Democratic watchman. (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1855-1940, August 13, 1926, Image 1
Dewar iat INK SLINGS. - —Didn’t we tell you that “Ma” Fer- guson would fall back on woman’s prerogative of changing her mind? : Miss Ederlie, of New York, swam the English channel but when she scores a championship in baking bread she will have something to boast about. —While it has fewer dangerous curves than any other highway in the county the Nittany valley road has taken almost as much toll in fatal ac- cidents as all the others put together. —Take this from us. William B. Wilson will stand a far better chance of being elected United States Sena- tor if the other counties of the State withhold announcement of their vote until after Philadelphia and Alleghe- ny counties are reported. —Dr. Alfred Zimmerman, now lec- turing in this country, says he saved Austria by firing eighty-five thousand needless government officials. An ex- pert who tried to save the good old U. S. A, through such an expedient would find himself out of a job before he started. —“Trude” Ederlie is more grist for Charley Pyle’s mill. What a string of sucker bait “Red” Grange, Suzanne Lenglen and “Trude” would make. It would be a “wow.” Far better than the Tom shows of two decades ago that advertised “two little Evas” and “two Marks the lawyer.” —Grand old Georges Clemenceau has written a heart rending letter to President Coolidge. Old “Father Victory” can do that sort of thing very effectively and if we were the President we would reply to the ef- fect that we will treat France, in the debt settlement, just exactly as France would have treated us should the shoe have been on the other foot. - —In a few weeks the campaign is going to open up and then we're going to ask the Hon. Holmes where he was at in the recent unpleasantness in his own party. You will recall that we advised him to keep his mouth shut, but having once declared that he didn’t need our advice we suppose he didn’t take it. In fact we know he didn’t. That’s the reason we're going to ask him where he was at. —By way of gratifying the curios- ity of those who want to nose in to everything let us tell you that brother Dorworth, of the Republican, who managed the Fisher-Pepper campaign | in Centre county, spent $1123.66. He subscribed $200.00 of it, Col. Reynolds subscribed $200.00, Col. Theodore Da- vis Boal subscribed $200.00 and W. A. Mellon came across with $500.00. He reported unpaid bills of $167.23. —Mrs. John W. Langley has won the Republican nomination for Con- gress in her district in Kentucky. Her husband, you will recall, is the gentle- man who was impeached dnd sent to prison for two years for conspiracy to violate the Prohibition laws while he was a member of Congress. Mrs. Langley is running to “vindicate” him, so she says, but we have our doubts. What she is after is the office the per- quisites and the notoriety and unless ‘we miss our guess a manudlin electo- rate will fall for it. —Just by way of a gentle reminder to those who are obsessed with the idea that they are putting Bellefonte .on the map let us tell them that Belle- fonte was the second town in the United States to have Edison electric light. And, also, that this paper was the only instrument courageous enough to undertake the preservation of “the big trout” in Spring creek that the Associated Business Men are now advertising as one of the three outstanding attractions in the town. We invite contradiction of this state- ment and will be glad to give public- ity to it. —We’ve talked with tears in our eyes, to those who would rush to see the Sesqui in Philadelphia. We've advised them that there is nothing to see and won’t be until September and October. But if we are to believe our correspondents hundreds are going from all parts of the county. How foolish. Only Tuesday one of the big concessionaires stated in Judge Smith’s court in Philadelphia that the “Gladway is a desert of dirt and mud” in front of his place and back of it are two dredges trying to clean things up. ‘That’s a sworn statement of the con- ditions there. For the last time, let us advise, if you must go to the Ses- qui wait until it is ready to pay you for going. —Some of these days, when the old liver is not too torpid and the bean is working right we are going to make a digest of local history and dedicate it to the teachers of our schools with the hope that they will devote a little time to explaining to their pupils something of the history of the town in which they live. Talk about boost- ing Bellefonte. Who can boost any- thing in which he or she hasn’t any pride? And who can have any pride in a person or town whose traditions he knows naught of? Who of our school teachers know that the first railroad we had was the one to Snow Shoe and that it was opened in 1855 and sold to the Pennsylvania in 1881? And we venture the assertion that not one of them knows, teacher or pupil, that the first Pennsylvania railroad train arived in Bellefonte on a glori- ously moonlit night on January 1st, 1863. Ademacritic RO ®»e €S STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION. VOl., 71. BELLEFONT E, PA.. AUGUST 13. 1926. NO. 32. Politics and Crime in Philadelphia. In sentencing a convicted bootleg- ger the other day, Judge Edward O. Lewis, of Philadelphia, said: “The au- thorities could reduce crime fifty per cent. in one week in this city if poli- ticians would keep away from inter- fering on behalf of the criminals. I know,” he added, “that pick-pockets could not escape punishment as they do if it were not for politicians pro- tecting them. Bootleggers and gamb- lers could not exist as they do, if poli- ticians did not protect them. corrupt government that living condi- tions will be so bad it will be impos- sible for honest people to survive.” This is not a rebuke to the politicians alone. It is an arraignment of the community. A good part of the vast majority given to Vare on the 18th of May in Philadelphia was purchased; a consid- erable part was cast by criminals in payment for protection and the rest Judge Lewis knows that all forms of crime are being fostered by the pro- tective hand which shields them from punishment when caught. But they support the machine for the reason other when help is needed. It is to be hoped that the admonition set before them by Judge Lewis will exercise the effect on their minds it was intended to have. The statement of Judge Lewis will run off the minds of the politicians “like water from a duck’s back.” It will have as little impression on the minds of those who collected slush funds from bootleggers to buy votes for Vare. But it ought to produce a correcting purpose on the minds of lawyers, business men and clergymen who, as regular supporters of the ma- chine, are responsible for the: iniqui- ties complained of. It is the attitude of these men that justify the asper- sion that “Philadelphia is corrupt and contented.” They know that bad con- ditions exist.and understand they have the remedy’ in their hands. But they fail to fulfill their duty. They neglect or are afraid to express their protests at the polls. ——Fisher’s friends make no bones of their willingness to sacrifice Vare in the election. Grundy has no inter- est in legislation at Washington. The Paramount Issue. Blossburg, William B. Wilson, Dem- ocratic nominee for United States Senator said: “When a comparative- ly small number of our population, holding the . balance of power, is swayed from one side to the other by money, how are ycu going to deter- mine what the majority wills. Wheth- er we are Republicans or Democrats, Prohibitionists or Laborites, wets or dries, our first duty to our State is to see that those parties or those per- sons who have been guilty of corrupt- ing the electorate are themselves re- buked at the polls.” This is the real issue of the campaign. It “is a con- dition which threatens the very foun- dations of Democratic institutions.” The Republican candidate for Unit- ed States Senator for Pennsylvania was nominated by the corrupt manip- ulation of the ballot in one communi- ty. He carried only two of the sixty- seven counties of the State. The Re- publican candidate for Governor was nominated by juggling the ballots in a single city and though he carried a considerable number of the counties was defeated. But corporate inter- ests needed him in the office and by the profligate use of money the re- sult was changed three days after the polls were closed. His implied pledge to Grundy for tax discrimination : brought into service funds and influ- | ences that make for more than ma- jorities in Republican primaries. If the system that nominated Vare, in Philadelphia, and Fisher, in Pitts- burgh, is permitted to continue rep- resentative government cannot en- dure. This is the problem to be solv- ed in the coming election. In view of this fact other issues are unimportant. Some of us favor prohibition and oth- ers take the opposite view of that sub- ject and each may enjoy his prefer- ences and prejudices. But there can be no two opinions among right mind- ed men and women upon the evil of corrupt elections and purchased nomi- nations. As William B. Wilson says, that those parties and those persons who have been guilty of corrupting the electorate are themselves rebuk- ed at the polls.” ——If Fisher is defeated Grundy’s $400,000 will be wasted, but the peo- ple of the State will gain in even ‘greater ratio. It is time to stop it or we will have such a by citizens who live respectable lives but are utterly indifferent to the polit- | ical vices and administrative evils about them. They know as well as | that it helps them in one way or an- In his brief “Wilson Day” speech at nificant anniversary in the industrial “our first duty to the State is to see ! ten Building on a Precarious Foundation. : Mr. William S. Vare is building hopes for acquiring a seat in the Sen- ate on a precarious foundation. First he assumes that in the event a ma- jority of votes are cast for him by fraud or otherwise it will require a two-thirds vote of the chamber to expel him. As a matter of fact there will be no necessity for a vote on the question of expulsion. Under the resolution adopted in the Newberry ‘case he will not be seated at all. Under the provisions of the constitu- tion which makes each house “the judge of the election, returns and ' qualification of its own members,” a majority will control, and opposition to corrupt practices and profligate ex- penditures will afford ample reason ‘for keeping Vare out. But Mr. Vare has another arrow in his quiver. His friends predict that the same conditions will arise which influenced the Senate to admit New- berry for a brief period. That is they expect that the margin between the parties will be so meagre that the vote of Vare will be necessary to give the Republicans a majority to organize . and for that reason the administration Iwill intervene with such pressure as . will force the admission of Vare. It is admitted that Newberry would not have been allowed to qualify under other circumstances. In that event it (would require a two-thirds vote to get rid of Vare, which would be prac- tically impossible. At least a third of the Senators would take orders, right or wrong. It is believed in some quarters that such a situation is possible and the prompt declaration of Secretary Mel- lon and Senator Reed in favor of Vare is in anticipation of it. But the peo- ple of Pennsylvania are not likely to join in a conspiracy to foist an unfit man to represent them in the United States Senate. It is admitted that his nomination was procured by fraud. | The $800,000 squandered in the cam- paign, the source of which is in part left to conjecture, is ample proof of the violation of law, and rather than take a chance that might complete a criminal they will vote for William B. Wilson, a man whose record is above suspicion and whose nomination was honestly acquired. ——Big Tom Cunningham will probably tell where he got it the next time Senator Reed asks him about it. A few days in jail works wonders. Wilson Day a Great Event. “Wilson Day’ ’has long been a sig- "life of Pennsylvania. Its purpose is to annually confer honor on a man who rendered conspicuous service in a long drawn out effert to adjust dif- ferences between employers and em- ployees without the wastes incident to strikes. William B. Wilson, miner and representative of the United Mine Workers, was a resident of Blossburg, Tioga county, at the time of the great strike of 1900 and mainly through his efforts the settlement was accomplish- ed. In honor of this splendid achieve- ment “Wilson Day” was created and annually, except during the world war, it has been a community celebra- tion since. Its fixed date is August 4th. | “Wilson Day” this year assumed a | different form and expressed a dif- ferent sentiment. The person honored is the same honest, earnest and help- ful citizen who pressed reason upon the minds of mine owners and mine workers a quarter of a century ago. But the purpose of his operations have expanded and “Wilson Day” this year | became a patriotic as well as an in- | dustrial celebration and of State-wide instead of local scope. W. B. Wilson now represents the integrity of poli- {tics in a contest between the honest | People and a political banditry which ‘aims to gain control by fraud. In | this endeavor Mr. Wilson is supported | by the best elements in all parties and ' gifted orators from various sections. Among the speakers who addressed ! the vast crowds assembled at Bloss- burg, on Wednesday of last week, were Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War in the Woodrow Wilson cabinet during the world war. As associates in the greatest work in the history of (the country these public servants { know each other and Baker’s tribute | to Wilson was as generous as it was | deserved. Another speaker was Thomas Kennedy, international secre- | tary-treasurer of the United Mine | Workers of America. Mr. Kennedy was associated with William B. Wil- : son in the early struggles for justice (in employment and ‘thus both early and late friends were brought togeth- ied to certify to the fidelity and effi- | ciency of a worthy American. EE —r em — ——Clearly Mr. Insull is a political novies: He certainly botched his first job. party exigencies | i § Big Tom’s Foolish Falsehood. ing to defy the Senate committee rather than reveal the source of his | $50,000 contribution to the Vare slush fund. The money, no doubt, was in part contributed by bootleggers and in part obtained by levy on the office holders of Philadelphia. Such a levy is contrary to law and a candidate ac- cepting such fund or profiting from it is disqualified for service in the of- fice to which he aspires. Contribu- tions to a campaign fund by bootleg- gers is so abhorrent that no argument is needed to condemn it. Decent pub- lic opinion revolts at the idea and big Tom’s refusal to tell the truth expos- es the facts completely. The salary of Mr. Cunningham is $8000 a year, not $15000 as erronious- ly stated last week, in these columns. The contribution of $50,000 would eat up this salary for six years and leave a deficit of $2000. It is not likely that he saved up his salary for so long a time for that purpose. The antith- esis of this is that he collected the funds when needed. This might have been done within the law. But if it had been done within the law there would have been no reason for con- cealment and no occasion to defy the Senate, for in defying the committee of the Senate the Senate was defied. It remains to be seen what the penal- ty will be. Obviously Mr. Cunning- ham imagines there will be no pen- alty. t In any event the situation is exe- crable. If Mr. Cunningham had told the truth he might have glossed over a bad picture with the merit of can- dor. His attempt at concealment simply deceived himself. Every rea- soning mind reached the conclusion that he was lying and whatever pen- alty attaches to misrepresentation was trying to serve. Every man and woman who votes for Vare under- stands. that the Cunningham contri- bution is the tribute of the bootleg- gers to a candidate of their type. It expresses the full flower of machine diseased system that has been de- bauching the government of Philadel- phia for many years. Boys Stealing Pocketbooks. Several complaints have been made to the Bellefonte police during the past few weeks of pocketbooks being stolen from cars on south Water street while the occupants of the car were completely engrossed in looking at the big trout in Spring creek. Last week chief of police Dukeman arrest- ed a boy about twelve or thirteen years old as one of the culprits and he finally admitted the theft and return- ed the money stolen. The police aver that several cases of boys stealing money from stores have also been re- ported and one or more have been caught and made refund the money. While it is a deplorable condition to contemplate, the fault lies principally with the parents who will permit boys of ten to twelve years to roam the streets at will; and unless strenuous measures are resorted to to break up their inclination to take what doesn’t belong to them it will eventually re- sult in their landing behind the bars in some penal institution. ——Troop B, of the 52nd machine gun battalion, of Bellefonte, with the headquarters troop and Boal troop, of Boalsburg, will leave early tomorrow morning for their annual twa weeks’ encampment at Mount Gretna. Prac- tically all of the equipment with the exception of the horses will be loaded tonight. ———The new electric pump at the big spring pumping plant has finally been put in operation, and according to the registering meters throwing a little over eleven hundred gallons a minute. It was guaranteed to throw one thousand or better. ——Coolidge’s economy tables look all right if kept separate but are con- fusing when brought together. In- creased appropriations to the extent of nearly half a billion don’t look like cutting down expenses. —We’ve worried about the “Afa- letics” all season and that’s probably the reason they haven’t a look in for the American league pennant. Worry never gets anyone anywhere but the “bug house.” In Illinois authorities have shown a disposition to at least rebuke those responsible for the election frauds. In Pennsylvania there has not been even a protest entered. ——The young woman who operat- ed a still only for the purpose of pro- viding her husband with wholesome hootch revealed proper family spirit but little respect for law. It is easy to analyze the reasons | why big Tom Cunningham was will- will be visited on the one interest he | | Some Reactors Found in Herds in | Spring and Ferguson Townships. The tuberculin test of the cattle in i Spring and Ferguson townships, un- der the State’s modified area plan, has just been completed with results (that are exceedingly gratifying. As was to have been expected some re- actors were found, but in nearly every instance the animals that revealed symptoms of tuberculosis were ones that the owners had bought out of herds that were later discovered to have been generally infected. In Spring township, where the test was run by Dr. S. M. Nissley, of this place, 30 reactors were found among 1124 head examined for 130 owners. Seven herds were not in the test be- cause they are already accredited. Up in Ferguson township 148 herds were tested by Dr. M. W. Neidigh. They average 9 head to the herd so that 1332 animals in all were exam- ined. In the lot 41 reactors were found. Most of the cattle condemned have been or will be sent to a designated slaughter house where they will be killed and the meat subjected to ex- pert inspection. If it should prove safe for food the owners will receive the price of the meat, plus $40 from the State and $25 from the federal government, provided such sum shall not be in excess of 90 per cent of the appraised value of the animal. Ap- praisals are made by the owner and _ inspector before the test, so that if the meat proves marketable the owner of an infected animal is, at least, very reasonably compensated for | something that he is really’ well off to be rid of. Pleasant Gap Woman Resents Taking Land for New School Building. In laying out the grounds for the new school building, at Pleasant Gap, , the school board has found it neces- sary to take some land adjoining the | present lot, and among the owners of , the lots contiguous to the property is | Mrs. Anna Zilenski. A portion of: her lot is. needed to complete the ‘right. jut ~ the | proportion of the grounds owner refused to sell and resented all efforts of the school board to take the property under their right of eminent domain. On Tuesday she guarded her prop- erty with a loaded gun and dared any one to trespass upon it. Consequent- ly a warrant was sworn out for her arrest on the charge of misbehavior and making threats. When sheriff Taylor and deputy Hendershot went to Pleasant Gap, on Tuesday, to serve the warant the woman resisted arrest - and bit both the sheriff and the depu- ty on the hand. But they finally land- ed her behind the bars in the Centre county jail and up to this writing she has refused to sign a recognizance | and bond to keep the peace to secure her release. Thomas Beaver, H. E. Garbrick, Frank Beezer, L. F. White and Boyd Spicher are complainants in a bill for a temporary injunetion against the school directors of Spring township, praying that they be re- strained from erecting the new con- solidated school at Pleasant Gap on the location selected by the board. August 18 is the date set for argu- ment before Judge Keller on the pre- i liminary injunction as to whether it | should be made permanent. Mean- | while the work of building will be held up. A, ——The famous Carey Shoemaker case from Ferguson township was set- tled last Saturday, in an opinion hand- ed down by Judge Keller, who decided that Mr. Shoemaker had not violated the hunting law. It will be recalled that the defendant was a member of a hunting club which had killed five deer when he left it and went home. The next day he joined a gang of day hunters and killed his deer and on the same day the hunting club got its sixth deer. The case was then carried into court merely as a test case to determine the rights of hunters. ————— rt ——— ——Basil Rowe, an aerialist of In- diana, who was trailing the regular mail plane west, on Wednesday, was compelled to jump from his plane when over the Woodward Narrows. His engine developed trouble and to save his life he took the parachute way of escaping a crash. His plane fell among the trees near Hairy John’s park and is a total wreck. The pilot landed safely some distance away and aside from a few scratches, which were dressed in this place, was unhurt. ——1In turning around on High St., near the bridge, on Wednesday morn- ing, councilman W. J. Emerick drove head-on into a car coming onto High street from south Water street. As neither car was moving fast the dam- age was not great. — SPAWLS FROM THE KEYS ONE. —Fire early Friday destroyed a $40,000 stock of shovels, belonging to the Stevens Webb Corporation, shovel manufacturers, at Tipton, and also the building in which the shovels were stored, belonging to T. Larry Eyre, of Chester county. —Celebrating payday in his accustomed fashion by going home well saturated with liquor, Joseph Agnio, 32-year-old steel worker, Friday night chased his wife and mother-in-law from their home in Ober- lin, Dauphin county, and after firing a few preliminary shots in the air, killed him- self with a bullet through the temple. —Because hubby wouldn't talk, she said, Mrs. Catherine Ostrander, of Altoona, had him haled into court. She testified that Arthur Ostrander, the alleged offender, would go on “silent strikes” for weeks at a time. She also charged him with deser- tion, non-support, and incidental misde- meanor but especially, she told Judge Thomas J. Baldridge, she couldn't stand for her husband's silent stretches. —A burglar who attempted to enter the home of Thomas Hyde, at Bloomsburg, on Friday night earned nothing fer his trou- ble except a possible broken jaw. Hyde was returning home when he saw the man trying to enter a cellar door. Without warning, he jumped on the stranger and swung to his jaw with such force that the man crashed against the doer and broke one of the panels. The man escaped in the darkness. —Although thieves got $2000 worth of silk after handcuffing Jacob Pallock, night watchman, to a loom, they overlooked cases which contained approximately $50,- 000 worth of raw material at the Catasau- qua plant of the Amalgamated Silk com- pany early last Friday morning. At the point of a pistol, Pallock was tied te a loom while the thieves seized a case of silk and fled. Three hours later Pallock was found almost exhausted by employees re- porting for work. —Crazed with jealously Frank Aiken, 24 years old, of Van Ormer, Blair county, on Monday afternoon, shot and instantly killed Mrs, Verna Beers, 28, just after she had invited him to ride home in an auto- mobile in whch she, her 11-year-old son and Mrs. Myrtle Bates were returnng from picking choke cherries in the mountains near Fallen Tmber. Aiken fired two shots from his 30-30 calibre rifie through the back of the machine, one of which tore. away the top of his victim’s head. —One man was killed and another be- lieved fatally wounded in a shooting affray which developed from an argument among a group of miners over a ball game at Iselin, a mining town, sixteen miles from Indiana, on Saturday night. Clarence Fry was shot three times in the back and was killed instantly while Thomas McCune wes taken to the Indiana hospital in a critical condition from two wounds in the abdo- men. Authorities started a search for Casper Morgant, who fled after the shoot- ing. They charge he fired two shots. —Among the prized possessions of H. W. Armstrong, of McEwensville, is a draft on the United States Postoffice Department for one cent, which he has guarded care- fully for 36 years. It bears the signature of several department officials and was ex- ecuted with as much care as for a sum much larger. Mr. Armstrong was the lo- cal postmaster during the first term of President Cleveland and when his time ex- pired in October, 1890, the government owed him one cent to balance the office books. In payment of this the draft was issued. —Hugo Gottschalk, of Yeagertown, has purchased the stock of the Kishacoquillas Valley railroad, according to a story now being circulated by some. of the stoek- holders, and will electrify the line for pas- senger service, with a park at Gibbomy’s. The Kishacoquillas Valley railroad is nine miles long, running between Reedsville and Belleville. It was built in 1892, chiefly by the capital of Amish farmers and was known for some years as the “Long Hair and Hook and Eye.” Dr. J. P. Getter, a local physician, has been general manager and president. : ~ —Relatives of Mrs. Margaret Glipple, a widow, of Altoona, who died suddenly of pneumonia four months ago; without a will, while removing her effects from the home, preparatory to settling the estate, found approximately $28,000 hidden in an old carpet sweeper. One of the sisters at- tempted to use the sweeper, and found that it would not work properly, and in- vestigation showed that inside the box was a package, containing securities, in- cluding railroad and other stocks, to the value of $28,000. In addition she owned the home where she lived and other prop- erty. —The big cleaning plant and tipple of the Cherry Tree Coal company, at Emigh Run, owned and operated by the Peale, Peacock & Kerr corporation, was totally destroyed by fire on Friday evening short- ly after 7 o'clock, the result of having been struck by lightning during a heavy storm which passed over that section. The clean- ing plant and tipple was said to be the finest in the world, the destruction of which entails a loss of about $500,000, on which, of course, there is a partial insur- ance. As a result of the fire over 550 men will be thrown out of employment. —Because she refused to pay school and poll taxes amounting to $6.82, Mrs. John Beck, of Morrell, a village near Ephrata, is in the Lancaster county jail in default of bail, awaiting a hearing. The arrest was made on complaint of M. B. Hacker, tax collector, who declared he was forced to take such action, explaining that other residents of the district declared they would not pay taxes unless he collected from Mrs. Beck. Several years ago she was faced with similar charges, and she defied the tax collector to collect the a&- sessments. Members of her congregation came to her rescue and paid the levies. —Awake but fearful any move might mean injury, perhaps death, Miss Mary J. Fox, aged 28, of Mill road, in Audubon, Montgomery county, feigned sleep as a burglar calmly ransacked her room, on Sunday night, stealing three beautiful di- amond rings, a platinum wrist watch and a large set of valuable silverware, a fami- ly heirloom. Miss Iox was aroused at midnight by the prowling of the burglar, who she described as a young white man. She remained perfectly still, even when the thief cast the rays of a flashlight on her face several times. After the burglar had departed, Miss Fox, unable to control her nerves, threw up the window and scream- ed and neighbors responded, but found no trace of the intruder.