STR Ty
ern a - - - . a me au Rs
: | SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE.
i —Woodrow Wilson, 75, of Prospect, But-
ler county, who was found dead near his
INK SLINGS.
——Justice Joseph M. Proskauer,
of New York, addressing the Federa-
tion of Jewish Charities in Philadel-
phia, declared bigotry “is a hydra-
headed monster.” It is also a despic-
able instrument in politics.
—~Someone has said that first water
is thrown over us, then rice, then dirt.
That would sum up the course of life
fairly well if it had included a sum-
mary of the days we spend toiling
over various reports to the govern-
ment and the sweats we break into
earning enough to pay our taxes.
—Harry Gerberich has called our
attention to the fact that we have
missed a trick. The truth is that
since our private bootlegger left for
other and more salubrious climes the
trout seem to have deserted our fav-
orite streams also and we don’t look
forward to the fifteenth of April with
the same zest that we did a few years
ago. However, we want to remind
you that it will be just seventy-nine
days until the season opens.
—It will be just like some fool
Legislator to introduce a bill in the
Assembly of Pennsylvania making it
a crime to “hex” in this State. We
trust that there isn’t enough asininity
in Harrisburg to give consideration
to such a proposal. How could a law
change the reasoning of a disordered
brain? A person who imagines he
has the power to “hex” another cer-
tainly imagines he has the power to
“hex” the law into impotence.
—At this distance from the scene
of action and with no dictograph in
the chambers of the innermost coun-
cil we are in no position to prediel
what is going to happen to the Repub-
lican machinery in Pennsylvania. We
do want to say, however, that John
Fisher is sitting prettier in his last
session of the General Assembly than
any Governor we have recollection of.
The physical fading out of \ are leaves
Joe Grundy as the potential power in
Republican politics in Pennsylvania.
Grundy and Fisher are friends. Grun-
dy will name the next Republican
candidate for Governor of Pennsyl-
vania and because he and Fisher are
friendly the latter will have some in-
fluence after he has retired; which is
a very unusual political heritage for
an ex-Governor.
—In an open letter to Al Smith,
Will Rodgers expresses the belief that
“there is life in the old gal yet.” He
means the Democratic party. The
cowboy humorest is a very popular
character in the country today and
his facetious philosophy is uncannily
sound, but he told the world nothing
new when he wrote his last letter to
Al. The Democratic party looked bad
after last November's debacle, but it
wasn’t as pathetic a looking cadaver
as Will was when he arrived at the
aviation field here on his trans-con-
tinental flight last fall. He came
through to “pinch hit” for Fred Stone
and the Democratic party is going to
come through to pinch hit for the
country when it wakens up to realize
that a Republican ballot isn’t a touch
stone for prosperity.
—The death of “Sheriff” Shearer
brings home to us again the toll that
passing years is taking from our
lives. “Sheriff” had been a character
in the community so long that he
seemed a part of that intangible
something that holds us loving and
loyal to the home town. It takes
memory only an instant for the flight
back a quarter of a century when
every Bellefonter and every frequent
visitor met here and there on our
streets some one whom they knew as
a “town character.” There were a
dozen, or more of them representing
every walk in life, some of them bril-
liant raconteurs, others just men
who were so habitually on the streets
that one came to expect seeing then
at certain places and others, just
quaint, inoffensive characters like
“Sheriff.” They are all gone now and
their passing takes something—we
can’t just analyze it—out of our life
that can never be replaced.
-—Our council has passed a new
milk ordinance. It is a few para-
graphs longer than the moral law, but
it is well intended. Intended, we un-
derstand, to prevent the possibility of
any of us getting t. b. or typhoid
from the milk the dairymen serve us.
We don’t remember when the last
case of typhoid fever was reported in
Bellefonte, but we do know that the
State has tested all the dairy herds
for t. b. that furnish the milk that
comes to Bellefonte. If the new
ordinance is enforced milk will
jump from ten to twelve cents a
quart. That wouldnt be bad if the
farmers got the two cents, but they
won’t. That will go to the distribu-
tor to cover the cost that the sterili-
zation, pasteurization and what not |
will involve on him, and,in addition, |
we will have the salary of the inspect- |
or provided for in the ordinance. To- |
day there are about seventeen hun- |
dred quarts of milk delivered to the :
consumers in Bellefonte. At an in- |
crease of two cents it will mean an
additional outlay of twelve thousand,
three hundred ten dollars a year for
what, you ask? To prevent tuberculo- |
sis from cattle that are already tuber- |
culin proof and to prevent typhoid—
There’s a lot in science but ;
we don’t believe we're going to!
die every time somebody discovers a
penny or a cow’s hair in the bottle of
milk delivered at their door.
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION.
74. BELLEFONTE, PA.. JANUARY 25. 1929.
NO. 4,
The Rockefeller-Stewart Contest.
Widespread public interest is shown
by press news and comments on the
contest now approaching a crisis be-
tween John D. Rockefeller Jr. and
Colonel Robert W. Stewart for con-
trol of the Standard Oil company of
Indiana. Colonel Stewart has been
for some years chairman of the board
of that Rockefeller subsidiary and
seems to like his job. Because of the
exposure, some time ago, of some
unethical transactions in which he
participated, Mr. Rockefeller Jr. has
come to the conclusion that Mr.
Stewart is unworthy of continued
confidence, and that in the interest of
business morality and for the purpose
of preserving public respect for the
industry another manager should be
chosen.
About the time Harry Sinclair was |
negotiating with Secretary of the In-
terior Abert B. Fall for the aliena-
tion of the naval oil reserves, Colonel! ;
Stewart, Mr. Sinclair and two other
oil operators entered into a conspir-
acy to.purchase a large quantity of oil
and sell it to their own companies at
a profit, over night, of $3,000,000. In
the investigation of the Teapot Dome
transaction this sinister deal was ex-
posed. Colonel Stewart first testi-
fied under oath that he had no part in
the deal but subsequently admitted he
received one-fourth of the profits.
Mr. Rockefeller asked him to resign
the chairmanship of the board which
he refused to do and the pending con-
test is the result.
Coloned Stewart bases his claim
for continued control of the corpora-
tion on the ground that his manage-
ment has been efficient and success-
ful and that his acquittal by a Dis-
trict of Columbia court of perjury
vindicates his character for integrity.
But that is a lame defense. The court
that acquitted him admitted that he
had sworn to a falsehood but there
were not enough persons present at
the time to make it legal perjury.
He claimed that he intended to pay
his share of the profits into the com-
pany but he held it in concealment
for six years and made restitution on-
ly after exposure had made further
concealment impossible. That sort
of alibi failed to satisfy Mr. Rocke-
feller and hence the fight.
Under the management of Colonel
Stewart the Standard Oil company of
Indiana has prospered amazingly. Its
operations have broadened and
enormous dividends promptly paid.
If pecuniary success were the only
consideration in corporation manage- |
ment Colonel Stewart might justly
claim a life-time tenure of his office |
as manager. But there are other
things to consider. His almost suc-
cessful attempt to steal from his com-
pany in the conspiracy with Sinclair
and others is only part of his perfid-
ious record and his re-election to the
chairmanship of the board of the
Standard Oil company of Indiana will
put an ineffaceable stain on big busi-
nass, not alone in oil but in every line
of endeavor,
eg mid
——Dr. Ralph D. Hetzel, president
of State College, has been housed up
this week with an attack of tonsilitis
and was unable to go to Harrisburg
for his scheduled address, on Tuesday
evening, before the State farm pro-
ducts show. In his absence Prof. M.
S. McDowell talked to the farmers
and not only congratulated them upon
the wonderful advances that have
been made in all lines of agriculture
during the past decade but pointed
out the good work being done by
State College through the county
agricultural extension societies.
—Automobile owners of the United
States last year paid seven hundred
and eighty-five million dollars in
taxes on their cars. A stupendous
sum. Some of you will ask. Where
is it coming from? We are not con-
cerned about that so much as we are
as to whither it is leading.
——LEverybody will be glad to learn
that both King George, of England,
and Marshal Foch, of France, are
moving forward toward complete re-
covery.
—————————————
——If Mr. Hoover manages right
he may be able to make the prohibi-
tion issue serve for another Presi-
dential campaign.
ae
——LKansas City is to have a two-
and-a-half million dollar art gallery.
It will be a rival attraction to the
stock yards.
——An airplane propeller amputat-
ed a cow’s tail in Illinois. Maybe the
cow was trying to “jump over the
moon.”
Hoover in Florida may be “Far
From the Madding Crowd” but he is
not safe from importunate office seek-
ers. ’
its |
. Vare’s Frauds Will Not Be Condoned.
The false pretense expressed in
sending William S. Vare to Florida
about the time the Senate Slush Fund
committee was ready to formulate its
report was revealed the other day
when he undertook, by long distance
‘phone service, to control the election
of a president of the Philadelphia
Municipal court. The committee had
generously agreed to give him an op-
portunity to appear in person, or by
attorney, to answer the accusations
against him before submitting its re-
port to the Senate for final action.
He failed to avail himself of this ad-
vantage during several months prev-
ious to his affliction in August. In
, November he had sufficiently recov-
ered to declare he was still boss of
the organization.
But in December, when the chair-
‘man of the committee notified him
{that a time had been fixed for the
final hearing he was hurriedly, and
with considerable ostentation, packed
(off to Florida and pronounced by his
physician a very sick man. Proba-
bly he was physically unfit to appear
in person but his very resourceful
lawyer was amply able to appear for
him and present his case, if. he has
one to present. A few days latar,
when his Philadelphia organization
was imperiled, however, he was phys-
ically able to make a long-distance
appeal to his political agents in Phila-
delphia to save the machine. This
was a complete refutal of his pre-
‘tense of helpless infirmity. It proved
he is playing for delay.
It is barely possible that the slight-
ly increased Republican majority in
the Senate in the Seventy-second
: Congress might award the seat he
covets to Mr. Vare. The perversion
of Senator Borah, of Idaho, and Sen-
ator Brookhart, of Iowa, afford en-
couragement to that hope. But the
false pretense of infirmity is not a
valid reason for scrapping the evi-
dence in possession of the Slush Fund
‘committee of the Senate and ratify-
ing the corrupt verdict of a debauch-
ed ballot.
ly give Mr. Vare’s attorney an oppot-
tunity to speak for him today but it
will not deter the presentation of the
report, the exposure of the frauds
and the just verdict against Vare and
his methods of campaigning.
——W. L. Mellon has grown tired
of politics. He probably found the
Grundy brand too expensive.
Some Abuses in Public Service.
A correspondent of the esteemed
Philadelphia Record says he ‘could
never understand why a person who
hclds a political job should be taken
care of after he rusts or wears out,
while the poor man who has had to
root hog or die while hustling for an
existence, out of office, should take
care of himself.” Many another man
and woman has been perplexed by the
same problem. Those who hold pub-
lic office are not, as a rule, forced in-
to the service. On the contrary they
are eager to get the employment
which holds out the promise of “easy
money” and retain it as long as pos-
sible. In nine cases out of ten the
compensation is as generous as that !
of other vocations they are fit to fol-
low.
The correspondent in question was
influenced to his expression by an ex-
posure that there are men on the po-
lice force of Philadelphia who are
disqualified for the service by age or
infirmities, but are retained out of
sympathy. Sympathy is a grand im-
pulse but fits better in other forma.
That is to say,,it.is both inappropriate
and improper when it impairs the
safety or imperils the rights of a con-
siderable number of people, as seems
to be the case in the instance which
provoked the observation. But there
are other abuses of this sublime emo-
tion even more reprehensible. The
. indiscriminate pensioning of antiquat-
ed civil servants puts a burden on the
public which is as inexcusable as it
is onerous.
The too generous increase of sal-
aries of public officials is a kindred
evil that has become too common in
recent years. The pensioning of
judges after a long and faithful ser-
vice may be excused, if it is not abus-
ed, but the practice of fixing salaries
of public officials at a figure far above
their capacity to earn in industrial,
commercial or professional life is an
abuse of power that should not be tol-
erated. That “the laborer is worthy
of his hire” is axiomatic. But paying
for services that could be as efficient-
ly obtained for half the money is lit-
tle less than legalized larceny and
should be condemned as such. It is
well that public attention has
been called to this fault.
——Salvation Army General Booth
is a good Christian all right, but of
the miliant variety.
Chairman Reed will glad-
Mr. Hoover “Passes the Buck.”
President-elect Hoover has already
fallen into the pernicious habit of
“passing the buck.”
mission composed of more or less dis-
tinguished gentlemen. In his speech
of acceptance he said, “it is a noble
experiment which should be worked
out progressively.” This was a hap-
py phraseing of a promise that satis-
fied the bootleggers and delighted the
Anti-Saloon League and the Woman's
Christian Temperance Union. All of
these elements in the electorate sup-
poried him with great earnestness
and enthusiasm and secured his elec-
tion by an overwhelming majority.
Now he hands out an equally enticing
lure to the credulous.
Mr. Hoover is accurate in his esti-
mate of the failure of Congress to
solve the enforcement problem and
probably justified in removing it from
that tribunal. He also shows cour-
age in assuming responsibility for the
work which he proposes to sybmit to
a commission of his own selection. If
his plan happens to fail, which is
possible, he will have to reckon with
the disappointed groups which favor-
ed him. But it is not an actually
desperate hazard at that. The work
of the commission can be carried over
a long period of time and the sum-
mation postponed for years. Mean-
time the shifting of the buck can be
repeated at convenient intervals as
new ideas on the subject are devel-
oped.
i However the President-elect has
come up against a perplexing ques-
tion at the start. He doesn’t know
whether to name Elihu Root or
Charles Evans Hughes to head the
commission and direct its activities.
Mr. Root is outspokenly wet and Mr.
Hughes inclined to be dry. If Root
is chosen the Anti-Saloon League will
have a conniption fit and if Hughes is
selected the bootleggers will be grave- '
ly offended. But a highly trained en-
gineering mind ought to be able to
‘devise a method of overcoming such
"difficulties.
rlisted marvels along these lines -al-
ready and we see no reason why he
should fall down now. He enjoys the
complete confidence of the wets and
drys at present, anyway.
——If Tom Cunningham doesn’t
manage Vare’s legislative interests
any better than he conducted his con-
test in the Municipal court he will
‘lose his job.
ae
'West’s Appointment Confirmed
Secret Ballot.
in
| By a vote of 54 to 47, in a secret
, ballot,
retary of the Interior, was confirmed
by the Senate in Washington, on Mon- ;
day. According to the press dis-
patches those opposed to confirmation
“made a determined last minute ef-
fort to have the proceedings, includ-
ing the roll call and the committee re-
ports made public.” But this effort
failed. Many of the Senators who
voted in the affirmative are unwilling
to let their constituents know of their
affiliation with the machine or their
subservience to the administration.
For many years Mr. West was the
i personal attorney of Samuel Insull,
the water power magnate. He be-
came a partner in his enterprises, a
sharer in his profits and an all-around
, “friend, philosopher and guide.” At
the time of his appointment by the
President the Insull interests were
concerned in many efforts to obtain
favors from the government through
| the office of the Secretary of the In-
terior and the Federal Power Com-
mission, of which the secretary is
;a member. These facts made the
impropriety of his appointment self-
evident and its acceptance a public
| scandal.
It is true that Mr. West publicly de-
'clared he had disposed of his shares in
the Insull corporations as soon as he
was named for the office. It is equally
true that he publicly promised that
in the event of his confirmation he
would decline to sit in the Federal
Power Commission sessions when the
Insull claims were under considera-
tion. But in the abundance of men
from which to select a Secretary of
the Interior why should one be chos-
en from whom such assurances were
necessary? The obvious purpose of
the appointment was to serve Insull
and it ought to have been rejected.
——A Washington scientist says
man was “neither created nor a pro-
duct of evolution.” He must have
been reading Uncle Tom’s Cabin and
taken Topsy’s view of life.
—The Mitten management in
Philadelphia and the Mellon manage-
ment in Pittsburgh seem to have
gone “on the rocks” about the same
, time.
He proposes to!
shift the solution of prohibition en-
forcement to the ingenuity of a com-
Mr. Hoover has accom-
the nomination of Roy O.'
, West, of Chicago, to the office of Sec- |
Mi. Vare Contradicts His Counsel and
! His Physician.
I'rom the Philadelphia Record.
{ When a committee of the United
States Senate wishes to accord Wil-
liam S. Vare an opportunity to ap-
pear before it, either personally or by
counsel, in order that it may conclude
a case involving the legality of his
election to the Senate, his health de-
bars him from even discussing the
matter with his lawyer.
His personal physician and his
principal attorney explain to the Sen-
ate committee that his condition is
such that he cannot converse connect-
edly on any serious topic for five min-
utes.
The public arrives at the conclusion
that Mr. Vare is no longer interested
in exercising the functions of a boss.
But what are observers to think
when Mr. Vare, despite his deplorable
condition, is deep enough in politics
to use the long distance telephone to
communicate from Florida his orders
regarding the election of a President
Judge of the Municipal Court?
Has the state of Mr. Vare’s health
been misrepresented? Or has he had
a remarkable convalescence?
Whatever his actual capacity for
sustained discussion of political af-
fairs, he has made it perfectly ob-
vious that he responds to the slight-
est pressure upon the nerves of his
Organization. He has thus destroy-
ed any claim he might otherwise have
had to further consideration at the
hands of the Senate committee. For
while it may be quite true that he
could not stand the ordeal of a person-
al appearance before the Reed commit-
tee, it cannot be true—it can no long-
‘er be believed—that he is unable to
discuss his political interests in. the
privacy of ‘his Florida retreat, or to
advise with his counsel upon a course
of action.
Mr. Vare’s attempt at intervention
in the Municipal Court affair has had
the effect of cutting the ground from
under his feet so far as his status
before the Senate committee is con-
cerned.
And that is the only effect it had.
For happily his orders were openly
ignored. The Municipal Court has
been taken from Vare control.
President Judge Brown, elected
yesterday, and those who supported
him, have charged that as an adjunct
of the Vare Machine the Municipal
Court has incurred unwarrantable ex-
penses, and that its business has been
transacted without due regard for the
' public interest.
It is now up to the new element in
command to free the Court of its po-
litical affiliations, select its employees
on the basis of their fitness, curb its
extravagance and give the taxpayers
la new deal.
We do not believe that there is sny
(branch of the city government that
"would not be better administered
without the malign intervention of
| the sick man who presumes to dictate
‘from Florida.
——— eet
Law and Witches.
From the Pittsburgh Press.
belief in witchcraft in certain parts of
Pennsylvania is the basis upon which
an effort will be made to pass in the
General Assembly a law dealing with
the subject. More stringent restric-
tions will be placed on “hex doctors,”
and levels of punishment will be set
forth.
The fatuous few who believe that
the passage of a law waves a magic
corrective wand collide with the facts
of history. In a former day there
were stern laws against witcheraft.
The riders of the broomstick were
hanged or ducked, or put in the
stocks, or run into exile from society.
Further, a public opinion, possibly
founded more on the cruel pleasure
of the witch hunt than thoughtful
logic, spurred on such punishments.
Yet witchcraft flourished.
But as education spread, such puni-
tive measures were repealed, and at
the same time witchcraft diminished.
It is difficult to rout out old beliefs,
especially when they batten on super-
stition, and it is not to be accomplish-
ed by law alone, no matter how much
of it there may be. Education and
enlightenment are more certain cura-
tives.
That is an actuality not to be dis-
missed by those who put all their
faith in the mere form of statute.
They are quite as deluded as the hex-
ed.
Old and Active.
From the Harrisburg Telegraph.
Theophilus King, head of a Massa-
chusetts trust company, set up a fund
on his sixty-eighth birthday. Every
year since then he has made it a prac-
tice to give away some thousands of
dollars to churches and various or-
ganizations. :
Now Mr. King is 84 years old. On
his birthday a short time ago he gave |
away a few more thousand to worthy
causes.
Here is a wise man. He knows
what to do with money and he has
some fun giving it away while he yet
lives. It is an inspiring sight to see a
man old in years but active jin heart,
just as it is depressing to find, with
years before him, one old in his soul.
——>Saturday of next week will be
groundhog day.
Revelations of the prevalence of the
home on Monday, was frozen to death,
authorities believe.
He had beep missing
! for a week.
—Suing for divorce at Pittsburgh, last
Saturday, among the complaints of Mrs.
John Reiser, was her husband often in-
sisted that a police dog sleep in the bed
she occupied.
—A “Wild West” show staged by a num-
ber of youngsters in the woods near Mam-
moth, Westmoreland county, on Saturday,
resulted in the death of John Elmo, 15,
son of Mrs. Mary Elmo. The lad was shot
through the left eye, the bullet penetrating
his brain.
—Ernest Arner, living near Catawissa,
heard a crash in his kitchen, but thought
it was a burglar and did not investigate
until morning. Then he found the rear
end of an automobile in his home, and
a gaping hole where it had come in
through the side. Now Arner wants to
know whence came the machine, and who
is going to pay for the damages.
—HEretion on the roof of the 10-story
Hazleton National Bank building has been
started of a beacon whose rays will be
visible 60 miles away. It will direct air
traffic to the Hazleton Municipal-Veale
Airport north of that city. James Lee
Pardee, president of the bank, arranged
the installation as his contribution to the
aviation development of the region.
—~Charles Deaner, Middletown confess-
ed ring leader of the gang of youthful
thieves who pillaged stores, homes and au-
tomobiles in the vicinity of Harrisburg,
Hummelstown and Middletown, in recent
months, was sentenced to serve from six-
teen and one-half to thirty-three years in
the eastern penitentiary, last Friday in
the Dauphin county court by Judge Frank
B. Wickersham.
—A. J. Bauer, 59, lease worker at Glade
Run, Warren county, was believed to have
drowned Saturday in the Allegheny river,
and the stream was dragged for his body.
He appeared late on Sunday and explained
that while he was in a tool house on a
lease some one had locked the door, not
knowing Bauer was inside. Other workers
discovered his plight, and Bauer was only
hungry, not drowned.
—Former Governos E. E. Beildeman,
of Harrisburg, appeared as counsel on
Monday for John Mahnovich, Harrisburg,
who pleaded guilty in federal court at
Lewisburg to the charge of trapping out
of season. Judge Johnson remarked that
many boys, including himself as a boy,
often hunted ‘“muskys” in this way, and
fined him $25. He only had $20, and the
court reduced the fine to that amount.
—Mrs. Martin Buchanan, of Clearfield,
had a terrifying experience at her home
when her hair caught in the wringer of
a washing machine, pulled her head up
close against the rubber rolls, and held
her a screaming prisoner until she was
released by her husband. She was un-
conscious for more than an hour after the
experience and lost quite a bit of hair.
Mrs. Buchanan had leaned over to pick
up some clothing when her hair caught
between the rolls.
—Mrs. Anna Hlatky, 36, of Monessen,
convicted of involuntary manslaughter in
( November for killing two sects of new-born
twins in 1927 and 1928, on Monday was
sentenced to serve from seven to 24 years
in the Women's State industrial home at
Muncy, Pa. Mrs. Hlatky heard the sen-
tence calmly. At her trial the woman
testified she buried the bodies of the ba-
bies in the rear of her home. She said
her husband had threatened her with
death if she gave birth to any more chil-
dren.
—The Rev. Theodore C. Meek, pastor of
Mahoning Presbyterian church, at Dan-
ville, has urged his congregation to merge
with the Grove Presbyterian church, as-
serting that God's money was being wast-
ed by continuing two churches which had
separated seventy-five years ago over a
geographical difference. The canal then
divided the town and when the question
of a site for a new church building was
"brought up, residents of the north and
; south sides of the canal so violently op-
: posed each other that separate congrega-
. tions were formed.
i —With a purse of $117.50 as an incen-
| tive, Harrison Hursh, of Franklintown,
40, walked from Dillsburg to Gettysburg
and return, a distance of approximately
' forty-four miles, in an elapsed time of ten
hours and two minutes. The purse was
‘raised by a number of Dillsburg and
| Franklintown residents, who offered it to
~ anyone who could walk the distance from
! Dillsburg to Gettysburg and back in less
than ‘twelve hours. Hursh was followed
, by his son, Roy, and Richard Baish, in
Lan automobile. It was their duty to see
: that he covered every stretch of the dis-
| tance afoot, but to be on hand in case he
: needed medical attention. '
—The Orphang’s Court sitting en bane in
! Philadelphia, on Monday, fixed the third
Monday in February to hear the petition
filed by the heirs of John Nicholas Eme-
rick in an effort to have the court allow
probate of the Emerick will, dated in 1816.
The move to probate the will is prelimi-
nary to claiming a part of the great fortune
amassed by John Jacob Astor, an alleged
| partner of Emerick under a purported
agreement dated January 20, 1787. The
law requires the permission of the Or-
phans’ court to probate a will after a lapse
of 21 years after the death of the testator.
When the petition was filed on January 7,
the court tentatively fixed Monday for a
hearing. Many of the Emerick heirs live
in Centre county and throughout central
| Pennsylvania.
| —Legslation permitting trial judges to
"impose sentences of life imprisonment on
. fourth offenders has been rceommended to
"the 1929 Pennsylvania General Assembly
| by a commission appointed two years ago
to study the laws and procedure relating
to crime and criminals. The commission
, reported that it was not convinced that
i it would be wise to pass such drastic leg-
islation as the Baumes act in New York
State which makes life imprisonment
! mandatory upon fourth offenders. Under
‘the bill recommended the life imprison-
| ment sentence is not mandatory an@ its
| propriety, when given, is reviewable by
. the upper court. For a second and third
j major offense, a convicted man under the
proposed bill may be sentenced to not
, more than twice the longest term pre«
| seribed..upon conviction for a first offense