Dewoiaidn —The old liver hasn't been func- tioning well for a few days. We're seeing ‘double. Little black disks are flying before our eyes like clay pigeons. We're in no mood to say nice things to .anyone or about any- thing. So this shall be crab week. — Maybe the same fellow who stole Charley Ross let out that diplo- matic secret at Washington the other day. —Filling stations are rising up like mush-rooms all along the highways and we poor dubs neglect our work, cheat our stomachs and strip our backs to fill them. —One of fhe big garages in town would look bigger if enough electric lamps were put in the sign that sur- mounts it to let the night world know what the five letters that precede the final E are. -—The first day of spring certainly was a “pet,” but we want few more of that kind at this season. They'd start the sap flowing and the buds swelling and then along will come an April freeze and all the fruit will be Dblooey again. ——To those who think there’s an- ‘other town of its size in Pennsylva- ‘nia, or any other State, that has any- thing on Bellefonte we want to say that there are three rail routes and four splendid highways leading di- rectly out of here. —Yesterday was another of those grand days. It was all right, but far too warm. We're goin’ to kick the stuffin out of the weather man if he ‘doesn’t leave the arctic door open far enough to keep things cool enough to ‘hold the fruit back. —Qur Bellefonte Episcopalian friends are still without a rector. We just can’t see red enough tonight to say that they need one bad enough, so we'll let this ride, with the admis- sion that they want one the worst kind of a way, and the prophesy that ‘they won’t get any until they immu- ‘nize themselves against Bellefonte’s chronic malady of champagne tastes .and beer pocket-books. —Opportunity is knocking at the door of the Democratic party in Cen- tre county. If there ever was a time for it to be up and doing that time is right now. Three factions of Repub-] licans are at each others throats and two of them are certain to be sore enough, after the primaries, to be hunting balm for their wounds. Let us provide it for them. Let us put a strong, clean ticket in the field, both it with genuine determination. —The socalled plight of the Amer- ican farmer is mostly bunk, conjured up by traveling lecturers, secretaries and office forces of organizations that depend or exploitation of agriculture for their salaries. Many of these agitators bear the same relation to the farmer that the “walking dele- gate” does to labor. Most of them are nothing more than parasites on industry. The farmer isn’t in a plight. He has his ups and downs like every- body else and, if let alone, will work out his own problems just the same as the rest of us do. —Feeling that the Hon. Holmes, of State College, won’t be happy unless we make some fuss over him about this time of the year we are going to build a big Holmes bonfire. We want all the Pinchot, Pepper and Vare Re- publicans in the county to gather round. And just when the glare prop- erly illumines our Representative and he is aglow with its warmth we're going to douse it with a bucket of ‘water and smoke the statesman out. It makes no difference to us, but we're just mean enough tonight to want to know whether he is going to try to ride three horses at once. —When we stated, in January, that ‘John S. Fisher would not be endorsed as a candidate for Governor until Mr. Atterbury had been shifted from his “thumbs down” position on John a pseudo-wise Republican remarked: “Its a lot you know about it.” If you read last Sunday’s metropolitan papers you probably noticed that about everybody in Pennsylvania who thinks he’s a Governor maker started for New York on Saturday to talk it over with Bill and that was after it was announced that the Mellons had ordered a special train and a clear track to Harrisburg for the gentle- man from Indiana. —Salacious books, pornographic art, jazz and synthetic gin are under- mining the moral and physical stam- ina of the country because of the in- difference and fanatical intolerance of the very people who lament it most. If decent folks would buy enough of the good books to make them “best sellers” the other kind wouldn’t be written. If the pulpits and the pews were to endorse and patronize decent theatrical productions they would be on the road today instead of lewd productions that are. If parental in- terest in children were such as to make homes something more than a place to stop while hunting some place else to go there'd be fewer road houses, night clubs and less sorrow in the world. —The thought that really started the crabbing column is the fact that the opening of the trout season is only “VOL. 71. Encouraging - Signs for the Democracy. County Events within the week give hope of a revival in the Democratic party in the county. As the time for the primaries approaches there seems to be encouraging indications of an awakening interest, especially on the part of formerly active Democrats who now feel it time for them to get back into the harness again. Certainly conditions are ripe and opportunities are aplenty for a mili- tant Democratic organization. Coun- ty chairman G. Oscar Gray expects to retire after long and conscientious service and selecting a capable successor is the first and most import- ant work of reconstruction. Charles Freeman, young, very popular and a go-getter Democrat, of Philipsburg, is being talked of as Mr. Gray's suc- cessor. The party would be very well advised to try him for leader in the county. With Philipsburg only a little over an hour away from Belle- fonte now there is no longer any real reason why the chairman should be located at the county seat. We understand that Mr. Freeman, should he be chosen chairman, has a very, comprehensive plan for year- round organization and activity in the county, a thing much to be de- sired, for the: party to live at all must be building continually. : In this connection we want to sug- gest that our entire ticket be filled. The opposition may be sadly demor- alized by the internal fight it is hav- ing and disappointed factions of it will certainly come over to us. Up to the moment we have no can- didate for the Legislature. this office ought not to go by default and we want to suggest that Randall Miller, sterling young Democrat of Millheim, might be persuaded to stand for it. Mr. Miller is a college man, a banker and both by personality and ability’ is, to our mind, the type of man who ought to be sent to Harris- burg and kept there. , _——One of the jtrange things is that while every Republican profes- ses to idolize President Coolidge near- ly every wish he expresses is refused. The State’s Memorial Bridge. Long delayed work on the soldiers’ and sailors’ memorial bridge at Har- risburg will be started in the near future, according to information from the State capitol. This project is a part of a plan adopted by the Legis- lature some years ago in connection with the enlistment and beautifica- tion of Capitol Park as a suitable set- ting for the capitol building. From the rear entrance of the building to the right of way of the Pennsylvania railroad there is a dip and east of the tracks to Thirteenth and State streets an incline to the level of the building. The centre of this dip is an unattrac- tive spectacle and the memorial bridge was proposed to make it at- tractive. ; . The Legislature of 1919 made an appropriation of some three or four hundred thousand dollars as the nucleus of a fund to pay the cost of the enterprise. Bids were asked and a contract awarded for the work with the understanding that subsequent Legislatures would provide the addi- tional funds as required. But the administrations which have been in control since found so many other places to invest the funds and so lightly appraised the value of a me- morial to the soldiers and sailors of the world war that the contract to build the bridge was revoked and it was believed the original appropria- tion had lapsed, A recent investiga- tion, however, revealed the fact that the money is still available and Gov- ernor Pinchot announces that the work will be begun this year. Arnold W. Brunner, a famous land- scape architect, made the plans for the structure and it has been pronounced by capable scientists as one of the greatest engineering and architectur- al achievements of the world. It will not only perfect the scheme for the setting and adornment of the capitol building but admirably fulfill the pur- fitly honoring the men and women of Pennsylvania who participated in and made sacrifices for the world war. That its construction after the years of delay is now possible is substantial served the financial interests of the State, as he claims, rather than squandered them as charged by his enemies. —Every once in a while a pot rises to call the kettle black. It happened catch the measles until he was away twenty days off and our “private bootlegger” is two thousand miles | away. on his wedding trip told his auditors that Bellefonte isn’t a progressive town. Certainly’ pose for which it was conceived, of ' proof that Governor Pinchot has con- | at the Kiwanis luncheon last week, | when a gentleman who couldn’t even ! _ STATE RIGHTS AN BELLEFONTE, PA.. MARCI Pinchot’s Political Rating. The esteemed Philadelphia Public Ledger protests that “the Keystone State cannot afford to send Gifford Pinchot to the Senate” for the reason that “he is a Republican in name only.” Coming from that source this is a rather surprising statement. Mr. Pinchot is a consistent supporter of the political philosophy expressed by Lincoln. He was an enthusiastic sup- porter of the policies of the late Theodore Roosevelt and unequivocally declares his adherence to the national Republican platform and the purposes of President Coolidge as expressed in his inaugural address. He has always voted the Republican ticket and for many years enjoyed the.favors of the ' party. Nevertheless the esteemed Public ' Ledger may be correct in its analysis. ' It is a question of interpretation. Gov- ernor Pinchot boldly proclaims him- self “an enemy of the gang” for the reason that it is “not on the level ‘ with the people” and is “for every- ' thing that is bad in Pennsylvania pol- itics.” He adds that the gang “has thrown its whole strength against clean elections, against taking proper ‘care of the school children, against ' protection of depositors in banks and : Building and Loan associations.” He ' promises cordial support of “every { forward step for world peace, the ' reduction of armaments and the safe- | guarding of the United States, the protection of American industries and | justice to the American farmer,” as well as economy and efficiency in government and enforcement of law. But those things do not constitute fidelity to the Republican party in fact, as interpreted by the “gang” and the esteemed Public Ledger. A Re- publican in fact must be a miscreant who favors fraudulent elections and predatory corporations under the euphonism of business. To qualify under the popular construction of ma- chine politicians a candidate must be ready and willing to “spit in the eye of a bull dog,” stuff a ballot box, substitute a servile tool for a dying candidate by fraululent methads, pro- tect crime as a reward for perpetrat- ing their crimes and yield obedience to the party bosses rather than serve the people. Governor Pinchot can well afford to accept this rating of his Re- publicanism. : e——————————— ——If Pepper can induce three or four hundred thousand independent voters in Philadelphia to register Vare’s hope of an overwhelming ma- jority in that city may miscarry. Ae———— eens pr—— Atterbury Objects to Fisher. At a conference held in Pittsburgh, last week, the corporate interests which are supporting Senator: Pepper for re-election decided to support former State Senator and Banking Commissioner John 8. Fisher, of In- diana, as their candidate for Gover- nor. The conference was held in the office of W. L, Mellon and was attend- ed by Joseph R. Grundy, president of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ as- sociation, Mr. Fisher and a group of Pittsburgh politicians. As part of the deal Mr. Grundy agreed to support Pepper for Senator, though hereto- fore they have been bitter enemies. !' This combination exemplifies the adage: “Politics makes strange bed fellows.” But there is a “fly in the ointment.” General Atterbury, president of the Pennsylvania railroad, and a very im- portant cog in the political machine, is not willing to accept Fisher as his candidate. There are two reasons for Mr. Atterbury’s attitude. Four years ago Fisher promised to support George E. Alter for the gubernator- ial nomination but under the persua- sion of Grundy turned his influence to Pinchot. This perfidy so incensed Atterbury that he has not forgiven it yet. Besides Mr. Fisher has long been counsel in Pennsylvania for the New York Central railroad, and there are grave differences present and | prospective between that corporation ; and the Pennsylvania railroad. Emissaries have been at work ever i since the conference at Pittsburgh i trying to persuade General Atterbury to take a seat on the Mellon band . wagon but the result of their efforts is not known as yet. It is known that the Pennsylvania presidentis greatly attached to Pepper. In fact Mr. At- terbury procured the appointment of Pepper after the death of Penrose and attended his installation in office. But the projection of Fisher into the fight creates an issue between Fisher ' and Beidleman. The Harrisburg man is known as a friend of the Pennsyl- | vania corporation and “a bird in hand is worth two in the bush.” ——General Atterbury has a deep interest in Senator Pepper but a New | York Central attorney in the office of | Governor of Pennsylvania is a serious ' matter. DP FEDERAL UNION. Real Victims of the Confusion. ¥ "The real victims of the present Re- publican confusion are not the candi- d for Governor and Senator. The indidates for Senator are having a fine time throwing verbal brickbats at each other and the candidates for Governor are so absorbed in the work of “feathering their own nests” that they have no time to measure the troubles of their friends. In the case of State chairman Baker, for ex- ample, there is a pathetic situation. For nearly a year he has been prac- tically managing the campaign of Senator Pepper. Now he is confronted with the alternative of abandoning Pepper or sacrificing his life time friend, E. E. Beidleman, who has been tendered the Vare support for Gov- ernor in consideration of Baker’s sup- port of Vare for Senator. The Vare support for Governor, with the machinery for fraudulent voting in Philadlephia in working condition, would afford a vast lever- age toward the fulfillment of a long and fondly cherished hope. Baker and Beidleman were schoolboys to- gether and advanced in politics hand- in-hand. When Baker became chair- man of the party the opportunity to promote Beidleman to the office of Governor dawned. Four years ago the hope almost developed into full bloom. But a confusion similar to that now causing trouble intervened and to prevent the nomination of Gif- ford Pinchot Beidleman was with- drawn from the contest. It was in- ferentially agreed, however, that chairman Baker’s friend would be re- warded for his self-immolation this year. But the fates are unkind. State Senator Max Leslie, boss of the Pittsburgh “strip” and controller of the alleged bogus voting machines of that city, is said to be under finan- cial as well as political obligations to the Mellons. He is congenitally at- tached to Vare pathies of his followers flow in that direction. But the Mellons are for Pepper and insist on Max’s co- operation. If he yields to the Mellons ~he- forfeits his control of the “strip” political life of the city and State. If he fails to yield the consequences are equally disastrous. He is literally “between the devil and the deep sea,” and with chairman Baker is a real sufferer from the political demorali- zation that threatens the Republican machine with deserved destruction. ——————— re ———— ——1It is rather gratifying to feel that Senator Sites will be disappoint- ed in his expectation of reward for going over to the machine in the extra session of the Legislature. A Misleading Resolution. Those Philadelphia Methodist clergymen who appealed by resolution to either Pepper or Pinchot to with- draw from the contest for the Sena- torial nomination in order that the dry vote might be centered against Vare reveal a meager understanding of the subject. The resolution says, “it is a regrettable fact that our dry forces are represented by two can- didates thus dividing our strength, lending aid ta the enemy and bringing possible defeat in Pennsylvaia to our cause.” The obvious purpose of the resolution is to create the impression that Pepper and Pinchot are equally deserving of the favor of the dry voters, which is not only unjust but absurd. Governor Pinchot is and has been a militant, consistent and aggressive advocate of prohibition all his life, Since the adoption of the Eighteenth amendment and the passage of the Volstead law he has been an earnest and practical worker for law enforce- ment. During the recen” extra ses- sion of the Legislature he kept the subject constantly before the law makers and the people while Senator Pepper remained silent. Previous to his entrance into the Senate Mr. Pep- per never even pretended to be a pro- hibitionist. Since that time he has declared abstinence but done nothing toward promoting the cause or influ- encing others to adopt it. On this question there is no analogy between them. To please the Prohibitionists Sena- tor Pepper some time ago declared that he is now a teetotaler, just as he had previously offered to “spit in the eye of a bull dog” to please the rough- necks in South Philadelphia. Such statements signify nothing. They are meaningless figures of speech em- ployed to serve a purpose, sometimes harmless and sometimes sinister. In the case in point, however, Mr. Pepper put the prohibition voters under no obligation to support him as against Pinchot, who has been an active advo- cate of the cause for years. No Pro- hibitionist can find valid reason for supporting Pepper against Pinchot in the record Pepper has made in or out of office. [ 26. 1926. and the sym- and automatically fades out of the The Farmer and His: Corn. From the Philadelphia Record. : A few months ago a large number of friends of the farmer, especially the Western farmer, persons who de- pended on his votes and his subsecrip- tions, were making the welkin ring with their lamentations over the ruin that had befallen him im a huge corn crop. Iowa was the State niost mourned over, because that State had the biggest corn crop it ever put in the crib. The Iowa farmers were not making a noise; they were buying more stock and turning cheap corn jus relatively high-priced por k_and eer. g Ta But the Co en and Senators from farm States did not relax their demand for Governmental assi: J for the farmers who were ruined by cheap corn. After they had shouted loud and long the editor of a faym paper in Iowa, who was eo erated in his general facts by a p sSor in the State Agricultural College, ‘point- ed out that Iowa farmers sold only about 15 per cent. of their corn; 85 per cent. they fed to stock, and on the basis of the values of pork and beef the huge and cheap corn crop of 1925 was worth $101,000,000 more than the Seaniy and high-priced corn crop of 1924. £2 Now the Department of Agricul- ture has been asking the farmers how much of each crop they inf to sow or plant, and has learned their intentions on March 1° were to plant almost identically 1 he sam with corn that they p In other words, they know nothing about their own business and need a guatdian, or they did very well with that ruinous crop of 1925 corn and are willing to take their chances on an- other bumper crop. 2 fi The Department gives them a word of warning. They are proposing to raise as much corn as last year and more oats and barley. In these three feed grains they intend to plant and ‘sow 1.6 per cent. more than last year. The Department is justified in cautioning them not to increase their stock unduly, because the prices of pork and beef may eome down. It must arouse the ¢itizenship of the big cities and counties of Philadel- phit and Allegheny to hear itself dis- cussed as if it were below the stand- ard of voters in the other counties of the State. In Philadelphia and Pitts- burgh are the main educational in- stitutions of the State, great libraries and a multiplicity of civic bodies to aid in jnstructing the public in polit- ical affairs. Yet independent candi- dates of all parties have frequently sighed over the abnormal voting con- ditions in Philadelphia and Allegheny counties. Not only is the voting rate in the two big city communities be- low that of some other countiés, but it also usually submits to an amazing .| degree to machine control. Voters in the other counties may divide almost equally in their views on the public questions and in the support of candi- dates. Party alignments may change. The candidates in State-wide con- tests may reach Philadelphia and Al- legheny county closely matched. Then the Republican machine pours out its vote upon a quantity basis to its can- didates and abnormal majorities are piled up for them, ‘Who will say that the intelligence standard of Philadelphia and Al- legheny counties is below that of the other counties? The fact is that the people of the big city counties are well to the front educationally. Nev- ertheless they do not as a rule show their independence in voting or their recognition of the two-party system as do the citizens of the other com- munities of the State. The need in Philadelphia and Al- legheny counties is to build up the minority party in them as in the other sections. A strong minority party not only would assure contests that would promote independence -in vot- ing. Likewise it would furnish a check for the Republican factional- ism nuisance. The End of Forbes. . From The St. Louis Post Dispatch. Charles R. Forbes, former Direc- tor of the Veterans’ Bureau, has gone to prison. John W. Thompson, St. Louis contractor, convicted with Forbes of conspiracy in connection with hospital contracts, must also go to prison, unless he procures a stay because of his physical condi- tion. As regards Thompson, public opinion is not especially concerned. He was but an unsavory episode in the wretched story of Forbes. Public opinion may feel that, in the case of Forbes, the punishment of two years in the penitentiary by no means fits the crime. Indeed it is difficult to say just what punishment would be adequate for Forbes’ be- trayal of his trust as guardian of the wounded soldiers. Here was an obli- gation that challenged the very best of head and heart that a man could bring to the task. Instead of meet- ing it Forbes failed loathsomely. His administration of the office was a round of carousal and corruption. But for Forbes the verdict is the the senterice of death. It silences a risly echo of Harding's tragical residency. It reasserts the truth that influence and position cannot save the transgressor from justice. rg FE SPAWLS: FROM THE KEYSTONE. . —Thieves. broke the window of Jolin H. Senzig’'s. jewelry store at New Holland, and’ stole diamonds valued at $200. —Grant Miller, of Annville, was sen- tenced to from tliree to six years in the Eastern Penitentiary for stealing an au- tomoble and meat. ~ —Chovcolate and: eocoa: valued at $20,000 were lost when fire last Wednesday des- troyed: the mixing: room: of the Ideal Cocoa and: Chocolate Company at Litébz. —-A fall of three stories from one of the dormitory windews of the Allentown Prep School a weelt ago proved fatal to Joseph Williams, Jr:, of Philadelphia, who died ut the Allentown hespital on Sumday from a broken back —Thirty to sixty years im the Eastern penitentiary was the sentenee imposed last week on Robert Anderson, 23, of Philadelphia, whe confessed te a number of banditry acts. He smiled when sen- tence was pronounced on him. —The unification of the Penn State Tele- ‘phone lines with the Bell Telephone Com- pany, in the vicinity of Pettsville, was started on Monday and will be completed by June 1. The merger will affect the boroughs ef St. Clair and Tamaqua. —Surprised in the act of chiseling the hinges off the doors of the safe at the office of the Keystone Storage company, at Lancaster, James ‘“Red” Evans, 37, and Lewis Smith, 42, both of that city, were arrested on Sunday by Chief of Police Eckman and four deteetives. ~The will of Dr. David Reiter of Phila- delphia just probated, leaves $1 of his $15,000 estate to his wife with the recom- mendation “#hat she hang herself. The will, found {fii Reiter's effects a year after his death, 1 his wife had nagged him for the twenty years of their married life, —The accumulator at the rolled steel ‘wheel department of the Standard Steel works, at Burnham, collapsed on Satur- day. The debris included 925,000 tons of scrap iran and steel used as a balance to the hydraulic power used to stamp a solid steel car wheel out of a billet of cherry red steel : —The Postoffice Department has issued warning to banks and merchants of Penn- splvania to be on the lookout for bogus postal money orders, the forms for which are reported to have been stolen from the Baltimore postoffice. There are eighty-six of them, the forms numbering from 33,114 te 98,200, inclusive. - : ~-Northumberland county justice speed- ed rapidly recently when Quentin Tarr was found guilty of murder in the sec- ‘ond degree just a month to the day after ‘his alleged victim died. The shooting oc- curred eight days before the victim's death, and Tarr was sentenced a week after his conviction. id ’ — Cambria county physicians are after that class of patients who “shop around” for medical service as a means of avoid- ing payment of doctor bills. They have established a Physicians’ Credit Bureau TT —— to which each doctor will report monthly Philadelphia and Allegheny County | the names of delinquent patients of others Vote. oa who cannot be relied upon to pay bills. y ¥ 1 3 Si TT al Reet ov | ~The largest mortgage ever filed in From the Pittsburgh Post: WE Ga ic woumty was entered of record last ‘Thursday when a 126-pagé mortgage of the Philadelphia Electric Power company and the Susquehanna Power company with the Fidelity Trust company of Philadelphia was left with the recorder of deeds. The amount of the mortgage is $60,000,000, —Quentin Bollis, aged two, was drowned in French creek, near Franklin, on Meon- day afternoon when he fell into the water while trying to escape from his mother who sought to keep him away from the eércek where he had been playing. Owing to the high water for the past few days grappling hooks could not be used and efforts to recover the body were abandoned at darkness. —Temporary receivers appointed March 13 for the Huntingdon and Broad Top Mountain Railroad and Coal company were dismissed on Monday by Judge Bailey after a hearing on a bondholders bill in equity which alleged that the semi-annual interest on certain bonds was in default. "The court fixed April 16 for a hearing to determine whether permanent receivers shall be appointed. The company denied the necessity for receivers. —gale of the United States Refractories, | corporation, operating brick plants at Mt. Union and at Barrett, to a new controlling company, headed by Thomas N. Kurtz, was announced in Altoona a few days ago. The sale was made Wednesday of last week. The Mt. Union plant has a capa- city of 140,000 fire brick. Other properties of the company are deposits of ganister on Jack's Mountain near Mt. Union, and fire clay and coal deposits near Barrett, Clearfield county. —Announcement has been made of the purchase of the Gazette and Bulletin, Williamsport’s morning newspaper, by the Sun snd News Publishing company, which will publish the morning paper from its own plant, in addition to its present even- ing caper, the Williamsport Sun. There will be no change in the personnel of the editorial force of the morning paper and no change in the paper’s policy. The Gaz- ette and Bulletin is one of the oldest pa- pers in the country, having been estab- lished in 1801. —Herman Opawski, 19 years old, of Pittsburgh, Northside, died Sunday short- ly after 6 o'clock in the Allegheny Gener- al hospital, from injuries suffered in a terrific blast that occurred in the rear of his home, Saturday, while he was experi- menting with chemicals. The youth's body was terribly mangled in the explo- sion, wihch wrecked a concrete wall and broke a score of windows in the neighbor- hood. What chemicals he was using when the blast occurred could not be determin- ed. He was reputed a brilliant student in the chemical and electrical sciences at Carnegie Institute of Technology. —The gift to the State of twenty acres of virgin white pine, comprising what is known as “Heart's Content” tract in War- ren county, was announced on Tuesday by the State Forestry Department. Donors of the tract are Wheeler and Dusenberry, of Endeavor, Forest county. The twenty acres of virgin timber comprise one of the few remaining stands of the original tim- berlands which made up Penn's Woods. N. P. Wheeler, Jr.,, a member of the State Forest Commission, is manager of the firm, which made the donation to the State. He is assisted in the management by his brother, Capt. Alexander R. Wheeler, who is the Forest county member In the Legis lature,