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