i
CHRISTMAS MEMORIES
—1It is almost Christmas eve, but
somehow our thoughts won't rush
on to the day of days. Instead, they
persist in wandering back to the
time of our own childhood when the
joy of a Christmas morn was .80
exquisitely subtle as to leave mem-
ories that can never be effaced. You
all have memories, just as indelibly
dear as our own, and we are think-
ing that, perhaps, you might feel
that our Christmas thoughts are
your thoughts too,
‘You remember what the Fairy
Berylune told little Tyltyl and My-
tyl in Maeterlinck's Blue Bird. Of
how those of whom we are thinking
tonight see and hear and live on and
on in the memory of those who have
known their ineffable love and then
we say:
ALL TO OURSELVES
All to ourselves we think of you
Think of the things you used to do
Think of the things you used to say
Think of each happy yesterday.
Sometimes we sigh and sometimes we
Smile
But we keep each olden, golden while
Quite, all to ourselves.
"And then the fairy pointed the
wondering little folks to the gard-
en of beautiful flowers, At first
they didn’t understand, but later
like you and like me, they came to
understand that it was
° LIFE'S GARDEN
Out in life’s’ garden where sympathy
grew
You planted a soul, twas the soul of
you.
Life’s wonderful garden love, seeking,
went through
Til it found a heart, ’twas the heart
of you.
1 sought through life’s garden of roses
and rue
And I found a Sweet blossom all
jeweled with dew.
Love, sympathy, faith—all
and true
wondering
And the heart of my flower, dear
mother, ’tis you.
On and on memory carries us
through the heartaches and joys of
days that are done, but we remem-
ber that “Its the set of the soul that
determines the goal and not the
storm or the strife” And that
thought brings us to a paragraph in
the “Fifty Years Ago” column in
this issue which speaks of us as
“Master.” When we gleaned that
from a file, musty with age, mem-'
ories of the days when we laid the
‘Watchman at the doors of every
nte surged in
that our, Santa
with us,
Undaunted and fearless he went through
life
Firm with courage for every strife
An indulgent father, a generous friend !
Example of staunchness for many men.
These are the thoughts we are
indulging to-night, not because we
are morbid or blue. Oh, no! That is
not it at all. We're happy, very
happy, because we have such mem-
ories. We're happy because we are
what we are and hopeful that such
memories will inspire us to some-
thing more than we are. Something
more helpful, something more useful |
“than we have ever been before; “for a
life of labor, and study and love is
the life that fits for the joys above.”
While the hearts of the 'ittie ones
burst with joy at the approach of
Christmas time ours thrills with
something intangible, introspective
and fine, for once again the old
crowd gathers about the hearth-
stone of memory and we hear the
ringing laughter of the girl who
“mushed” through thousands of
“miles of Alaskan snow to save a lit-
tle baby. She is here tonight, too,
and she knows when we say:
Know what I wish you,
skin,
I wish you the careless, old time grin,
The freckles, the warts and the tangled
hair,
And the freedom you had in the days
back there
And the wonderful fun in the things you
did
In the day, when, by Jinks, you were
just a kid.
why darn your
And so the happy, vibrant hope-
ful thoughts that memory begets
go on through this Yuletide
month—the birthday ncoonth of the
Love Child—Christ—and the Watch-
man is heartened for its voyage into
“its seventy-fifth year, heartened for
it’s continued loyal devotion to town,
county, State and nation, and to you
while
It’s wishing you all a Christmas
Of cheer, good will and content.
The happiest, nicest Christmas
That any of you ever spent.
Together, as one big family,
~' In our town, ‘comfy’ and gay,
We're wishing you each the happiness
That comes with Christmas day.
And then, when time goes spinning
Along the New Year, through,
we'll still be wishing gladness
In the heart of each one of you
For the inspiration of this column,
and the charming verse-thoughts we
are indebted to Mrs. Winifred Meek-
Morris, of Pittsburgh. We have not
"been writing ef our family. It's your
| -
ato =
ND FEDERAL UNION.
"VOL..74. BELLEFONT
929.
NO. 50.
‘The Grundy Appointment, |
There is no just cause of complaint
against the appointment of Mr.
Grundy to the office of Senator in
Congress for Pennsylvania. There
was a vacancy and it “happened”
during a period between sessions of
the General Assembly. The Gover-
nor had the legal right to make
the appointment and the moral
right to choose from ali the citizens
of the State legally qualified, He
selected Mr. Grundy because more
than any other man in the State
Mr. Grundy is in accord with his
political and economical ideas, They
are of one mind on all subjects,
and Mr. Grundy is the owner of the
mind. For years he has used Gov-
ernor Fisher as a medium of ex-
pressing his thoughts and purposes
to the public.
In the case in point Governor
Fisher had other than personal rea-
sons for bestowing favor on Mr.
Grundy. They are both Republi-
cans of the Pennsylvania variety.
That is to say, differing from the
Republican of the West and most of
those of other States in the Ameri-
can Republic, Fisher and Grundy
would change the form of our gov-
ernment so as to give wealth great-
er power and worth less. This is a
recent concept in the mind of
Grundy, approved by Fisher and
Senator Reed, and possibly concur-
red in by the Mellons. In appoint-
ing Mr. Grundy to the Senate Gov-
ernor Fisher probably hopes to
popularize that political philosophy.
He at least gives it a foothold in
the official life of the State.
Then there is the element of
gratitude to consider, Fisher owes
much to Grundy for the political
favors he has received, vastly out
of proportion to his merits, in the
past. During his service as State
Senator the friendship between
Fisher and Grundy began. Grundy
was lobbying against welfare and
labor legislation and Fisher became
his willing instrument of expres-
sion. In 1922 Grundy tried to force
Fisher on the party as candidate
for Governor anc. failing used him
to nominate Pinchot. In 1926
Grundy forced the Mellons to ac-.
cept Fisher as the price of his sup-
port of Pepper for Senator. Accord-
ing to his sworn testimony he pre-
ferred Vare to Pepper but wanted
Fisher at any price,
In small minds revenge exercises
a potent influence. In the discus-
sion of the subject in the Senate
some of the Senators cast asper-
sions on the Governor's title to of-
fice as well as upon Grundy's fit-
ness to serve as Senator. The
Governor bitterly resented this
liberty of speech and applied op-
probrious epithets to those who in-
dulged = it. He imagined that
forcing Grundy . into fellowship with
men who despised him would be fit
punishment for their temerity if it
may be called that. Probably that
had something to do with the affair
To a reasoning mind it would seem
that Grundy would be the greater
sufferer from such a combination
of circumstances. But Fisher's is
not a reasoning mind. :
Taking all these considerations
together the appointment of Grundy
was the logical solution of the prob-
lem, Clearly Grundy was not
chosen because of any valuable
service he had ever rendered to
the people of Pennsylvania. Certain-
ly he was not selected because of
superior equipment in the qualities
of statesmanship. He was not so
honored above others of his party
with the view of enticing other
Senators to a kindly feeling toward
the interests and aspirations of the
State. Then the influencing cause of
Grundy’s appointment must have
been one, some or all of the rea-
sons above given, and considering
the mental and moral equipment of
those . concerned it was a natural
selection. 1
—We fear that the value of the
Watchman as an advertising medium
is not understood by some people.
Last week we gratuitously made
mention of a young man’s having
gone into business for himself in
Bellefonte. We did it because he was
courteous and . interested .in our
troubles when we had occasion to
resort to the place of his previous
regular employment. He didn't read
the Watchman-—probably knew that
such a paper is published in Belle-
fonte—but couldn't understand why
he suddenly got a nice run of busi-
ness until some. of his unexpected
patrons told him that they had seen
what the Watchman said about him
and had come to try his wares. As
a matter ‘of fact we ‘think the
Watchman is a mighty potential ad-
vertising medium for two reasons:
First it has been fearless in telling
the truth about all things so consist-
ently that its readers have a Te-
spect for its sayings that they don’t
have for many other papers. Sec-
family, too; if what we're thinking
now brings memories back to you.
ond: It's readers are the kind of
people whose trade is worth having.
. running mate next
Reason—io balance
Virtue—and deeds,
Enough lo gladden
Christ = Love
= = Tbe spirit of Christmas = =
IH
Charity—full, free for each day.
ope—io hearten us on our way,
Wdeals—to “starr” us through the throng.
Staunchness—for friend and foe, alike,
Temptations—enough to prove our might
Wove—rlo broaden our clouded sight,
Order—io place all thought aright.
DECEMBER 20. 1
right and wrong
and actions done,
each day begun.
WINIFRED B. MEEK-MORRIS, 1929
Mellon Demands Martin for Gover-
nor
At a conference held in New
York, last Sunday, State Treasurer
Edward Martin was selected asthe
Republican candidate for Governor
next year, Those in the conference
were Governor Fisher, Senator
Grundy, Mr. Martin and W. L. Mel-
lon, Martin is the choice of the
Mellon contingent. It is understood
that Grundy preferred Samuel Lew-
is, who has long been a Grundy
follower. The Mellon adherents ar
a trifie afraid of putting too uel
power in the hands of the new
Senator, however, and have asked
him to accept Martin, to which, ac-
cording to gossip, he has acceded,
Possibly they will allow the voters
of the party to select the candidate
for Lieutenant Governor.
The selection of General Martin
has not been cordially received by
the party leaders outside of the
Mellon coterie. His administration
of the office of State chairman has
not been either successful or sat-
isfactory. It is said that he was
responsible for the break in West-
moreland county which resulted in
the nomination of a Democrat by
the Republicans for judge, He was
also blamed for bad conditions in
Erie and Fayette counties and the
labor element of the party is open-
ly antagonistic to him. Then a
strong voice has been raised against .
him in Philadelphia. ‘The leaders
there protest that inasmuch as
‘Vare has been cruelly knifed one
of his friends ought to be nominat-
ed for Governor and have put the
name of Francis Shunk Brown into
the running,
‘After the conference, which was
held in Grundy’s apartment in a
hotel in New York, Governor Fish-
er boldly proclaimed Grundy as su-
preme boss of the party in Penn-
sylvania. This declaration didn’t
create a tuneful sound in the ears;
‘of the Philadelphia crowd. Some of
the county leaders also remonstrat-
ed against it as too hasty a conclu-
sion. But the Governor relies upon
the force of Mellon and Grundy,
which pulled him out of a bad hole
in 1926. He seems oblivious of the
fact that the Mellon influence was
at its peak then and hasbeen wan-
ing since. It may be able to com-
pel Grundy to accept Martin as his
years, but that
invites doubts of the future.
If all the money is spent in
improvements within the next year
that has been promised in the va-
rious Presidential conferences there
will be a scarcity of labor instead
of a condition of unemployment.
—— We ask Mr. Grundy no rec-
ompense for unsolicited informa-
tion but take the liberty to inform
him that his troubles are only be-
ginning,
~
— The saxophone has been in-
voked as an instrument in. surgery.
That is the first valid excuse for
the saxophone.
—-_ The deficit of the Postoffice
Department for the fiscal year last
ended ‘was $85,000,000, but nobody
complains. .
———QCeneral Butler seems to have
been talking too freely and too
frankly,
An Interesting Scrimmage Spoiled.
If Mr, Vare’s health had not so
opportunely broken we might have
had a lovely scrimmage in the Re-
publican primary campaign next
Spring. As conditions were when
Mr. Grundy donned the Senatorial
toga on Thursday the chances for
combinations were exceptionally
bright. Grundy is under obligation
to enter the contest for the nom-
ination and with Vare and Pinchot
in competition, and an alert public
watching the distribution of the
.a hard fight with an uncertain re-
sult. But it may now be assumed
that Vare is out of it entirely and
Pinchot is too wise or too timid to
undertake a single-handed battle
with the Mellon machine.
It is certain that the machine
will have a combination but thus
far no hint has been given as to
the candidate for Governor,
cording to the ‘“dope” current at
Harrisburg and Philadelphia if Mr.
Vare’s health had not broken Secre-
tary of Labor Davis would - have
been his condidate for Governor
and the ticket would have made a
“strong appeal to the labor element
of the electorate. Upon the same
authority it may be said that Ma-
rine General Smedly Darlington But-
ler would have been on the Pinchot
slate for Governor asan enticement
to the soldier element. It is whis-
pered that Uncle Andy Mellon has
a strong inclination in favor of
former Ambassador Fletcher for
Governor on the Grundy slate.
In such a three-cornered contest
one guess would be as good as an-
other as to the result. The Mellon
machine has been waning in strength
for some time and with Vare in
full vigor in Philadelphia the Grun-
dy influence would be of little
value, With Vare retired. which
now seems more than probable,
Grundy would most likely inherit
' the Philadelphia contingent and re-
new the lease of the Mellon crowd
to control of the State organization
for “four years more.” But it will
not be an easy or peaceful party
administration. The opposition of
the labor organizations to Grundy
is of long standing and deep seated,
and though his nomination may be
easily accomplished his election is
| anything but certain
—Senator Heflin has been prop-
erly kicked out of the Democratic
party of Alabama. If the charge
of disloyalty doesn’t stand the fact
that he is a nuisance is available,
——The Soviet government of
Russia has given a broad hint to
Secretary of State Stimson that it
would be wise - for the United
States to mind its own business.
— Commander Byrd, having
flown over the South Pole, says the
purpose of his expedition has been
achieved but he will continue his
work -for a while longer,
——Two men trying to get them-
selves arraigned for murder was a
novelty of the Montgomery county
court the other day.
——Vare’s health again becomes
an important factor in the politics
of Pennsylvania. :
—Subscribe
“Bill” Fielding to Enter Welfare
Work in City.
“Every cop is a social welfare
worker. Some of them know it and
do a good job, but many of them
don’t know it and that's what
causes confusion and misunderstand-
,’ declared Lieut Billy Fielding,
of the Greenwich street police sta-
tion, New York city, to a newspa-
per man last week. The lieutenant
has spent twenty-five years as a
“cop” in New York and on New
Year's day he will sign his desk
, blotter for the last time and retire
on a pension. But he don't propose
to sit down in a comfortable chair
and twirl his thumbs the balance of
his life. No, indeed! He’s going to de-
vote the rest of his years to wel-
fare work, and from the way he
looked the last time the writer saw
him he ought to be good for twenty-
five years at that job. His field of
work is to be with some large in-
dustrial corporation and he has sév-
eral in view,
Lieut. Fielding is a son of the
late Mr. and Mrs, John Fielding (or
Felding) and was born in Buffalo
Run valley 52 years ago. The fam-
ily later lived at Houserville and for
a time at Oak Hall. William was
educated in the pubic schools of the
county and was 21 years old when
the Spanish-American war broke
out. He joined company B and
went south for service under Col, H.
S. Taylor, but failed to reach Cuba.
Of sturdy build he went to New
York in 1904 and took the examina.
tion for appointment on the police
force and made good. During his
twenty-five years he has served in
every capacity from the ordinary pa-
trolman “cop” to desk sergeant, and
that is why he knows that every
“cop is,” or should be, “a social wel-
fare worker.”
Mr. Fielding, by the way, married
a Centre county young woman, Miss
Sarah C. Keichline, a daughter of
the late George Keichline, of Fergu-
son township, and they live in a
very comfortable home at 21 Sea
View avenue, Uew Dorp, Staten
Island, During their quarter of a
century's residence in New York
“they made it a point to return to
Ac-'
Centre county every year or two
and their last home trip was in
September, 1927, when the lieuten-
ant was driving a new Reo car and
was as chipper as the day he don-
ned his first cop’s uniform,
Christmas in Russia.
From the Harrisburg Telegraph.
Wouldn't you love to live in Rus-
sia? The Soviet government has
just banned the sale of toys there
lest somebody might celebrate
Christmas, There shall be no o0b-
servances of the holiday, the author-
ities have decided. “Down with
religion,” cry the Bolsheviks,”
“down with all things spiritual.
This is a material world.”
Poor fools! They're more to be
pitied than censured, to use the
refrain of an old song. Material?
Why Christmas isnot only spiritual;
it is in its essentials all of that, in-
deed, but it has another side, too.
Christmas in the United States is
the occasion for the spending of
hundreds of millions of dollars.
Many mills and factories exist only
because of the Christmas trade. If
America should = stop celebrating
Christmas thousands of people would
find themselves suddenly out of
work and thousands of storekeepers
and clerks would be seriously af-
fected, This must be true of Rus-
sia, too, for Christmas was a great
feast day in that country in the old
days.
For a decade, now, Russians have
been told there is no God. They
have been preached at and scolded
on the score of religion, Priests
have been murdered and churches
desecrated. But still the urge to
celebrate Christmas is so great that
the Soviet government must
an official ukase to prevent the sale
of toys and a general observance of
the day. :
The Bolsheviks apparently are of
! the opinion that they can change
i
1
i
human nature overnight. They are
seemingly in utter ignorance of the
fact that the feast of Christmas
and its attemdant customs, develop-
ed through centuries, are society's
‘response to a profound human need,
The impulse lies beyond the limited
vision of those
of a moment of temporal power
are attempting to abolish God.
Christmas will be celebrated long
after the Russian mis-adventure
shall have become ancient history
__half-forgotten except
and scholars.
: ere
——By way of adding a little to
the joy of the Christmas season we
want to kid the local shoe dealer
who is advertising foot-wear for
“women of all rubber construction.”
Also the Altoona movie proprietor
who has a show in which he says
there are “1000 girls, all natural
color.”
case - presumes something very umn-
usual in feminine ‘composition,
—Tomorrow, December. 21st, 1s
for the Watchman. the shortest day in the year.
“200 pounds each which were
issue
who in the vainglory
by students ’
¥ . and well-dressed bandits held up and
One must admit that either -
SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE
| —An eight-legged deer was found shot
near Laurelton. W. C. Burns, of North-
umberland, found it. There were two
"gets of legs. fF . eb frad
—Contending that his wife played
“too rough,” Sidney Woods, of Newell,
Fayette county, has filed a libel in
divorce against Frances E. Woods, now
of Jessup, Ga. He says she broke his
finger with a poker, threw a flat iron
at him and was so troublesome that he
could not sleep nights.
| ~The home of Mr. and Mrs. Harry
Stapleton, of Fostoria, was visited by
thieves who stole 75 pounds of lard and
all the meat from two hogs, weighing
recently
butchered. The meat was in a shed.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Stapleton is
under quarantine, a child there being ill.
—Six carloads of brick, 21,000 of
them, each nine inches in length, were
shipped from the Curwensville plant of
the American Refractories company last
week, their destination being the Phil-
ippines islands. They were purchased
by the United States government and
H. M. Merryman, an inspector for the
navy department, approved them before
the cars were sealed. The shipment
totaled 164,000 pounds.
—A $20,000 verdict awarded to Mr.
and Mrs, William Grimes, of Williams-
port, plaintiffs in a suit against Mrs:
Dorothy Hergesheimer, wife of Joseph
Hergesheimer, well known megazine
writer and author, by a Chester county
jury, by agreement of counsel, was re-
duced to $13,000. Grimes and his wife
were injured when their machine was
struck by the -Hergesheimer limousine at
at Chester road and West Chester pike.
—After years of search the efforts of
the Lycoming county historical society
have been rewarded in the acquisition
of a dug out canoe such as was used
in the early navigation of the rivers of
Pennsylvania. The canoe is made from
a white pine log with a flat bottom and
sharp pointed bow and stern. It is
about twenty-five feet long, eighteen
inches in width and twelve inches in
depth. It can accommodate several per-
sons and was evidently propelled with a
long pole.
—Capitalists have recently been seek-
ing information in regard to the water
power owned by the Mann Edge Tool
company near Mill Hall, The present
concrete dam was built several years
ago, and succeeded the old leaky dam
which was built in the summer of 1889
and was washed out in the flood of that
year. The several large streams that
empty into the dam are fed from a
number of never-failing springs. The
water supply is adequate for any de-
mand that may be needed.
—Falling headfirst to the cement floor
of the state highway department ware-
house below Selinsgrove, Russell RE.
Yoder, aged 27, an employee of the de-
partment was instantly killed. His
neck was broken in the drop of twenty
feet. Mr. Yoder, who was a graduate of
the Selinsgrove High school, had been
employed by the department since 1924.
He was assisting on electrical work, and
it is believed that he fell from a rafter
and plunged through the thin sheeting
of plaster board. He was dead when
fellow workmen reached him.
—Acquisition of a tract of 1643 acres
of land in Lancaster county, six ‘miles
north of Ephrata, was announced by the
State Game Commission today. Two
other tracts were purchased in Monroe
and Sullivan counties, the three pur-
chases aggregating 8474 acres. The com-
mission now owns 160,034 acres, of
! which 27,530 are refuges on which hunt-
ing is prohibited. The Montgomery
' County Sportsmens’ Association present-
ed the commission with a check for
$393 to perpetuate the dedication of the
Fisher State game farm in that county.
—Guy C. Brosius, of Lock Haven, sup-
erintendent of the Clinton county pub-
lic schools, has interested himself in the
advancement of music and art in the
country schools during the past several
years, and the school districts of Mil
Hall, Flemington, Lamar, Beech Creek
borough, in Clinton county, and the Lib-
erty township High school board of Cen-
tre county, have cooperated in securing a
music supervisor’ for their schools. An
organization meeting of these school
boards will be held in the near future
when a music supervisor will be selected
from any applicants who may have pre-
sented themselves with the proper cre-
dentials by that time.
—Paul Fisher, 77, Phoenixville, must
pay the Phoenixville hospital $5009.02
for medical treatment and board the
Chester county court decided this week.
The court refused to open a judgment
in that amount placed against the aged
man. Fisher was seriously injured in
August, 1924, when an iron beam fell
on his leg while he was working at the
Phoenixville iron works. He was re-
“moved to the hospital, where he stayed
nearly five years. According to hospital
authorities, Fisher represented he had
no funds, but was able to pay $6 a
week. Later, the hospital learned he
had $6500 in bank and charged him at
the rate of $3 a day.
— Working desperately, a first aid
crew restored consciousness to Jeff De-
voge, 32, a West Penn Power company
I employee, after the man had been
struck by 44,000 volts of electricity, at
Ridgway . on Saturday. Devoge was in-
stalling new circuit breakers in the
_ Ridgway sub-station of the company
when fellow employees saw a flash of
light and then found his body on the
floor. He was picked up for dead but
recovered after artificial respiration was
resorted to by the first aid crew. Itis
believed that the current jumped from
the high. tension line to Devoge’s body
rather than that he actually came into
contact with the line itself. He was
burned about the head and shoulders.
—Entering two Atlantic and Pacific
stores, in Harrisburg, three youthful
robbed the stores and patrons Saturday
evening, escaping with $360 in cash and
a watch after binding attendants and
customers ‘and ° forcing them into a
closet. e robberies ocurred within
‘fifteen miutes of each other, the ban-
dits entering 1924 State street, taking
$200 there and’ then the ‘store at
Seventeenth and Walnut streets, where
they struck a - clerk, Paul Davidson,
over the head with ‘a gun when he did
not move fast enough to suit them. The
bandits obtained ' $140 from the store
and $20 from John Howells, a customer,
at the second - store. A similar robbery
was reported two hours later in York,
$130 being taken.