Ld rat. >” Vol. I3 BELLEFONTE, PA., THURSDAY, JULY I6, 189l. n— NO. 27 @he Centre Lemoceai, EDITOR CHAS. R. KURTZ, = - TERMS OF SU BSORIPTION Regular Price . When Paid in Advance When subsoriptions are not paid insiae g1 00) years $2.00 will be charged inl. Hditor WHY TAXES ARE HEAVY, w— When the republican party went into power the national treasury had an im- | mense surplus of over one hundred mill- ions. The last republican congress in one session squandered all this and there are not enough funds on hand That is to pay all the pension claims. why your taxes are so heavy. During the past year, by direc! tion of the constitution of the state, republican state treasurer, like forme: officials of that party, ions of dollars, the state's funds, in the hands of favorite republicans, politicians and henchmen for speculative purposes, as the exposure of the Delamater & Co., bank failure, the Keystone bank and Spring Garden bank failures, both of Philadelphia, have shown. Inthisman ner the state treasury has been robbed of several million during the past year, all of which was originally taken from |} the people. Do you wonder why taxes are so heavy ? In our own county the former repub- lican board of commissioners went into | office with a fine surplus on hand. When | they went out the money was all spent and the county was left in debt. Should you wonder why your taxes are heavy? The republican party has famous for extravagance and plunder- ing of public funds. Is ita wonder that s 4) times are dull, business is depressed and | times! are hard ? We think not. Ex. cessive and unjust taxation will depress the most prosperous people. - The bill providing for a constitutional convention, as approved by the Govern- or, is probably the most important bill considered by the Legislature. It pro. vides that the question of holding acon- stitutional convention shall be decided by the voters of this Commonwealth at the November election, at which time | delegates to the proposed convention shall be elected. One hundred and sev- entyv-seven are to be elected, 27 at arge, each voter to vote for no more than 18 candidates and the 27 highest in shall be declared elected; 150 delegates shall be elected from the different Sen. atorial districts, three to be elected for each Senator, no voter voting for more than two. Fifteen days after the elec. tion the Governor shall issue a procla- mation declaring the election and the names of the delegates chosen. On the first Tuesday of December next the con vention will be called to order in the when we said the Bellefonte lights burn | hall of the House of Representatives by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, | Each delegate will receive #1500 and a candidate for first place on the demo- cratic national ticket in "92 is nothing more than idle speculation. We believe Pattison is for Cleveland and we feel confident that the state will cast ity | | “HORE LIGHT TURNED ON. money | plac d mill- | i occur. vote | bh) FORTHE BENEFIT OF BELLE~ FONTE'S TAXPAYERS. Further Hlastration of the Enormoas Price Paid for Street Lights Mr, Kitson's roply Examined--Ouly unsatisfactory state ments In our last issue an article was pub. ie { lished showing the different prices paid | | by towns and cities in Pennsylvania for are street lights, various city clerks, which can be seen {anv time at our office, showed the lowing prices paid for a power lamp G8 year. Lock Haven, 45 lights, all night, 873, ght, York, 169 lights, all night. 800, Harrisburg, 170 lights, all night, $90, Milton, 45 lights, fro I a. Huntingdon, 41 lights, one i till midnight, 860. \ y Altoona, 96 lights, all ni 280. nu early dark till i, CUCTY night in +8 gratis, sunbui Bellefonte, 17 arc lights and candescent, burn till 1 a. m., LIGHTS EACH COST #88 Y EAR and incandescent £18 per A year. a 3 LS Sis RRA , 33 lights, all night, 855.08, This was a bad showing for Bellefonte deal of comment community, and caused a from our tax.burdened which is already carrying an enormous Freat debt that is yearly growing larger and larger, by the boro. being compelled to | lebted. ness, and from bad management of our id $1 pay 7 per cent. on much of its i borough fathers. citizens commended that article ; and it { naturally caused uneasiness in another | For the purpose of counter. | quarter. | acting this strong sentiment, if possible, yecome | | Mr. Kitson, the electrician of the Belle- | fonte Edison Co., made a reply in anoth. { er journal, in an article headed “More Light Turned On.” From that head- ing our people first thought we at last were getting more light on our streets we pay enough for 40 arc lights but don’t get it—but they were disappointed in findidg that, as usual, it was only on paper, of Mr. Kitson’s own make--weak | and bewildering. We will take up his statements as they He says it was “written by par. ties desirous of causing dissatisfaction.” It was prepared by the editor only, and the many complaints over the enormous prices we pay for street prompted the investigation, not here for the purpose of dissatisfaction” —instead, to furnish the news, protect the public from imposi. tions, show to the people how the public funds are expended, ete., which is the obligation and duty of every public journal, published for the people, and in turn supported by them. Such a fear. less course may make occasional ene- | mies, but ii wins the plaudits of all | fair minded people. We frankly admit we may have erred lights alone We TCAUsing are { only till midnight, instead of 1 o'clock. The information was given by Mr. | Mitchell and was an oversight, but the | small difference of time is of little con. | sequence in comparison of $96 with $62, | 860 and 855. Again the lights burn so seldom on “dark mornings” that it isa : | | very small factor to make up this great | | difference in price. AN UNFAIR COMPARISON, The replies from the | fol. | : Ia] 2000 candle | Scores of prominent hit, cvery night of the year till 1 o'clock, | for only 862—or all night, every night for (#85. Being unfair, he did not care to | give his readers this town’s rate which | completely breaks down his moonlight | theory, and that Bellefonte is not paying | more than other towns for its electrio | shreot lights, Very unfair indeed, but it will not deceive the intelligent tax. | payers, | Hisstatements in regard to Hunting- |d mn further on are only mere assertions by the following: | “The borough of Bellefonte was sup- {plied during May with light on ils | streets for 156 50.60 hours, or 87 hours more than Huntingdon and 72 than towns claiming to | night light.” more From the reading of the part in ital ies, he must think that Bellefonte peo- { ple are a set of dupes, The fact is they have been duped for some time but that | {last statement claps the climax for rediculousness. In order to find those 12 extra hours, Mr, Kitson may have a { new method of calculation, probably he That to | studies in a different arithmetic. point needs “more light turned on” make it clear. Probably he was only joking when he said “1f the Edison Co. charged in propor- tion as Huntingdon is charging. the price (in Bellefonte) should be #135 per light per year instead of #06." We will refer him again to Milton. Mr. Kitson further on asserts “The average price paid for light throughout the country for all night service Is #130 per light, per year, and to { 12 o'clock (midnight) 8100, It would be more satisfactory if he A { would quote facts for the above, or give reliable authority, This statement may | be correct; but, in this section of coun | try, we are in the heart of the great coal fields and fuel is cheap, and for that rea- | son light should be much cheaper than | the average and where they must obtain | fuel several hundred miles distant. The | proper comparison is with towns in this section, and that has clearly established the fact that the highest price charged {in any of the places heard from is $60 { for all night, and #2 till 1a. m. That | awertion likewise needs more light | turned on it, | He closes his reply with the following “It will be found that a large portion of the stock is held in Philadelphia, New | York and New England. Whatever dividends are declared will Pdrift to those cities, the stockholders all live in this borough. and posible the CexTirE DEMOCRAT is not aware that the directors of the Ed. ison Co. pay more each year than the whole amous the borough for lighting at least one third.’ No matter if this stock is held izens who are blessed with ’ : por. HY Are not % SAI tion of wordly goods. 7T afflicted on that account, mind desery of sympathy. The fact the taxes in Bellefonte are paid by the | poorer classes who are compelled to pay {enormous tents for their homes business locations, and out of which | rents the landlords obtain the money to | pay their taxes. It is the { and laborer who finally suffers the most land it is for their protection that we demand an economical expenditure of | the boro funds, and, if possible, a redue- | tion of our monstrous debt and taxation. We almost feel that we are stumbling against a mole hill by paying so much attention to Mr. Kitson's bundle of as. sertions, is, the bulk sind Wage earner and their absurdity is sufficiently shown | naturally | while in Bellefonte | The mere publication of the | THE SITUATION, The chances for a democratic victory this year, in Pennsylvania, are good. The party never was stronger and more harmonious; it has at its head an able and wise leader in Chairman James Kerr; the admsnistration of Governor Pattison has gained for it the applause and confidence of the public, and with a good strong ticket in the field success is almost assured, in the minds of the people, count the republican party in the north. western part of the state is weakened 1 | and disorganized, and the people gener- {ally are disgusted. In Pittsburg the { Quay and Magee factions are bitterly | opposing each other, and that party will | | be weakened through these dissentions. banks by w were stolen from the state treasury by | men who were allowed to speculate | under the republican state officials, has | with the state's funds, { mission of per- dong much to create disgust, and even | distrust, for the leaders, manipulators | and officials of the republican party of this state, all of which are the fruits of Quay’s eorrupt leadership party in Philadelphia has him, and should he again force any His own repudiated { favorite upon the republican ticket this | year, its defeat will be certain, That is the condition of the two par- The de. united and ties in Pennsylvania to-day. mocracy 8 harmonious, strong. disaffection. Many will stay from the polls while others will vote for a change, believing that the public good demands it. Under these circumstances it is highly important that wise counsel is taken for the formation of our state icket. It should be composed of strong men, men with clean records and good character. The opportunify for another democratic victory is before us; wisdom { and foresigit of our party leaders is re. { quired only to obtain it. ——— iat asi Grange Fxhibition The =n annual pienic and exhibition of the Patrons of Husbandry of Central Pennsylvania will be held in Grange Park, at Centre Hall, Centre county, Pa., the week of the 14th to 20th of Sep- tember, This popular gathering will be much burger this year, as upward of 100 Letils re aired engaged and every new orders Tents are = week riage in tloored at 3 LM 5 1 : 1 ) (SLRL I reasonable of 1a own, \ VE. ue also provided dance to visit the fa. | only a few miles dis. inl, which is entered by means of boats, There is opportunity any. where in the State for manufacturers to exhibit and advertise their wares. The majority of the exhibitors sold out their entire exhibits last year, and established numerous agencies and secured large sales as the result of their exhibiting at the Patrons’ Pienic in Grange Park. Itis proposed this year to put upa suitable building for the exhibition of agricultural and horticultural products with rare and useful plants, showing the process of growth and production. wis Penn { HVS no better On the other hand the defeat. failure | and disgrace of Delamater is still fresh | On that ac- | The republicans, in large num. | bers, are dissatisfied and there is much | A FATAL DAY. FOURSUDDEN DEATHS LAST THURSDAY. James Falton Ran over by a wagon ut State Desth of Mrs Killed by a Hack College Child Homan Fell from a tre Last Thursday was an um for sudden less deaths than four occurred—three near State College and one at Port Matilda. FELL UNDER AY WAGON, Last Thursday, July 0th, Mr. Patter | son, manager of one of the experimental | farms with Penna, 8t | College, had a number of men and at work hauling in hay In the evening at about dusk they were il our con AN connected ate roy 1) fields rom Lhe heids { hauling the last | The recent failure of the Philadelphia | o hich over a million of dollars | h ls load when a ident occurred They ha if the Wago irge one and drawn by driven by a Mr. Kennex 4 alf load on fo ly. on, one of the men helping act of urging the horses ales {approached a hill when he tripped or in some way fell under wagon and both small } short time thereafter. he acs of deceased Wik a about thirty Years and leave He was Bsa Yanda " “ the leader he : mond and | wife and one ehild Wa { & prominent young man of t nity. The hat commu. interment occurred last Sal. urday, A SUDDEN DEATH. band lived ata small town | | suddenly the same Mrs. Homan | was returning home throngh the fields day. from a visit to a neighbor's house when | she suddenly became ill when near her | own house. The call for assistance was {heard and when she was carried into | her own house she suddenly expired. Her death was attributed to an affection | of the heart, GORED TO DEATH. A little three-year old child of John Wilkigs, the blacksmith at Lemont ' strayed from the house last Thutsday and unfortunately found its way into & field where some sheep were past uring. It was attacked by a ferocious buck and gored to death in an instant The body was terribly mangled. FELL FROM A TREE. The same day Mrs. Levi Jones. of Port Matilda, met her death by a fall froma cherry tree. She was standing on a limb that broke and she fel! a dis. tance of only eight or ten feet and sus. tained injuries in her back from whick she died the same day. She was an aged lady, : _- -——- A Terrible Death, The Huntingdon Daily gives | the account of the following sad death: | Elmira McCoobs, of McConnellstown, Huntingdon county, committed suicide | Friday noon in an outhouse at the rear of her residence, by hanging. After the News noon<lay meal she repaired to the out. | { house lot, and staying longer than cus. { tomary her sister Callie started after (her. The door to the building was | closed, and upon opening it she was | horrified at discovering the body of Ella | hanging by a rope to a rafter overhead. The poor lady in her fit of abstraction | {had procured a piece of ordinary bed | teams | Mrs. John Homan, who with her hus. | i known as | {the “Branch,” near Lemont, expired | Becond Seashore Excursion The second tour leaves Pittsburg, Thursday, July 25d, and offers a choles between Atlantic City, Cape May, Sea Isle City or Ocean City rate is a4 the sy AS LIK the same for each. The EXcul n oi days are (0 be sold kels good for ten abl a rate of 210 from Pittsburg and correspondingly low { rates from other stations. A special train of Day B50 a. m. Parlor Cars and Coaches will Pittsburg at for Philadelphia, stopping at all important junction points, where be with trains from lines, Passengers will pend the night in Philadelphia and provesd to the seashore by regular trains of the next day. leave connections will made { branch + desirability of the he liberal limit and low 8, and the fine equip. I train, this excursion { attractive of summer id fron i“ wohod stations ule will be Tra 1.06 p. m., 1.40 a. m. n levees - a Spring Mills. this Nor. Johnstown to relatives raduated rg. Slate ren 8S, Krise, who al School, has go nd a few days | at that place. | Twosons of Rev. Shoemaker, one & student at Dickinson Seminary and the | other a student of the law department | of Dickinson College, are spending their vacation under the parental roof. Messrs. W. B. Krape and | Condo and daughter, Davi! Barres J. 3 an Edward Ruhl are spending the week ut the G. A. R. Encampment at William. | sport. Mr. W. M. Allison, of the firm of ison Bros. has seventy acres of grass [to cut this season. | Hay is very plenty in this part of | Penns’ Valley, but some farmers west | ofthis report a short crop. W. B. Krape, Ed. Ruhl and J. A. | Weaver advertise a Harvest Home picnic for the 18th. son, | Young Man Serfously injured The Sugar Valley Journal of the 3nd instant states that a ser accident happened on Barner & Engle’s lumber job, near Carrol, on Tuesday of last week, by which Robert Barner, the 19 year old son of Daniel Barner, nearly lost his life. The young man, in compa. ny with three or four other workmen, were chopping down trees, and while thus engaged a large hemlock tree fell {upon Robert, breaking his backbone jand otherwise injuring him seversly. { He was immediately removed home snd { medical aid summoned. Kind friends are giving every assistance possible to ease his suffering, but the chances for his recovery are doubtful. A —— ~The reason the Philad. Branch han- | dies so much clothing is that they sell | reliable goods at reasonable prices. If {you deal with them once you will be come a regular customer. Gus . A Word to Writers, When you set out to write for news vote that way in the convention. Pat. | Mr. Kitson is very unfair in his reply | tison, like any other human being, would | when he cites Altoona, York and Har. not refuse the honor of being elevated | FISOUTE as paying $90 per light a year. tosuch a high position, and if it were | Altoona pays $50 as was published, in- | tendered him he would certainly accept. | stead of #90 ; that of course we will con. While he would not refuse, that does | 2d Was only an oversight and not in* | reports from other | above, would have been a suflicient re. ply. No one need be an electrician to understand them and a simple calcula. | tion by multiplication and division will towns, as given | nished free. | Excursion railroad trains will be run | hourly for the accommodation of the | people. A full and ample water supply is fur- | cord about nine feet in length. This papers, don't begin “Tradition tells ua" she had doubled together, and Jmaking | or “History records.” Don'tdeit. Or | & loop of it, fastened the ends to a raft. | if you must start in that way, tell ws {er then stepping on to the seat, she | what Sardanapalus and Tiglath Pileser evidently thrust her head through the | did for about three pages; then, after clearly demonstratejthat for $2,550, (the | Admission free, and those desiring | noose and throwing the weight of her | you've got it all written, tear off thom not imply that he seeks the position, | tended to deceive the people, certainly amount we annually pay for light) ac. | can go into camp on Saturday, Septem. 24 Cleveland is the choice of the party. DuniNo the past week quite a boom has developed urging Chairman James Kerr, of Clearteld, to accept the nomi. nation of his party for state treasurer on the democratic ticket this year. Mr. Kerr could have the position if he would only express his willingness to accept. He has another position in view-—that of clerk of the next House of Represen. tatives and has good chances of ob. taining it. The latter position would be more desirable and we hope he will suc. ceed, Tur democratic state convention will meet at Harrisburg, September 3rd. At the meeting of the executive committee in Philadelphia, July 9th, a strong boom wus made for Bellefonte and it would have received it had not the adminis tration asked for it to assemble at Har- risburg, this year. The vote stood 4 for Bellefonte, and 6 for Harrisburg, i. c—— a Braixe says “I am not a sick man. ve as weil as usual.” That means at he will be in fighting trim for the presidential nomination on the republi. ————————— not. But to show his unfair compari. son he selects from our list the three towns that pay the largest price to es. | tablish his standard for an argument. #73 or Sunbury at 855? Simply because it would have come nearer the average price paid in central Pennsylvania and would have still more weakened his case. Instead, he prefers to make an unfair comparison, which, though based at #96 for Bellefonte's light till 10%clock, as compared with other towns who have all night service for #00, makes even then a bad showing and fails in turning on more light, He says Huntingdon, at 800 per light per year till midnight, does not have light on moonlight nights, even if it is dark. He gives no authority for the statement, only an assertion instead of facts, while all our statements are based on reports received from city clerks, Assertions, instead of facts, character. ize his entire reply. Nellefonte is on the same schedule, as it gets no light on moonlight nights either; and our street Why did he not take Lock Haven at | cording to the rates paid at Sunbury, Milton, Lock Haven and other adjacent | towns, we should have at least 85 or 40 | are lights—or for the #1632 paid for 17 are lights, we should have at least 27, Mr. Kitson, more light has been turned on this matter, and now it is in order for the Edison Co., through you, to turn on more light on our streets, or accept less money for the present supply. Fire on the 4h, Saturday evening, July 4th, after the fireworks were over the fire alarm was given for the North Ward where the home of Mr. Ed. Rowe, on Curtin street, was found to be ablaze on the in- side. The fire departments responded quickly and succeeded in checking the conflagration and preventing it from spreading to adjacent buildings. The building and contents were a complete wreck and a total mass of ruins, which was partly covered by insurance. Mr, Rowe and family have rented a house ber 12. Religious services will be con. ducted on the grounds on Sunday. For further information correspond with Hon. Leonard Rhone, Centre Hall, Pa., general manager, Festival, There will bea grand festival held at Snydertown, on Saturday afternoon and evening, July 25th. Ice cream, cakes, candies, banannas, watermelons, ete, in abundance, will be served in the best style possible. There will be agood band in attendhnce to furnish music for the occasion, Proceeds for the benefit of the church and Sunday School. Come one, come all and have a good time, Com. «Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa. John H. Harris, L. | 8 D., Presi. dent.—A school for all. Five depart cord so tight that strangulation ensued, and before discovery was made, she was dead. Deceased was single, aged about 85 years, and had resided in McConnells. town for the past eight or ten years. An OwlStory, Twenty-two years ago William Cor- nelius, of New Castle, then living in Lawrence county, set a trap for owls which were stealing his chickens. One morning he found the trap missing, and indications were that it was earcied off by some kind of a large bind. A week agoa man named Cluck, a resident of Coatesville, O., shot and killed a large owl and found attached to its foot a large steel trap and part of a chain, An account of the discovery was pub. lished in the papers of that section, Mr. Cornelius read the description of the trap and chain, and identified it as the one he had set twenty-two Yeass ago. Mt. Danie! Garman and Major Rey. nolds left for Bedford springs this week, «Barnum’s circus is expected to visit Bellefonte sometime in August, «The new putap for the water works is being put in place this week, body backward on it, drew the fatal | three pages, and you will find what | left will make an excellent beglnsing | for your article. | Some people's brains seem lumbering | and stiff in the joints, and they have to | begin with “Tradition tells us,” and go on that way till they get limbered out and in training for the real fight with their subject. But they ought in no case to put this brain gymnastics off on Se public for the genuine stufl. No! Plunge directly into your sub. ject. Tackle it, say plainly and in short words what you had in your mind we have the execrable habit of consumingea third of their space before they get a good ready to say what they wanted to The editor who understands his Thos itis nady fonts
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers