INK SLINGS.
- —Anent the = commencement of
work of remodeling the Moose theatre
our mind runs back to. the time when
the late Daniel Garman built the play
house. It was opened by Frank
Mayo, in “Davy Crockett,” a two night
engagement and a wonderful produc-
tion. The literature of the opera
house advertised Bellefonte as the
“capital of Centre county with a pop-
ulation of five thousand, two monster
blast furnaces, two charcoal blast
furnaces, a chain factory, Universal
manufacturing company, three im-
mense roller flouring mills, a glass
factory, a nail factory, four rolling
mills, a boiler works, two large ma-
chine shops, four puddling furnaces,
an axe factory, steam heat, eleven
churches, sixteen schools, five rail-
roads and an excellent fire department
with a new steamer.” That was only
so long ago as the early nineties and
friend Al Garman, the manager of the
opera house, didn’t stretch much but
the borough limits. He had to do that
to get population and some of the in-
dustries he credited to Bellefonte.
‘The point is this: We want to call at-
tention to how completely the indus-
trial life of a community can change
in a few decades and how indifferent
most of us are to what is going on
about us. Just glance over the list
given above and note what changes
have occurred. The town is a far bet-
ter place than it was in those days,
larger industries have come to sub-
stitute for the many little ones, but
we don’t believe it’s a happier place
for the reason that everybody wants
80 much now, that he or she can’t
have, that nobody is satisfied.
—Some weeks ago we were wonder-
ing what had become of the silver
sugar bowl that the late Anthony
Gatens always insisted he had snitched
from Robert E. Lee’s mess tent at
Appomattox. On looking over the
Morgantown, W. Va. Post, a few days
ago, we noted a story of the peri-
grinations of the botany class of the
High school in that city. It had been
up in the mountains looking for colt’s
foot, hepatica, Jack-in-the-pulpit and
such other herbs and wild flowers as
the students might find native for
identification. When the noon hour
arrived and coffee was made it was
found that they had forgotten the
sugar. A house was spied in the dis-
tance and from it a bowl filled with
the sweetening was borrowed. The
house turned out to be that of Mr.
and Mrs. D. J. Kelly and the bowl
that contained the borrowed sugar
was “the one that was in Robert E.
Lee’s tent during the Civil war.”
Murder will out. So Dave Kelly is
the fellow who happened to be in pos-
session of Anthony’s treasure at the
time he croaked. That's exactly the
circumstance under which we said it
would turn up.
—You might be wondering what we
are writing all this old stuff for any-
way. Truth is we have such an ac-
cumulation of it on the desk that we
want to reduce the pile a bit before
starting on our annual fishing pil-
grimage. That is, get the pile low
enough so that any checks on sub-
scription you send in before our re-
turn won’t topple off into the waste
basket and be dumped into the baler
by the devil when he gives the place
its semi-annual cleaning—if he does.
—Here’s a Linn street antique: Do
vou know that the present Green
home was the first building started on
Linn street. The foundation for it
was broken before Judge Linn started
to build the second house which occu-
pied the western half of the present
Reynolds property and the late F.
‘Potts Green lived sixty two years in
‘that house and was continuously in the
drug business here for sixty-five
vears. When he started to build, Alle-
gheny street ended at that corner and
everything north, east and west was
cow pasture.
—Strange, but immediately under
‘the memo slip from which the above
was written we find a copy of a hand-
some brochure commemorating the
semi-centennial of the First Presby-
terian church of Bradford, Pa. When
we first picked it up we wondered
what in the world it had to do with
us or what of interest it might contain
for Centre county readers or by what
distortion we might dispose of it and
-still maintain continuity. Well, leave
it to us to work out of a hole. In the
brochure we find the name of Charles
K. McCafferty as a member of the
church and it was Charles’ father who
built the house on the next corner
above the Green house, the present
Baum property, and it was Charles’
father who built a section of the
Bellefonte, Nittany and Lemont rail-
road and all of Prossertown.
—How many of you recall the Me-
Cafferty building that stood just west
of the rail-road tracks, on west High
street; the rambling, one-story frame
structure that housed seven stores
and two tenements and the “Holly
Tree Inn” that occupied one of the
rooms. It was launched by the Tem-
perance folks of the town and, my,
the bowl of delectable vegetable soup
we “bad boys of Cheapside” could get
there for a nickel.
—We’re in an awful hole now. Tha
column ig just seven lines short. Not
enough space into which to crowd an-
other reminiscence, yet too much to
lead out, so there’s nothing else to do
but fill it up by telling you that its
easy enough to start something but
‘a helluva job to finish it.
VOL
. 72,
BELLEFONTE. PA.. JULY 1, 1927
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION,
May Be in Extra Session.
Senator Wesley L. Jones, of Wash-
ington State, Republican whip of the
Senate, is precisely correct in his con-
jecture that “until the Vare and
Smith cases are out of the way purely
legislative business confronting Con-
gress will be jammed-up hopelessly.”
The consideration of these cases will
consume a good deal of time and
pending the determination of them
legislation concerning the Mississippi
flood, tax reduction, farm relief and
other important subjects will be
obliged to wait. The Senate cannot
organize until the validity of title to
a seat acquired by fraud and corrup-
the decision is adverse to the claim-
ants the Democrats will have a ma-
jority.
The Republicans of the Senate have
themselves to blame for the embar-
rassment which this question imposes
upon them. In order to prevent com-
pletion of the inquiry into the right
of Mr. Vare and Mr. Smith to qualify
as Senators under their purchased
and fraudulent claims, Senator David
A. Reed, of Pennsylvania, organized
a fillibuster, presumably with the as-
sent of Mr. Jones, the party whip. If
that action had not been taken the in-
vestigation then in progress would
have been completed before the time
for the reassembling of the Senate
in regular session and the now cer-
tain delay in the organization would
have been avoided. But the Republi-
can Senators then imagined that de-
lay might help their unjust purposes.
Senator Reed, of Missouri, chairman
of the Slush Fund committee, is not
in sympathy with the ‘proposition of
Senator Jones. He discerns a “nig-
ger in the woodpile.” If the right of
Vare and Smith is determined ad-
versely to the claimants, which is
practically certain, the Governors of
Pennsylvania and Illinois would have
fill the vacancies and thus prolong Re-
publican control of the Senate. Of
course Senator Jim Reed’s objection
will not restrain the President from
adopting Mr. Jones’ suggestion. Par-
ty exigencies have greater influence
upon the mind of Mr. Coolidge than
consicence, and the party needs help.
There may be an extra session of the
Senate.
——Whatever else the political
schemers in Washington may make of
“Lindie” they failed to make him a
militarist. He refused to wear the
colonel’s uniform provided for the re-
ception.
Attorney General Sargeant Speaks.
The principal speaker at the first
day’s session of the Pennsylvania Bar
Association, held at Bedford Springs,
last week, was United States Attorn-
ey General, John G. Sargeant, of Ver-
mont. His theme was prohibition en-
forcement and he threw some “hot
shot” into the ears of the considerable
number of lawyers who indulge them-
selves in the luxury of quietly con-
suming the products of moonshine
stills. This was probably a surprise
to the members of the association, for
though the Attorney General is in a
enforcement, Mr. Sargeant has not,
hitherto, manifested any great zeal
in the work that has been done under
the direction of the administration.
“When intelligent, educated men
hold up to ridicule the rules for its
conduct which society has made; in-
timate and by innuendo and sugges-
tion advise that such rules ought to
be violated; ridicule and revile as un-
desirable members of the community,
men sworn to defend and enforce its
rules, devote their intelligence, wit
and resources to making crime and
the Attorney General observed, “why
is it not to be expected that the
thoughtless, the unfortunate, the ig-
norant, the vicious will try to get rid
of the oppressors of the criminals in
any way, by any means, any violence
that will be most effective?” Any
lawyer who defends a criminal might
Of course lawyers must defend their
clients charged with offences, whether
guilty or innocent. There may be
lawyers who will refuse to accept a
retainer for a client who is guilty,
but they are few and far between, and
even the highest standard of profes-
sional ethics places no such obliga-
tion on practitioners at the bar. If
a man accused of crime is unable to
employ counsel the court will direct
one of the lawyers present to defend
him without regard to his guilt or
innocence. It may be wrong, as a
rule, to make sport of or ridicule of-
ficers engaged in the enforcement of
the Volstead law, but considering the
practices of some of them in this
State it is not surprising. :
rr ———— ep e——————
——TIt is rumored that Mr.
Coolidge
doesn’t want %Hel’n Maria
» fora
running mate next year.
tion has been definitely decided. <1 |
authority to appoint Republicans to |
position to take an active part in law |
criminals interesting and attractive,”
be charged with sinning in this way. |
Trouble in the Geneva Conference.
|
| There is no just cause of complaint
| against the appeal of the delegates to
the conference in session at Geneva
for the purpose of decreasing the
naval strength .of Great Britain, the
United States and Japan. Every
man or woman engaged in any enter-
prise that drags along at a disap-
pointing rate of speed urges patience
on the part of all concerned, and that
is precisely what the American,
British and Japanese delegates have
done. The people of the respective
countries were led to believe that all
these delegates had to do was meet,
lay their cards on the table and take
| what they wanted. This expectation
| has been disappointed. The represen-
| tatives of each power appear to have
“something up their sleeves.”
The trouble seems to be that Great
Britain asks for a revision of the
action of the Washington conference.
The representatives of the United
States objected to this for the very
good reason that five powers partici-
pated in that agreement and three
have no right to alter or annul it. At
first Japan was inclined to concur in
the objection but subsequently, under
instructions from Tokio, switched to
the other side and dead-locked the
proceedings. Of course every move-
ment of the conference must be
unamimous of Great Britain and J apan
could force their policies through.
The result is that arguments must be
presented and compromises made
which will consume time and tax pa-
tience.
One of the troubles which this
situation brings to mind grows out of
a suspicion that neither of the parties
in controversy is exactly sincere. The
American delegates probably feel
that it is their duty to maintain the
agreements of the Washington con-
ference because it is the one achieve-
ment of the Harding-Coolidge admin-
istrations that commanded wide ap-
| proval. But even that achievement is
tainted because there is a deep-seated
belief that it was a political gesture
to embarrass the organization of the
League of Nations, and that the pres-
ent conference is more to confuse the
we had gone into the League of Na-
tions there would have been’ no need
of such conferences.
—— ei ———————
Chairman Greene, of the
House Ways and Means committee,
declares that the revenue cut to be
made at the next session of Congress
I will not exceed $200,000,000. What
! does he want to do with a $600,000,-
{000 treasury surplus?
| —_—
| Corporation Control Continued,
i. The reappointment of W. D. B.
| Ainey to the important office of chair-
i man of the Public Service Commission
{clearly signifies that the utility cor-
| porations will continue their strangle-
thold on the throats of the people of
i Pennsylvania for “four years more,”
His appointment was announced by the
' Governor after a conference in which
! chairman Mellon, William S. Vare and
Eric Fisher Wood participated.
i These gentlemen compose the secret
force, the “invisible government,”
| which controls the administration at
Harrisburg, not in the interest of the
| people of the State but for the enrich-
| ment of the favorite few who have
| the public.
| During the administration of Gov-
| ernor Sproul the Public Service Com-
‘mission was organized with the pur-
I pose of developing public service or
{ utility. corporations. Members of the
body who had revealed symptoms for
the people were carefully “weeded
out” and others commissioned who
! favored the corporations in all mat-
‘ters of dispute. Under the auspices
of these corporation agents utility
corporations were given license to
loot every community in which they
| operated. Every complaint of the
suffering public was turned down and
‘every demand of the corporations
- granted. Trolley car rates were in-
creased and electric lighting charges
advanced to excessive figures.
' Governor Pinchot, who had made a
| searching investigation of these out-
, fageous decisions, tried to protect the
1 people against these violations of the
‘principles of justice but was defeated
‘by prejudiced and partisan courts.
Mr. Ainey, as chairman of the Com-
‘mission, was largely responsible’ for
' the injustice to the public and it was
hoped that with the expiration of his
term of office he would be retired. It
(may even be surmised that if Gov-
| ernor Fisher had been allowed to ex-
ercise' his own’ judgment he would
retired. But the hidden
force, the “power behind the throne,”
| responsible to nobody and concerned
{only in party success, decided to re-
‘ward him for “services rendered.”
———— pe ———
| ——Judge Gary, head of the Steel
trust, says he could have prevented
the World war but the government
, wouldnt let him do it.
have ‘been
League than to promote economy. If
j acquired franchises to levy tribute on !
Judge Furst’s ‘Ruling a Disappoint-
ment to Many in Spring Township.
The finding of the Hon. James C.
Furst in the much discussed Spring
township school case, which was pub-
lished in full in this paper last week,
has been a bitter disappointment to
many who are interested in solving
the rather serious problem that con.
fronts that district.
The matter has been in controversy
for over two years and from what we
have been able to glean is not so much
a difference of opinion among the tax
Payers as to the actual need of a
better school building, with more com-
modious and modern facilities for the
rapidly growing section about Pleas-
ant Gap, as it has been one of petty
differences as to where such a build-
ing should be located.
Mountains have been made out of
mole-hills. Politics, business, person-
alities and everything else have been
injected into the fight over the project
with the result that the school district
now finds itself in the position of hav-
ing spent several thousand dollars for
plans which would meet the require-
ments of the State Board of Educa-
tion and confronted with a decree of
the court restraining its board of di-
rectors from going ahead with the
work.
Since it is the fact that some of the
schools are now being conducted in an
old factory building, part of which
has been condemned, it would seem
that the children of the district are
not properly housed and that a new
building is to be desired. The squab-
ble over its location, however, grew to
such proportions = that all else has
been forgotten and the district is fac-
ing considerable financial loss as well
as serious delay in getting adequate
facilities for the education of its
children. { wo 5d
‘Within the week we have received
the following communication, which
seems to be such an unbiased exposi-
tion of the controversy that we give
it space here:
To the Democratic Watehman: -
ge James C. puns decree
@Hunst the Spring township school
bond issue to build a much needed
school building at Pleasant Gap was
a great disappointment to the citizens
of this village. (Except the few who
= responsible for what has happen-
ed.
The turning down on a technicality,
which to us seems insignificant as
compared with the real merits in the
case, has caused much indignation to
some of the people of our community,
| Who have listened to the entire court
proceedings and are thoroughly con-
vinced that the school board have act-
ed according to their best judgment
and within their rights. What they
have done has been fully approved by
the Department of Public Instruction
school fight, a statement of the real
them. Briefly,
condition for the past 15 years.
town has grown until we have a popu-
lation of about 750 including about
200 school children, and only three
school rooms, owned by the township.
For a number of years an abandoned
knitting mill that was turned into two
rooms was used for school purposes.
The State Department of Public In-
struction was not satisfied with these
rooms, and informed the school di-
rectors that better quarters must be
provided for our school children.
Hence the directors called a meeting
of the electors of Spring township,
which was held in the court house the
fall of 1925 and told them a school
building at Pleasant Gap must be
built, and that the meeting was called
for the purpose of working out a plan
to finance it. This resulted in asking
the electors to vote for or against a
bond issue at November 3, 1925 gen-
eral election. The bond issue carried
by a large majority. After which a
site to build upon was carefully look-
ed over by the directors and members
of the Department of Public Instrue-
/tion at Harrisburg. The old site
| along state highway, our main street,
| where school buildings have stood for
the past 100 years, was selected.
{ This site is not only the geographical
{ centre of our town; but also the cen-
i tre of ‘population. It lies on high
' ground, has good drainage, and was
‘recommended. by the State Depart-
, ment as site No. 1.
I After selection of location, an
, architect was employed to draw plans
jand specifications, which were taken
, to Harrisburg for approval of Depart-
{ ment’ of Public Instruction.
| rectors were anxious to put up a
! plain, ‘substantial building at the
i lowest possible cost. = Their plans
when submitted to the Department
| were turned down, and new plans with
many alterations had to be made to
meet state requirements. = After ap-
proval of plans, letting for the work
was advertised and bids for the build-
ing received; but as bids were in ex-’
1 cess of ‘what the directors thought it
| should cost, all bids were rejected.
| Everything that could be eliminated
+ Was cut out, and new lettings held,
which finally resulted in awarding the
PORTAL to the lowest bidders.
r
whom the putting up of building was
! accorded, then
at Harrisburg. As the public in gen- |
eral has taken much interest in this |
facts may be of further interest to |
the school housing at
Pleasant Gap has been in a Seplorale ]
|
Our di-
James Longwell, contractor, to |
of lumber and «
| ground for the build 2
after this, a few citizens
who claimed they wer satisfied
with the central location se ected, in-
sisting it should be built at the ex-
treme north end of our town (which
i would have caused the children of
the central and especially of the south
end of town a much greater distance
to walk to school) agitated injunction
proceedings. J :
Boyd A. Spicher, H. E. Garbrick,
{ Frank Beezer, Lloyd White and
Thomas Beaver then instituted pro-
ceedings in equity to restrain the
| school board from Sresting a new
| building on ground selected by them.
i A petition was drawn by their counsel
| and presented to Judge Keller, who
' grantéd them a fomps af injunction.
| Later at the hearing b
! Keller not one of the econ
| of statements contained i
to break
ediately
his place,
| tion was sustained, 3 ge Keller
| told them plainly t had no
| case; but on account ed errors
their attorneys claim ed in the
minutes of the sch 00] ors’ meet-
ings, he allowed i
i revised bill, which ras
!cal. This remained in
{ files until after his d
{ April 20, 1927, the came be-
| fore Judge Furst for a ent. The
i attorneys at once comm ed to argue
against the resolution the school
| directors, which was drawn up by
| their attorney, John Love, and acted
j upon at a meeting of ichooi board
"held August 8, 1925. (This resolution
| being somewhat lengthy and being
| published in "the county
papers last week, we will omit.) This
rin, was discussed from all
angles by the attorneys. Counsel
favoring the injunction claiming that
(on account of omitting the words.
“We express a desire”, before making
the resolution, ete., it did not comply
i with the law. Judge Furst finally
told them from the bench that his
{ court could not see that it was neces-
I sary to use that exact language. The
| fact that the school board did pass
i the resolution was sufficient evidence
i that they had a desire to do so. The
argument on this technicality was
| immediately dropped.
I Just why the ‘Judge changed his
| mind on June 20, when he made the
| decree Byains; the Sehaol board, mak-
and void everything the
aol._bdard. have been Yatkiis ne |!
{ing null
! sch
thard to do for almost two years,
spending over $2,000 of- the taxes of
the district to get to a point where a
. school building could be built, is. be-
‘yond our comprehension. The court’s
! decree has been a body blow to our
‘town that may take us years to re-
cover from. People who are looking
for locations to build where they can
(have all the modern conveniences
side-step this town on account of the
deplorable condition of our schools.
To say many of us were grievously
disappointed about it only expresses
it mildly. You will please pardon this
long letter, but could not give you de-
‘tails in fewer words.
Respectfully,
“CITIZEN”
ral de
"H. E. Holzworth will Stay in Fight
for County Treasurer.
Howard E. Holzworth, about whom
, Some question has been raised as to
this eligibility as a candidate for coun-
ity treasurer while holding the office
i of county commissioner, has author-
ized the statement that he will con-
{tinue in the fight.
ed several of the ablest attorneys in
i the State and it is on their advice as
i to his eligibility that he will stick.
| Mr. Holzworth has already made
| considerable progress in his campaign
among the Republicans of Centre
county and it is just and right that
his supporters should know that he
is considered entirely eligible by the
best of legal advice.
©
been repeated rumors of illegal fisher-
men getting in their nefarious
on Spring creek. On one or more oc-
casions fishermen on the stream have
found what they believed to have been
evidence of dynamiting, but so far no
one has been caught in the act though
game protector Thomas
has kept 2 fairly good ‘watch on the
stream. Last Friday night, however,
four men were seen on the stream
about nine o’clock and there is every
reason to believe they were there for
no good purpose. The men had park-
i when observed each man was wearing
a lighted miner’s lamp on the visor of
his cap. Some of them, if not all, car-
ried tin buckets. To the men who saw
them the procedure looked like an out-
line party.
——-Burgess Hard P. Harris arrang-
ed with local dealers not to sell fire-
works until the second ‘of July, and so
far as known they have all kept their
agreement. But this did not deter
those determined to celebrate. They
went out of town and bought a sup-
ply and last Saturday night sounded
much like the night before the Fourth,
In fact some. young men were not
satisfied with celebrating on Saturday
night * but kept ‘at it’ Sunday night,
much to the annoyance of people go-
ing to and from church.
He has consult- !
———-For some time past there have |
work |
G." Mosier |
ied their car half a mile away and
SPAWLS FROM THE KEYTSONE.
—Mrs. Frank Spunk, of Rummel; , died
Supday night’ of a strange alady, be-
lieved to be sleeping - sickness. ‘
—An all-steel train with buffet car at-
sached will take more-than 250 Bika from
Shamokin to the annual State convention
at Easton in August. More than a hun-
dred members have signed up already.
—Wives of Snyder county farmers who
complain about traveling several hundred
miles to buy their winter furs need worry
no longer. T. H. Spigelmire, a merchant of
Selinsgrove, has secured a 147 acre farm
to raise silver foxes.
—Singing with the choir at the Rush
Baptist church near Shamokin, on Sunday
night, Mrs. Wellington Rothermel, 53, suf-
fered a heart attack and died several min-
utes later. Her illness brought to a close
the church services when Children’s day
exercises were being conducted.
—The Rev. Dr. Jacob H. Diehl, pastor
of Trinity Lutheran church, Selinsgrove,
has been elected executive representa-
tive of Susquehanna University by the ex-
executive committee of the board of direc-
tors to fill the vacancy caused by the death
of the Rev. Dr. Charles T Aikens.
—Margaret Miller, aged 15, of Johns-
town, was struck on the head by a batted
ball at an amateur game in that place on
Saturday noon and died the same night at
Mercy hospital. The girl recovered rapid-
ly after the accident and was taken home,
Later she became unconscious and a broth-
er took her to the hospital. Death was
caused by hemorrhage of the brain.
—William F. Donovan, 52 years old, of
Williamsport, shot himself to death last
Friday morning rather than submit to ar-
rest on charges of drunkenness and dis-
orderly conduct. Policemen summoned by
a telephone call granted Donovan permis-
sion to step into another room before go-
ing to police headquarters and a minute
or so later heard the shot which claimed
the man’s life.
—A man pretending to be a physician
drove to the home of Mrs. I. M. Kester, at
Shickshinny. He assured the woman he
could cure her of a disease which other
doctors had pronounced incurable. She
paid him a $100 retainer. Then he sent
her for some pure spring water. When
she returned she found the stranger had
disappeared and $800, concealed in a “u-
reau was also missing.
—David Bush, of Grange, near DuBois,
an employee of the Penn Public Service
corporation, met a tragic death on Fri-
day. Mr. Bush, while working on a tow-
er near Heilwod, Indiana county, -came in
contact with a high power line, and was
knocked off the tower, falling a distance
of 92 feet. He, K was dead when fellow
workmen reached him, and it is believed
that the electric current caused his death.
—With a piece of flesh bitten from his
right arm near the elbow, William Hamp-
ton. a negro, was taken into custody at
Sunbury, on Saturday, following a battle
with his landlord. C. Freeman, a white
man. Freeman insisted that the negro
started the fight, but admitted sinking his
teeth in the flesh of the negro’s arm and
tearing loose a sizable portion. The negro
was taken to the office of a nearby physi-
cian where stitches were required to’ close
the wound. .
—J Calvin Haas is suing John ‘DeHaas
and Frank Rowe, all of Milton, for $2,500,
for the alleged barking of dogs belonging
to Frang Rowe and kept at the DeHaas
home, were Rowe boards. This is one of
the queerest cases that ever came before
the Northumberland county courts. Haas
claims that the dogs, sometimes two and
three in number, howl at night, thereby
keeping his family awake. He claims that
through their barking his wife has been
made a nervous wreck, and that he has
been necessitated to spend a large sum of
| money for doctor bills.
——Four boys with red bathing suits they
used for flags almost upset the schedule of
the whole of the Shamokin division of the
Reading railroad. on Sunday, wher “they
walked half way across the bridge over the
Susquehanna river, at Sunbury, and flagg-
ed passing trains. A Philadelphia Wil-
liamsport express and another southbound
train were flagged. A freight was stopped,
as were several other trains. Railroad
i police were notified and arrested four
children from Shamokin, who admitted
fooling the railroad men. They were sent
home in the custody of their parents.
—Joseph Ippolito, of Johnstown, charged
with murder and found guilty of man-
' slaughter, was sentenced to serve sixty
, days and to pay the costs of prosecution
fin court at Ebensburg on Monday. The
| Sentence was to date from the time of his
| incarceration and Ippolito has been in jail
| more than sixty days. Another charge of
| murder was nollie prossed and Ippolito
was discharged Monday night. Ippolito
shot and killed two men who are alleged
+ to have called at his barber shop at Johns-
| town in March and who it is said threat-
| ened his life if he refused to pay a bill
which was owed to a New Jersey grocery-
; man by his brother, who was murdered at
{ Fohnstown a year ago.
i
—The Supreme court, in an opinion
{ handed down on Saturday, ordered the
i discharge from the western penitentiary of
i Frank Holinko, who has been serving a
sentence of from seven to eight years, im-
| posed in Armstrong county, December 31,
1921. Holinko had pleaded guilty to ob-
taining money by false pretenses, fraudu-
lent conversion and conspiracy to cheat
| and defraud. For the first offense the pun~
{ ishment is a fine and imprisonment uot
| exceeding three years: for the second im-
; prisonment not exceedng five vears, and for
| the third imprisonment not exceeding two
vears. Council for Holinko took out a writ
, of habeas corpus against Warden Stanley
{ P. Asche, of the western penitentiary, con-
tending that the sentence was illegal.
—Jules Base, who lives along the state
road near the village of Allport, lost 'a
valuable horse recently in a very peculiar
manner. He was plowing in the field ad-
jacnt to his residence when suddenly the
: horse disappeared and sank, out of sight
into the bowels of the earth. If the har-
ness had not broken the horse would have
dragged the plow and driver into the hole
with it. The field in which Mr. Base was
plowing had been underlaid with a 5-foot
seam of Moshannon coal, which was mined
cut during the boom without breaking the
surface, Mr. Harry Todd, of Philipsburg,
owns the mineral rights under the Base
farm and when Mr. Base told Todd of his
loss, he gave him a check for $100, al-
though he was under no obligations to
compensate for damage to the surface in
removing the mineral.