THE COLUMBIAN. BLOOMSBURO. PA.
THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK
OF UI4UOMSIIURG, 1A.
THE OLDEST AND STRONGEST.
Capital 8100,000 Surplus 8100,000.
With the Largest Capital and Surplus in the County, a
Strong Directorate, Competent Officers and Every Mod
em Facility, we solicit Accounts, Large or Small, and
Collections on the Most Liberal Terms Consistent with
Sound Hanking, and Invite YOU to inspect our NEW
QUARTERS.
3 Per Cent. Interest Paid on Time Deposits
O F F I V
K.W.M. Low. President.
Jainex M .Stawr, Vice President .
1)1 RECTO UH:
Initios M. Stnver,
1'rcil koler,
S. C. Civiwy.
Clinton Honinpr,
E.W.M.Low,
V(l. York,
1oiiin Gross,
!M. K Stnekimusc
THE COLUMBIAN.
K.sT.iu.ismin 1S06.
TMS CSU'MSIA DEMOCRAT,
1? 1AIII.ISIIH1 I S37. O'NSol lllAIKIl I St"9
P' I'l.ISIIKI" EVKKV Tli! R-l'AY MoKNINO,
A' niojnislmrjr, llie County Scat 01
Columbia Count v , Pennsylvania.
era. k. I'.t.wki.!.. r.nnoR.
(WO. C. UOAN. IVuman.
1 r.KM : fnsiil c t he county $ 1.00 a yenr
t nlvance; . I . J r i f not jiaut in aivaticc.
1 v sie'e t Ill-county, 5 1. 2 J i year, strictly in
i Vl':c(-.
All communications should Iicnli1resecl
Till". COI.'JMP.IAN, P-loomsbtirK, Pa
THUUSDA Y, JANCAHY C, l'.UO
WASHINGTON.
From our Regular Correspondent.
Washington, 1). C, Jan. 3, 1910.
There are indications that the
situation in Washington will be
suflici-.mtly interesting soon after
the holidays. The rinchot-Ballin-ger
controversy will be considered
by a joint Senate and House com
mittee and it is given out tht the
President will aid Congress in the
most rigid inquiry. If this is so
the joint committee will have be
hind it all the weight and power of
the legal machinery of the United
States and witnesses can be sum
moned and compelled to teitify.
Usually in such investigations the
testimony of witnesses is voluntary
and they have frequently been re
calcitrant and havejivithheld impor
tant evidence. Democrats in both
houses are anxious to have the
most searching investigation of the
General Land Office records believ
ing that good political capital will
be the result. Independent onlookers
are of the opinion that where there
is so much smoke there must be
fire but on the other hand Mr. Bal
linger's pose is one of serene assur
ance and his friends expect his
complete vindication. The hearings
of the committee will be public and
your readers will be fully advised
of the progress of the investigation.
Apropos of this question the public
will recall that the Reclamation
Service as it is called has been un
der the inspection of several Sena
tors who investigated the projects
in the West last summer. Some at
least of the Senators think that the
Reclamation Service has undertak
en a bigger task than it can accom
plish and it is intimated that the
Ballinger investigation and an in
vestigattjn into the Reclamation
-uterpri.se are so closely related
that they should be carried along
together to avoid the expense of a
separate inquiry. It is probable,
however, that this plan will be ob
jected to on the ground that it will
confuse the issue and mix problems.
At present there are only skir
mishes between the insurgents of
the Republican party and the old
stand-bys such as Aldrich, Hale,
Lodge and the so-called "Me-too"
Republican Senators who vote as
Aldrich indicates or dictates. There
have been indications that the Pres
ident is disposed to flock with the
Me toos but there is also a pretty
well authenticated rumor that he
has decided to oppose Speaker Can
non which must finally mean his
opposition to Aldrich for iu a polit
ical sense Cannon and Aldrich ore
Weak Throat
Cold after coM; cough after cough! Troubled with this
taking-cold habit? Better break it up. We have great
confidence in Ayer's Cherry Pectoral for this work. No
medicine like it for weak throats and weak lungs. Ask
uui uutior ior nis opinion, lie knows all about it
His approval is valuable. Follow his advice at all times,
io diconoi in tnw cough medicine,
UUSX-K HW u1n Takiauewhcn yourcoldiirstcomwon. What
U Uo. Lest IJMil'tlu (..!,. Ayer's Pills. Ask your doctor his opinion. Let him decide.
E II H :
Myron I. Low, Vioo President.
Frank Ikeler, Cunhier
Myron T. Low.
U . V. I lower,
Frank Ikeler.
brothers. The President it is un
derstood is at work on special mes
sages to be sent to Congress and it
is said that if Speaker Cannon shall
show his opposition to the '-hip
Suhsidv Hill and to the amendment
of the Interstate Commerce Laws
and to Postal Saving Banks as i
I expected, the breach which has
I long been anticipated by some will
be known to all.
The Secretary of Agriculture as
sisted by a force of experts nttach
td to the Agricultural Department
and scattered throughout the coun
try is carefully investigating the
costs of food stuffs and seeking to
probe the reasons for the greatlv
j increased cost of the necessities of
; life. It is indeed time that some
j thing distinct and definite shall be
i known in relation to this subject.
; Mr. Wilson, the Secretary of Agri
i culture has hundreds of fidd em
ployees at his disposal and thrcu h
them he is seeking to learn what is
the difference between wholesale
and retail prices of foodstuffs. The
inquiry is directed toward the in
creased prices of eggs, milk, but
ter, potatoes, apples and other arti
cles of diet. The Secretary is of
course favorable to the farmer so
called "honest" and does not be
lieve that he is getting any too much
lor either primary or secondary
products of the larm. He suspects
the middie men and has intimated
that there were too many of them
When one sees the number of gro
ceries scattered throughout a city
there appears to be ground tor the
contention that there must be great
profit iu the business. If there was
only a ay for the consumer to
trade more directly with the farmer
without the transmission profits de
rived by these officious intermedi
ate helpers, doubtless our tables
would be more bountifully and per
haps more economically supplied.
Senator Clapp of Minnesota, in
an interview, gave it as his opinion
that the Aldrich-Payne Tariff Bill
was at the bottom of the increased
cost of everything that the Ameri
can people use internally, external
ly and eternally. This tariff bill,
in spite of the frantic assurances of
its apologists and among them the
President of :he United States, it is
now known, is the excuse for the
higher price that the user or con
sumer has to pay. Senator Clapp
aptly puti it that one cannot raise
the cost cf living to a man who is
producing something to sell, with-,
out giving that man an excuse to
correspondingly raise the price of,
his product. According to a recent
computation, taking sweet potatoes'
as an example, the grower gets '
$1.50 a barrel; the freight and com- j
mission is 25 cents; the retailer
pays $1.75 a barrel; the consumer I
pays, buying usually jjy the peck,
3-85- This makes the retailers'
profit, $2.10 on the barrel, which is
a profit of 120 per cent. It cannot
be denied that the grocer is secur
ing a place in public estimation
closely analogous to that long held
by the plumber.
Precisely at midnight on Satur
day an employee of the Navy De
partment pressed a button in the
naval observatory at Washington.
Instantly there leaped from it a
spark that encircled the globe. New
York got the word a few seconds
later after it had encircled the
globe.
Weak Liieigs
.C.AyerCo.,L
,owel,
A STATE HANGMAN.
There is no accounting for tastes,
though of course almost anything
may be expected of Pittsburg,
where Edward Swartwood, a depu
ty sheriff aud one time a well
known ball player, has made it
known that he would take the job
of state hangman if he could get it.
Swartwood is not what one might
call inexperienced. He has shuffled
2 1 men out of the world by the
gallows route and thinks but little
more of it than he would of execut
ing a gobbler the day before
Thanksgiving. In one way, the
appointment of a state hangman
would be productive of good, for
Swartwood says he would have all
executions at night and restrict
witnesses to the very few authoriz
ed by law. Less publicity, he claims,
would decrease crime; and in this
he is probably right
Not so very long ago, tests of
newspaper circulation wee made
in New York and it was found that
with every paper the greatest stim
ulant w;ts a hanging. There is no
rensrti to believe that the same con
dition would not be met everywhere
else, deplorable as it may seem. If
the details of executions are so ca
getly sought by the reading public
it st: mis to reason tint they must
ha'-e some eflect. "As a man
thinkcth, ,'o is he." If bethinks
crime, he stands in danger himself,
or at least will find it easier to get
in the way of it.
It is a terrible thing to think of
a human being being killed, even
by the law. and it is worse to think
that making an execution public
stimuhtes a train of criminal
thought or action in anv person
previously law abiding. .'.v.
LEE'S STATUE TO REMAIN.
But Congress Will Not Be Asked to
Formally Accept it.
The marble statue of General
Robert K. Lee, clad in the uniform
of a Confederate soldier, now
stands in Statuary Hall at the Na
tional Capitol and probably will
remain there until the end of all
things, despite the protests of those
who dislike such honor being con
ferred on the great leader of the
anti-union forces.
It has been definitely determined
that no effort will be made to have
the statue formally accepted by
Congress and no ceremonies will be
held in connection with its unveil
ing, that having been Jone long
ago without services of any kind.
This has met with the approval of
General Lee's relatives, who real
ized that in the House there would
be a resurrection of wartime bitter
ness, aud they preferred to have
the slight go unnoticed rather than
to revive all the prejudices of the
civil war.
State of Uncle Sam's Purse.
December's fiscal operations of
the Government showed a balance
on the credit side the first time
during the fiscal year 1909-1910,
and the first time since the Payne
Aldrich tariff law went into effect.
The receipts aggregated 59,827,
536 and the disbursements $.57,
7l3 795. leaving a balance of $2,
1 '3,741-
Exclusive of the deficit for the
past six months on account of Pan
ama Canal operations, amounting
to $16,311,978, and that on ac
count of the public debt transac
tions, the loss to the Treasury thus
far this fiscal year is $23,919,910,
as against $51 ,755,572 ior the same
time last year. The largest increase
has been in customs receipts, about
$30,000,000.
Now that the Christmas season
is over, the working balance in the
Treasury is again increasing, being
$30,100,583-33 per cent, more
than it was 10 days ago. The total
balance in the general fund is $84,
048,865. Big Customs Increase at New York.
An increase of $41,800,502 in
customs receipts in ryog over 1908
for the port of New York is
shown in Collector Loeb's annual
report. The total duties collected
for 1909 amount to $127,620,897.
Gold imports for the year show
a decrease of approximately $8,
000,000. They were $19,291,152,
compared with $27,367,241 in 1908.
Exports of domestic gold on the
other hand were $138,030,554 in
1908, and $96,085,301 in 190,8.
Exports of foreign gold for 1909
were $3,851,741 and $1,680,370
during the previous year.
Total imports of merchandise in
1908 were $885,002,775 compared
with $650,201,792 in 190S. Do
mestic merchandise exported a
mounted $612,898,647, a decrease
of about $12,000,000 from the fig
tires in 1908.
TESLA PLANS TO LIGHT ALL
WORLD BY WIRELESS.
Inventor Perfecting Apparatus He
Declares aa Effective at 12,000
Miles as at 12 Feet.
Nicola Tesla, who has been at
work on a "wireless electric light"
for 20 years, announces that he has
practically brought it to a state of
perfection, and a plant for its pro
duction is now nearing completion
at his laboratory.
"It would be possible by my
powerful wireless transmitter,"
said Mr. Tcsla, "to light the entire
United States. The current would
pass into the air and, spreading in
all directions, produce the effect of
a strong aurora berealis. It would
be a soft liht, but sufficient to dis
tinguish objects
'J My present plan is to distribute
this light trom a central station,
which is the most economical and
also t'.'o best method of obtaining
l;gt t of highest quality. My lamps
will last forever, there being noth
ing in theiu to bum out. They are
simply tubes or bulbs of glass her- !
nietiea'.ly sealed nnd containing j
nothing but rarefied gas. J
"One advantage is the economy i
of ptotluction which is greater than
in any other light so far obtained, j
A grt-at saving will be effected by.
wireless distribution. I am intend !
ing chiefly to supply isolated dwell- j
itiLts which cannot be conveniently
reached by wires, and in this sys
tem of distribution there is abso
iutely no difference where the
dwelling is located. The force of
the current is the same whether
the house is 12,000 miles from the
plant or 1 2 feet."
NEW CHILD LABOR LAW
Went Into Effect Last Saturday. New
Certificates Required for all Work
ers Under 16 Years Old.
Pennsylvania's new child labor
law, passed by the Legislature of
1909, went into effect on January
1st throughout the state. The laws
prohibit the employment of any
child un:ler fourteen years old
about the industrial establishment
or coal mine iu the state and pro
vide that persons between fourteen
uid sixteen may be employed only
when they are provided with cer
tificates setting forth their age and
the fact that they can read and
write English intelligently. No
one under eighteen may be employ
ed in certain occupations deemed
hazardous. The new laws will be
vigorously enforced by the state
factory inspection and mine inspec
tion departments, the chiefs of those
divisions having issued instructions
to their inspectors to dismiss all
children under fourteen found at
work and to require that certificates
l.e displayed by those between four
teen and .sixteen. The issuance of
the certificates has been in the
hands of the department of Public
Instruction which has sent out ful
ly 150 000 blank certificates iu the
last iew weeks. These certificates
have been sent to school officers for
distribution to those qualified to re
ceive them upon application made
in person
. .
THIRD TRIAL FOR FISHER.
Twice Convicted of First Degree Mur
der, Supreme Court Again
Intervenes.
The Supreme Court of Pennsyl
vania sitting in Philadelphia, has
granted the appeal of the counsel
for Henry Fisher a new trial for
their Hient, who was twice con
victed at Sunbnryof the murder of
Mrs. Sarah Klinger, at Shamokin,
over two years ago.
The decision of the court was
based 011 the contention of the law
yers that the jurors in the case
were separated at times during the
trial and that they had communi
cated with other persons contrary
to lasv, and that the prisoner was
therefore entitled to a new trial.
The first time a new trial was
grauted the court based their de
cision on the fact that letters from
Fisher to his wife, which were ad
mitted as evidence, should have
been excluded.
The crime of which Fisher is
without doubt guilty, was the most
atrocious that was ever committed
in Northumberland county. He
crushed the head of the aged wom
an with a stove taker.
The official term of Tom L. John
son, for eight years Mayor of Cleve
land, closed last Friday night. As
Mayor of Cleveland, he gained a
national reputation. This is based
first upon his single tax theories,
being an adherent of the ideas of
the late Henry George.
Children Cry
FOR FLETCHER'S
C ASTORIA
CHRISTMAS
Shopping is Under Way!
Foresighted people are doing
their Christmas shopping NOW
before the rush begins and when
the best selections are to be had.
You will benefit by following their
example. Make out your list T0
DAYbring it here, and later on
you'll be thankful that you acted
on this suggestion.
We are ready to solve each of
your gift-problems with rare sat
isfaction and economy. This
j store has become
derland of toys, dolls and beauti
ful gift things forfolk of all ages.
Our Christmas displays this year
surpass anything ever attempted
in this city before.
F. P. TOGS
!BIL(QJWrSlI5UK(K, PA.
An Irresistible Bargain.
$1.75 Value for Only $1.15.
ALL EOR
ONLY
jAnv 15 -
$1.15
I The
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The Columbian, Bloomsburg, Pa
a veritable won
One Years Subscription fcr
McCall's-Magazine
Cent McCall Pattern
you may select
One Year's Subscriotion for
Columbian.
The Columbian
is the oldest newspaper in
the county. It is not sen
sational, and what it prints
is reliable, and rit;jto be
read by anybody. Regular
price $1.00 per year.