— Don't dispair! If you can’t find
a tea room or gas station to operate
it's not too late to run for a county
office.
— Probably President Hoover
would be perfectly willing to reveal
his attitude on the prohibition ques-
tion if he knew it himself.
——— The suffering in the drought
regions is increasing but the vic-
tims have assurance that the heart
of the administration is bleeding for
them.
~The Butler incident having
developed the fact that Connie
Vanderbilt did meet Mussolini what's
the use of pursuing the subject fur-
ther?
Let us hope that the investi-
gation of the Public Service Com-
mission will be searching and com-
plete. There are plenty of reasons
for it.
— Wouldn't it be funny if Gen.
Butler should prove that he told the
truth about Mussolini. What would
Washington do then? Recall the
apology ?
—— President Hoover is determin-
ed to have his own way in every-
thing. Probably a sharp rebuke
might be a good remedy for such
obstinence.
— A bill to establish the whip-
ping post in Pennsylvania has been
introduced in the General Assembly,
and that expresses the refinement
of futility.
We are beginning to wonder
whether the Weather Man might
have listened in on the prayers that
went up to Heaven to make this
country dry.
——Maybe if Mrs. Sabin will
promise to pay all the expenses
Professor Irving Fisher will accept
her invitation to spend five days in
a speak easy.
—The period of Nick Longworih’s
control of the government of the
United States is drawing to a close.
The 4th of March is only a trifie
more than a month off.
We'd like to laugh at the way
the State College Times kicked
hog day around in its last
issue, but we can't because we did
the same thing last year.
Snow Shoe Intersection are appre-
hended we hope the law will show
no mercy. Such wanton devilish-
ness we have seldom heard of.
— President Hoover's statement of
his case against Congress, that was
released on Tuesday, got him just
about as far as the report of the
wi m co : the
enforcement problem
tion. ;
“Alfalfa Bill” Murray, Governor
of Oklahoma, has made Will Rogers
a colonel on his staff. Will is to
pe “in charge of the nut brigade.”
«Alfalfa Bill" picked just the right
leader if he expects to do any
paradin’ himself.
—By way of adding a little opti-
mism to the outlook we wish to an-
nounce that our January business
was just $1.81 more than that of
January, 1930. Gosh, if that keeps
up we see a six-year old winter over-
coat on the way to
mage sale.
—If you need any lions, tigers or
elephants now would be a good time
to buy. They are lower in the
London market than they have been
for years. The prices on rhinoceroses
and giraffes have not fallen much,
but you can probably get along
without them.
Yes, there are dogs with neuter
gender. Johnny Doblebower, of Cur-
tin street, Bellefonte, went up to the
County Treasurer's office some days
ago to get a license for his pet.
When asked: “Is it a male or fe-
male?” He replied: “It ain't neither.
Its an a-i-r-d-a-l-e!”
— Unless Governor Pinchot hurries
up and does something for the
faithful in Centre county there is
ing to be a lot of eye trouble to
be looked after here. His lieutenants
have been stretching their optic
nerves in order to see johs in Har-
risburg entirely too long.
—Last year Pennsylvania autoists
paid sixty-six million dollars in va-
rious forms of taxes for the privi-
lege of driving cars. It is likely
that last year Pennsylvania land-
lords, tradesmen and gas dealers
lost pretty nearly a like sum in
bad debts because they had
privilege.
—Dr. Einstein has expressed the
belief that the Earth is now in a state
of explosion. With the political
eruptions in Washington, the siesmic | his own advantage.
tremors all over the country and
the volcanoes of the Pacific coast
spitting lava Dr. Einstein might
have impressed us as being more pro-
found if he had told us something
new,
New Zealand has been shaken
nearly to pieces by an earthquake
and a new island has appeared In
the Pacific, off the coast of Mexico.
Almost, if our name was Noah and
we had the money to do it with,
we think we would start building
an ark. So many weird things are
happening that we are at a loss to
know why some fanatical evangelist
is not capitalizing a revival on the
“world's coming to an end."
tained by the Democrats was in the
| Muscle Shoals matter and even that
| wil be irretrievably lost unles
toward solu-|
! sion
next fall's rum-
BE reer
VOL. 76.
Democratic Senators Too Easy.
In opposing an appropriation of
funds for building transmission lines
at the Muscle Shoals plant Senator
Robinson is not only serving the
interests of the Hoover administra-
tion but he is promoting the pur-
pose of the Power Trust to seize that
valuable property of the people, Af-
ter ten years of strenuous work
Senator Norris has finally forced
Congress to sanction government
operation of the Muscle Shoals
plant. But the achievement is of
no value without transmission lines,
and in the absence of an appropria-
tion to build them there can be no
lines, In fighting the appropria-
tion, therefore, the Democratic floor
leader is playing into the hands of
the Power Trust.
Are the Democratic leaders of
the Senate basking in the sunshine
of a fool's paradise? Are they un-
able to see that the paramount
political issue of the future is pow-
er control? It is coming from all
directions ‘and increasing in force
as it comes. For years the Republi-
can party has been giving it aid
and comfort and unless it is check-
ed in the near future it will have
acquired a strength that is invul-
nerable. Calvin Coolidge invested
it with new life and strength by
his “pocket” veto twe years ago,
and by the profligate use of money
‘it controlied the election of 1928.
If the pending appropriation for lay-
ing transmission lines at Muscle
Shoals is defeated it will control
in 1932.
Senator Robinson is wise and
fully justified in insisting on an
appropriation, in the form of a
“rider” for the relief of the drought
victims in Arkansas. But he is
neither wise nor consistent in o0p-
If the vandals who wrecked the
interior of that summer home up at |
‘building transmission lines at Muscle
| Shoals. The President and the Re-
posing an appropriation, because it
is a “rider” for the purpose of
publican leaders of the Senate have
‘been making monkeys of the Demo-
| crats ever since the present session
began. The only advantage ob-'
tion for building 8-
lines is made, This can be ac-.
| complished by united and determined |
| effort.
| The Hoover administration can't
compensation
| afford an extra session of Congress.
| The Republican party will make any
| concession to avert an early assem-
bling of the new Congress. That
being true the minority in the pres-
‘ent Congress has a right to demand
fair play in legislation. They have
| not received ic thus far and are not
likely to if they yield everything.
Pinchot Police Plan Fallacious.
In a recent letter to Governor
Pinchot Assemblyman Musmanno, of
Pittsburgh, urges the Governor to
abandon his plan to substitute an-
other system for the coal and iron
police and gives substantial as well
as persuasive reason for his action.
“I deem the plan announced by your
excellency fallacious,” he writes, for
the reason “that it would mean the
sale of the police power by the
| State thereby cheapening the sover-
eignty of the Commonwealth. With
the corporations paying these police
‘they would scarcely be considered
‘neutral and in time of strife their
'allegiance would naturally be to
| their paymasters.”
Mr. Musmanno advances other
| forceful reasons for objecting to the
| Governor's plan. It would obligate
the State to pay the expense of
| training and maintaining a force
“created solely for the benefit of
| private interests,” and ‘“perple in-
| jured or families of people killed
| would have no redress” for the rea-
'son that the “Supreme court has
‘held that police upon whom general
| police powers have been conferred |
|are State officers, even though work- |
‘ing for corporations.” His statement
| that all these dangers would come
| after the Pinchot term expires is |
merely a tub to the Governor's
vanity whale. He probably knows
| that the Governor is not averse to
‘using any instrument available for
| But no argument, however force-
ful, is likely to disturb the Pinchot
| egoism. The Governor has con-
| ceived the notion that a police force |
| selected by himself will check the
|abuses and cure the evils of the
|coal and iron police and he will
| stick to it. Of course the General
| Assembly has power to frame legis-
| lation and enact laws and if a sen-
‘sible measure, authorizing corpora- |
| tions to employ men to protect their
| property without investing them
| with police power, is passed he may |
|sign it. But it will be a reluctant |
| service for the Governor covets |
| power and cherishes what seems an |
| excellent opportunity to acquire it. 3
BELLEFONTE, PA.
| satisfied.
| Service Commission had asked
| privilege of naming three members Guate,
‘of the committee it would have been
‘John Barton Payne, executive head
|urge the General Assembly to cut
| of the President, that the $10,000,- |
‘will die.
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION.
Everybody Ought to be Satisfied.
There ought to be no serious op-
position to the joint resolution in-
troduced by Senator Ernest, of Har-
risburg, recently. It proposes &
joint legislative investigation of the
Public Service Commission. That
body has been under criticism for’
many years. It has been charged
with favoring the utility corpora-
tions in practically every case
brought before it in which such
corporations were concerned. The
resolution is absolutely fair in its |
provisions. It proposes a joint com-
mittee composed of an equal num-
ber from each branch, It is assum-
ed that the Senate is against the
Governor and the House in his fa- |
vor. If that be true neither hasan
advantage. It's a 50-50 proposition.
In the recent campaign Governor
Pinchot made aspersions against
the Public Service Commission the
paramount issue. That being the
case his friends have no reason to
complain of an inquiry by a joint
committee on which he is quite as
strong as his enemies. The mem-
bers of the Public Service Commis-
sion are entitled to a full and fair
hearing of the charges that have |
been made against them. With
equal representation on the board of |
inquisition they ought to be satis-!
fied. The public wants neither
persecution nor favoritism as the
result of the investigation and isen-
titled to a just verdict. Taking all |
these conditions into consideration
everybody interested ought to be
But according to current gossipat|
Harrisburg and newspaper state-
ments there is no such harmony.’
The friends of the Governor in the |
Senate have demanded that he be,
allowed to name three members of |
the joint committee. That would
give his friends an assured control |
of the report, if one is ever made,
If the purpose of the inquiry is to
disclose the facts there is no need
for assured control on either side.
With a committee equally divideda
false report would be impossible even
though it were the purpose of one
side or the other. If the Public
laughed out of court.
certificates now
impair the bond
is compensation
would save the lives of some
improve the health of many
men.
might |
market, but there
and
i
{
i
Shameful Spectacle to Contemplate.
The administration at Washington
continues “to play politics at the
expense of human misery.” Under |
the direct tutelage of the President
the House Committee on Appropria-
tions has refused to concur in the
Senate rider on the Interior Depart-
ment supply bill appropriating $25,-
000,000 for relief of the practically |
starving drought sufferers. The pur-
pose of this cruelty was to support
the President in a controversy with
the Senate. It is felt by the friends
of the administration that victory
of the Senate would be interpreted
as a rebuke to the President which
would seriously impair Mr. Hoover's
chances of re-election. They are!
willing to imperil the lives of mil-
lions to promote his ambition. |
The worst feature of this astound-
| October,
]
The Wall Street panic occurred in
1929, and the
ployment set in soon after.
the year that elapsed between that
FEBRUARY 6, 1931
Hoover, Selfish, Smug and Partisan.
industrial
depression and paralyzing unem-
During
disaster and the Congressional elec- |
tion of last year President Hoover
| did nothing of value or merit to
remedy the distress which was ap-
parent to every healthy mind. The
Democratic Senators and Represen-
tatives in Congress urged paliative
and remedial legislation, some of
which was adopted by the Senate.
But the Republican majority in the
House of Representatives, it is said,
under the mandate of the President,
stifled it in committees or mutilated
it on the floor of that chamber.
When the result of the vote of last
November revealed to his conscious-
ness the temper of the popular mind
Mr. Hoover got busy. During the
long regular session of the Seventy-
first Congress and the equally pro-
longed special session he smugly
sat in the White House like a
Sphinx while Jim Watson, Joe Grun-
dy and Nick Longworth played
politics and the unemployment in-
creased and the physical suffering
of the people multiplied. He even
imagined that the people were enam-
ored of him and his methods. But
when he discovered that his party's
control was in danger and his chances
of re-election menaced he promptly
set ahout devising remedial meas-
ures and proposed corrective legis-
lation.
These facts show that Herbert
Hoover is not concerned in the in-
terests or prosperity of the people.
The legislation urged by Senator
Wagner, Democrat, of New York,
might not have produced an im-
mediate restoration of prosperity.
But it would have mitigated the dis-
| tress, palliated the evil and hasten-
ed the remedy. But because Sena-
tor Wagner is a Democrat, and for
the reason that some of the credit
| for improvement might have gone
to the
Hoover deliberately compassed its
defeat. When Senator
Democrat of Arkansas, proposed a
sure. of relief which was ade-
absurd reason
called a “dole.”
that it might be
| Since the World war this country the State may calculate
Possibly paying the soldiers has had the most corrupt adminis- correctly and make
tration in its history under Harding,
the most stupid under Coolidge and
der Hoover. Thank heaven the
| sources.
ter rations,
from the drought.
NO. 6.
Drought Hits the Cities,
From the Philadelphia Public Ledger.
The agricultural lands of the
South are not the only sufferers
Pennsylvania
has been hard hit. Parts of Ohio, of
New Jersey, large sections of New
land and now New York are
feeling it. And the effects now be-
ing felt most are not agricultural;
they are distinctly urban. There is
a general water shortage.
New York's predicament has been
revealed by a survey of the supply
available in the city's normal
This shows that there is
now sufficient water for only a little
more than four months. Unless
heavy snows or rains come mean-
while, this means that late spring
or early summer will find America's
biggest city on decidedly short wa-
The supply now in
storage in the four principal systems
is approximately half that in a nor-
mal year.
This situation is duplicated in a
score of Pennsylvania cities and
towns, in Ohio, in New England, in
a dozen other States. Normal sup-
plies shrunken by last summer's
lack of rainfall and given but little
help by the winter's extremely light
snowfalls, have dwindled or disap-
peared. Emergency supplies have
been tapped, and even they have
dwindled.
The rural districts felt this pinch
months ago. Wells and springs
never before dry have failed. Even
in the far north the lack of water |
was felt, lakes and streams being at
low levels, game birds and fishes
suffering. Now the effect has crept
all the way down to the Gulf, and
Louisiana's pelicans are dying from
water shortage and disease.
The aftermath of the drought has
struck, and its worst blow falls on
those cities which depend on the
streams for their water. The win-
ter, more than half gone, has
brought little relief. Philadelphia,
Pittsburgh, St, Louis, Omaha, even
Seattle and Los Angeles, are ask-
ing, “Will the snows come, and will
they be sufficient?”
Bruening Prescribes for Germany.
| From the Philadelphia Record.
Democratic party, President
| Bruening, prepared
Robinson, | new session
{
|
in the hope that it! the most fanatical and partisan un-
The German Chancellor, Herr
the way for the
of the national Legisla
ture by giving the people some
straight, hard talk. He bored right
welrock. » 3 -
Hoover objécted to it for the down to
Forget reparations for a while,
Rearrange public and private fi-
nances; live economically, so that
its income
its appropria-
tions effectively. That was the sum
and substance of the
speech.
Chancellor Bruening reminded the
oe —
SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE,
| —John Pastal, Lebanon barber, has
done his share toward aiding the unem-
ployed. In one day recently he cut the
hair of more than seventy needy pers
sons free of charge.
—In commemoration of the services of
the late Dr. Charles Thomas Aikens dur-
ing his 22 years as president of Susque-
hanna University, his portrait was un-
veiled in Seibert Hall at the University,
on Monday night, as the gift of the
Ladies Auxiliary of the institution.
i —'1 didn’t care whether I profited by
it or not,” said Louis Pieri, cigar store
owner at Mahoney City, on Monday,
when asked why he acted so rashly
during a poker game. Pieri had drawn
‘a royal flush, the first one in his life-
!time, and in his excitement threw the
cards on the table and failed to profit by
the hand.
—After a silence of nearly 100 years,
the Liberty Bell in Independence hall,
| Philadelphia, is to be rung again. Plans
to have the bell tapped 13 times, once
for each of the original States, on Feb-
ruary 22, were announced by the George
Washington bicentennial commission last
week. It will be heard ona nation-
wide radio hook-up.
—Thieves usually break into places,
but Hazleton offers a thief who broke
out. He hid in the Feeley theatre and
after it closed for the night found that
everything valuable was in the safe in
the office. So he took a block of wood,
smashed a plate glass door and escaped.
He got away before the police, attracted
by the crash, could reach the main en-
trance.
—Fly-by night merchants are classified
in Hazleton as those who do not stay
in business for at least one year and
those who go there as transients will
find that the rules have been changed.
Instead of $100 flat fee for less than a
year, a license of $250 a month must be
taken out. The change was made by
City Council at the request of local
business men.
— Frank W. Mountz, 32, shot and kill-
ed himself at his home in North Middle-
ton township, Monday morning, in view
of his wife and children, after wrangling
with his wife because she trumped a
trick of his ata card party at a
neighbor's home Sunday night. Returning
from the party, the family quarrel last-
ed a couple of hours, and the children
were aroused from sleep to see their
father kill himself on a side porch.
Identification of the man who shot
himself and then plunged into the upper
rapids of the Niagara river near the
brink of the American falls, last week,
was established as Harry L. MacLay,
60 years old, of Huntingdon, Pa. Iden-
tification was made by Irving I. Cannon.
| of Niagara Falls. Cannon sald that
MacLay was an uncle of his first wife
| and that before he left Huntingdon on
| Wednesday told a friend that he in-
| tended to commit suicide. When the
| friend read in the newspapers of the
| Falls suicide he immediately telephoned
| Cannon and asked him to view the
| body.
—According to reports announced Mon-
'day by Secretary of Health Dr. Theo-
dore B. Appel, from the bureau of com-
municable diseases, the diphtheria inel-
dent for the past twelve months in
Pennsylvania has been the lowest in the
| of the Commonwealth. Natural
i on, and toxin antl-toxin cam-
paigns, particularly the latter, have
been given credit by Dr. Campbell,
chief of the bureau of communicable dis-
eases, for this unusual record. The re-
port further advises there is every indi-
cation that the present si lar de-
crease in diphtheria will continue ita
course.
people that debt collection by the:
Allies is not an isolated cause of
good ! present indications point to an end Garmany's troubles. The young re-
of such humiliations as well as of
| public, like all other nations, should
the corrupt political machine which realize that four years of world war
has been responsible for all
of them. must inevitably be followed by a
In his frantic appeal for funds for long period of constricted living—
the Red Cross Mr. Hoover confesses
the inadequacy of the appropriation
he insists on.
Governor Pinchot’'s Budget Message.
Governor Pinchot's message and
bly in joint
i
and Germany has been mon-
ey for “things that turned out to
be unproductive.”
Enlighted opinion everywhere rec-
that there must be still
further readjustments of the war
debt problem. Germany is not be-
ing hounded; no loser in a great
budget read to the General Assem- war ever was let off so easily. Most
ag jon ob Tuesd wih the plain people
of Germany
perceive that fact. Their
afternoon, presented an interesting task is to get the better of the
and comprehensive survey of
fiscal affairs of the State as they
appear to his optimistic mind. He
expects to have available during the
biennium $347,425,251.64 and recom-
that sum.
complish that right away, but
the funds are zvailable,”
|
ing situation is that the Red Cross clares “it is the largest undertaking |
organization, with all its glorious |
traditions of beneficence, is being |
prostituted to this base service.
of the organization, appeared before
the committee and declared that
the Red Cross would refuse to dis-|
burse the fund even if Congress |
voted the appropriation, This abdica- |
tion of a function which the Red
Cross has cheerfully end faithfully |
performed for nearly a hundred |
years is the most dastardly event of |
are other agencies of benevolence |
less amendable to sinister influences.
The Salvation Army is ready and
willing to perform this service.
It is admitted, even by the friends
000 which the Red Cross is collect-
ing will be inadequate and the Sen-
ate resolution provides for covering
into the treasury any surplus of
the appropriation. Therefore there |
is no possibility of waste of funds.
It is not the purpose of the Senate
to embarrass the President. The
intention is, and was, to supply im- |
mediate relief for present suffering.
The people in the drought
are starving now. Unless relief is
provided soon thousands of them |
To avert such a calamity |
the appropriation was offered. To |
promote the ambition of an
cient public official it is resisted. It
is a shameful spectacle to contem-|
plate, :
ever contemplated by any highway
department on earth
|
i
the yammering minority that doesn’t
want a settlement—wants nothing
but continued trouble and unrest.
And if the plain people of Ger-
many are as wise as we think they
they will see that the Chan-
| | are, {
'mends the appropriation of exactly | oo’ ve advice, to “lay off” repara- |
He proposes to take .;,,, for a while and set their own
over and maintain 20,000 miles Of pouse in order, will have precisely
‘rural roads, doesn’t promise to &c- the effect of facilitating a final read-
“when justment of war
and he de- ors’
debts, on the credit-
own initiative.
Bruening packed volumes of mean-
ing into one sentence: “There
nothing more dangerous than public
belief that the State can and must
Governor Pinchot asks but doesn't pear all the burden.”
the auto license fees and the
for driver's licenses and
shaving the allowance for various
activities. But the Executive De-
partment is not among those to be
so treated. During the last bien-
nium of the Fisher administration
the appropriation for that service
recent history. Fortunately there 1d
that it be increased to $943,900. It|$0,0 ,
is true that he adds some expensive |
additions to its activities and iin hc think of this State in terms of he was in
$467,400. Mr. Pinchot asks
sonnel
grasp the full power of disburse-
ment and complete control of its
operations.
The Governor is generous enough
in some directions and there might .,
be at least a suspicion that in this 000,000
influenced to | suppose
the lat Cornwall, near Lebanon, as by-
election, For example, he recommends | products of the iron ore taken
matter he has been
some extent by the returns of
very considerable increase of the
appropriation to the University of
sylvania in Philadelphia.
|
|
|
but he retains within his like,
|
|
i
i
|
|
i
i
The State is not a theoretical ab-
charge | straction representing the people; it’
recommends is the people.
Pennsylvania Gold.
From the Harrisburg Telegraph.
The annual report of mineral out-
put in America credits Pennsylva-
nia with more than 200 ounces of
Gold mined in Pennsylvania!
The question is natural
coal, iron, limestone, cement and the
but seldom as a producer of
the precious metals. And yet not
only was gold taken out of our
hills last year in considerable
amounts, but silver to the quantity
of more than 2000 ounces, while the
per vield was something like 2,-
pounds. And where do you
all this was found?
from
the great deposits there. Gold
silver, copper—and right here at our
front doors! Who shall say what
| Pittsburgh and an increase of only
region | $160,000 to the University of Penn- Foal ign Boy y he Muldesome
may
It pe found to yield most valuable pro-
will be recalled that the “strip” | ducts, after the manner of the once
was generous to him while despised ganister, for example,
e “neck” was unkind. But not- |
budget and the message which ac-
companied it make interesting read-
ing, especially to the credulous.
ineffi- | Withstanding these peculiarities the |
|
While in full sympathy with
General Smedly Darlington Butler it
must be admitted that he talks too
m.
is |
—A blow torch being used to thaw a
frozen water pipe exploded a keg of
powder in the basement of a home at
Harrison, Somerset county, last Thurs-
day, causing the death of two small
children. Paul Friedline, two, who was
killed instantly, and Violet Friedline,
four, who died of burns, were playing
in the kitchen above the point where
their father, Fred Friedline, was work-
ing on the water pipe. The powder
was for use in connection with Fried-
line's work as an employee of the Sax-
man Coal company. Friedline was in-
jured seriously and was taken to the
Somerset hospital.
—Refuting the general idea that there
is a scarcity of fresh vegetablee at this
season of the year, State institutions
under the jurisdiction of the State De-
partment of Welfare recently exhibited
twenty-two different kinds of fresh
vegetables. Included in the list of vege-
tables raised on the farms for institu-
| tional use were: Rhubarb, radishes,
parsley, horse-radish, mushrooms, dan-
delion and oyster plant. Of the three
institutions showing the highest number
of variety, Danville State hospital led
with twenty different kinds, followed
closely by the Harrisburg and Allentown
State hospitals.
—Luzerne county will have to pay
Joseph Linski, $6 a day for part of the
time he spent in jail as a material wit-
ness for the Commonwealth in the case
| of Andrew Vetrick and Victor Lomitch,
charged with murder. Linski could not
| find $1000 bail so was committed asa
material witness on March 8, 1929, at
| $1.50 per day. On March 21, 1929, the
Legislature fixed a daily rate of $5 for
| compensation for imprisoned witnesses.
|The county officials took the stand that
(as Linski was committed prior to pas-
| sage of the act he was entitled to only
|$1.50 a day. The lower court decreed
jail after passage of the act
|and gave judgment to Linski for $280.-
| 50. The unsuccessful appeal of the coun-
| ty to the higher court followed.
{| ~The contract for complete construc
| tion of the new Federal penitentiary at
| Lewisburg, has been awarded to the
Great Lakes Construction company, of
| Chicago. Start of work on the project
| within 60 days of the date of the award,
| January 81, and completion within a
| year from that date are specified in the
| contract. The contractor, the Depart-
| ment of Justice sald, has agreed to
| give ‘preference’ to local labor at Lewis-
burg at wages prevailing there. Attorney
| General Mitchell signed the contract af-
| ter it had been transmitted to him by
| the Treasury Department which supervis-
| ed letting of bids and other incidental
| work. The Chicago firm offered the
| lowest bid submitted by more thana
score of contractors. Its figure was
$2,781,000, more than $1,000,000 below the
|sum made available by Congress for the
| penitentiary.