BowcaiN
"Bellefonte, Pa., February 26, 1926.
Editor
P. GRAY MEEK, - - -
—
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ing. Entered at the postoffice, Bellefonte,
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BIGELOW.—Dr. W. S. Bigelow, one
of the oldest and best known physi-
cians of Philipsburg, died at his home
in that place at two o’clock last Fri-
day morning, following an illness of
less than two weeks.
He was a native of Boylston, Mass.,
where he was born on July 28th, 1853
hence was in his seventy-third year. He
graduated in medicine in 1883 and
shortly there-after came to Pennsyl-
vania and located in Philipsburg,
where he has practiced his profession
ever since. His wife passed away
thirty-two years ago but surviving him
are four children, William S., of Rush
township; Misses Nancy and Ruth, at
home, and Mrs. Harry Klaas, of Den-
ver, Col. He also leaves one brother,
James Bigelow, of Upton, Mass.
Funeral services were held in the
Presbyterian church of Philipsburg
at 2:30 o'clock on Sunday afternoon
by Rev. R. P. Miller, and private in-
terment was made in the Philipsburg
cemetery.
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HANSEN.—Mrs. Ivar Hansen died
suddenly at her home in Porsgrund,
Norway, on Friday, February 15,
heart failure having been the cause.
Deceased was the daughter of Mar-
cus and Maren Ruyerson and was born
at Porsgrund on Sept. 1, 1865, making
her age 60 years, 5 months and 19
days. In 1887 she married Ivar Han-
sen and to their union two sons were
born: Edward H., of Oslo, Norway,
and Marcus C. general manager of
the Sutton-Abramsen Engineering
Co’s operations in this place.
Mrs. Hansen spent the winter of
1923 in Bellefonte with her son and
his family. Those who came to know
her through that visit will remember
her as a lovely Christian
woman, devoted to her family and in-
terested in the welfare and happiness
of all about here.
Interment was made in Porsgrund
on Wednesday.
il 1
SAYRE.—Mrs. Ella J. Sayre, be-
loved wife of Harry S. Sayre, died at
her home at Elizabethtown, Pa., on
Monday. She was a daughter of
Samuel and Margaret Rote and was
born at Coleville on July 6th, 1859,
hence was 66 years, 7 months and 16
days old. She was educated in the
public schools of Spring township and
at the Bellefonte Academy, her entire
girlhood life having been spent in this
section. In addition to her husband
she is survived by ore daughter, Mrs.
E. M. Moran, of New Kensington, and
a grandson, Roger Murtaugh, also of
New Kensington. The remains were
brought to Bellefonte for burial in the
Union cemetery at 10 o'clock yester-
day morning, Rev. W. C. Thompson
officiating. Mrs. Moran and Mr. Mur-
taugh came to Bellefonte from New
Kensington for the funeral.
fl n
WETZLER.—Charlotte, the four
year old daughter of John E. Wetzler,
of Milesburg, died on. February 16th,
after a brief illness, at the home of
her aunt, Mrs. John Slicker, of Jun-
iata. The remains were brought to
the home of her father in Milesburg,
where funeral services were held Fri-
day afternoon at 2 o’clock, in charge
of Dr. Clarence Adams, of State Col-
lege, burial being made in the Curtin
cemetery. In addition to her father,
her mother having died January 6,
1924, she is survived by the following
brothers and sisters: Lewis, of Belle-
fonte; Isabel and Louise, at hone,
and Dean, who makes his home with
the F. L. Wetzler family.
I I!
VAIL.—Matthew E. Vail, a native
of Philipsburg, died in Pittsburgh last
Wednesday, where he had resided the
past three years. He was a son of
Orin and Caroline Vail and was born
in Philipsburg about forty-six years
ago. His entire life was spent in that
vicinity until moving to Pittsburgh
three years ago. He married Miss
Nellie Rhea, of Osceola Mills, who
survives with one daughter, Mus.
Arthur Bartley, of Pittsburgh. He
also leaves three brothers and one
sister, Howard, Allen and Edward
Vail, and Mrs. J. W. Beals, all of
Philipsburg. The remains were taken
to Philipsburg where burial was made
on Friday afternoon.
The Catholic daughters of
America will give a card party in their
club rooms in the Lyon & Co. building,
on the evening of St. Patrick’s day,
Wednesday, March 17.
Fifteen prisoners who were be-
coming very undesirable at Rockview
were taken back to the western peni-
tentiary, at Pittsburgh, on Wednesday.
HAZEL.—Mrs. Sarah M. Hazel,
widow of the late William Hazel,
passed away last Wednesday at the
home of her son, A. J. Hazel, at Boals-
burg. She had been in her usual
health during the day but shortly be-
fore eight o’clock in the evening be-
came violently ill and passed away be-
fore a physician could be summoned.
She was a daughter of John and
Mary Y. Zubler and was born at
Zeiglersville, Mifflin county, on Sep-
tember 29th, 1839, hence was in her
eighty-seventh year. When she was
but nine years old her parents moved
to Madisonburg, Centre county, and
there she grew to womanhood and in
the spring of 1865 married William
Hazel. Their entire married life was
spent in the vicinity of Madisonburg
but since the death of her husband in
1912 she had divided her time among
her children. She had been a member
of the Lutheran church for seventy-
four years and always tock an active
part in all branches of church work.
Her surviving children are A. J.
Hazel, of Boalsburg; Albert, of Union-
ville; Will and Byron, of Bellevue,
Ohio; Edward, of Youngstown, Ohio;
Norman, of Aaronsburg; Mrs. Kate
Kling, of State College, and Mrs. Sara
Swartz, of Millheim. She also leaves
one sister, Mrs. Frank Emerick, of
Centre Hall.
A. J. Hazel home at eleven o’clock on
Saturday morning and in the after-
noon the remains were taken to Madi-
sonburg where Rev. William McClel-
lan officiated at the burial in the Madi-
sonburg cemetery. !
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WINING.—John Wining, for al-
most forty years a resident of Worth
township, died on February 11th at
his home near Port Matilda, as a re-
sult of an attack of indigestion.
He was born in Jefferson county
on September 28th, 1844, hence was
in his eighty-second year. When but
eighteen years of age he went to
Curwensville where he took employ-
ment as a teamster for the elder John
Irvin, lumberman and storekeeper, and
for years made regular trips between
Curwensville and Philipsburg. In
1886, when the lumbering business be-
gan to fall off, he moved to Worth
township and engaged in farming. He
was quite successful and in due time
became the owner of two good farms.
Fifty-five years ago he married
Miss Lucinda Woodring, a native of
Port Matilda, who passed away thir-
teen years ago. Surviving him, how-
ever, are three children, Miss Nannie
M., Wilbur H. and Budd, and one
foster daughter, Miss Helen Ammer-
man, all of Port Matilda.
Funeral services were held at his
late home on February 13th by Rev.
| Oakweod, of the Presbyterian church,
"of which he was a member, burial be-
ing made in the Presbyterian cemie-
tery, at Port Matilda.
it
1
|
POWELL.—From the Times Re-
cord of Fort Smith, Arkansas, of Feb-
ruary 15, we learn that Judge Reb-
ert Thomas Powell, widely known
jurist and realtor of that city, died on
the evening of the 14th, after a long
illness which recently necessitated the
amputation of a foot; the shock of
the amputation having precipitated
his death. He was in his seventy-
third year.
Judge Powell was quite a promi-
nent man in Arkansas. He was an
able lawyer and several times was
specially appointed a Circuit Court
Judge in that State. He was a real
estate operator, as well, having built
and owned several business blocks in
Fort Smith and Greenwood.
On June 30th, 1907, he married Miss
Caroline Lingle, of Philipsburg, this
county. She is a daughter of the late
i Lycurgus Lingle of that place, and a
| niece of the Hon. W. C. Lingle and of
| Mrs. Edwin F. Garman, of Bellefonte.
She survives with his four sisters and
two brothers.
il
GOODRICH.—David W. Goodrich,
who for a number of years was track
foreman on the Lewistown and Ty-
rane railroad at Scotia, died on Sun-
day at his home at Point Lookout as
the result of a stroke of apoplexy. He
was born in Clearfield on July 15th,
1870, making his age 55 years, 7
months and 5 days. When a boy his
parents moved to Point Lookout and
all his life was spent there with the
exception of the few years he worked
at Scotia and a brief time at Snow
Shoe. He never married but is sur-
vived by one brother and a sister. Bui-
ial was made in the Philipsburg ceme-
tery on Wednesday afternoon.
I Il
GROVE.—Miss Verna Grove passed
away at her home in Bush’s Addition,
last Thursday afternoon, following a
lingering illness. She was a daughter
of Michael (deceased) and Ida Poor-
man Grove and was about twenty-
three years old. In addition to her
mother she is survived by one brother,
Willis Grove. Another brother, Earl,
passed away in November. She was
a member of the Lutheran church and
Rev. C. L. Arnold had charge of the
‘funeral services which were held on
Sunday afternoon, burial being made
in the Union cemetery.
Il
HALL Richard Hall died at his
home on Halfmoon hill on Monday af-
ternoon following an illness of some
months with gangrene. He was a na-
tive of Huntingdon county and was 78
years old. He married Miss Nancy
Shay, who survives with one son and
two daughters, Frank Hall, of Belle-
fonte; Elizabeth, of Wall, Pa., and Li-
da, in Ohio. Burial was made in the
Curtin cemetery on Wednesday after-
noon,
Funeral services were held at the |.
WE ADMIT THAT IT IS A STARLING.
Though Still Fortified with Plenty of Discrepancies in Expert Testi-
mony Presented We Yield to the Preponderance of
Opinion as to the New Bird.
It seems that we started something, two weeks ago, when we
asked for help in identifying a bird relatively new to this section which
had just come under our observation. It seems, also, that more people
are interested in birds than we had any idea of. From all parts of the
country have come letters from amateur ornithologists, all of them
interesting and some revealing a very intimate knowledge of the sub-
ject under discussion.
While we feel that everyone of our correspondents knows more
about birds than we do and since the preponderance of opinion is to
the effect that the one in question is the English Starling we are,
nevertheless, unable to reconcile the specimens we have seen with the
descriptions of the starling by our correspondents.
Without exception
they refer to the plumage of the bird as being a glossy, greenish black.
Miss Pletcher, whose letter appears below, gives to it minute white
spots.
Sunday morning we noticed our family cat sitting, looking in-
tently at a copy of the Watchman that had been spread on the kitchen
flocr for the reception of dripping rubbers and goloshes.
For a long
time “Snip’s” eyes were glued to the paper, thea he got up and gave
his usual sign of wanting out.
It wasn't half an hour until he was
back with one of the moot birds in his mouth. We’re not trying to
make anyone believe that the cat actually read the bird article in that
issue, but it was a darned funny coincidence, to say the least.
We examined the dead bird carefully. There was no lustre, what-
ever, to its plumage and no minute white spots.
It was a dull black,
just about the shade of a tarred roof after the gloss has left it. Head,
body, wing and tail feathers were all exactly alike as to color.
Notwithstanding the discrepancies referred to we are ready to ac-
cept the ideas of our counsellors and until proven to be in error will
regard the starling as another of our bird acquaintances. Just now a
large flock of them are congregated about the east ventillating window
of the Methodist church in this place, with evident designs on nesting
there and if they are as dirty and pestiferous as some of our inform-
ants believe them to be something ought to be done about it.
Among the many verbal opinions we have received that of Mrs.
Horatio Moore has gone a long way toward adding tc our conviction
that it is the starling, for she has seen the bird for several years and
backs up her opinion with an authority from New York to whom she
wrote after becoming interested in the discussion.
A few of the more illuminative letters we received are published
herewith because of their apparently well informed views:
A REAL BIRDOLOGIST WRITES FROM
HOWARD.
Howard, Pa., Feb. 22-26
Editor Watchman:
Having seen your articles in the
Watchman about the black bird or
starling I want to say that the bird
called the starling is an European
product introduced into New York a
few years ago and then having spread
through New Jersey and localities in
Connecticut.
While spending a few days at
camp Dix, a number of years ago, I
was awakened one morning by the
notes of a bird that was strange to me.
From my window I saw it and its
plumage was metallic green and pur-
ple, heavily spotted all over with fine
white dots. Upon asking about it I
was told that it was the English star-
ling or “Sturmes vulgaris.” It is at
least four years since they made their
appearance in and about Howard. Just
in pairs at that time, but now to the
extent of hundreds in summer and
only by pairs in the winter.
They promise to become as abun-
dant as the English sparrow. In the
cities they build their nésts about
buildings, while in the country it is
usually on trees. They lay from four
to six pale blue, unspotted eggs. It
was a matter of conjecture as to
which would become master, the spar-
row or the starling, as both are fight-
ers, but the latter seems to be con-
quering and driving our native sang
birds from towns and cities.
They are a seed eating bird and
just now are living on the tender buds
of the fruit and other trees and shrub-
bery. Ornithologists do not say they
are kin of the black-bird as the only
comparison that can be made is as to
the square cut tail of the cow black |
bird, which is smaller and has a dif-'
ferent shaped head entirely. It is a
native of Central America and lives
with cattle, catching its food—the
flies that torment the animals.
It does not winter in this climate, as
does the red winged black-bird so I
the starling.
EMMA R. PLETCHER
THE STARLING AN ALIEN PEST.
Miss Pletcher enclosed the follow-
ing from the Chicago Evening Post
which indicates that all should be in-
terested to the point of exterminating
the starling before it exterminates us.
The starling is a prolific species
raising usually two broods of three to
six young a year, and its rapid in-
crease in numbers requires constant
reaching out for new food supplies and
nesting places. The undesirable quali-
ties of the starling appear to raise
from its choice of nesting sites in
buildings, which it defaces, and its
proneness to drive native birds from
the vicinity of houses.
In the Old World the starling is
harmful. Its habits so far as its
choice of food is concerned have im-
proved a bit in the New World, but
taking it all in all the bird is an unde-
sirable alien.
OHIO SUGGESTS THE COWBIRD,
Medina, Ohio, 2-19-26.
Editor Democratic Watchman:
I was much interested in the de-
scription you gave in the Democratic
Watchman of Feb. 12th of a new bird
observed for the first time by you and
several others.
The description you gave answered
very closely to that of the cow-bird,
“molothrus ater,” male glossy, green-
ish black, with a brown head; female
and young dull gray.” It is early for
cow-birds, as they are scheduled to
come north in March, but two or three
flocks have already been reported in
the vicinity of Medina, so it is entire-
ly probable that they have arrived in
your locality also. During my so-
journs in Pine Grove Mills I have
never happened to see any cow-birds
and they might not be common in your
section.
We will watch with interest for the
opinion of the other bird observers.
Yours,
JOHN D. DANNLEY.
A FLORIDA IDEA.
Writing from Florida another
interested woman says:
I have just finished reading your
account of the new (?) bird that has
appeared in Centre county. I think
you will find it to be an “English Star-
ling,” another no-account bird intro-
"lately about Bellefonte.
duced into this country a few years
ago for a purpose it has failed to per-
form; but having found this new
habitat much to its liking has proceed-
ed to multiply and grow fat.
Apparently you did not notice
that in flight they are very clumsy,
using a fluttering movement of the
wings instead of the long, pure
sweep that other birds of that size
generally make. The East has been
pestered with them for some years
and now they are evidently starting
to annoy the hinterland.
K
A SYRACUSE BOY SCOUT’S OPINION.
Syracuse, New York
Editor of Watchman:
In reading last week’s Watch:
man I happened to see an article about
birds. From the description I should
judge them to be starlings.
English starlings were introduc-
ed into America in 1909, when a flock
of fifty were let loose in Central Park,
N.Y. They were first seen about here
in 1919. Their appearance is some-
what like a simple grackle, except
that they have not that shining color
and are more spotted. It is supposed
that they eat corn and, therefore, are
a pest,
This morning a half dozen were
out on our cherry tree croaking away
and they chased off some sparrows
that came near them.
Don’t give me credit for most of
this information, as my biology teach-
er wrote a little bird book and that is
where I got most of my information.
Yours truly,
WM. WOODCOCK,
Troop 1, B. S. A.
ORNITHOLOGY AT PORT MATILDA.
Port Matilda, Pa., 2-19-26
Dear Editor:
I was much interested in the
Watchman’s discussion of a certain
kind of bird that you have noticed
Evidently
members of the same family have
am sure the bird under discussion is been seen about here. They have a
very pretty mottled plumage of green-
ish black hue.
I first noticed them in 1917 when
a flock of seven wintered near this
place. They seem to be increasing
rapidly and apparently many, but not
all, migrate south in the fall. Those
that wintered here lived on rotten ap-
ples that hung on the orchard trees.
They are distinct from our variety of
black-bird because no member of that
family would winter in this county.
I have never discovered a nest
of these birds and am of the opinion
that they go further north in the
spring.
Yours truly,
C. H. REESE
PREACHERS AND EDITORS ALIKE
LONG ON KNOWLEDGE-SHORT ON
CASH.
Benton, Pa., February 23, 1926
The Democratic Watchman,
Bellefonte, Pa.
Dear Sir:—
Your inquiry in the last two issues
of the Watchman regarding certain
birds you have seen in Bellefonte this
winter brought quite a reaction in this
household. First, we had seen a flock
of birds similar to those you had seen
and immediately set about finding out
what they were, when we saw your
inquiry we immediately thought about
setting you right in the matter, but
then remembered that we had not paid
our subscription for some years so we
had to wait until we could save the
backing for a check before we wrote
you.
The name “RUSTY BLACKBIRD.”
Size—A trifle smaller than the
robin, rather dumpy as te shape.
Male—In full plumage, glossy black
with metallic reflections intermixed
with rusty brown that becomes more
pronounced as the season advances.
Pale, straw-colored eyes.
Female—Duller plumage and more
rusty, inclining to gray. Light line
over eye. Smaller than male.
Range—North America, from New-
foundland to Gulf of Mexico. The
breeding range is mostly north of the
United States.
The European Starling is described
as smaller than the meadow-lark, and
is brown finely glossed with black,
with a pale tip to each feather.
Hope this is the answer you want
but please don’t make any more in-
quiries about birds until I can save
encugh more
check.
Very cordially yours,
LOUIS V. BARBER.
to send you another [Condemned Man Cuts Threat with
Razor, Unaware of Respite.
Unaware of the fact that Governor
Pinchot had granted him a respite
Police Chief Yougel, of State College, | George H. Prescott, of Pittsburgh,
Catches Check Forger.
Sherlock Holmes, if he were alive
today, would have little or nothing
on chief of police A. E. Yougel, of
State College.
sets his nose on a transgressor of the
law he invariably lands him. His
latest exploit was the capture of a
former college student, William Cas-
per Uhl, and he landed his man behind
the bars of the Centre county jail last
week, even though he had to go to
Philadelphia to make the capture.
The young man is charged with pass-
ing a number of forged checks on
State College merchants, on or about
February 4th, and after making a
general cleanup leaving college and
returning to his home in Philadelphia.
The checks he passed ran anywhere
from $3.50 to $50.00, and all were
made out in different names. Some-
When that official !
time prior to the passing of the '
forged checks Uhl was arrested for
stealing an automobile jack but when
the implement was returned the case
was dropped.
Gasoline Tax Runs Into Big Money.
According to a statement issued on
Saturday by State Treasurer Samuel
1925 amounted to $10,574,412.48, quite
a big sum of money. At two cents a
gallon this would mean that the auto-
mobile and truck owners of Pennsyl-
vania burned during the year 528,720-
624 gallons of gasoline.
A certain per cent. of this tax is
returned to the counties and Centre
county's share of the rebate was $16,-
660.77. This would indicate that cen-
tre county dealers during the year
sold 833,038 gallons of gas, which
would mean a business of approxi-
mately $200,000 a year.
—— LE
———Coming to the Scenic theatre,
Colleen Moore in her greatest success,
“Irene.” 9-1t
HOMAN.—Robert M. Homan, of
Zion, died at the Centre County hos-
pital on Wednesday morning, follow-
ing a month’s illness, aged 72 years.
He was twice married, his first wife
having been Miss Sarah Lesch, who
died nine years ago. He later married
Miss Emma Kunes, who survives with
one brother and two sisters, William
Homan, of State College; Mrs. Emma
Feidler, of Aaronsburg, and Mrs. Mag-
gie Musser, of Loganton. Burial will
be made at Zion tomorrow morning.
scheduled to die in the electric chair
at Rockview on Monday morning for
the murder of Mrs. Fern Thase, cut
his throat with a razor blade about
6:30 o’clock on Saturday morning, in
his cell in the Allegheny county jail,
as the sheriff was making prepara-
tions to bring him to Rockview.
How he got the razor blade is a
mystery. His clothing were thorough-
ly examined on Friday and a guard
placed in his cell. At 6:30 o’clock Sat-
urday morning Prescott drew the
blankets up over the lower portion of
his face and told the guard he wanted
to sleep a few minutes longer. Five
minutes later the guard became sus-
picious and pulling down the blankets
found Prescott bleeding from three
gashes in his neck. He was rushed to
the Mercy hospital where every effort
will be made to save his life.
A short time after Prescott at-
tempted suicide a message was re-
ceived from Harrisburg that he
had been granted a respite until
March 29th so that his case could be
heard by the board of pardons. A pe-
'culiar coincidence in Prescott’s at-
tempt at suicide is that it took place
in the same cell in which Mike Rum-
inski strangled himself on January
S. Lewis the gasoline tax for the year , 27th, 1899, on the eve of being hang-
ed for the murder of his wife, and
"also the cell from which the Biddle
brothers escaped some years ago and
were shot to death by a posse at But-
ler.
——The ladies of the Bellefonte
Methedist church will give a play in
the lecture room of the church on Fri-
day evening, March 5th. It will be
entitled “Sewing for the Heathen.”
Refreshments will be served and ad-
mittance will be 35 cents.
————— a ———— a —
——A tea, for which three hundred
and fifty invitations were issued, was
given yesterday afternoon, at the
home of Mrs. R. L. Watts, at State
College. Mrs. Watts, Mrs. J. A. Fer-
guson, and Mrs. S. W. Fletcher were
the hostesses.
——William Hettinger, a well
known Gregg township farmer, was
painfully injured a few days ago by
being kicked in the face by a horse.
His nose was split, jaw fractured and
face badly cut and bruised.
The few days of soft weather
this week brought out the sucker fish-
ermen on the Bald Eagle creek.
a A ee Na TTL
.
| Studebaker |
Prices Reduced
Supreme One-Profit Value
now Made Even Greater by
Important Reductions.
STANDARD SIX SEDAN
Was $1395
STANDARD SIX
(Wool Trimmed)
Now $1295
SEDAN (Mohair Trimmed)
Was $1495 Now $1395
BIG
Was $1995
BIG
Was $2245
SIX
SIX SEDAN
SEDAN (5-passenger)
(7-passenger)
BIG SIX BROUGHAM
Was $2195
Was $2325
Was $1750
All prices freight and war tax extra
No Reductions in Quality
Beezer’s Garage
NORTH WATER STREET
BELLEFONTE, PA.
Telephone—Bell 244