Bruen
(INK SLINGS.
—Lincoln would have been one hun-
dred and seventeen years old had he
been alive to celebrate this anniver-
‘sary of his birth.
—The Legislature is scheduled to
adjourn next week. It hasn’t done
anything yet and probably won’t do
much more than draw the salary
allowance.
- —Persons who think they just can’t
get along without anthracite coal
should remember that three quarters
of the homes in the country have prob-
ably never had anthracite in them.
—Bellefonte wants a government
building and all prospective candidates
for Congress should be notified that
unless they work for one for us
there’ll be nothing doing so far as
votes from this district are concerned.
—Psychoanalysis is given credit for
having reunited the Stillmans. After
five years of front page scandal we
are waiting to see whether this psycho
stuff will point with pride to or under-
take to pass the buck in the matter.
—The base ball teams have started
for their southern training camps,
robins have been seen aplenty this
week and we'd be all set for spring if
we were only sure that the pesky little
ground hog has all the snow out of
his system.
—From the way many Episcopalian
clergymen are jumping on the Rev.
Dr. Empringham, because of his decla-
ration favoring a modification of the
Volstead act, he will begin to think
that there are more kinds of intemper-
ance than one.
——Of course the season is about
over now and we're thinking of out of
door amusements, but we just can’t
resist the impulse to ask the gentle-
man who thought he was appalling us
with his statements of what “the new
one hundred thousand dollar theatre”
was going to do, what became of all
those Shubert bookings he said he had.
—When we come face to face with
the fact that on Saturday it required
the attention of the courts of Centre
county, the mayor of Bellefonte, the
juvenile court officers, the president of
the Red Cross, the community nurse,
the chief of police, the poor depart-
ments of Bellefonte and Spring town-
ship, three “or four women welfare
workers, countless cakes of soap, scrub
brushes and clothes to clean up and
properly attire one family is it not
time to organize a Near Home Relief
drive ?
—If everybody gets behind the
mayor he'll collect so darned many
fines that we’ll have no taxes to pay.
Here’s councilmen Cunningham and
* Bradley -and borough “manager Sei-"
bert; they just worked their heads off
to make the lock-up environment the
beauty spot of the town. And after
they have it all dolled up nobody
wants to stay there.. The police drag
guests out there almost every night
and among them the first one has yet
to be found who wouldn’t give up
twelve dollars and a half, rather than
occupy his room for five days for
nothing.
—Just by way of proving the wis-
dom of the advice we gave the credit-
ors of the Centre County bank
three years ago we want to call
their attention to the fact that the
average earnings of the trust com-
panies and state banks in Philadelphia
last year was 29.44 per cent on their
capitalization. It has been reported
to us that the national banks, in the
same period, had average earnings of
over 35 per cent. If the Centre Coun-
ty creditors had listened to us instead
of those who are exploiting them they
would not have been out of the hole
now, but they would have had an in-
stitution going so that it would have
had them out by the time the receivers
will be able to close their business out
finally.
—We’d like to have a little hard
coal just as much as anybody, but
we're right here to applaud President
Coolidge’s notice to the Senate that
he doesn’t propose to meddle in the
strike. Let the operators and the
miners fight it out themselves. Gov-
ernment interference of any kind is
certain to leave one side or the other
with a grievance that will result in
another strike next fall, just as it has
done annually in the past. The coun-
try isn’t suffering for want of coal.
It is only wrought up because some
want the kind of coal they can’t get
and others want to make political
capital out of a dispute that will be
settled in twenty-four hours when
operator and miner each comes to
realize that obstinacy gets no one
anywhere.
—It seems strange to us that
there have been few defenders of the
charge that Governor Pinchot has
spent more in three years than Gov.
Sproul did in four. We know nothing
of the substance on which the accusa-
tion is made and the figures cited in-
dicate that he has, but is it not perti-
nent to inquire as to the relative re-
sults of the expenditures? It is just
possible that Gov. Pinchot has more to
show for what his administration has
cost than the Sproul regime can point
to. For that matter Governor Sproul’s
administration cost within -eighty-
three million dollars as much as all
administrations from 1840 to 1895, put
together. Be fair with Gif. It isn’t
the amount of money he has spent
that counts, its the return he’s getting
for it that the business-like citizen
:should be interested in. :
VOL. 71.
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION.
Secretary Mellon for Pepper.
Secretary Mellon, having finally de-
clared his purpose to support Senator
Pepper for re-election, it may be said
now that Republican organization
lines are laid so far as that office is
concerned. The Secretary was a trifle
tardy in expressing himself on the
subject and now that he has spoken
it may be assumed that he at least
believes that Governor Pinchot will be
the opposing candidate. Mr. Mellon is
a shy creature and averse to entering
into or inviting antagonisms. In fact
his most intimate friends believe that
as between any other aspirant than
Pinchot he would have refrained from
a public declaration of preference.
But his antipathy to Pinchot is so
deap-seated that he cannot conceal
his feelings.
There is still a possibility that Mr.
Straasberger, of Norristown, will
make a try for the nomination. He has
been in Europe for some time but is
now on his way home for the purpose
of looking the situation over. It is
practically agreed among the politi-
tions of the party that Congressman
Vare will not announce, now that Mel-
lon has declared for Pepper. The
“wets” of the party, and there are
more of them than the prohibitionists
like to acknowledge, are anxious to put
a candidate of their views into the con-
test. Pinchot being bone dry and Pep-
per having been converted to the faith
the “wets” feel that allegiance to their
cause requires them to make an im-
posing gesture at least. Vare would
have been satisfactory to them but he
will hardly run without Mellon’s sup-
port.
It is a safe guess, therefore, that
Pepper and Pinchot will be the oppos-
ing candidates for Senator at the
Spring primary, but no substantial
sign has been given thus far as to
who the candidate for Governor will
be. Usually interest centers in the
gubernational candidate but this year
the Senatorial contest dominates.
There are those among the “close-ins,”
however, who imagine that the. align-
ment of Secretary Mellon with the
Pepper interests-may indicate a- pre-
ference for: John A. Tener for the
other favor. “Tener is closely identi="]
fied with Mellon’s ‘business and politi-
cal friends and his record in public
life shows a strong leaning toward
“big” interests. Some of the wisest
freely-declare that such a combination
is at least probable though within the
last day or so rumors are afloat that
Mr. Mellon does not look with dis-
favor on Secretary of Labor Davis as
a gubernorial suggestion.
———————— ete.
——-The tax bill seems to be moving
along smoothly in Congress but the
“worst is still to come.”
Anthracite Coal a Public Utility.
In a published statement protesting
against the action of the committee of
the Legislature on the “coal bills” Gov.
ernor Pinchot scores heavily. “I doubt
whether there ever was a more per-
fect example of the betrayal of public
rights,” he declares, and adds, “in my
opinion the time has come to take the
anthracite monopoly in hand and to
show it that in a contest of power the
people of this Commonwealth are
stronger than any hard-boiled mo-
nopoly whatever. In dealing with an-
thracite as in dealing with gas, elec-
tricity and transportation, the men
who have so long defied the interests
of the people should be made to recog-
nize that in Pennsylvania the public
good comes first.
In support of his promise that the
anthracite coal interest is a monopoly
Governor Pinchot shows that one of
the units of this trade combination
within five years from 1919 paid an
average of upward of sixty-four per
cent on its capital: another during
three years paid in dividends 124 per
cent a year on its capital: another paid
121 per cent, and for the years 1921
and 1922 another corporation in the
group paid its shareholders the enor-
mous aggregate of 395 per cent, or an
average of 197 per cent. a year.” If
these dividend payments do not afford
sufficient proof that a monopoly ex-
ists the report of the Federal Coal
Commission appointed by the late
President Harding supplies it.
The coal bills submitted to the Leg-
islature by the Pinchot administra-
tion proposed to declare anthracite
coal a public utility which might in an
emergency be taken under control of
the State. After a prolonged and
searching investigation the Harding
Coal Commission, composed of an
eminent mining engineer, an equally
eminent lawyer and a business man
of high standing, officially reported
that “the mining and marketing of
anthracite should be regarded as af-
fected by public interest and regulated
as a public utility.” The implied
menace to the monopoly brought the
then pending strike to an end and the
passage of the bills in question might
have had the same affect at this time
of danger. : $
Ballot Reform Bill
Reported.
Favorably
On Monday evening the Senate Coolidge delivered an address in which |
Committee on Elections reported for
| consideration on the floor all the bal-
| lot bills. © The Governor’s criticism of
{ the stifling of the coal bills put a stop
| to that process of elimination. The
machine managers are hard-boiled but
not impervious. But the action is no
- guarantee of substantial reform leg-
islation.. The most important meas-
ures may be defeated in the end. The
machine is not willing to relinquish
the advantage which existing laws
afford it. The bill to compel the open-
ing of ballot boxes on petition will be
passed and that improvement will be
worth much. But the measure limiting
the assistance to voters is the para-
mount reform.
The plan of the machine managers
is to make a false pretense of reform.
This purpose is embodied in Senator
Shantz’s bill to appoint a commission
to investigate the subject and report
at a later session. It ought to be en-
titled “a bill to promote fraud and
protect criminals until after the next
gubernatorial and senatorial elec-
tions.” It would enable the machine
to excel its past performances and
guarantee the nomination and election
of a machine Governor and a corpora-
tion Senator. Thus entrenched the
: ballot thieves would be secure for an
{indefinite period regardless of the
finding of the commission. In other
! words the Republican machine is
i fighting for its life.
But there ought to be no uncertainty
of the result of this contest beween
fraud and honesty in elections. Out-
side of four or five centers of popu-
lation the people of Pennsylvania
favor honest elections. Except the
comparatively few who profit directly
by the frauds, the people of Pennsyl-
vania derive no advantage from cor-
ruption of the ballot. In view of these
facts every Senator and Representa-
tive in the General Assembly who
votes against the reform legislation
betrays his constituents and violates
his obligations. Such perfidy ought to
be rebuked and if the voters are just
to themselves none of them will be
ostracised from public favor.
——The miners are trying to entice
the Governor to run for Senator and
the Governor’s political enemies are
afraid they will succeed.
Satan Rebuking Sin.
The very efficient and fairly versa-
tile chairman of the Republican State
committee, Mr. W. Harry Baker, im-
poses a rather heavy tax on public
credulity in his reply to Governor Pin-
chot’s recent inquiry as to the atti-
tude of the Republican organization
with respect to the prohibition en-
forcement legislation pending in the
extra session of the General Assem-
bly. He says: “Having recommended
to the Assembly certain drafts of leg-
islation for the enforcement of the
prohibition amendment you are now
striking a staggering blow at the very
cause you pretend to serve by trying
to make it the sport of party poli-
tics.” This is a fine example of “Satin
rebuking sin.”
The day before the session began
i Mr. Baker called at the office of the
Governor and speaking for the Repub-
lican organization assured Mr. Pin-
chot that his proposed legislation
would be treated fairly and courteous-
ly. The first important act of the or-
ganization-controlled Legislature was
to clandestinely summon the oppo-
nents of some important bills and
summarily eliminate them from the
calendar. Mr. Baker had voluntari-
ly assumed the character of “spokes-
man” for the organization, which he
had a right to do as chairman. But
in the act he had conveyed not only
to the Governor but to the public an
understanding of the fact that he
spoke for the organization on all sub-
jects of legislation.
In the circumstances it was entirely
reasonable for the Governor to assume
that as the machine had worked so
smoothly and destructively on the coal
bills it might act with the same un-
animity and celerity in considering
the prohibition enforcement measures,
and as a tactician on the other side of
the question it was wise to seek infor-
mation from the well established
source. It was not trying to make the
question “the sport of party politics.”
The organization had already achieved
that sinister purpose. It was a move-
ment to divorce a purely moral sub-
ject from party politics and it failed
for the reason that Chairman Baker
had determined to degrade the General
Assembly into a party machine.
——As for us the handle of the
that of the snow shovel.
—— Speaking of the Stillmans it
may be said that if they will stay in
Europe much will be forgiven.
trusted again. They should be forever
lawn mower looks much better than
BELLEFONTE, PA.. FEBRUARY 12. 1926,
Coolidge Planning for Another Term.
| Recently, in Washington, President
he dwelt on his favorite theme,
{economy in administration. He spoke
-of the savings which have been ac-
, complished since the restoration of the
government to Republican control five
years ago and ascribed the result to
| the wise policies of his party. “To
i me,” he said, “all these proposals for
conservation and economy do not
seem either selfish or provincial, but
rather they reveal a spirit dedicated
to the service of humanity.” Then as
proof of the achievements he spoke
of the tax reductions which have al-
ready been made and declared that
other tax reductions will be made pos-
sible by pursuing the same wise pol-
icies.
When the Mellon tax bill was tak-
en up for consideration in the Com-
mittee of Ways and Means of the
House of Representatives the Dem-
ocrats on the committee protested
that conditions of the treasury and
the revenues would justify a de-
crease of taxation to the extent of
$500,000,000 instead of the $320,000,-
000 provided for in the bill. The
spokesman for the minority then stat-
ed that the policy of the administra-
tion was to create a considerable sur-
plus: for the current year in order
that another reduction might be made
by the Congress immediately preced-
ing the next Presidential campaign.
The pending reduction was enough
to make campaign claims during the
coming congressional contest and an-
other two years hence would serve
the same purpose for the Presidential
contest.
Mr. Coolidge, in his speech, con-
firms that estimate of the Republican
plans. The Democrats forced a tax
cut of nearly fifty millions more ‘than
that contemplated by the administra-
tion and in order to benefit the several
million tax payers whose incomes are
less than five thousand dollars annual-
ly consented to a cut in the income tax
of Secretary of the Treasury Mellon
to the extent of half a million dollars.
Bu the tax payers of the country
hax beens cheated by the administra-
ton, For "it 1s how evident that a re-
duction of more than the half billion
proposed by the Democrats might
have been safely made without the
least impairment of the service or
cheese-paring of any kind.
——Reduced to the last analysis it
is a contest between fraudulent and
honest elections in Pennsylvania.
Disappointed Hope of Improvement.
As the work of the special session
of the Legislature progresses our con-
fidence in the value of the enterprise
weakens. Before the event we firm-
ly believed that substantial ballot re-
form legislation would be promptly
enacted. This belief was based on a
theory that the Legislators of the
State are men of average intelligence.
The current impression covering a
number of years had been that elect-
oral frauds were common in Phila-
delphia and Pittsburg. The exposures
which followed the primary elections
in those cities and Scranton last fall
emphasized the popular protest
against this dangerous form of crime.
We reasoned that in the face of such
facts no Legislator would dare vote
against reform.
The Legislature assembled in extra
session for the purpose of correcting
this evil on the 13th of January. It
is now completing the fifth week of
its labors. At the beginning of the
second week the date for final ad-
journment was fixed for the 18th of
this month. This limited the session
to a period of six weeks. Five weeks
of that period have been consumed and
nothing has been done in the line of
achievement. A resolution providing
for payment of the expenses, includ-
ing salaries of the members has pass-
ed one branch and that is the sum
total of accomplishment. The en-
tire time of the session has been giv-
en to jockying and devices to confuse
and discredit the Governor.
But the extra session may not be
entirely without value to the people
at that. Even a cursory scrutiny of
the proceedings reveals the cause
which has brought disappointment to
a vast majority of the people of Penn-
sylvania. ‘The Republican machine is
obsessed with the absurd notion that
the people are indifferent to justice
and right. It believes that the peo-
ple of Pennsylvania will not only tol-
erate but approve any crime that aids
| it in perpetuating its power. In this
attitude it pays scant respect for the
intelligence and even less for the in-
tegrity of the people. This attitude,
plainly shown, may arouse popular
indignation throughout the State and
compel the reforms which have been
defeated.
——The State Senate favors law
enforcement but the House of Repre-
sentatives has the last say.
NO. 7.
The Farmer and the Tariff.’
From the Philadelphia Record.
The President’s attempt some weeks
‘ago to convince the farmers that the
protective tariff was a great benefit
to them and cost them extremely little
failed to convince Professor John D,
| Black, of the University of Minnesota,
who explained that the President’s
idea of the lightness of the tariff
burden upon the farmers was due to
the fact that his estimate rested only
on the amount of imported goods that
the farmers consumed. “It failed to
take into account the extra amount
the farmer consumer was required to
pay upon protected American, pro-
ducts.” z
This omission is vital. The main
purpose of protected duties is to “hold
the umbrella” over the American
manufacturers, Under the protection
of a high duty on a foreign article
the American manufacturers are able
to raise their prices proportionately.
Sometimes the domestic price is the
full amount of the foreign price plus
the duty. In many cases it is less
than that; there is enough domestic
competition to affect the price in some
small degree. But all prices of do-
mestic products are enhanced by the
. The Democratic National Commit-
tee has been at some pains to ascer-
tain how much the tariff costs the
American people. Several . private
economists have made approximate
computations of the proportion be-
tween the increase of domestic prices
and the amount the tariff adds to the
cost of foreign articles. . The most
conservative estimate we have seen
is that the increase of domestic prices
is five or six times the duties collect
ed on imported goods which the Treas-
ury gets. There are estimates of the
amount the tariff adds to the prices
of domestic articles that run above!
this. It is perfectly evident upon a,
moment’s reflection that the consumer,
whether farmer or urban- resident,
is affected by the jarit fn his domes-
tic as well as his imported purchases.
The increased price of the import-.
ed article goes to the Treasury; the
increased price of the domestic article
goes to the manufacturer, and it is
from five or six to eight or nine times:
-as much as the Treasury gets.
consumer does not. escape t
: The
duty | by buying 8 Jomestie article; he
merely pays it to-a_ age Interest
instead of to'the Treasury. Of esurse’
the manufacturer says he
in wages, but he is mistaken. The
duty is generally more than the-en-
tire labor cost in this country, and.
this was pointed out last year by the
New England branch of the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor in its denun-
ciation of wage reductions in the tex-
tile mills.
The President indicated that the
tariff added only two per cent. to the
prices paid by the American farmer.
Some eminent economists have put
it as high as 40 per cent. The very
conservative Professor Black put it
at somewhere between 10 and 20 per
cent. His figures are certainly low
enough. They are probably a good
deal too low.
Daredevils “Not Wanted” in Mills.
From the Pittsburg Post.
The Standard Steel Works at Lewis.
town states that none of its 5,000 em-
ployes has lost time through a mishap
since early in October. It would be a
highly creditable record for a village
of such population in which a large
percentage of the inhabitants did not
come in contact with machinery or
furnaces or the other things wherein
danger lurks in steel works; for a
great industrial establishment it is
unusual.
In explanation of the Standard Steel
Works’ enviable record it is stated
that “safety first” has been a hobby
with the company for more than a dec-
ade, and it has such a horror of mis-
haps of the kind that cause workmen
to be killed or disabled that it will not
retain in its employ any man who
shows lack of regard for his own
safety. :
That is an attitude that is worthy
of the consideration of other manu-
facturers and employers generally in
whose establishments mishaps are
liable to occur. The reckless work-
man should not be kept; he sots a bad
example.
There are remunerative jobs in the
movies for men and women who are
willing to risk their lives in spectacu-
lar “stunts.” Daredevils are useful in
some kinds of circus and theatrical
performances. Praise and promotion
await the soldier who in time of war
gives no thought to his personal safe-
ty. In time of peace we honor those
who scorn danger in the performances
of some heroic act such as the rescue
of a person confronted by death. But
while, as thus indicated, bold defi-
ance of peril is commendable under
some circumstances it is not virtue
when exhibited in an industrial es-
tablishment in the ordinary routine
of labor. On the contrary it is rep-
rehensible in mill or mine, for the
workman who is not concerned over
his own safety is likely to imperil
his fellows as well as himself.
——That Washington lawyer who
is attempting to restrain the Secre-
tary of State from certifying our
adherence to the World Court believes
that “it pays to advertise.”
—Subscribe for the “Watchman.”
- operators.
pays'it out |
SPRAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE.
—Seized with a heart attack while on
his way to a physician’s office in a taxi-
cab, G.-W. Kreider, 50, of Reading, died
last week at Atlantic City, where he had
been visiting. . :
—Six firemen were injured last Thurs-
day while fighting a fire which followed
an explosion in the Star Theatre at Tar-
entum, near Pittsburgh, with a conse-
quent loss of more than $30,000.
—Many friends and charities are named
beneficiaries in the will of the late Senator
John P. Harris, which was filed for pro-
bate in the Allegheny county court. The
estate is valued approximately at $1,500,-
000.
. —-A fossil of a tree branch, believed to
be more than 100,000,000 years old, was
found by a workmen in the Harmar mine
of the Consumer Mining company, near
Pittsburgh. It was removed to the Car-
negie Institute of Technology.
—Falling under a moving box car which
he was riding, Charles Richards, a brake-
man in the Allentown yards of the Central
Railroad of New Jersey, was instantly
killed when the wheels passed over his
body.
—Charged with attempts to extort mon-
ey from proprietors of pool rooms by
promising to return to them slot ma-
chines seized in raids upon payment of 350
to $75, Constable Joseph Reed, of Free-
mansburg, was arrested by Bethlehem
police.
—Money was won and lost by a num-
ber of persons in Hazelton, who bet that
the coal strike would be settled during
the last conference of the miners and
Odds of five to one were giv-
en by persons confident in the termina-
tion of the strike.
—Pleading guilty to a charge of asault,
Joseph Mackanski, of Edwardsville, was
sentenced by Judge Fuller, of Wilkes-
Barre to stay in the county jail until the
end of the miners’ strike. Stanley Bog-
azyk, of Hazleton, charged with violation
of liquor laws, met a similar fate.
—Adhering to promises of economy dur-
ing his administration, Dr. LeRoy E. Chap-
man, elected last fall as burgess of War-
ren, near Kane, last week, vetoed a res-
olution of the borough council raising his
salary. The council, it is believed, will
raise the salary of the burgess over his
veto.
—Use of stickers at the election and the
‘violation of the right to secrecy was charg-
ed in the petition of twenty-five residents
of North Girard who request the oust-
ing of a burgess and seven members of
council elected at a special election held
on January 5, when the community was
elevated from a township.
' —The American Window Glass com-
pany’s plant No. 5, in Kane, Pa., will go
into operation February 17 after a shut-
‘down of three months.
Former employes
are given the preference in getting men on
the jobs. The factory expects to rum
steadily for two years aside from the short
periods of idleness while tanks are being
repaired.
—The elopement and marriage at Elk-
ton, on Thursday of last week, of Gordon
Weld Strawbridge, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Frederick H. Strawbridge, socially prom-
inent in Philadelphia, to Miss Elizabeth
M. Echternach, a. stenographer in a pub-
lishing house where young Strawbridge
was working, was made known there the
same evening.
—The Altoona-Harrisburg east bound
passenger local was held up last Wednes-
day night on the west side of the Spruce
creek tunnel by a black bear seated be-
tween the rails. The bear paid no atten-
tion to the approaching train and the en-
gineer, seeing the living obstruction out-
lined on the snow, was forced to stop. The
bear finally left of his own volition and
the train proceeded.
—John McCann, 40 years old, of Dun-
cannon, was severely injured Sunday night
when he fell fifteen feet from a ladder in
the engine room at the capitol. McCann
had crawled to the top of the "adder to
turn off a valve on one of the boilers. Other
workers in the room witnessed his fall. In
falling he struck a piece of pipe on the
floor and suffered numerous deep cuts of
the hip and back but no serious injuries.
—Open fire places and the old-fashioned
wood-burning stove, the Saturday night
bath tub and the outdoor pump slowly
are passing from Pennsylvania's farms.
A survey completed by the State Depart-
ment of Agriculture showed 39,538 farm
houses equipped with furnaces, 22,889 with
bath tubs and 20,104 with running water.
The greater part of these improvements
have been made within the last fifteen
years.
»
—The farmers of Pennsylvania, accord-
ing to the first figures ever compiled by
the bureau of markets of the State Depart-
ment of Agriculture, did a business of $32,-
409,000 through their co-operative buying
and selling organizations in 1924. Five of
the large co-operative organizations oper-
ating in several of the eastern States trans-
acted business amounting to $26,049,000
with Pennsylvania farmers, while ninety-
four local organizations made total sales
aggregating $6,360,000. Over 14,000 farm-
ers in the State are affiliated with these
organizations.
—A truck containing finished silk val-
ued at $150,000, caught fire last Thursday
morning at Farmersville, six miles west of
Easton, and the contents completely de-
stroyed. The truck belonged to the Ar-
row Carreir corporation, of Paterson N. J.,
and had left Allentown for New York Wed-
nesday night but became disabled the
greater part of the night along the high-
way. While the driver, Marinus Jery, and
his helper, Charles Abel, both of Pater-
son, were drinking a cup of coffee in a
hotel they were informed of the fire. A
call: was sent to the firemen of Wilson
borough, but they could use only chemicals
as there was no water to fight the flames.
—Sheriff Pettit, of Bloomsburg, on Fri-
day uncovered the third jail delivery plot
in the county jail since January 1, when a
hole eighteen inches in diameter and par-
tially through the wall was found under
the cot of Stephen Lucas, of Mount Car-
mel, awaiting trial. The sheriff blamed
Albert Kumites, awaiting sentence for at-
tempted bank robbery. The discovery was
made after Kumites had been seen in
Lucas’ cell. A knife blade, fork and sharp-
ened chair’ rung were found in the cell,
“the dirt being kept in a paper under Lucas’
eot. The hole would have led into- an
abandoned jail yard from which escape
would have been easy. The cell was one
“of the few not steel lined.