts and appear pompous in swivel chairs, should know about the game they haven’t the guts ‘to get the rudiments of. Mitchell will ‘be just like Butler. The good people ‘will pat him on the back, say: Fine, old boy, but they’ll wilt under the acid ‘test, when some of the sacrifices that Butler and Mitchell ‘have made come up to them. Sa CHTOCKL RO VOL. 70. “Get the Money Boys.” | STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION. Perverting the Court. The announcement of the candidacy | The complete control of the Phila- of former Governor John K. Tener for delphia courts by Congressman Vare day Governor Pinchot revealed hope- the Republican nomination for that is clearly shown in the action of Judge ! ful signs of repentance. As we have office next year has not aroused the | Bartlett in the matter of opening the ; frequently shown he has been entire- enthusiasm his BELLEFONTE, PA.. OCTOBER 2. 1925. Eleventh Hour Convert. In his Scranton speech the other friends expected. Mr. ballot boxes of election districts in . ly indifferent to electoral frauds hith- Tener made a fairly, it might be said | which fraud or error is _suspected. : erto. Possibly this fact may be as- a surprisingly good Governor, was exceptionally popular while in of- fice. But he has been very much “out : voters, and he | Under the Act of Assembly of 1919, cribable to the other fact that elec- "upon the petition of three qualified 'toral frauds have contributed to his the computing officials shall political advantage in the past. The of the reckoning” since and it is a open the suspected ballot box. In pur- , excessive and corrupt use of meney is hard matter to stage a “come back” , suance of this act a petition so signed under such conditions. New factional | was presented to Judge Bartlett con- lines have been formed and new at- | cerning one of the ballot boxes in one tachments created so that it is diffi- of the Vare wards of Philadelphia. cult to enlist a formidable force to en- | Judge Bartlett promptly granted ihe gage the uncertain element to be en- | petition as he was legally bound to do. countered. Mr. Tener may have had The next day counsel for the Republi- good reasons for expecting a warm can organization objected and the approval of his ambition but it has Judge withdrew the order. not materialized. The only perceptible effect of his early announcement is shown in a stir among the friends of Auditor Gen- eral Edward Martin, who seems to have been cherishing a hope that he would be the nominee. There has been a sort of mutual understanding that the candidate for Governor next year would be a western county man. General Martin lives in that section and his vote for Auditor General indi- cated at least a moderate degree of availability. But former State Sena- tor and ex-Banking Commissioner John 8. Fisher, of Indiana county, has many friends out that way and enjoys a tenticle in the east in the person of Mr. Grundy. Besides Governor Pin- chot has not spoken yet and Fisher helped him three years ago. | I 1 Not long ago General Butler, serv- ing as Commissioner of the Depart- ment of Safety of Philadelphia, pub- licly declared that Mr. Vare had used one of the judges of Philadelphia as messenger to convey a corrupt propo- sition with respect to the conduct of the police department. The accused jurist, who was touring in the far west at the time, promptly made long- distance denial of the charge. Gen- eral Butler repeated the charge, gave details of the incident and the matter was hushed up. But the stain upon the courts of the city remains. The prompt yielding to the necessities of the machine by Judge Bartlett fastens the Vare collar on another of the judges of the city with the attendant shame. . Courts are organized and maintain- As conditions exist at present a po- ed for the purpose of protecting the litical map might be drawn with these public against criminals. According three names as salients, and a very to the only possible interpretation pretty fight organized. It is intimat- | which can be put on the action of ed that contractor Boss Vare is will- Judge Bartlett the purpose of the ing to fall in behind Martin and there ' Philadelphia court is reversed. It is is at least a possibility that Pinchot employed to protect criminals from and Grundy would join the Fisher the just penalties of their crimes. A force. That leaves Tener to organize greater outrage has never been per- the stragglers with the chance that the Mellons and Olivers, of Pitts- burgh, would come in under his ban- ner. In that event there would be plenty of money available, though Vare is said to be rather “close” in disbursing his own funds while the ‘Olivers and Mellons as well as Pin- chot and Grundy are inclined to prof- ligacy. Itawould be a sert o money boys” campaign. ——The federal council of churches and the Anti-Saloon League differ widely on the question of prohibition enforcement but the churchmen are not working on salary. More Grabbing of Property. Ever since the appointment of Al- bert B. Fall, of New Mexico, to the of- fice of Secretary of the Interior that department of the government has been under suspicion. For many years before that it had been realized that the department afforded vast op- portunity for exploitation and was the object of desire of many political crooks and adventurers. During the administration of President Taft, Sec- retary of the Interior Ballinger al- most succeeded in an enterprise to rob getthe | i petrated and unfortunately it was committed in the name of the law. Judge Bartlett is not much of a law- yer but he knows that in making the decision which rendered it difficult to expose the corruption of the primary he was violating at least the spirit of the law. But he was fixing himself in the favor of Vare. tmnt fy eines A 1 If the Governor would frankly | state the purpose of his present po- litical activities he would relieve the tension of a good many anxious minds. essere eee. The Air Service Inquiry. The evidence taken thus far in the hearing before the President’s air ‘ service board may not serve to ab- One after another of the expert and the government of all its valuable timber interests. The exposure of his operations contributed largely to the election of Woodrow Wilson and dur- ing his eight years in office there were no scandals. But immediately after the inaugu- ration of President Harding and the installation of Albert B. Fall as Seec- retary of the Interior the plotting was resumed. Mr. Fall gave more atten- tion to the mineral property of the government:than to surface products solve Colonel Mitchell from the charge of insubordination but it has certainly justified his criticism of the service. practical airmen has testified to the inefficiency of the service and corrob- orated Colonel Mitchell’s opinion that the urgent need of the service is an independent air corps. Major Kilner, executive officer of the air service, and Major Royce, in charge of the pri- mary school of Brooks field, Texas, were emphatic on this point. On Monday a number of air service officers were examined and all agreed on several major points. They are that the controlling force of the serv- ice is lodged in men unacquainted with ‘the work; that there are too many minor officers and no officers of high rank, and that when the minor offi- . cers who understand are in conference , with the higher officers who do not, but let nothing of value escape entire- ly. His first step was to procure from 2 stupid Secretary of the Navy and a efficiency in the service. careless President control over cer- tain mineral rights which had pre- viously been under the care of the Navy Department. With the transfer of this authority he proceeded to dis- pose of all the oil territory of the gov- ernment to personal favorites upon terms which enabled them to make him rich. The latest exploitation is not trace- : : able directly to the officials of the In- trav diserepancy will be sufficient to terior Department but involves a Sen- ator in Congress who is more or less closely affiliated with the Senator Fall group. It appears that Senator Cameron, of Arizona, and members of his family have pre-empted about all the things of value, including the water and mineral rights along the Colorado river for miles. The value of these rights is variously estimated at from millions to billions of dollars, and the government has received noth- ing for them. Several hundred suits have been entered against the mem- bers of the Cameron family for the recovery of the property, though cur- iously enough the Senator’s name is not mentioned. ———————— i ————— ——Even the political boss has problems to solve. Congressman Vare may have to support either Pinchot or Pepper for Senator and it is stultifica- tion in either event. the uninformed officers prevail be- cause of their rank and not because of their knowledge. These conditions create dissatisfaction among the per- sonnel of the service and work for in- Other offi- cers expressed the same view. The only grave disagreement with previous statements of Colonel Mitch- ell brought out during a long session of the board, at which a considerable number of witnesses testified, was in the matter of penalizing criticism. . The witnesses denied that they were “muzzled” as charged by Mitchell and hang a court martial and severe pun- ishment on. But at that Colonel ' Mitchell’s insubordination will result in a great improvement in the service, for though it will cause the loss of the most valuable man it will make such a reorganization of the service as will do much good. a a... —Of the three candidates who hope i to be Judge of the courts of Centre county we know there are two whose hopes will be blighted by the frost that will fall on November 3. ——1It may be truthfully said that | Colonel Mitchell “left hope behind” when he took the witness chair in Washington on Tuesday. ——Those men who are sailing to Bermuda in a cat boat must have a strong preference for the “real thing” as against the home-made. "en out of power,” ! ate, among the crimes forbidden by stat- ute and condemned in the constitution. Yet the Governor, in his primary cam- paign three years ago, spent money “like a drunken sailor.” At the gen- eral election following it is reported “and commonly believed that 100,000 fraudulent votes were cast for him in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Since his inauguration as Governor he has had ample opportunities to earnestly urge legislation which would minimize if not actually prevent elec- toral frauds. Senator Flinn, of Pitts- burgh, who thoroughly understood the subject, had prepared a series of bills to accomplish that result. Senator Flinn had supported Mr. Pinchot for Governor and was known as his per- sonal and political friend. But the Governor completely ignored his im- portunities to urge ballot reform leg- islation and thus encouraged fraudu- lent vote manipulators to indulge the excesses which have finally aroused the public conscience and forced the Governor to take notice. In this case he has lost rather than gained by the frauds, but let us hope he is influenc- ed by conscience rather than cupidity. The Governor was tardy in moving against these arch-criminals but seems to be zealous now that he has enlisted in the cause. They are guilty of “the meanest of all crimes,” he says. They have “ingrained in our people some of the worst habits that can afflict a free community,” he adds and winds up with an imprecation, “there is only one place for men who are guilty of these crimes. They have disgraced the communities of which they are a part and they ought to be put with the forger and the bandit for whom I have far more respect than I have for them. A political organiza- tion which is willing to protect these »spicable criminals ought ———— dp ——— ——At the Sunday morning service in the Bellefonte Methodist church, the pastor, Rev. Charles Homer Knox, found the opportunity to briefly ex- press his thoughts as to the obligation of our community to the Bellefonte Academy. Inasmuch as the hour of worship was to be dedicated specially to young men, reference to the activ- ities of the hundred or more boys who come here every year from all parts : of the country was wholly appropri- Bellefonte could do much more than she does for the Academy stu- dents and we are one with Rev. Knox’s idea that the easiest and most direct contact to be had with them is loyal support of their athletic teams. These boys come here at the most impres- sionable age, also at the period when most of them are radicals. They miss the restraining influence of intimate home associations and friendships. Bellefonte can supply that in a meas- ure without cost and with hope of great return, for besides bringing more than one hundred thousand dol- | lars to be dumped into our community every year, these young men go out to the four points of the compass to scatter the name of Bellefonte. All through their lives they will remem- ber the name of the town in which they spent their most impressionable years in school. If they speak well of us it will be because we have been their friends. panes pl re tens ——From Los Angeles county, Cal- ifornia, comes the report that since January, 1922, one in every twenty of the residents of that very populous area, has been arrested for violation of the liquor laws.- The arrests on liquor charges have been three times greater than those made on all other charges combined. The “Watchman’”| goes into four Los Angeles homes regularly every week. One of them has already reported that none of its members have contributed to the ap- palling percentage of law infractions. , We know the other three are also do- ing their part in contributing leaven of good Centre county citizenship to benighted Los Angeles. ———— A ei cases ——According to Senator Walsh the Coolidge administration takes or- ders from Downing street as well as Wall street. reste fp A een, ——It is said the Governor is im- proving in the art of oratory. He is certainly making the politicians take notice. —————— fre ea——— ~———Unless the friends of Gover- nor Tener show more enthusiasm he ' may find out that “the first shall be last.” to be hid Disarmament. From the Philadelphia Record. Count Apponyi’s propesal that a committee of the League of Nations should: prepare a project for imme- ‘diate disarmament is encountering other opposition than that of Great , Britain. France is reported to be op- posed, although it is a steady sup- porter of last year’s Geneva protocol. France is the most heavily armed na- tion now, next to Russia; it is afraid of a disarmed Germany, and it finds plenty of occupation for soldiers in its colonies and mandatory territories. France will not disarm while Germa- _ny lies next door to it, and there is no ‘way of removing it. Germany is about as thoroughly disarmed as it can be, but France still looks under the bed every night to see if an armed German is there. But there are other difficulties in the way of disarmament. Russia is not in the League of Nations, nor like- ly to be. It has a government that shouts its animosity to every other, and it has a vast population whose military value has never been propor- tioned to its numbers, but its size is alarming to the people of other coun- tries. And there is our own land, op- timistically confident that its latest war is the last one it will ever be in, but which goes on getting into wars as often as any country. It keeps a small army, but it managed to get 2,- 000,000 soldiers to Europe in a year and a half, and it has a navy super- ior to any other, with the possible ex- ception of Britannia, which long en- joyed the reputation of ruling the waves and may still occupy that proud position. The United States is the , richest of nations and the largest, ex- cept Russia and China. What the United States does or refuses to do is of some consequence in the world. It will not join the League of Nations and has so far refused to have anything to do with the Permanent Court of In- ternational Justice. It will decide what to do when the time comes, and ,it can do a good deal. Naturally the other countries do not care to divest themselves entirely of arms. Of course disarmament will come. Big armies are no assurance against war, because one country’s big army obliges other countries to have big ar- mies, and the confidence of a country that it is invincible makes it a little careless of the feelings and perhaps the rights of other countries, If it | reinforces its position by ‘an alliance -other nations will ally themgelves, and by and by something: will happen. The _ nation that feels that it ean lick all | creation will refuse to listen to rea- son, and 1914 will be repeated. We do not expect this to happen be- cause we believe the world learned something by the great war, and the League of Nations is an agency of peace, and the Hohenzollerns and . Hapsburgs and Romanoffs are gone. But world changes come slowly. Every nation will be a little suspicious of other nations until it has grown used to finding them peaceful. This takes time. There has been some limitation - of navies. France is growing quieter and may be willing in a few years to ; reduce its army. If suspicion can be ; allayed, and if friction between na- . tions can be averted, and if nations can acquire the habit of settling their controversies by peaceful means— and the habit is forming—they will ' realize that they can safely reduce ! their armed forces and lighten the burden on their taxpayers. World ; peace will come, but it is not to ‘be : rushed. i Choosing Occupations. ¥rom the Altoona Tribune. Years ago fond parents devoted winter evenings to deciding the fu- , tures of their numerous offspring. i Johnny was to be a teacher, Mary would be a trained nurse. Willie would {be tutored in the ministry, and per- ‘haps a fourth progeny would be | placed in business or kept on a farm. { And in the day time the school in- i structors of Johnny, Mary, Willie and i so on believed they had fulfilled their i duty if they prepared them for grad- uation. Few teachers realized that | their’s was an exceptional opportunity to help young men and women to pick | their life’s work on the basis of their i individual qualifications and peculiar abilities. All is different in the educational system of today. Vocational guidance jis an established science. The public | schools and the institutions of higher learning now strive to fit the curricu- lum to the student, not the student to the course of study. The student at the same time is directed into a life’s work for which he is especially suited. Many men and women now failures in life might have been pre-eminent in their professions or trades had an ounce of direction been exerted in their youth to the selection of a ca- reer. A boy with an aptitude for me- chanics and the engineering branches should not be forced into a legal or literary career because a parent or an instructor is partial to those latter oc- cupations, yet countless have been and many will be in the future, : There is a “destiny which shapes our ends” if it is the power which at- tracts the individual to that thing in Life for which it is most fitted by na- ure. a———— A —————————— ——W. Harrison Walker Esq. and Judge Arthur C. Dale last week filed their primary campaign account. Mr. Walker gave his expenses as $1679.- 34 while Judge Dale states that he spent only $911.56. ’ SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE. —As the direct result of accidentally stabbing himself while making a bird house on Monday : of last week, Edward Smith, 20 years old, son of Mrs. Frank Carr, of New Castle, died on Thursday morning in the hospital. The knife slip- ped and cut a gash in his abdomen: Per~ itonitis developed. ; ? —Buried under a fall of coal at the plant of the Atlas Portland Cement company, at Northampton, last Thursday, Michael Be- cik, an employee. was suffocated before fellow workmen could rescue him. Becik slipped at the edge of a conveyor and fell in, being carried down with the fine coal and covered by hundreds of toms of the fuel. —Miss Gertrude Graham, aged 21 years, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Graham, of Danville, was taken to the Jefferson hospital, at Philadelphia, on Monday, in an effort to have a tooth removed from her lung. The mishap occurred as Miss Gra- ham was eating an ice cream cone. An X- ray examination at a Danville hospital re- vealed the tooth lodged in one lung. Miss Graham was taken to Sunbury and left for Philadelphia on a midnight train. —Carl ‘'W. Braznel, of Pittsburgh, has been sued for $20,000 by Mrs. P. H. Stern, of Cambria county, for the death of her husband, Benjamin A. Stern, by an auto- mobile owned by Braznell, driven by a chauffeur. The accident happened on the Kantner bridge, on the Lincoln highway, where Stern was making repairs to the bridge. Mrs. Stern also filed suit to re- cover $1,431.35 for professional services, hospital charges, and burial expenses. —On the eve of his trial for possessing $5,000 worth of clothing alleged to have been stolen from a Selinsgrove store E. J. Humbert, 36 years old, of Windber, broke out of Snyder county jail in Middleburg . on Saturday night, after knocking an at- tendant unconscious with the arm of a chair. He then jumped out of a second- story window of which two bars had been broken previously. He completed his get- away by breaking the lock of the jail yard. —Mrs. Clara Moul, of Hanover, who had offered a farm near that town as the site of the proposed Lutheran College for Women, has withdrawn the offer because no definite action had been taken by those in charge before September 15, as was promised. Just why no action was taken by the church board has not yet been learned. The site was approved by engi- neers and architects who visited it at the suggestion of the Lutheran church officials. —While raiding a house of questionable character in the southwestern section of Hazleton, on Monday night private Smith, of Troop B, state police, was shot by An- thony Demyion, aged 26, of Hazleton. Smith returned the fire and his assailant fell with two serious wounds, one bullet entering the right temple and another the right shoulder, penetrating the lung. At ‘the state hospital the same night a surgeon removed the bullet from Smith’s stomach. —Losing practically all of his garden and orchard crops in the hail storm which swept the Five Forks section of Franklin county several weeks ago, Ira Martin, who lives a half mile south of that place, went home Thursday night to find his home de- stroyed by fire, his chicken house broken into and half of his chickens missing. Mar- tin and his family had been visiting Thurs- day night with his parents in that place. He purchased the Five Forks home last spring, Laban Jhon Ln te —David Bowman, well known: citizen of Mpyersdale, who disappeared early Satur- day morning, was found hanging from a limb of a tree a mile southwest of that town on Sunday, by a posse which had searched all night. He had climbed on a rail fence, fastened a rope to the limb of a tree and then apparently kicked the rails ‘from the fence. Some time ago Mr. Bow- man had his spine injured while at work in the mines and the injury is thought to have preyed on his mind. ps —REarl Reichert, 25 years old, of Allen- town, was electrocuted at the Fishbach sub-station of the Pennsylvania Power and Light company early on Tuesday after- noon. He was employed as a lineman for the Phoenix utility company and was en- gaged in running a new 66,000 volt line to Frackville when the line on which he was working fell on another line carrying 23,- 000 volts which passed through his body. His remains were taken to the Allentown hospital morgue where they were later claimed by relatives. a —George Rodkey and Herbert Mottet, living near Brushtown, Friday had a hear- ing before justice Appler, of Gettysburg, that morning on one of the most unusual charges of theft in that county. The men are charged with the theft of eight wagon- loads of newly pulled corn, valued at $200, from the farm on which Rodkey lives. The farm belongs to the Littlestown Saving In- stitution. The ears were pulled from the stalks in the centre of the field, leaving the corn on the stalks around the outside to throw off suspicion. —The heaviest sentence ever given in Columbia county for automobile stealing was imposed last Friday on Miles Probst, of Berwick, who pleaded guilty before Judge Garman. He received five to ten years in the penitentiary, a fine of $100 and costs. Probst previously had been sen- tenced to two and a half years in the pen- itentiary on a similar charge, and was pa- roled after serving a year and a half. He will be compelled to serve the remaining year when he goes back. Probst was al- leged to have broken jail once. —@Gasoline thieves who drain supply tanks of service stations after midnight, are being sought by police at Shamokin for stealing 400 gallons of gas at the Joe Van Horn general store. The thieves drove up to the store shortly after midnight, Saturday night, according to a man who lives near the store. He saw the truck stop there but thought nothing of it as motorists often stop there after midnight and attempt to arouse the proprietor to buy gas and oil. Other neighbors heard queer noises, but believed they were caus- ed by some motorist with engine trouble, and did not investigate. —The Northampton Country club, be- tween Easton and Bethlehem, was looted some time Thursday night of trophy cups, silverware, cigars and tobacco, valued at several thousand dollars. The thieves first visited the clubhouse proper. From the cigar case they stole cigars, tobacco and cigarettes valued at more than $1000. From the second floor they took silver trophy cups and other articles. Among the cups were those won by Robert 8. Gerstell, of Easton; Henry Hayes, of Bethlehem, and Dallett H. Wilson, of Washington, D. C., formerly of Bethlehem. In the caddie house they stole thirty-six dozen golf balls, valued at about $500. It is believed the thieves worked in their stocking feet.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers