16
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
Established 1831
PUBLISHED BY
TRE TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO.
E. J. STACKPOLE
President and Editor-in-Chief
F. R. OYSTER
Secretary
GUS M. STEINMETZ
Managing Editor
Published every evening (except Sun
day) at the Telegraph Building, 216
Federal Square. Both phones.
Member American Newspaper Publish
ers' Association. Audit Bureau of
Circulation and Pennsylvania Associ
ated Dallies.
Eastern Office, Fifth Avenue Building,
New York City, Hasbrook, Story &
Brooks.
Western Office, Advertising Buildlnr,
Chicago, 111., Robert E. Ward.
Delivered by carriers at
< u ifrb msix cents a week.
Mailed to subscribers
at $3.00 a year in advance.
Entered at the Post Office in Harrl.x
burg, Pa., as second class matter.
Sworn dull)' nvernice circulation for the
three montlia ending Nov. 30, 1015.
21,794 ♦
Average for the rear 1914—21.SjJJJ
Averaite for the year 1013— 10.1W19
Average for the year 1812—10.(140
Average for the year 1011—17.M2
Iveragre for the year 1010— 16,U«1
The above figures are net. All re
turned, unsold and damaged copies de
ducted.
FRIDAY EVENING, DEC. 17
Wherever a process of life com
municates an eagerness to him who
lives it, there the life becomes genu
inely significant.—William James.
HARRISBURG THE PLACE
IF, us declared by Governor Brum
baugh last Fall, the headquarters
of tho referee districts in the State
Workmen's Compensation system are
lo be located so that they will be
rasily accessible, a mistake was made
l>y the Workmen's Compensation
"Board in designating Lancaster as
the headquarters of the district com
posed of Dauphin, Lebanon, Lancas
ter, York, Adams, Franklin, Perry and
Cumberland counties. The reason
given is that Lancaster Is the home
city of the referee assigned to this
district.
Tn the first place, Lancaster is not
the most accessible point in the dis
trict, and Harrisburg Is the center
most easily reached from any of the
eight counties as compared to Lan
e-aster.
Secondly, the point that the referee
will only have headquarters in his
home city and travel around to hear
cases does not seem to apply to the
Seventh district, whose referee lives
in New Castle, but who was required
to mako Erie his headquarters.
Thirdly, this city is the center of
more diversified industry than Lan
caster; It is a railroad center, which
Lancaster is not, and it is the official
center of Pennsylvania.
Lastly, the convenience of no State
official, large or small, should be taken
into consideration against the service
of the public.
Time was when building operations
were suspended during tho winter, but
modern equipment there is little
of outdoor operations even In
the most severe part of the year. This
is demonstrated in the very extended
building operations and remodeling
contracts throughout the city.
CAPITOL PARK EXTENSION
THE statement of Governor Brum
baugh with relation to the de
velopment of the Capitol Park
extension will be received with pleas
ure by all Harrisburg people.
The new area can bo made a thing
of beauty and a Joy forever to the
people of the State at large as well as
to those of tho city, or it can be
spoiled almost beyond remedy. That
the State and the city are working In
perfect harmony and that both will
rely largely for their final decisions
upon the reports of experts of world
wide experience and note assures the
people that the public money ex
pended for the enlargement of the
park will not be expended In vain.
It is good news, also, that the State
approves the city's recommendation
that plans for the Improvements be
made without delay, so that when
the Legislature provides the required
appropriation no time may be lost In
beginning the work. Trie Capitol
Park Extension promises to be the
great material monument of the
Brumbaugh administration.
The Telegraph again assures its
readers that any opinions of theirs sub
mitted under proper conditions for pub
lication, so long as the subject is with
in the ordinary bounds of public discus
sion. will be given space In its columns.
These opinions should be as briefly
building operations and remodeling
editor.
WEST SHORE ACTIVITIES
THE value of community effort
and co-operation has been
pretty thoroughly demonstrated
in the developments along tho West
Shore. Not only are the towns and
villages getting together for their
own welfare, but the puDllc utilities
are showing a disposition to co-oper
ate with R view to making Trafflc con
ditions more satisfactory for tho
whole district. Harrisburg has set
tho pace in many ways for its subur
ban neighbors and one admirable
feature of the city's activities is the
disposition to aid in every proper
■way tho surrounding communities.
Harrisburg occupies, in a way, the
relation of the big brother to all the
towns and villages within a radius of
ten miles and has been helpful In
FRIDAY EVENING
many linos of improvement which
affect these outlying and contiguous
} districts.
While the city is doing what it can
to make better living conditions upon
all sides it Is the manifest interest
and duty of these suburpan places
to co-operate with Harrlsburg so that
there may be effective work in the In
terest of all. This is being done along
the West Shore and the fine example
of community spirit there displayed
is an inspiration and guide for every
other town In this section. Good
teamwork will accomplish much and
the West Shore live wires are demon
strating their ability to help them
selves.
With the coming of 1916 the horo
scope of the setting sun shows a
favorable outlook for the territory
| basking under the big? umbrella of the
| West Shore. It only remains for all
of the towns and villages emoraced
within that territory' to co-operate in
an energetic way through some Joint
body that will put into force and ef
fect the plans which are now being
discussed for the general betterment
of the whole district. In this work
the Telegraph pledges its most earn
est support and it has watched with
Increasing interest the responsive
character of the activities in Camp
Hill, West Fairvlew, Wormieysburg.
Enola, New Cumberland, Lemoyne
and the remainder of the territory in
volved in this latest community
movement.
A LIVE REPUBLICAN CLUB
A NEWS item in last evening's
issue of the Telegraph called
attention to resolutions passed
by the East End Republican Club,
urging the commissioners of Dauphin
county to adopt the Mothers' Pension
Law, so that the benefits of the State
appropriation may be obtained for
needy widows in Harrisburg and the
county at large. The East End club
is one of the llvest Republican organ
izations in the State. Its scope of
vision Is wider than the mere politi
cal horizon. It is doing things that
are making a name for itself, not only
in the Allison Hill district, but in all
parts of town and it is deserving the
support of every loyal Republican In
the district east of the railroad.
City Commissioner Lynch is quoted as
favoring a reduction of the sidewalks
at corners of congested street intersec
tions in the business district so that the
area for the passage of vehicular traf
iic will be extended. Without any
statement from Commissioner Lynch,
we assume that the radial curbing will
be of solid granite instead of the make
shift concrete and steel-bound curbing,
which has proven a costly experiment
in some residential and business streets.
GOKTHALS AND THE PRESS
WEAKNESS In public men is
sometimes exhibited in a pe
culiar fashion. Even the
strongest of these persons who stand
out In great achievement frequently
demonstrate a weak point in the most
unexpected way. General George W.
Goethala is the latest big man to ex
pose his vanity, or worse, in an effort
to control newspaper comment or ac
tion in the handling of his official re
ports on the Panama canal. It is
hardly conceivable that one who lias
been so fairly treated by the press of
the United States would make the
mistake which has called down the
censure of such prominent newspapers
us the New York Times because of his
effort to control the date and form of
the publication of his reports. It
seems incredible that he should have
sent out copyrighted reports upon offi
cial matters, accompanying the same
with instructions that they should be
"printed in full or not at all," and that
no summary of their contents or com
ments upon them should be made by
an editor sooner than the day after
the copyrighted publications had ap
peared.
What right General Goethals had to
copyright an official report does not
appear, to say nothing of the colossal
nerve of his suggestion that the re
port or reports should be printed "In
full or not at all." The distinguished
engineer hits done a great work on the
Panama canal, but his arbitrary pow
ers on the Isthmus do not extend to
the newspapers of the United States,
which have done so much to uphold
and make successful his administra
tion of the Canal Zone.
His mistake in this instanco is sim
ply an illustration of the lack of ap
preciation so often manifested by pub
lic officials. They are always perfect
ly willing to accept tho support of
the newspapers, but too often forget
that these same newspapers are doing
constructive work in building up their
official policies. This lack of appre
ciation is not confined to the region of
the Panama canal; It is a common
system of official blg-headedness that
follows occasional success.
A returned American, who had been
pressed Into the Kaiser's service at the
outbreak of the war In Europe and who
was released through the good offices of
Ambassador Glrard at Berlin, says tho
German people are downhearted over
the war and no longer believe the news
paper reports of German successes. If
the truth were told, not only the Ger
man people, but all the other peoples
drawn Into the maelstrom of the awful
conflict In Europe are weary of the
struggle and would, rejolftj over a decla
ration of peace.
I'AOIFIO FLEET SAVED
THANKS to the enterprise of New
York financiers, more patriotic
and far-seeing than the mem
bers of Congress who passed the dis
astrous LaFollette ship law last win
ter, the remnant of tho Pacific Mail
Company's fleet on the Pacific is to bo
saved to this country. The purchaso
of the seven remaining vessels of this
corporation by the financial Interests
identified with the National City Bank
of New York is the first step toward
tho creation of an extensive American
lino trading between west coast and
South American points. The enforced
desertion of the trans-Pacific trade by
the Pacific Mall, due to the operations
of the new shlpmen's law, is a sad
blow to United States shipping, but the j
enterprise of the New Yorkers who are
stepping Into tho breach to preserve)
the steamers for American resist ry is
a sign that capital Is mora than anx
ious to invest in a merchant marine,
even under very unfavorable condi
tions, and that with proper encourage
ment there would be no need for the
foolish ship purchase measure ad
vocated by the national administra
tion.
Whatever the final conclusion of the
special art commission on the location
of the Donate statuary, it is certain
proper action has been taken in asking
the advice of Warren H. Manning, the
city's landscape designer, so that his
large experience may be utilized In
placing the statuary to the best ad
vantage. Few mistakes have been made
in Harrisburg in matters of public im
provement where the counsel of ex
perts was invited and their advice fol
lowed. In one or two Instances mis
takes were made, and in every case it
turned out that some inexpert opinion
had been taken In preference to the ad
vice of one of experience.
| TELEGRAPH'S PERISCOPE"
—The college boy wonders why
father doesn't earn more money. Af
ter he leaves school he wonders how
he Is able to earn so much.
—Every member of the Rotary Club
is going to give a poor family a basket
at Christmas time. Are you going to
let those Rotarlans be ahead of you?
—When ambition runs ahead of ca
pacity, give capacity the whip.
—Wo haven't heard any popular
rejoicing over the report that we are
to have a Du Pont powder mill In our
midst.
—The red flag over the park board
offices Is the sign of skating at Wild
wood—but cautious ones should re
member that red flags are also signs
of danger.
—To the little folks the days until
Christmas are all too long—to grown
ups they are all too short.
"Every thought has an heir" ob
serves a contemporary. And some of
them "hot air."
EDITORIAL COMMENT "|
That Los Angeles woman who says
she wants a husband so much that she
would be willing even to take a Demo
crat seems to have given the acid test
proof of necessity.—Philadelphia In
quirer.
The scorn of overwrought Europeans
for America just now is to be regretted,
but it is not insupportable.—Philadel
phia North American.
Mr. i<ryan is no warrior, but It Isn't
because he can't charge.—-Columbia
State.
It is more difficult to take a shine to
a Greek than to take one from him.—
Boston Transcript.
No doubt the ablest peace advocate
In the wcrld would fail as a maker of
automobiles.—New York Herald.
A HARRISBURG CONVENTION
Our own Harrisburg, in the far off
days when David R. Porter was Gov
ernor of Pennsylvania, also had a con
vention; it was the one in which the
Whigs nominated the first General Har
rison, and it was there, too that John
Tyler WHS put on the ticket for Vice-
President as a sop to the humiliated
followers of Henry Clay.
This year, even Philadelphians will
acknowledge that if the Republicans
would not come here, they have done
the next best tiling in going to Chi
cago.—Penn, in Philadelphia Bulletin.
REAI, PROSPERITY
[Prom the New York Sun.]
The American farmer is tho true
author of American prosperity. The
'..(ii'O,OOO.OOd lie contributes this year
to the national well boing represents
110 chicane of trading, no fortuitous in
cident of speculation, no accident of
politics. Ills skilfully directed labor
took from the soli what no political
platform. 110 program of social service,
110 reformatory scheme of enlightened
uplift could have extracted from it;
and every man, producer or parasite,
will enjoy the benefits of Ills fruitful
toil. • • •
We salute tho farmer. He is his
country's first line of defense, and its
ultimate support- and trusting that he
may never produce less than he has
this year, wo hope most of tho $6,000,-
000.000 will find its way ultimately in
to his pocket.
RADIUM SANATORIUM
The first radium sanatorium in the
United States has been opened in New
York for tho reception of cases of
cancer and other diseases treated by
tho use of the element for which the
sanatorium Is named. It will be con
ducted along lines similar to those
followed by the Hadium Institute of
London, and while it will have many
of the features for which the London
institution is noted, there will also be
in addition some that are distinctive
ly American. Three hundred milli
grams of radium valued at $36,000
have already been delivered, and con
tracts for $130,000 worth more have
been signed. The institution is sup
ported by philanthropists, nd its object
is not only to fight malignant diseases
but also to carry on research work
with tho X-ray and in surgery, as well
as in the use of radium. The staff of
the institution is composed of well
known specialists, but any physician in
good standing is to be permitted to
bring his patients to the sanatorium for
treatment. If preliminary surgical
work is decided upon, the surgeon hav
ing the case may perform the oper
ation, and the sunatorlum staff will at
tend to the radium treatment which is
to follow. Several patients have al
ready been received and others are on
the way. The institution will be open ,
to rich and poor alike, to those able
to pay and to those without money, I
and it will have the first radium dis
pensary in New York.
Our Daily Laugh [
JUST so.
Jones' nose Is a
regular ■weather
S?WI How'a thatT
It rtW Sure sign of a
* storm when his
1 i| W " e 80eS lt rCd '
CHANGED ALL „
AROUND. CjftSX rfjffc
Fred asked me yPTar 1
to marry him last /t4t\
week, and I re- IV 1
fused. Yesterday SS Jtfaj I
I telephoned
that I b d >f| yT
changed my jje
What was the if' ill «ft
He said he had 99 *AJL •
changed his, too.
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
Lk
By the Ei-CommlttcemM
The first phase of the campaign for
election of Democratic national dele-
Kates in Pennsylvania has been started.
The President has commenced to hand
out the post office appointments which
ha.ve been held up and It is expected
that in a short time the whole list of
103, held up by the reorganization tna
chine men for various reasons, will be
filled.
j Judging from the men selected, the
I reorganization people seem to have the
same old hold on the President as
they have put over their men in al
most every instance, and it is believed
that whoever gets the rubber stamp
for Millersburg will be named.
One of the interesting contests is at
Wilkes-Barre, where the President has
a candidate, Congressman Casev has
a candidate and A. Mitchell Palmer
has a candidate.
~A. J. Palm, named as postmaster
of Meadvllle, used to be connected
with Democratic state headquarters in
old days. He swung in with the re
organizers, however.
—Mayor Smith, of Philadelphia, will
be sworn in on January 3. Judge
Patterson will administer the oath.
—For the first time since the enact
ment of the law providing for the elec
tion of mine inspectors the actual
choice of the voters for that office in
Lackawanna county has won the office.
For years it has been the custom of
the mine examining board to pass
enough men only to fill the vacancies,
and the voter was compelled to take
the men selected by the board. This
year there Is an additional inspector
ship. At the election D. T. Williams,
a former inspector, was elected with
out the "O K" of the board. In re
taliation the board qualified William
Reid. Both applied for appointment
by court and Williams was named.
Senator Boles Penrose, speaking
at Washington on the recent meeting
of the national Republican committee,
said that It could be taken as Indica
tive of conditions In the nation. He
added that he did not consider that
there was any candidate for the Re
publican nomination as yet. The
senator in reply to this question, "Who
do you think are the strongest presi
dential possibilities?" replied: "In
my opinion no one is a candidate for
the nomination as president in the
Republican party In the usual sense.
I do not know any candidate that Is
being pressed in a systematic way as
has been witnessed in previous presl
tential campaigns. Several prominent
Republicans have been mentioned In
connection with the nomination, but I
believe that eaoh and all of them are
willing to look at the situation in an
impersonal and patriotic way, with a
view to serving the best interests of
the party."
—According to rumors. Mayor Ira
W. Stratton, who will retire from the
chief magistracy of Reading in a short
time, is being favorably considered for
a State position by the Governor.
Stratton was talked of for Public Serv
ice Commissioner here to-day.
—Judge Brumm, of the Schuylkill
county courts, Is threatening a new
move. There have been frauds in
some townships and the judge pro
poses to go to the townships to hold
hearings. He says It will savo the
county money.
—Democrats over in the Northamp
ton-Monroe district are having a good
bit of amusement over the contest
between A. Mitchell Palmer, who Is
out of Congress, and Henry J. Steele,
who is in, over the patronage in that
district. Palmer assumes to dictate in
the approved reorganization manner,
but Steele IK making a noise at Wash
ington. Only recently Congressman
Casey, of Luzerne, served notice on
Palmer that he was to stop trespass
ing.
—The assignments of Pennsylvania
congressmen attracted considerable at
tention to-day among people at the
Capitol. The fact that S. Taylor North
went on the committee on education
and John R. K. Scott 011 the conmiit-
I lee on education was not lost on people
at the State House. Congressmen
Griest and I.afean and Garland 011
post oflices also interested many. B.
K. Kocht's assignment to war claims
also has a peculiar interest because of
his district, which suffered in the raids.
—A. M. Bowman, one of the Demo
cratic candidates for tlie. House In the
Cumberland district last year, says
never again.
—The proposed selection of E. U.
Sowers for city treasurer of Lebanon
seems to have stirred up the animals
in that county. Sowers was beaten
for council.
PAYING HIS WAY
Nnturnltr-ed Cltlr.cn Donalm ■ New
Bullet to Government
[From the Washington Herald.]
A design of a new kind of bullet, in
tended especially to pierce steel hel
mets of the kind now worn by the men
in the trenches in Europe, has been
received at the Navy Department from
Charles H. Shapiro, of Spokane, Wash.,
a naturalized Italian.
The design, which Mr. Shapiro has
I bestowed on the department as a
Thanksgiving gift, is being studied by
the Bureau of Ordance.
In presenting the design to the Gov
ernment "free of cost or restrictions,"
Mr. Shapiro wrote:
"On Thanksgiving Day I will try to
remunerate my adopted country, which
offered me freedom and the opportunity
for better education, by sending here
with enclosed sketch representing a
bullet which I expect will cut through
steel helmets. I donate this to the
Government free."
WILSON'S WEAKNESS
TFrom the Philadelphia Inquirer.]
The material welfare of a people is
i Important. But it cannot In the long
1 run be separated from their honor. "We
cannot," said Senator Borah, "play the
merchant with the miseries of the
human race or barter the Uvea of our
people for industrial advantage." A
policy which sanctions such acts is cer
tain to awake in time the resentment
of a nation which, however permeated
with materialism, holds instinctively to
a hlirh Ideal. No President ever had
a 1 better opportunity than Mr. Wilson
l<j speak for the United States in tones
that would command attention and re
spect. He has failed miserably to rise
to it. But Congress can still do what
he has not done, and it is the duty of
the Republican party especially to see
that It, too, does not fail.
METHODISM FLOURISHES IN JAPAN
[From the East and West News.]
The quadrennial conference of the
Methodist churches In Japan has just
closed a session extending over two
weeks. Bishop Hlrawi in the course of
his address showed that the past four
years had been very fruitful. There
had been a gain of about 3,000 mem
bers. In the Sunday Schools there had
been a gain of about 17.000 pupils in
the four years. In the matter of
finances there had been a notable ad
vance of over $25,000 compared with
the last quadrennial. There are three
higher institutions of learning for
young men and two theological semin
aries. In theso seminaries there are
about a hundred young mon in training
for the ministry. A few of theso stu
dents come from other churches. The
total number of students in three
schools Is about 3.000. There are also
in connection with the Japan Metho
dist Church eight schools conducted by
women for young women. They are
boarding schools and two of them have
a college courso. These number all
told 3,000 students. All reported pros
perity and a great increase in attend
ance over the previous four years.
THE CARTOON OF THE DAY
BUCKWHEAT CAKES AND SAUSAGE
—•From the fleveluinl Plata Denlrr.
>
BA GDA DTHE
By Frederic J. Haskin
THE British advance up the Tigris
River, which has been
before the walls of Bagdad. Is
an operation of the Eastern campaign
second In Importance only to the
struggle in Galipolli. Bagdad is the
key to the Euphrates valley route, al
ready partially traversed by the Bag
dad railway, which is known as the
"short-cut to India." The fall of the
city would mean a big victory for the
allies, and it Is being stubbornly de
fended by the Turks.
Bagdad Is used to sieges. She has
known them in almost every gener
ation for thirteen hundred years. No
city has had a more stirring history,
seen more of the pomp and splendor
of the East, or occupied a more Im
portant position commercially and
strategically. Few people realize that
for centuries Bagdad was the most im
portant center of literature, science
and art, as well as the busiest and
wealthiest hub of commerce in the
world.
Though Bagdad to-day is a city of
150,000 people and capital of a Turk
ish province, she retains hardly a sha
dow of her former greatness. There
were two million souls within her walls
when London and Paris were no
larger than Washington. The very
bricks in the houses of modern Bagdad
have been used over and over again,
as the buildings were sacked und razed
to the ground by victorious besiegers
and laboriously rebuilt. Some of them
bear the stamp of Nebuchadnezzar,
who ruled six hundred ■ years before
Christ.
If the English take Bagdad, they
will enter a typical Oriental town, with
a labyrinth of unpaved streets, some
of them so narrow that two horsemen
cannot pass abreast, a town that Is
an Island during the Spring floods of
the Tigris and the Euphrates, where
the restless river waters gnaw contin
ually at their banks until whole rows
of houses topple into the stream, where
the lack of all sanitation makes the
death rate so high that In times of
epidemic most of the population leaves
the walls and camps In the nearby
desert. The streets have a curiously
forbidding and inhospitable look,
due to the fact that few houses have
outside windows, and loom up to the
passerby as a solid bank of dead walls.
The typical native establishment
consists of a two-story building with a
small garden in the rear. Kitchen and
servants' quarters are on the ground
floor, while the first floor is given over
to the family. The roof makes a third
floor, where the natlvp of Bagdad
really spends more time than In either
of the others. In the hot season,
| LETTERS TO THE EDITOR"
RECALLS OLD INCIDENT
To Ilie Editor of the Telegraph:
I see In your paper the offer of Jacob
Tausig's Sons. Sure the world Is get
ting better. Home thirty years ago I
™rk«l at the Pennsylvania steel
worUs?"™'This letter Is to show that
blood will tell. I was on night turn.
One Saturday morning I was speaking
to Dr. Kaysor, Daniel Bacon and Jacob
Tausig, when a policeman came by
with a small boy. Mr. Tausig asked:
"What are you doing with the little
fellow?" "He says he was riding on
cars, and we will find out where he be
longs," replied the officer." Then I
usked the boy: ' Where is your home?"
He would not tell me. but said: "My
stepmother whips me, and T want to go
to my aunt In Maryland." I asked the
officer: "What will It cost to send him?"
He did not know, so we went over to the
| old Union Station. The prico was $3.16.
I paid it and the boy said to me: "Who
are you? My aunt will ask me." So
I gave an envelope to him and then
went and told Mr. Tausig, and he want
ed to divide the expense with me, but
I said: "'No,' It will all come right
some time," and It did. for two or three
years after that time I built a house at
Mr. Tausig's suggestion. I was just
$l,lOO short, and he loaned the money
to me and I had no security at all. But
I paid it years ago. Now I write to say
"God .bless such peoplo."
Respectfully,
C. H. BAU.IETTE.
Carlisle, Pa., December 14, 1915.
THE LAW
By Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Copyright, 1915, Star Company.
Tour path may be clouded, uncertain
your goal: I
Move on, for the orbit is fixed for your
soul.
And though it may lead into darkness
of night.
The torch of the Builder shall give It
new light.
You were, and you will be, know this
while you are;
Tour spirit has traveled both long and
afar.
It came from the Source, to the Source
It returns;
The spark that was lighted eternally
burns.
From body to body your spirit speeds
on.
It seeks a new form when the old one
Is gone.
And the form that It finds Is the fabric
you wrought ,
On the loom of the mind, with the
fiber of thought.
Somewhere on some planet, sometime
and somehow.
Tour life will reflect all the thoughts
of your now.
The law is unerring: no blood can
atone;
The structure you rear you must live
in alone.
Tou are your own devil, you are your
own god;
Tour fashioned the paths that your
footsteps have trod.
And no one can save you from error
or sin
Until you shall hark to the spirit
i within.
DECEMBER 17, 1915.
when the south wind blows from the
Arabian desert and the thermometer
climbs to 122, he takes refuge in the
coolness of the cellar.
Palaces Filled With Treasure
The royal palaces in the old days
were divided into twenty-three build
ings, decked out wtih treasures from
every corner of the globe. A whole
palace was given over to the Silver
Tree, one of the wonders of the world,
whose branches were pure silver,
weighing 60,000 ounces, with leaves of
gold, on whose branches sat golden
birds studded with jewels, which sang
loudly by virtue of mechanism con
cealed within. The scientific mind
might trace here the beginning of the
phonograph. The singing birds were
regarded with high favor, and the
caliph used this particular palace as
a prison for his closest relatives.
Municipal government in those days
was the unmethodical personal affair
dear to the heart of the East. Tyran
ny and injustice flourished side by
side with lenience and benevolence.
The caliph would often Interpose per
sonally between his officers and some
I unfortunate offender, giving the crim
' inal a moral lecture and a purse of
Bold Instead of having him crlcifled
head downward on one of the Tigris
j bridges.
I Bagdad was noted ovenln the Orient
i for the cruelty of the punishment
, practiced within her walls. The
bridges of boats over the Tigris, were
continually decorated with the heads
| of offenders, and this, too, was a favor
ite place for crucifixions. Specially
I Ingenious instruments of torture were
devised in the city. One grand vizier
j invented a steel shell to fit a man's
| body, studded with spikes within,
where offenders were shut up for
days, unable to move without impaling
themselves, until death set them free.
The vizier had an excellent opportun-
I ity to appreciate the fine points of his
invention, for he himself was eventual
ly put to death in it.
I »ong Tale of Battles
The story of Bagdad through the
centuries is one long tale of battle
and siege, in which the present bloody
assaults of the British are only an in
cident. The English Tommies and the
Turks who fall to-day mingle their
bones with the dust of the fighting
men of every great warrior-nation
that the Eastern world has known.
Arabs, Turks. Persians, Mongols cap
tured and recaptured the "Glorious
City," as Turkish official documents
still name Bagdad. Though enervated
by wealth nnd luxury, the capital has
always resisted stubbornly, and to
day Is no more than sustaining her
age-old reputation.
1 THE STATE FROM W TO W~
"Skating In vogue," says the Punx
sutawney Spirit. It is true. So is
everything else. It is a good maga
zine. And we like to look at the pic
tures. However, we appreciate just
'what the Spirit meant by the above
•statement and merely wished to show
our good-fellowhip toward the Nast
publication.
The Johnstown City Hospital will
be benefited very materially a week
from to-day, when the Innocent pedes
trian will be seized violently by strange
hands and will bo tagged with a bit
of holly, size commensurate with the
size of the coin coughed forth. Ten
cents will be the minimum.
"Jesse James was a man', and he
traveled, etc.", if we are correct in
our memory of the song that runs
something like that. Pottsville has a
Jesse James, a real, dyed-in-the-wool
bandit, only he isn't a man. He is 13-
year-old Stanley Mause, who laid plans
to set lire to the paternal home and
then steal S6OO. He is said to have
been crazed by reading dime novels,
and is one of the worst terrors in the
prison.
"I defy you!" cried the stage hero
ine, as the heavy villain appeared on
the scene. "Do your worst." And the
bold, had man took her at her word
and did his very worst—or at least
that was the unanimous verdict of the
disgusted audience. This story, we
feel compelled to admit, was filched
from the Philadelphia Evening Led
ger.
There is a dispute down in the east
section of the State somewhere as
to whether a rooster can crow or not.
It will bo decided by the Judge who is
presiding in that district. A cross
examination has brought out the fact
that the hens do not help the roosters
to crow, but the roosters do help the
hens to cackle. This is a fine distinc
ition and calls for serious thought on
| the part of our learned judges.
Bradford county from the looks of
things will have to go a begging for
constables, if present conditions con
tinue and those who have been elected
justices and constables continually re
fuso to act. Evidently the glittering
badge does 110 longer possess its form
er fascination and rubbable propensi
ties.
The Pennsylvanian, the daily news
paper at the University of Pennsyl
vania, a few days ago celebrated its
thirteenth anniversary. It was first
published in 1886 as a weekly, but in
1894 was changed to a daily.
The strategy of the forces that
landed at Saionikl is now apparent
Instead of drlvine reenforcements to
the Servians, they Just wait for the
Germans to drive the Servians back
to the reenforcementß.—Philadelphia
.Worth American.
©mmtg GUjat
State Game Commission authorities
believe from reports which have been
brought to this city by hunters corn
ins out of the South Mountains and
upper Susquehanna regions and
from the Juniata Valley that the kill
of buck deer this Fall has probably
gone larger than in any of the last
half dozen years. It would not sur- • i
prise people here if the kill ran as *
high as 1200. Last year there were
1102 deer killed. Under the rules of
the State Game Commission the
wardens are required to make a re
port on the kills of game in their dis
trict and as the wardens are in close
touch with the hunting parties, espe
cially in the deer season, the data is
generally accurate. To begin with
deer were plentiful throughout tho
regions where they have been noticed
for the last dozen years and in some
cases were so tame that it seemed a
»u an l? to them; This was true in
the South Mountain rc ion although
in the Juniata and Susquehanna val
leys the deer gave hunters plenty of
work. This winter it is the intention
to purchase deer in Michigan and
other States and to liberate them in
the game preserves which are being
established and in counties which
have been closed to deer hunting for
a period of years. These deer will be
trapped next month.
* * •
Attorney General Francis Shunk
Brown has placed in his department
a portrait of James Wilson, eminent
Pennsylvanian of colonial and revolu
tionary days and one of the signers of
the Declaration of Independence. He
found It in one of the storerooms in
the Capitol, having been returned
from some exposition where displays
of pictures of the great Pennsyl
vanlans of the past are some times
made. The attorney general also
discovered a picture of George
Bryan, president of the council of
Pennsylvania during part of the
Revolution.
• • *
R. L. Watts, of State College, who
was here yesterday, has been promi
nently identified with the agricultural
education work in this State for
years and one of the men frequently
spoken of in connection with the State
Department of Agriculture.
• ♦ »
"It would not be a bad thing for
people to have clean-up week before
Christmas and then, again, the dav
ufter' commented one of the city's
veteran firemen as he saw the bundles
being carried into a trolley by Christ
mas advance shoppers on Saturday
afternoon. "The paper in which the
guts are wrapped and tho packings
and things like that are often catiso
of fires and ray advice, and it. is based
on experience. Is that the people of
this city should make it a point to
get rid of all loose paper and other
stuff likely to cause a fire as soon as
possible. They can burn it In their
furnaces or put it into the refuse
cans. But get rid of it."
• • •
Christmas trees are commencing to
appear on the railroad trains, some
huge cars filled with trees closelv
packed down, being sandwiched be
tween coal cars on a number of the
trains passing through this city on
Saturday and yesterday. The trees
came from tho northern part of the
State and were consigned to Phila
delphia. Apparently, there are few
trees coming from Maine this year.
After all, there are as nice Christmas
trees as any one would want to bo
bought right here in Harrisburg
from people who cut them within
forty miles of the city.
• * *
"Between the Christmas rush and
the way mail is being shipped out
from Capitol Hill It is enough to
make a man dizzy," said an attache
of the post office yesterday. "The es
tablishment of new branches of the
government you say it is?" he re
plied when told how tho workmen's
compensation system was occupying
considerable time and costing much
money for postage and printing.
"Well, it beats anything I ever knew.
The Highway Department shoots out
automobile tags by tho thousands,
but the letters that come down from
the Hill from departments help to
make the postage bill something
awful."
• * *
A good story is going the rounds
of Capitol Hill about a Dauphin coun
ty man and Harry S. McDevltt, coun
sel of the Economy and Efficiency
Commission. This man went to Mr.
McDevitt's office and asked for him.
He was in another part of the build
ing. Then the man called again. Mr.
McDevltt was Still out. "Will you
please tell him I'm waiting for those
snow shovels. I want to go to work,"
the Dauphin countian told the stenog
rapher. Mr. McDevitt is still wonder
ing how he gets into the Capitol Hill
labor game.
1 WELL KNOWN PEOPLE
—Ralph H. Sweetser, president of
the Thomas Iron Company at Easton,
has been elected president of the
Eastern Pig Iron Association.
—Chief H. F. Ferber of the Scran
ton fire department, is getting after
people who allow snow to accumulate
on fire escapes.
—L. Fred Klooso, the re-elected
president of the State Ilotelmen, Is
prominent in the hotel business in
Pittsburgh.
—William Allen, prominent Johns
town fisherman, has secured many
Maine salmon eggs for "planting" In
streams near that city.
—Val Fitzpatrlck, well known
among railroad trainmen here, is ac
tive in Washington in behalf of legis
lation before Congress.
| DO YOU KNOW
Tliat Harrisburg made stock
ings arc being sent to Canada?
HISTORIC HARRISBXTRO
Some of the Congressmen
made Harris Ferry their stop
ping plara after the British took
Philadelphia.
nun <
* \
Two Pushes Are Better
Than One
Provided they are in the same
direction and at the same time.
Local dealers find they can
double their sales on certain
products by pushing with the
manufacturer's newspaper ad
vertising.
They show the goods and talk
about them at the time the news
paper advertising la running. .
They add their push to the
pull of the newspaper advertis
ing.
Results progress on an auto
matic scale.
The dealer sells more goods,
the manufacturer pushes harder
for business and does more ad
vertising.