4 lumbian. ESTABLISHED 1868. Columbia Jjcmorrat, ESTABLISHED 1837. CONSOLIDATED 1869. PUBLISHED VERY THUHSDAY MORNING Hloomsburg, the county seat ot Columbia County, Pennsylvania. .EO. B. EL WELL EDITOR. D. J. TASKEH, LOCAL EDITOB. GEO. C. ROAN, FOREMAN. Taatfs:—lnside tne county Sl.OOayearln ad vance; $1.60 It not paid In advance Outside he oounty, f 1.2S a year, strictly In advance. 11l communications should bo addressed to THE COLUMBIAN. Bloomsburg, Pa. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1898. THE BTATE TREASURY IN BAD OIROU MST AN UES. An Estimated Deficit ot Four Millions of Dollars For the Fiscal Year. "There certainly must be, if pre sent legislation shall continue, a large reduction by the next legislature in the appropriations to the charitable ' and penal institutions of the common wealth, or an increase of state taxa tion to meet past obligations and present demands. If not this, then a readjustment of the taxes. Either one or all, perhaps, combined in a more or less degree will have to be adopted." These- are the words of Auditor General Mylin, who is much disturb Ed over the financial condition of the state. General Mylin and State Treasurer Haywood have their hands full trying to devise means to raise sufficient revenue to meet the public expenses. The last legislature appro priated considerably more than the state revenues will cover and the fiscal officers have to practice the most rigid economy to make ends meet. General Mylin has very decided views on the subject of state taxation and he does not hesitate to express them. "Under past legislation, for in stance, the Brooks high license law, the retail liquor license was turned over to the local authorities," the auditor general added. "A careful estimate of the value of this tax made by the department shows that it will amount to $3,500,000 annually. This estimate is based on the returns for 1896. Under the Boyer revenue act, which has been in force several years, the personal property tax of $2,000,- 000 for 1896 goes to the local author ities. The appropriation to take care in part of the county insane under the act of 1883 and subsequent acts will reach $700,000. "The school appropriation was in creased in 1892 from $1,500,000 biennially to $5,500,000 and has con tinued at this figure to the present time. This large increase of the school fund, the transfer of the retail license and the personal property tax from the state to meet the demands that properly belong to the county and local authorities and the increas ed expenditures by past legislatures have been the cause of the present financial difficulty of the common wealth. In other words, the state has been bereft of the revenues which properly belong to it for the relief of the local authorities." General Mylin predicts there will be a deficit of $4,000,000 at the close of the present fiscal jear, November 30, unless the state is enriched from unexpected sources. There is still $3,000,000 due the public school dis tricts and this will have to be paid be fore the first Monday of next June. Philadelphia has received $600,000 of its share, which aggregates $1,020,000. Pittsburg and a few other large dis tricts have been paid their share of the appropriation, but many of the other districts have not received a cent. Many of the country districts de pend upon the money they receive from the state to conduct their school - and do not raise cash by local taxa tion. There is due Philadelphia per sonal property tax amounting to $1,031,608.93, while Allegheny county is entitled to $246,158.59. Several other counties have not yet received the personal property tax due them by the state. The balance in the general fund of the state treasury at the close of busi ness was a trifle over $3,000,000. If State Treasurer Haywood were called upon to pay the money due the school d'slricts and the personal property tax owing the counties there would not be a dollar left in the treasury for the state institutions. This is the con dition that confronts the fiscal officers and proves that there must either be a sweeping reduction in the public expenses or an increase in state taxa tion There has collected during the past two years $£,600,000 of delinquent taxes. The delinquent taxes due six and eight years have been nearly all collected, except in cases where the amounts are small During 1897 over 1,000 cases were made up for collec tion. The large number of delin quencies running back so many years grew out of the fact that there was not in the office of the auditor general a proper method ol keeping track the of thousands of corporations with which the department has to deal.— Patriot. THE BLANKET BALLOT. Is it not time that the people pro tested against the cumbersome style we have of voting ? It is not only cumbersome, but expensive and in convenient. And so far as I can see, it has not one redeeming feature. One of the advantages claimed for it, was that it enabled a man to vote secretly, as the ballots were all alike. Spies at the polling places could not tell by the shape or size of the ballot, or by the style of the paper which party the person was voting with. In a few instances this may be true, but I will venture the assertion, that a watchman at polls or a member of the election board could if so disposed in a majority of cases tell how each per son voted. For instance, a man takes his ballot and goes into the booth, he opens the ballot, and with two strokes of his pencil he makes a cross at the top of one of the columns, he refolds his ballot and comes out. He has voted and voted a straight ticket. It is generally known to which party a man owes fealty, hence it is known how the man voted. Where a man votes a mixed ticket, it may not be possible to tell with certainty how the man voted, but from the length of time he spends in the booth, lookers on will feel assured, that he ts voting a mixed ticket ; and hence will be regarded with suspir'm by those who think that everything that is "pure and lovel • and of good report," is wrapt up in their own party. But there is another class of voters who insist on having some one to aid them in preparing their ballot. They have the privilege of choos ing their man. They choose a radical partisan, and it goes without saying, that he is going to vote to suit that man. People are sometimes accused of selling their votes. In that case they will no doubt call the purchaser to their aid in preparing their ballot. There would then be no question as to whether he delivered the goods. As the present style of voting is ad mittedly cumbersome, expensive and inconvenient, why should we longer tolerate it ? Better go back to the old style of voting. A man could vote secretly, if he chose. Or if a man sold himself lie could satisfy the purchaser, that he was living up to his contract. And all this could be done much cheaper than under the present style. If some change is desirable, why not adopt the style followed in Massa chusetts and perhaps in some other states ? Furnish each voter with an envelope in which to place his ballot after crossing the name of such candi dates as he did not wish to vote for. The names of all the candidates could be printed in one column, under the name of the office to be filled, leaving a blank space under each head for' one or two names as the case may be, where the voter may write such name or names as he sees proper, not ex ceeding the number for which he is entitled to vote. The envelopes should be all alike and the ballots all alike. And as it would require just as long to vote a straight ticket as a mixed one, abso lute secrecy could be secured. Spies at the polling places would then be out of a job. I think all intelligent men will agree, that some change should be made in our style of voting. There may be ariety of opinions, as to how that change should be made, but while we do not have money to burn or throw away, some plan less bungling and less expensive should be adopted. A ballot more liable to misconstruc tion by plain people than the one now in use would be difficult to form. So a change is likely to be beneficial in more ways than one. The aim should be in forming a ballot, to make it as intelligible as possible, giving no excuse for an intelligent man to call for aid in pre paring his ballot. With a plain ballot there would be no necessity of printing two or three ballots for each voter in the district, the most of them to be cast aside or burned up. In envelopes there need be no waste, as they will be all right for any subsequent election. JAY EYE SEE. Hon, W. T. Greasy, Complimented. In its issue of January 27th the Reading Democrat, compliments Hon. W. T. Creasy of Catawissa. It says : "We are informed that Hon. Will iam T. Creasy, of Columbia county, has consented to be a candidate for re-election to the legislature and we earnestly hope the Democrats of Columbia county will re nominate him by acclamation. His legislative career deserves this tribute and no truer and abler representative sat in the last body than he. He is industrious, is well informed, knows the parliamen tary rules and will represent Columbia county better and more effectively than any new man can. He is a man of the people and true THE COLUMBIAN, BLOOMSBURG. PA. to their best interest. He has become the leader of the Democrats on the floor of the House and his presence is needed in the next assembly. He is an able and fearless debater and it is to be hoped that the next assembly will contain a majority of such able and conscientious public servants. The Democrats of Columbia county can well be proud of him." A New Law Relating to Forestry. The last legislature passed the following act, which is important to many ot our readers : , "That in consideration of the pub lic benefit to be derived from the retention of forests or timber trees, the owner or owners of land in this commonwealth, having on it forest or timber trees of not less than fifty trees to the acre, and each of said trees to measure at least eight inches in diame ter at a height of six feet above the surface of the ground, with no portion of the said land absolutely cleared of the said trees, shall on making due proot thereof, be entitled to receive annually from the commissioners of their respective counties during the period that the said trees are main tained in sound condition upon the said land, a sum equal to eighty per centum of all taxes assessed and paid upon the said land, or as much of the said eighty percentum as shall not ex ceed the sum of forty-five cens per acre ; provided, how ever, that no one property owner shall be entitled to receive said sum more than fifty acres. It would pay every township to have a farm, the improvement of which in various ways, as well as by extensive tillage, could be made to employ every professional vagrant. The term of service could be fixed, and the release of such persons could be on the rigid conditions that he should leave the township, or, refus ing to take himself beyond the lines, to be rearrested and made to work double time. Such persons would comply with the conditions and seek a more favorable pasture. If every township had such a farm, the profess ional would find work wherever he might go, and the place that he once knew would known him no more. Pennsylvania would be free of the tramp nuisance in a few years were the tramps compelled to work their passage to some paradise of tramps beyond its borders. As for barn-burn ing—that need uot deter the people from uniting to suppress the miscre ants who indulge such revenges. We have only considered the professional because the moderate number who would be glad to work can be provi ded for without treating them as con firmed vagabonds. If nothing better can be done, put the professional at work breaking stones along the roads that need such improvement. Work, not whipping posts and pillories, is the real remedy tor the tramp nui sance. Make laws to enforce work, if none exist, and the work will be well begun. Troubles of Their Own- The county commissioners of Dau phin county have created a breeze among the law officers ot that place by refusing to pay a lot of bills for costs in criminal cases. The cases in which the commissioners refuse to pay costs were discharged cases in which the suits were of such a trifling nature that the magistrate dismissed them, yet put in his bill and the con stable did likewise. The commission ers have turned them down, hence the breeze. The magistrates and con stables declare they will test the right of the commissioners to refuse to pay these costs or to make reductions in bills submitted. President McKin'ey celebrated his 35th bi-thday on Saturday having been ton at Niles, Ohio, on January 20 1543. He is in remarkably good health, except that he has suffered slightly from the cold he caught in New York. Catarrh Cured Fullness in the Head and Ring ing in the Ears Bettor In Evory Way Since Taking Hood's Sarsaparllla. " For several yearn I had no cessation of the suffering caused by catarrh. I bad a sense oi f ulinesa in the head and ringing in my ears. One of my nostrils was tightly closed BO 1 could not breathe through it, and I could not dear my head. I tried several catarrh cures, but failed to get relief. Seeing accounts of cures by Hood's Sarsaparilla I determined to give it a fair trial. After taking a few bottles I was satisfied it had effected a care, for the catarrh no longer troubled me a par ticle and I felt better In every way than for years. lam now able to do a hard day's work on the farm." ALFRED B. YINWT, Hoemerstown, Pennsylvania. HOOd'S Carina Is the best—in fact the One True Blood Purifier. Bold by all druggists. $1; six for $5. HOOD'S PUIS sssssrsr-. SEE THE ========= - BIG REDUCTION - IN MERCHANT FOR 10 DAYS. $16.00 SUITS NOW $13.00, Made to your measure at TOWNSEND'S, MERCHANT TAILOR. STATb NRWB. —Assessed valurtions have been raised over $2,500,000 as compared with last year in Scranton. —The Social Democracy of Read ing has invited Eugene V. Debs to visit that city in February. —A cavalry company has been tormed at Hazleton and will be ad mitted to the National Guard. Richaid Simpson, Jr., crashed through a window and fell 20 feet, at Williamsport last week. He will die. —General Secretary H. E. Dodge of the Pottsville Y. M. C. A. has resigned to accept a similar position at Warren, Pa. —Railroads, mills and other large consumers of coal in Pittsburg, are stocking up heavily in anticipation of a miners' strike. —Six Pittsburg men have fitted out an expedition at i. cost of SIO,OOO to find $40,000,000 of gold, said to have been lost in the Pacific from Peru and Chili sixty years ago. —Snyder County has a jail without a single inmate and has $1,400 sur plus in its treasury. It is said 100, it>at cobb webs grow on the district attorney's desk. —Judge Ermentrout ot Berks County, has refused an injunction to restrain the Borough of Boyertown from voting 011 a propos-'tion to borrow $35,000 for a water supply. Aaron Yingst, conducting a Look store in Reading the past two months '•ommitted suicide on Saturday by shooting himself in the mouth. He was found sitting in an upright posi tion on a rocking chair, his right hand clasping a revolver. QOAINT ANJ) CURIOUS. In India the natives, when a bicycle comes along, fa'l down and mention the dame of the Deity. A lady in Hiram, Me., has cucum bei pickles which have been in her possession for more than forty years. Whistling is practically unknown among the Icelanders who regard it an irreligious, and a violation of the divine law. The first forger of a Bank of Eng land note was Richard William Vaug han, a linen draper of Staflord, hang ed in 1758. Miss Florence Hudson, of Balti more, Md., has a tooth of solid gold, with a diamond in the centre of it. The ornament cost her over $l5O. The long tails of the Shah of Per sia's horses are dyed crimson for six inches at the tips—a jealously guard ed privilege of the ruler and his sons. If Chinese children do not obey lhei' r parents, and the latter whip them to death, the law has no punish ment for them, as obedience to parents is the cardinal virtue. VV. T. Woodward, the Kentucky horse breeder, is going about telling his friends that he has been cured ot iheumaiism by carrying old electric light carbons. Among the many devices to assist the blind one oi the best is a type writer in which the keys have raised letters and which punctuates the paper with either letters or the dots con tained in one of the blind alphabets. Experiments testing the compara tive values of salt and fresh water in street-sprinkling are being made in San Francisco. It is said that salt water does not dry so quickly as fresh, and that it binds the dirt together, so that there is less dust. The people of Sharpsburg, Ky., engage in diverting .ontests on Satur day evenings. Forty men are each supplied with a dozen eggs, and range themselves in two parties, twenty on each side. They then begin throw ing the eggs at their opponents, and at its close they look like omelets from head to foot. The lai gest lobster that has been seen in New Haven, Conn., in years was on exhibition at the Tontine bote'. The big shellfish weighed twenty-eight pounds, and was very old. It reposed in a dish on the office counter, and was kept cool by pieces of ice. The lobster was alive, and lazily moved its great claws. A Virginian has invented a tree protector which kills insects and worms which try to crawl up the trunk and eat the leaves, the new device consisting of a pliable receptacle to surround the tree and hold the insect killing liquid, with a felt pad at the bottom to prevent insects from crawl ing up between the trees and the pro tector. We make you some SPECIAL OFFERS FOR THE First 10 days in February. Domestics. One case of Cocheco Madder Prints, the best we can buy, at 4jc per yard. One case of light Calico, all new patterns for Spring, the best make we can buy, at 4c yd. One case American Indigo Blue Prints, all good patterns, 5c per yard. One bale of unbleached mus lin, as good quality as Appleton A, in lengths from 2 yds. to 10, at 4c per yard. One bale of best fine Muslin; make, Cameron D. A muslin that bleaches easily and washes soft, 10 yards for 50c. 25 pieces of Sea Island Per cale, 36 in. wide, best percale made, good patterns, worth cts., go in this sale at 10c. 9-4 fine unbleached Sheeting, 12 Jc yd. Ginghams. We show a nice lot of dark ginghams in good patterns, both in stripes, plaids and mixed ef fects, regular 10c goods. We will sell them for a few days at 8c per yard. Bate's Seersucker, 10c. Gloves. We offer special for 10 days 25 doz. all wool cashmere gloves in black, worth 25c per pair. Go for 15c, or 2 pair for 23c, Hose. 50 doz. Heavy Ribbed Hose, one of the best makes in the market, good for misses and boys. We have never offered them for less than 15c per pair. The lot we will sell at 1 ic a pr. F, P. PURSEL. East CORSER'S MBWft sfre'ct. NEW SHOE STORE. MR mm colb snap - - - You want to keep your feet warm and dry. We have just the thing Men's Felt Boots and Overs, $2.00. " Gum Boots, 2.00. " Beaver Shoes, lined with felt, 2.C0. " " Boots, " " " 2.00. Women's Beaver Shoes, G9c to $1.25. Our prices on leather footwear are cheaper than others. Come and see. CORSER'S 46 E. Main St. Schuyler's old hardware stand, BMMSBURe. WIDOW'S APPRAISEMENTS. The following Widow's Appraisements will be presented totne Orphans' Court ot Columb'a County Keby. 7th, 1898 and confirmed nlst, and unles3 exceptions are filed within lour days will be confirmed finally. John Neyhard, l'ersona'ty ISCOiOO. llenry Rote, Personalty sßno.ou. Hlchard Edwards, Personalty 110J.60 Realty $197.40. Mathlas Heller, Personalty sßoo.'o. Jacob H. Creasy, Personalty SBOO.OO. Pa-son Edwards. Personalty f.-0.00. Est. of William Pfabler, late of Cleveland twp. deceased. Personalty, SBOO.OO. Est. of Danlol Fritz, late of Sugarloaf twp. deceased, Personalty SBOO.CO Est. of Samuel Fisher, late of Montour twp. Realty $800.09. W. H. HKNKIS, Clk. Orphans' Coutt. SUBSCRIBE FOR THE COLUMBIAN Dress Goods. The four lots of dress goods we offered last month have been reduced to almost nothing, so we have gone through our laige stock of d. ess goods and added to each lot goods that we can safely say are better value than any we have yet offered. We did not consider cost, but which lot will they move quickest in. Lot i, 23c. Lot 3, 29c. " 2, 25c. " 4, 58c. Silks. 600 yards of fine Grosgrain Silk, in almost any color you may want. These silks will give you better service than Taffeta. They are worth SI.OO per yard, but we will sell them for the next 10 days for 3 oc. Also black Taffeta, 24 in. wide, extra good quality, at 75c the yard, worth SI.OO. Groceries. We invite you to come to our Grocery Department and you will find we have not neglected to include these in our sale. Austin, Nichols & Co. Sun beam Tomatoes, the best goods that are canned in this countiy, * reduced to 2 cans for 25c. Wainwright & Co. Tomatoes reduced to 10c or 3 cans for 25c. Good, whole rice, 5 c the lb. Prunes, 5c the pound. Chase & Sanborn 28c Coffee reduced to 22c. Arbuckle and Levering, ioc the lb. NOTICE. Notice la hereby given that the following ac counts have been filed In the Common Pleas of Columbia county, and will be presented to the said Court on the first Monday of February. A. D. 1898, and ronfli .ned nisi, and unlo.sa cxceD MODS are nied within four days thereafter, will be confirmed absolute. commit tee (ft' Lavlna De Wltu Dt 01 E " aS Kreta ' Bloomsburg, Pa., Jan. 6,1886 W ' HE prothV. NOTICE. TO ALL WHOM IT MAT CONCBRN. A."?- undersigned, hare purchased at con stablei s salo the personal property of A. J Ale In Flshlngcreek township, Columbia ootmtr lnl eluding all household goods in the house of said A. J. Ale, and have loaned the same to A J Ain during my pleasure for his use. All Demons are hereby notified not to Interfere wlth.oVm w molest the suae. w. yArijP
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers