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EVENING PUBLIC LEDGER-rHlLADULPHIA, THURSDAY,' APRIL 25, 1918
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Stating Hublc Sebsev
TUBL1C LEDGER COMPANY
i crnus it. k. cunns, rmimst ,
U-Ctiatlea It I.udlnffton, Vl President! John C.
Inrtln. Sjerretarr and Treasurer! Philip H. Collins,
ahn n. Williams. John J. apurgeon, Director.
KDITOMAI. HOAllDt
Ciioa It It Ccatis. Chairman
-PAV1DC. SMILEY... .Editor
JOltlt C MAirmf... .General Business Manager
Published daily- at Teat to T.tnora liulMlnr.
Independence Square, Philadelphia.
I.aran CR-.T.ii...,..llroad and Chestnut Htreels
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The Ctknino Prat to I.rnnin l served to sub
ecrlbsra In Philadelphia, and surrounding tciwni
at tha rat of twelve (12) centa per wesk. pajaMe
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nth United mates. Canada, or United tMe rya-
fesslons. pota tree, fifty (50) cetita If r mo nth.
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mutt Elvo old as well a new address.
BELL, 108b TTALMJT KEYSTOM'. MAIN M0
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Ledger. Independence Haunt. l"hi'.dr"Mn
iHTEiiD at Tna aMiruDKiriui fiaT ontca is
SECOND CtASS MAIL MATTKIt.
rhltadelphla. Thundar. April JS. tl
m - r
AMERICANS AT SEICHKI'I.EY
BT GRADUAL intimution the War De
partmoiit permits 11 to lie known that
tho most Important engagement In which
Americans liavo so far actively partici
pated on the western front occurred at
Selcheproy und that there wero approxi
mately 200 casualties tho largest num
itr so far recorded for ono day. Who
theso soldiers wero wo aro not told. A
force of some dimensions was cut off. Tho
men died at their guns.
Through such reports as thcho America
will finally come to realize something of
the dimensions of tho war. Our loss to fur
ma: be counted In hundreds. The Allies
have lost millions.
The German communique tells more than
our own reports. "Tho Americans fought
tenaciously." They "resisted fiercely to the
last man." In hand-to-hand fighting thoy
"displayed amazing courage and endur
ance." Tho Americans stood Immovable ns
long as they could swing a gun-butt or
pull a trigger. "fhen they died.
Even tho French and British, used lo
' epic heroism In regions where a man must
be bravo or perish, praUe the men of
Selcheprey. And yet tho Government murt
plead to sell Us war bonds In tho peace at
'home'
Considering how offensive a German can
a be, Isn't It surprising that his offensives are
usually to futile?
SENATOR SHERMAN PERFORMS
SENATOR SHERMAN, in his hysterical
tirade against tho Administration's for-
Fclgn policy. and In his araignment of a
t large group of tho President's aides as
"pestilential sedltlonists," is in no danger
of being taken seriously In any place out-
slde the limits of his own Ivied ego.
The Federal Government and Congress
havo admitted the right of labor to or-
Tganlze. Mr. Burleson forbids this right to
employes of the PostoOlco Department. Yet
the Senator from Illinois perceives Mr.
"BurlesOn as u "red." Secretary li.iker Is
a "red Socialist" In the eyes of Senator
Sherman. And the President, from the'
viewpoint of Illinois, Is playing with fire
in his amicable attitude toward the Rus
sian revolutionary government.
The Senator seems not yet to have
learned what Is known to all tho rest of
tthe world that the Bolshevlkl, with nil
their red flags and their whiskers, their
faults and their wild hopes, didn't start the
revolution. Russia was crumbling under
the alns of tho recent dynasty and nil the
foundations of government wero rotted
out by corruption and pro-Germanism in
high quarters, while tho Russian masses
were still lighting magnificently. The suc
cessive revolutions have merely repre
sented the forlorn hopes of the people
t more or, less vainly assembled In desperate
groping aspirations for decent govern
ment. In Europe months ago there were states
men who talked like Senator Sherman.
Their utterances wero the best sort of
ammunition for German prcpatandUts In
Russia. The world now admits that the
American llcy In Russia was the only
eane and constructive policy.
One wonders occasionally whether Sen
ators of Mr. Sherman's type ever read
anything but the whims of their con
stituents, Did Admiral Bowles change his own
. mind about tho seizure of occupied homes
or did Mr. Schwab change It for him?
KNIGHTS A-WING
AIR-FIGHTERS over tho west front are
.forever doing things that balllo the
faltering Imaginations of tho ground below.
Captain Baron von RIchthofen. killed in
tJ action, has been burled by Allied fliers
with all the honors of war. Ordinarily
be should have been hated. He was the
reigning king of German airmen and was
credited with seventy-eight aerial vlctorleJ?
But he was not hated by his adversaries.
rt When he was brought dgwn dead in No
Man's Land a lieutenant of the British
air service risked his life to carry the body
in for burial.
RIchthofen, It seems, was a restless
tighter, but clean. "He never killed an
5eneuiy mien ue uuu mm com, kay tlioso
. who fought htm. If ho had an adveranrv
at a hopeless disadvantage, RIchthofen
was accustomed to force him down and to
land, beside him. Thnlmn1nr:ili sntmlu
smofied cigarettes together and flow away,
waving their hands I
f- What have the airmen learned In the
if high places where they may travel free
from the hates and the horrors jvjth which
the German mind has cumbered the earth?
The flying men of all services seem to
have a code of their ownr much like that
Of RIchthofen, It Js dtfllcult to believe
that this German ace fought In the sme
Dailies as the German armies that have
(Wiled every foot of the territory they con
QUred and slaughtered women and chil
dren even after they "had, them cold."'
f Jt possible to perceive life mpre clearly
H Use VPPer air. tc Hjtow how vain war
ambition reallyi are? If Jt Is. then
tints shouty, Jrn -,to fly. This,
,.parK of
WE AHE FIGHTING A CON
SPIRACY, NOT A NATION
"IDEFORE ono can decide whether the
United States should declare war on
Bulgaria and Turkey one should fret
clearly in his mind what we are fighting;
against.
Wo declared war first against "Tho
Imperial Government of Germany." Then
wc declared war on tho Austro-Hungnrian
Government Hut as n matter of fact
we are not making war on this Govern
ment or on thnt, but on a conspiracy in
which is included Bulgaria and Turkey
as well as Germany and Austria
Hungary. We cannot soy that we have no quar
rel with Turkey or that we nro on
friendly relations with Bulgaria, because
the facts arc against it. The?e two
nations nre just as much our enemies ns
is Germany. Thoy are part of the con
spiracy. They arc in the league to
extend German domination over the
world. Their troops ale fighting tho
armies of tho Entente Allies. They nvc
giving nil the aid and comfort possible
to our enemies.
This is so evident that no high school
pupil can fail to see it if his attention
is attracted to the matter. No one in
Washington is ignorant of it, though
there has been n disposition in the Senate
to indulge in sophistical discussion ubnut
the friendly relations between the United
States and the allies of our enemies.
Senator Knox, leading those who want
to fnco tho issue squarely, has had the
courage to ofTer a resolution directing
the Committee on Foreign Relations to
ask the President why n declaration of
war against these two ullies of Germany
is r.ot desirable. There must be enough
clear-thinking men in tho Sonata lo pass
the tesolution.
It did not need the discussion on it to
infoim us that the Bulgarian minister in
Washington is in a position to get infor
mation about what we aro doing. He is
not charged with being it spy. He is not
n spy, but is tho honored guest of the
Government of the United States. His
mail is guaranteed free passage to
Europe under the ordinary safeguards
for tho correspondence of diplomatic
agents. It is his duty to inform his Gov
ernment what is going on here. He
would be unfit for his office if he did not
give his Government all tho infoimntion
which he thought would be in any way
useful to it in its prosecution of the war
against the Entente Allies, which means
in the war ngainst us.
To say that wo are not one of the
Entente Allies is merely to quibble. It
was at our suggestion that a supreme
commander of the Allied nrmies was
appointed. Our forces are acting under
the orders of this supreme commander.
We have given up the theory that wo
must act along pnrallcl lines in co-operation
with the forces of other nations
which guided us at the time our troops
helped put down the Boxer uprising in
China. Wo have accepted the new
responsibilities that go along with the
obligation to fight with England nnd
France for the same cause.
Wo are entertaining here the ngents
of our actual enemies and we shall con
tinue to entertain them so long ns we
refrnin from declaring war on both
Turkey and Bulgnria and neglect to hand
their passports to the ministers of theso
two countries.
It may be assumed that the President
hud some reasons for delaying to ask
Congress to make this declaration of war.
But those reasons must have ceased to
be valid. When the Senate passes tho
Knox resolution the nation expects tho
President to reply to it with a request
for a declaration of war.
The Germans nre finding poor pickings
in Vicardy.
BIG MEN NEEDED
THERE is no finer way of helping for
the man over draft age who can leave
his family for six months or more and
can afford lo pay his own way. than tho
war work of the Y. M. C. A. In France.
This work requires men of bodily and
mental vigor, who have had keen busi
ness experience, who do not know what
"office hours" are und who aro accustomed
to mingling with men of all classes.
A former assistant editor of one of the
largest magazines In this country, who Is
now with the Y. M. C. A. In France, writes
to us as follows:
"This thing over hero is much more won
derful than we ever dreamed. It's one of
the great things of tho war. We need
men and better men. This Is no Job for
the conventional Y. M. ('. A. secretary.
Please rub that In. We want the biggest
men we ran get, and we want to get all
tho men that can't carry a rifle and want
to get In this thing. For those who want
to servo In the war and be right In sound
of the guns here's tho way to do it. Tell
everybody you know to come over. Mako
jourself a recruiting otllcer. You can do
a great Job over there In recruiting tha
light kind of people among your friends."
It will rain on Monday. How do we
know? Why, circus parade, of course.
DECLINE OF THE LIE IN POLITICS
IF SUPERFICIAL' observation and the
luminous hunch may be relied upon the
time has come to wake tho sleeping bells
and to swing them wide In Joyous utter
ance. From afar a voice comes upon the
wind. It Is tho voice of Allegheny Coun
ty's own J. Denny O'Nell. In measured
syllables, loud and shrill, it Informs the
Auditor General a Mr. Snyder, If mem
ory serves that no lies may bo told at the
pending investigation Into the affairs of
the State Highway Commission, a service
which Mr. O'Nell adorns at the top. The
He is to be cursed out of politics, evicted
from Its ancient hearthstone, deprived of
Its old, old home or else Mr. O'Nell Is
babbling, as they say, through his kelly.
It will not do to dismiss the phenomenon
lightly nor to assume that this O'Nell,
witched by the stained glass salntllnesa of
his chief patron, believes himself already
dead and running for office in Paradise.
Mr. O'Nell Is an orlglnal-mlnded man. And
the He Is surely going out of fashion. It
has acquired a. bad name In business.
Even women are beginning to tro of it.
In politics and In the ambassadorial serv
ice, of the Hun the lie still parslsts In all
Iht) grandeur of its original cute. To
! .'
'ht'itecHnsh.fctt
Yet anything Is possible In .hcoe wild and
changing days,
Politics is tho ancient sanctuary of the
lie. Tills Is because of the politicians them
selves, who started tho fashion by lying
feverishly about their own virtues. One
entering political life especially If ho
odged In by the back door Invariably
wont heavily laden with lies ood and bad,
black and white, horizontal and perpendic
ular, fast and slow; lies for offense and de
fense; high-speed lies and low-flying, slow
moving lies devised mainly for purposes
of detitructloiu There were falsehoods
that might be draped upon tho personality
of a friend to mako him beautiful to see
and others that, when properly and deftly
usod, could mako almost any man of an
opposing party seem a blood brother to tho
person most eminent In Hades. Ono prac
ticed lying In a loud, clear voice, and when
ho was able to toss a. falsehood oft Into
tho air while looking an audience bang In
tho eyes with a virtuous expression, then
he was assured of a. fighting chance in tho
lower circles of public life.
It Is to bo assumed that the high faith
which Mr. O'Nell seems to have In his
day nnd generation nnd his assumption
that tho lie Is to bo put out of politics
like a sinister cat into tho night aro In
spired by a. soulful determination to re
frain from using tho lie against any ono
eh-c. We can only wait and fee.
1'rcpnrr to look your last upon friend
oyster. Only a wrek more.
If thn iclous driven out of this city
take refuge across the river Jersey Juitlc
will Iimo an opportunity to Hnc up to IM
reputation.
Young men who read General Barnett's
appeal for 40,000 men for the marine corp
should remember that tho corp Is Kenerally
admitted to be the driest military body In
tho world.
Since T. II. Iirs determined tn campaign
against the German language press It ncem)
appropriate that his Initials should stand for
"treat 'cm rough."
The Ilolshevlk government seems to ba
surprised thnt thi Oennans are murdering
civilians In Husnla. Is It Ignorant of the his
tory of Belgium?
Xow that they are to employ women on
the Camden trolley car, any one who flirts
with the motor girl will flirt, simultaneously,
with sudden death.
It is natural to supposo that tho York
street oyster house which the police havo
Just suppressed at. a disorderly resort might
very properly have been called a stew.
Now (hat circus tlmo
Tul, Tut I Is here Is It proper to
ask whether you would
upcak of a ringmaster's profanity as clrcusi
words?
SINCE YOU INSIST
Spend Spend
your your
dollars
5 ' and
' suspend
the the
Hun Hun
O O O O
Wear half-soled trousers and
BUY MORE LIBERTY BONDS
Don't M-e- BE
BE C ' proud
hcIf- (patch) 1''
con- i your
sclous ss's pate'1
IF WE HAVE TO CHOOSE
between half-soled trousers or a
HALF SOLD Liberty Loan
we prefer the former. Keep
your spine erect and no
ono will divine tho truth.Thut
Is what Mr. McAdoes.Darn
your trousers and damn the
Knlser and never mind
your rags. Do not be afraid
TO BE HUY
FRAYED. MORS!
XXXXXX X X X X X X.
xxxx-x xxxxx
The compositor who tailored theso half-soled
trousers put h! hole soul Into tho Job. Hut,
h moan, they would look more inodtfh If ho
had had a sewing machine Instead of tho
llnotpse.
Mr. and Mrs. Dove Dulcet are shortly
to celebrate their golden wedding anni
versary. This does not mean that they
have been married fifty years. They have
u different way of measuring the epochs of
connubial Joy. They sy they will soon
have been married fifty cooks. They are
now on their forty-ninth. When she leaves
the celebration will take- place. Any gifts
for tho occasion may be forwarded In care
of Socrites.
DESK MOTTOES
My favorite motto, which I keep under
the glass pane on my desk. Is this:
liven the Boss U human
KATHARINE CALORY.
"God tells us to lovo our enemies,
but Ho can't expect us to love Ills
enemies." HARRY LAUDER.
We have yet to hear of a good con
scientious objection against buying
Liberty Bonds. Have you DONE
YOUR UTMOST?
Contributed br Sine You In,U( as an
expression of ramnlrte tllsnut fur the alma
and mirpvses af the Imperial (jtrinao (Jov
ernment. The Balloon Peddler
WHO Is the mat. on Chestnut street
With colored toy balloons?
I see hli with his ulry freight
On sunny afternoons
A peddler of such lovely goods
The heart leaps to behold
His mass of bubbles, red and green
And blue and pink and go'.J.
T7K)R sure that noble peddler man
" Hath antic merchandise.
His toys that float and swim In air
Attract my eager eyes.
Perhaps he is a changeling prince
Bewitched through magia moons
To tempt us solemn busy folk
With meaningless balloons.
BEWAnE, oh, valiant merchantman,
Tread cautious on the pave I '
Lest come day comes some realist,
Some haggard soul and grave,
A puritan efflclentlst
Who deems thy toys a, sin
He'll ata.lt thfce madly from behind
And t
i
DOES THE KAISER
LOVE TREES?
By Walter Prichard Eaton
AMONG the many "truisms" which aren't
AX truo at nil nono can be further from
the truth than the saying that a man's handr
are subdued to the material he works In. by
which I take It Is meant that a butcher will
1 a cruel sort of customer and a maker
of chorolnte creams a sentimentalist. I have
known many butchers (not mere aellcrn of
meat, but bulchera In the good old sense,
men who bought, killed and dressed the ani
mals (hey sold), nnd most of them were
large, red-faced, Jovial men, who supported
tho locnl ball team and were towers of merry
Inspiration at tho "traders' picnics." On the
other hand, I once knew a thug and a ruf
fian who worked In a candy factory.
BUT tho grentest variance from the truth
I have found to bo In the case of pro
fessional tree-trimmers, Matters are bad
enough In our town when the chauffeurs of
the rich summer residents arrive. These
men are loud-mouthed, dishonest, lewd, laiy
and rvcrnlly undesirable. But you arc not
entirely surprised at that. They are eco
nomic parastteK. performing no useful or
necessary function In life; they havo too
much idleness; they have too many tempta
tions to graft And they deal with machin
ery. But what I enn't explain Is. why the
trte-trlmtnors, who come upon us once In no
often to rare for our public shade trees, our
prltnte grounds nnd orchards, are even worse
than tho chauffeurs, so thnt we even havo to
quarantine our young girls, to say nothing:
of locking up all our portable possessions
while they are In town. The tree-trimmer Is
not a parnslte. He Is a hard worker In a
dangerous occupation, nnd what he does Is
of tho utmost benefit to society. Further
more, his wutk Is up nniong the green
branches of tile most beautiful things God
has caused lo grow upon tho earth, his ob
ject constantly to mako them healthier and
more benutlful. Why should the professional
tree-trimmer become a thug?
I CANNOT answer. It may be due to the
human conditions of Uboi in the tree-trim-mlng
Industry. I.Ike the members of the
1. W. W., ho Is an itinerant laborer, to a
great extent, and perhaps the real trouble
lies with his employer, with society, hs It
generally does w Ith the I. AV W. h fact tho
I'nlted States Government Idealisations
have clearly demonstrated. I'm not going
to try to answer. In fart, but only to point
out that when a man Is trimming his own
trees. In his own orchard, provided, of
course, that ho has lenrned how to do it
properly, ho Is engaged in iim of tho most
healthful anil one of the most delightful
occupations known to man. If your snw is
(harp and jou keep It oiled to prevent vexa
tious binding, and If you have een an ouncn
of Imagination ti make of each tree a bit
of nn architectural problem, you can Hpend
two hours In ten minutes up nn old apple
tree and resent the call to dinner.
There stands the old treo before you, at
jou approach It with ladder and tools. It
was planted long years ago, perhaps a hun
dred, in our eastern country.
In Washington or Oregon an apple tree,
after twenty years. Is too tall to plik
und has to he cut clown. When It wns
planted men knew little about pruning and
leas about pests. Probably they had no pests
tn speak of. But now the twisted old et
ernn shows many n painful s.-ar of wrong
pruning In Its middle and later years ; scale
and disease have weakened It; It is full of
holes and dead wood. Yet it Is alive, sturdily
allie, and sprouting suckers with magnificent
1 itullty.
What shall ou do to It? Shall you head
It ruthlessly down to make fruit-picking
easier, or shall jou treat It rather as a
shade tree, an ornament and ornamental it
certainly Is with Its leaning trunk and
gnarled, spreading branches and tall, arched
crown. After all, you decide why not lit It
be a tree, tall hh It HUea. So jou walk all
around It carefullj-. studying Its shape and
making up your mind what limbs to leave for
the truo outline, what suckers promise best
as future bearing wood, at what points to
pruno ruthlessly to admit air anil light.
When theso points are stttled you climb up
and begin.
YOU saw with jour right arm and your
left arm; jou saw right side up and up
side down; you balance on tho swaying edge
of nothing to use your long-handled pruning
shears In the top tracing of twigs. Dead
wood goes crashing down to the ground. Off
como the stubs left by tha Ignorant farmers
of n past generation, who did more harm
than good whenever they pruned a tree.
Suckers, or "water hpouts," are removed and
are tugged reluctantly out from the foliago
with which they linxe sprouted, often whip
ping you annojingly In the face Good
limbs of fresh, pungent green wood hae to
come out. too. Up and down and round nbout
you climb and cut till at last the tree is
revealed in Its naked architectural bones,
mottled with white cuts which jou have got
to cover with tin or lead paint, and Using
from a ragged mound of wood and brush on
the dead grass beneath
BEFORE you start hauling this slash
away or get jour paint nnd pot to cover
the scars you fill your pipe and contemplato
jour work. You see, In imagination, the
vigor of the old tieo now going Into those
sound, shapely limbs which jou liao left,
clothing them with a richer green and a
redder fruit than they have known for a
generation. You feel something like an archi
tect who has renovated and lestorcd an old
house, or a doctor who has patched up a
cripple. You feel, also, the delicious physi
cal weariness of a man who has done a
healthful daj-'s work In tha open.
Then, you remove the slash or stait In on
the next tree.
It fceeins incredible to me that anybody
can prune trees well without coming to lou
them, and It seems even more Incredible
that anybody can love trees and remain an
undesirable citizen. So, after all, I cat back
to my first contradiction and end with a
paradox. It may even be that the Kaiser Js
an expert orchardist!
Place aux Dames!
DIl CHARLES WHARTON STORK, tha
genial magtster cantandl of Philadelphia
poets, has had the gracious thought to Issue
a ladles' number of hit, magaxlne, Contem
porary Verse. With much Justice he says
that while our poets male may lag andly be--hind
their English brothers In plenitude of
tone and trill, the women singers of this coun
try are u choir second to none. Jor Is thli
saying born of gallantry alone. The worst
thing for poets Is to praise them too highly.
Days of buffets and nights of fasting aia
excellent medicine for the muBe. Yet Doctor
Stork, In the vulgar phrase, has "said some
thing" In his gleeful comment on the high
excellence of our fair rhymesters, We con
gratulate with him upon the fact.
Emily Dickinson was the first American
woman poet to capture our heart, and next
to her we would throw down gage of battle
In behalf of Miss Llzette Woodworth Reese,
who contributes to Doctor Stork's current
number this delicious little picture:
:iln Hanging Clothes
The maid Is out In the soft April light,
Our store of linen hanging up to dry i
On clump of box, on the small grass there lla
Bits of thin lace, and broidery blossom-white.
And something makes tall Ellen air or look
Or else but that most ancient, simple thing,
Hanging the clothes upon a day In spring,
Like to a Greek girl cut out an old book.
Tha wet white flaps; a tune Just come to
mind.
The sound brims the still rooms. Our flags
are out,
Blue by the box, blue by the kitchen stair;
Bttwlxt the twain she trips across the wind.
Her warm hair blown all cloudy-wise about,
Slim as the flags, and every whit as fair.
Still waiting for Oarabed. These must
be nervous days for tha Swarthmore eels
mograplf. SDtaklng of street-cleaning contractors.
it k Mft'.t, sua' thaw tar 4nnt0,lyfaf Mil
"BUT DOND'T
fc-ixtottfizilKn"' , fits Sf tBTi TTrrfiMlslirTrnTT I rl 1i M
sSSrsBLSaawW Mi ! JeWJPW1 lit
JSyKSKI . fCiV:. , MMZ
TT-shsmir'T.-;.rii-J . si.i'a' rauaiii) fMrjAfu MK.mr
DON'T CRY TILL HE GOES
IV omen, Says One, Must Also Be Brpve in War Evening
Ledger Readers Discuss Municipal JVages and
the Grocer's Sad Lot
What Women Can Do
To the Editor of the Kvealnp l'ullic l.tdo"
Sir I am writing this with tho hope that
It may help other women as I hae been
helped. My first Idea of military life was
obtained at the time of my only brother's
graduation from est Point Bonie yenrs ago.
I was greatly Impressed with the soldiers,
not In war sense, but merely admiration.
Immediately after graduation my brother,
now a captain, whom 1 shall call Jack, was
sent to Honolulu. Three jears later he was
allowed his first furlough Ho was then sent
to Mexico at the time of tho Melcan trouble.
Fortunately that didn't amount to much.
His next post was Teas. The Texas papers
wroto columns about him and of the mutiny
and riot that arose between the blacks and
whites. Jack was considered tho hero. He
came home last month for his farewell before
leaving for "over there." I went home to
Join tho family reunion. I asked him of the
terrible night of the Hot and if he wasn't
afraid. He said, "When danger eonies a true
soldier never shirks, but does his duty. If
j-ou're going to got it jou get It. It's far
better to die a true soldier for the eauta
than to live and be a slacker a disgrace to
the countrj-."
Then he told of his dear friend, another
captain who was killed on the night of tha
riot. He said the dying captain's last words
were. "Go sen my mother and tell her not
to worry." Jack stopped at Virginia, his
dead friend's home, and saw his mother.
She told Jack that this sou made a total
of three that she had lost, two In France,
and she still had a fourth and only son left,
In France.
Yet Jack said she never broke down while
she w,aa talking to him, except that she
seemed to have a far-off gaze at times ; once
or twice she blinked hard, but that's all, and
when she bade Jack good-by she smiled.
"Slio's some woman. That's tho kind of
women we men want. It Isn't going to the
theatre for us, but ciylntc won't do any good."
I know of another lady whose huband
had been killed. She i;ald the leul meaning
of the war had not been brought home to
her until she lecelved word of her husband's
death. Now all of her time Is devoted to
war-relief work.
Young girls- should be made to realize that
we are actually at war and try to help the
soldiers, not to fall In love with the sol
diers and sailors. It Is up to us women to
keep up the moral standing of the men If
we want to win this war. Go In for Red
Cross work all jou can, und above all, when
you bid hlni good-bj-, no matter If j-our
heart seems to be bursting nnd the tears
seem to choke jou, hold back the tears until
you reach home ; hold up j-our head and
smile. II L
Philadelphia. April 24. ,
Water Bureau Wages
To the Editor of the Evening l'ullic Ledger,
Sr We are wasting a lot of hot-air tall:
on the police department and Public Safety
Department, but not one word Is said about
other departments or the salaries city .em
ployes are getting In some of these depatt
inentB. The question of salary seems foreign
to the prevailing vice question In our city,
but It la a fact nevertheless that the city Is
paying Its help about the lowest wages that
are being paid anywhere,
On January 1 the Water Bureau raised
Its men from 900 to J1000 a jear, which
included oilers, firemen and engineers.
Oilers and firemen are averaging )20 per
week, engineers about 127 a weelc, and yet
this Is no salary whatever for a man with
a, family the way living Is at present. So
much comes off every payment for the pen
sion; then there are assessments, which is
a thing that was revived again after Mayor
Blankenburg had put a stop to It. Now,
with alt this handsome salary, at the end
of the year I find myself already In debt
to the amount of j:G7, and In all likelihood
I will be required to buy a Liberty Bond.
Now how am I going to buy Liberty Bonds
and keep my family on the handsome salary
of (1000 a year? I do not mean to be un
patriotic, but I cannot see my family suffer,
so therefore I am getting Into debt head
over heals through tha wonderful raise we
received in the Water Byrt,u on January u
These positions come tieUr.tka ha4io f
awiiii )-, yt fivs.'B ieHrnvHt
LET ME INFLUENCE YOUR DECISION!"
t .
-5.w.--ii
f J (!, I J
m
5s;V?f-
paying for the same kind of work. Whj can
not city employes benefit In the present high
wage scale the same as those of other con
cerns? No working man or mechanic can
begin to live on less than J12Q0 the way
living Is now. Does the city know this or
doesn't it care a rap for Its employes? Men
are leaving the Water Bureau every day and
going where they can get a living wage.
We are ready to do our bit. but we want
something to do It "with.
WATER BIT.KAU.
Philadelphia, Apill 24.
Sad Lot of the Grocer
7"o the Editor of the Evening PuWc Ledger:
Sir The lot of the average retail gtocer
Is not nn enviable one at the present time.
He Is being imide tho "goat" for many of
the unpleasant complications of the food
sltuntlon. In fact, the public Is being edu
cated to believe thnt the average grocer Is
waxing fat on excessive waitlme profits.
It Is a familiar practice of the real thief
lo throw suspicion on the Innocent bjstaud
er to divert the chase In another direction,
und the grocer has to suffer If the retail
grocer makes an ertor In selling Hour with
out rho propr substitutes, he faces a fine
of $5u00 or the closing up of his business.
Were he to commit burglary or second-degree
murder his punishment would scarcely be so
severe. He Is expected to sell sugar, eggs
nnd butter at a margin of about 8 to 10 per
cent, whllo tho best authorities agree that
tho overhead cost of doing business Is at
least 15 per cent for tho average grocer.
If ho Innocently or willfully forgets to
complj- with some of tho technical points of
tho pure-food law, he faces a heavy line.
As a patriot he Is expected, If he has bought
goods at a low price, to continue selling them
at that price, even though It will cot him
more money to replace these goods than he
will get from the salo of them However,
if he has bought goods at a high price and
tho market drops, he Is unpatriotic and a
profiteer If he doesn't at once drop ills prices,
no matter what the Iors.
Unlimited competition keeps bin margin of
profit so low that competent authorities esti
mate at least 75 per cent of the grocers fall
In business sooner or later. Every time ho
advunccs prices to meet market advances he
is looked upon us a robber, but when ho
lowcis prices for market declines he gets
no thanks. If his customers meet with mis
fortune, they expect him to carry them along,
and too often forget him when the sun of
prosperity shines again.
Whllo retail grocers are faljing by tha
thousands every year we note that the meat
trust, oil trust, tobacco trust, sugar trust
and all the other trusts are getting fatter
each j-ear from excessive profits with no In
terference from governmental authorities
who aro so busily engaged In running duwri
tome luckless, Insignificant grocer for some
technical violation of the food rules that
they have no time to Investigate the gigantic
offenders who, through their absolute control
of the necessaries of life, arbitrarily fix
their prices at such a point as to give them
tens of millions of excessive profits each
year.
The farmer, the wage-earner, the profes
sional man aie all getting at leaBt 100 per
cent more for their produce or services than
prior to the war and their patriotism is un
questioned, but the grocer is compelled to
do business under costly war conditions on
the same or a less margin of profit as before
the war. He surely Is tho "goat "
Ashland, Pa.. April 24. aROCEIt.
The unfortunate Oer
man citizen who was
robbed of his llfe'a
A Kaiser In
Our Midst?
savings by a plok
pocktt at City Hall now knows exactly how
It feels to live In Germany these days.
The Kaiser may be
That May VxpUIn It Intent on slowly ex-
. . terminating his peo
ple In order to Insure his own safety in
Germany after the war.
Undesirables are said
$ liata Like Ham to be flocking to New
. ,' . York , atoe rlc ,orw
ts.ssnep rrwsa vaaaM-fifs. m 3 fBSMMpr , fjsjsjsjsjsjsjSL, ffU M
ECONOMY FOR MEN
By Elsie Duncan Yale
(M, Mother must economize the txit '
" that alio Is able,
To cut tho cost of living down on clothlnrl
and on table;
But why should she monopolize this pleu-l
ant task? No, rather
Let some of this frugality be practiced tot I
bj Father!
QO, Daddy, don't discard jour socki, lor
that would be quite silly.
Trim off the tops for wristlets vrartn to.
wear when days aro chilly;
Don't throw your old suspendersout, for
it would bo far smarter
To cut them up with greatest care to malt
a stylish garter.
rTIHE threadbare coat that long has but'
J our patient form adorning 4
Will make a very useful vest to wear on;
Sunday morning; !
While from your daughter's tlbbon bowl
you'll cut. if you are thrift-.
Some neckties that for business wear uH
leally very nifty!
"VOUR di ess-suit coat is all worn out anil.
- looks quite "on Its uppers"?
Twill make a good Tuxedo, then, to wtarJ
to Httlu suppers.
Don't thtow your old cigar-ends out, buts
chop them up so neatly,
To make an economic smoke and fill yourl
pipe completolj'.
rpiIESE many little helpful hints with!
- best Intent we'te giving
So Father, too, may help reduce this awnilj
cost of living:
For theie nre many, many ways a husbanol
who Is clever
May save a penny here and theie If he wljl
but endeavoi. -
TODAY'S JJSELESS QUESTION
Why don't the tailors make ash-colored
suits, on which tobacco clndera
could be dropped without leaving a
stain?
What Do You Know?
- QUIZ
I. Mho Mas Madame Keianiler?
5. Who said. "I have hod wealth. rs kfl
ixixeri but, If thrr ere all I sad. atwj
wrtrt'iira 1 wauw u .
S. Name tha author af "A Fable for OWm.
5. What l the nam of the Slshummedsa sawwj
bok?
0, Where Js '.rtbratttt
", Who faunded Oeorsla?
s. Where S4 the I'roinl.ed lJinJ?
V. Who l Vlre Admiral von t'aprUef
10, What Is meant itr "the lion's shsrt .
Answers to Yesterday's QuU
I, MaasacliuHtll U railed "the Bar Btaia." '
3, Robert llfownlnf. Ilrltim poi.
oeua,"
3. Kkunk rabba
'"I ai.M rail, iai" Ill.tZT Zl tm
War. S,nu 01 cna iniilliaa .-!-.- SJ'J
statea when railed far war atnlj. Jl
. Hotbed, and eold-frames ;r flased J
a framed boi, usuallr. with siopiu '"U
Thi hotbed has a Mil law aier as' S
ni're, tuVUld-fraina has aar rich '""Jl
0. Kobln Iloodt it medieval ' "X
letfnd wee lea a nana si ""' r-
and rabbera. with, headquarters Iff
wold forest, stealing .from tha lie
helping tha poor and distress". 111
KrJsrr.au.r,inrrJfr wrv
0. I.U of Wlrttl
eanntr af ICB
aattth at Mai
l,
i, is is f airm
""" 'tA
t
.. ,.. ill"!
tel an earlr spring piaai -"
a raHt-anapta iirawnun wi"-. .mil
the Constitution (Artlil H. WJ.!' J.
I'mldent Is i-omniander-ln-chlef ' ,
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Mail
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