THE COLUMBIAN, BLOOMSBUPO STRONGEST BANK IN THE COUNTY Capital 8100,000. Undivided Profits $30,000. Surplus 3150,000. First National Bank, MAKE NO MISTAKE BUT DEPOSIT YOUR SAV INGS IN THE STRONGEST BANK. O F F I C KHH: K. V. M. Low, President. J. M. Htaver, Vice President. K. li. Tustin, Vice President. K. F. CurpentiT, (itxhler. DIRECTORS: W. M. Low. F. 0. Yorks, Frank Ikeler, Joseim Iliitti, f'.. H. Tustin, Fred Ikeler, Geo. 8. Uobblnn, K V. Creasy, 1. M Staver, M. I. Low, Louis Grons, 1L V. 1 lower. THE COLUMBIAN. ESTABLIS1IKD iSOb. TH COLUMBIA DEMOCRAT, fSTAHI.ISt! Kl I837. C')NSi'l IPA I EI) 1S69 CUBI.ISHKI) KVEKY Tlll'RSIMY MOKNING, At Ulojmsburn, the County Seat of Columbia County, Pennsylvania. GKO. K. Kl.WKM.. KiuroK. C.KO. C. KUAN, Foreman. Tkkms: fnswte the county it.oo a year a advance; ijl.soif not paid in advance. Outside thecounty, $i.J5a year, strictly in Advance. All communications should headdrcssed THE COLUMBIAN, HloomsliurK, Ta. TJIl'KSDAY, FF.HRUAKY 2S, 11)07 WASHINGTON From our Neeul.ir Correspondent. Washington, D. C. Feb. 23, 1507. It looks now as though the Presi dent were going to accomplish through executive order what he failed to do through legislative en actment, and that is to get an act ual valuation of the railroad pro perties in the U.'.ited States, with out which it is hard to euact intel ligent rate legislation or railroad legislation of any other sort. The provision for a valuation of the real property of the raiiroads was in- rporated in the Ncwlands bill I i it never got out of committee and II he La Kollette resolution that i .ver became effective. This val- cion has been urged by various ' . tieniies" so called of the rail .oaJs. It is rather strange that this legislation is never pushed by any but the e-temies of the rail roads. It would seem that the real valuation of railroad properties was a very harmless and simple ques tion, but whenever a public man suggests it, he is immediately set down as an enemy of the roads. The LaFolleUe bill was to have been reported out of the Senate Committee last week, but though a day was set for a discussion and there were euougn members in the room at one time or another to form a quorum, there were never enough there for the purpose at any one time, and the matter went by de fault. However, some light was thrown on the situation by the fact that a letter was received by the committee in response to a request made by the Interstate Commerce Commission, saying that the com mission had been in favor of such a valuation for some years past, and that it had made the recommenda tion in its report year after year and had only omitted it this year owing to the fact that there were so many other demands made on it that it did not think it could the work. But the President had di rected the committee to make the investigation, and if it is not done through congressional action it will be done by the commission acting under the President's orders. The time consumed in the work will be considerable, and the work will cost something. If the job is spread out over two or three years, it will cost in the neighboreood of a mill ion and a quarter, but if it is done in less time it will cost proportion ately more. But whichever way it is done, the work is in a fair way of accomplishment, and afterward there will be in possession of the government data on which may be based rate legislation that will really be effective. The Administration is a little nervous about getting through a subsidy bill at the present session. There have been so many other pieces of important legislation in the way and the bill itself is such, an important measure over which there is likely to be considerable talk and discussion that it is in danger of getting side tracked. There have been several conferen ces between the President, Speaker Cannon, and Representative Wat son, who is in charge of the bill, but no definite program has yet been decided oa with a view to pushing the bill through. It pro bably will be taken up at some of the succeeding night sessions. Something of a joke was sprung when the general deficiency bill was finally drafted into shape last week. The bill carried a total ot $ii,739.uo, but of this only $2, 500,000 was lor the ordinary defi ciency. Last year on the other hand the average departmental defi ciencies totalled $13,000,000. This was all due to the small provision that Representative Tawney had inserted as an amendment in the law last year declaring it a misde meanor for a departmental officer to create a deficiency except in a ci se of real and very great emer gency, liven in such cose the amount had to o certified to Con gies3 with a written explanation ot the circumstances, upon which Congress was to judge whether the expenditure had been warranted. This hit all cf the departments hard, for they had been in the hab it of creating deficiencies pretty much hs they pleased. Another thing was that the appropriations for the departments had been made in a lump sum aud the cabinet of ficers had been in the habit of spending and apportioning the amounts as they pleased. Now there is no more of this. The cabi net officers and the bureau chiefs were all afraid of running afoul of the misdemeanor clause in th law, and the deficiency list was remark ably small. There were several items that went to swell the total, but they were real emergencies. The intervention of the United States in Cuba cost SS.rST.ooo. There was a million on account of the service pension iaw and nearly two million on account of the post- office. But there was practically nothing from the regular depart mental list, and as to the Cuban ex penditure, this country is supposed to get the money back whether it ever does or not. But if it does not, we can take a mortgage on the island. And that is just what many of the islanders would like to see this government do. The Department of Agriculture has in hand now a device which if put into general operation this year would, it is thought, net the farm ers of the cotton belt $40,000,000 on the season's crop. It is simply the method of seed selection such as has been successfully applied to tobacco used on a larger scale in connection with cotton. It has been proved by experiment past a doubt that the larger and heavier seed in any crop produce the best results when planted. This was long susjected, and when the De partment worked out a simple ma chine for separating the light from the heavy tobacco seed, it increased the yield of the crop nearly ten per cent at practically no expense. Now a machine has been perfected that will do the same thing for cotton seed that has been done for tobacco A Doctors Medicine Ayer's Cherry Pectoral is not a simple couch syrup. It is a strong medicine, a doctor's medicine. It cures hard cases, severe and desperate cases, chronic cases of asthma, pleu risy, bronchitis, consumption. Ask your doctor about this. The beat kind of a testimonial "Sold lor over aixty year." M M4 by J. o. Ayer Co.. I.ow.11, M.. Alao luatmfeoturera of An j 11 ro SABsmi"LLA 4 JLCw HAIR VIUOI. The Department has a method of cheaply removing the fuz from the seed, and then the light is separated from the heavy seed with a simple air plant machine. The govern ment has taken out the patent on it, and one firm alone has arranged this season to separate to,oio pounds of seed. Many of the plant ers of the south who have ben in communication with the depart ment are taking it up this season, and while it will not net a 1,000, 000 increase on the first crop, it will mean enough to the planters to induce them to adopt the system more widely next year. Legislature's Long Session. May Last Until July. An exchange says: - In the ODin- ion of what is regarded as excellent authority the present session of the Legislature will not come to an end before July 1st. All of the condi tions lavor a lone: session. There are hundreds of bills in committees already and not a fair fraction of them have been considered, many of the most important being left that argument nnv he near.l mi them. Only a few of those demand ed by the platforms of the domi nant political parties have been considered and at least half a hun dred are locked up in the desk of the committee chairmen. Some of these bills will hall the a tention of the Legislature for many hours and before they are whipped into shape and passed they will have to be dissected and examined as under a microscope. This all takes time IVe new capitol investigation com mittee cannot possibly, in the opin ion of l he best authorities, report before June 20th and until its re port is made it is folly to say when the Legislature shall adjourn final ly. The accountants are busy go ing over the bills for the new capi tol at present, occupying a room in the auditor ftneral's department aud until they are well advanced the committee has nothing on which to commence. After the investi gation begins it will hardly sit while the Legislature is in session, for the reason that every member of the committee is interested, more or less, in legislation on its way through the various stages. "A Delusion and A Snare" Is the Corrupt Practices Law, Says Reore. tentative Creasy. ' Representative William T. Creasy las come to t'.ie conclusion that the corrupt practices law is "a delusion and a snare." Mr. Creasy has been going over the result of the fall and pring election, and he has figured it out that the new law is worse than the old one, for it legalizes just what it was designed to prevent the bribery of voters. When asked how he would chance the law he said: "I would cut out altogether the clause in the schedule of expenses which permits a candidate to pay lor the transportation of voters. A candidate who wants to buy a vot er gives the money to a henchman and tells him to transport the voter to the polls. He knows that it means he is to buy that vote, and the expense is put down to 'trans portation.' Of course, the candi date can swear that the money was paid out legally." Mr. Creasy is at present prepar ing an amendment to the bill, which he will offer to this session of the legislature. ' W hv 110 or.L I W publlih tb foramina of alt our mediolnoa. You will hasten recovery by tak ing one of Ayer'a Pill at bedtime. GREAT DEMAND FOR COAL. The anthracite trade remains in a high state of prosperity. The demand is more than equivalent to production and the weather is such in all patts of the country as to cause an unusually heavy consumn- tion. Very often last wtek collier ies shut down at noon because there were no cars. Coal in cellars has disappeared rapidly and retailers have been taxed to keep within two or three days of their orders. It is believed that the west would have burned 150,000 to 200,000 tons more this winter v there had been cars to carry it. It is assum ed that the usual reduction in price will be allowed in April, although the leading producers have given no sign of what they intend to do, The stocks will be less at the be ginning of the coal year than for many years. The winter ot 1906' 07 has made it plain that distribu tion has grown to such proportion that it cannot be handled in three or four months as it formerly was The producing companies have niaoe concessions in prices in the spring and summer months for many years without really accomp lislung distribution, though it can be urged that in the only recent year in which no spring concession was made, 1906, there was more difficulty in the succeeding fall and winter than at any other period in me history ot the trade. CAPITOL INQUIRY. The Philadelphia ledger says: Most important of all the matters l-elorc the Legislature is the inves tigation into the furnishing of the $13,000,000 Caoitnl. Not much enthusiasm has been aroused over this matter since the November election, but Governor Stuart has seived notice on the members of the committee that he wants the prob? to go to the bottom. The Senators ate not much interested in going too deep, because they might develop some matters that it had hoped would be buried. And they would have been, but for the elec tion of William II. Berry as State Treasurer and the annoying way he hat of peeping into matters that he believes concerns th? taxpayers. Right here t should be stated that the State Treasurer cannot succeed himself. Mr. Berry's successor will be elected in November next, and will take his seat May t, 1908. So the present official will be in of fice more than a year, aud during that time it is expected important legislation will result relative to stopping the leaks by which money can be filched from the State Trea sury. It is whispered t'at the Capitol investigation may disclose that money was diverted from con tractors by swelling the bills and that some of the funds thus obtain ed were used in settling up the Knterprise Bank scandal at Pitts burg. It cannot now and probably never will be proved that certain officials were given a percentage of what contractors received for their work. If the contractors and oth ers should be pushed so closely as to face a Graud Jury, then these facts might be revealed. The sud denly acquired wealth of State offi cials during the last seven years has caused this inquiry to become common: "Where did he get it?" The legislative committee has the power to subpoena persons, and pa pers. If the inquiry shall be con ducted honestly and forcefully, th n there will be an explosion. But every effort will be made to keep the lid on tight unless the Governor takes matters in his own hands again. People want to know why the exorbitant charges were made, why the high prices were paid aud who benefited thereby. One of the matters that seems sure to follow the investigation will be the enact ment of a law that will prevent the Baard of Public Grounds and Build ings from taking money from the Treasury without due authorization of the Legislature. The general opinion is that it is about time to curb a : oard that can spend $S,ooo, 000 of the people's money just by drawing an order on the Treasury for anything at all that it wants. At present the auditors are examin ing the bills and accounts. It will be some days before the investiga tion begins. John II. Sanderson the principal contractor, who did $5,000,000 worth of work, is in Europe. He wi'.l not return in time for the inquiry. Trespass Notices. Card signs ' "No Trespassing" for sale at this office. They are print ed in accordance with the late act of 1903. Price 5 cents each, tf THE BLACK HAND. Behind the "Black Hand," or, as the Italians call it, the "Mano Nara," there are in New York city today, according to police statistics, io.coo criminals from Italy banded together for the pur pose of evading and defying law. The Black Hand of New York, like the Mafia of Italy, is a secret organ ization which guarantees to its mem bers immunity for crime. Fortius reason authorities there have been able to secure only one conviction out of 1000 Black Handers arrested. The head of the newly created Italian detective bureau adds that during January 600 members of the Black Hand Society were arrested in New York alone, but there were only two convictions. Ivvery one was a genuine Black Hand case, not a card dispute stabbing or a jealousy row. In fact, the system is growing so rapidly that Black Handers now have men at work in every big city in the United States. The authorities figure that in addi tion to the 10,000 Black Hand men in New York there are 20,000 out side. Within the last two weeks no less than thirty Black Hand out rages were perpetrated in Greater New York, including blackmail, staubing, kidnapping and murder. TOWNSEHD A Small Lot of Those $3.00 SUITS FOR MEN STILL LEFT AT TOWM MOVING SALE WE MOVE IH ABOUT A MONTH. The February Linen Sale! Our Annual Sale of Linen is now on. We promise you that there's enough linen here to stock a dozen ordina ry stores; that we bought the bulk of it before the present high prices (for linens have jumped sky high); that we have not advanced our regular price, and that our regular Prices Are Slaughtered for This Sale THE BLEACHED TABLE LINENS. Our 50 cent Mercerized Damask reduced Our 89 cent " " " Our 70 cent " " " Our $1 " " Regular 25 cent " 50 cent " 60 cent 65 cent " 75 cent " 85 cent 1.00 1.25 1.50 " 1-75 " 2.25 " 2.50 " 2.75 to 45 cents O9 cents 59 cents 85 cents 19 cents 39 cents 49 cents 524 cents 65 cents 72J cents 85 cents 1. 00 1.25 1.49 1-75 2.00 2.25 The Unbleached Table Linens are all reduced proportionately. $1.50 Napkins for $1.25 NAPKINS REDUCED. 1.75 ,.SJ 300 " " 2.50 TOWELS and TOWELINGS. There are 'bargains ga lore in towels and toweling be here early. The 25c kind 2 ic a pair. The 30c kind (extra large) 25c pair. The $1.00 kind for 78c a pair. F, P. PURSEL. BLOOMSBURG, - PENNA. mm?& Expectonaflit OS Vo-: 75 years the favorite family medicine for throat and lungs. VQli res
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers