6 HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH Established IS3I PUBLISHED BY rHU 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, 214 Federal Square. Both phones. Momber 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 Building, Chicago, 111., Robert E. Ward. i Delivered by carriers at six cents a week. Mailed to subscribers • t 13.00 a year In advance. Entered at the Post Office in Harris burg, Pa., as second class matter. tnorn dally average circulation (or the three months ending Nov. 30, IDIS. Average for the year IBM—2I,KM Average for the year 1813—19.MJ Average for the year 1912—19, M» Average for the year UII—ITJWJ Average for the year 1810—16.261 The above figures are net. All re turned, unsold and damaged copies ae tfacted. FRIDAY EVENING, DEC. 31 Life is not so short but that there is always room for courtesy.—Emer son. MR. TAYLOR'S GOOD WORK CITY COMMISSIONER TAYLOR will retire to-morrow with a record of substantial achieve ment in his particular department. He has accomplished much in a prac tical way and it is unfortunate that the political flim-flamming that seems part and parcel of the new system of municipal government should have confused the public mind regarding Mr. Taylor's work. It is creditable to him that in the closing days of his term he has taken over another im- j portant stretch of the city parkway j which has been under negotiation for I some time. Of all those who are more or less familiar with the things that have been done during Mr. Taylor's term of two years, none is more cordial in praise of this official than Mrs. William Henderson, president of the Civic Club, which has had the hearty co-operation of the commissioner right along. It is worth while to have the commendation of such or ganizations in the midst of misrepre sentation and misunderstanding of unselfish public service. The taking over of the St. Lawrence Catholic Church property is practically the final step in the acquirement of the important property of the Capitol Park zone. There are still other parcels of land to be bought, but it is expected by the commission that there will be no serious difficulty in taking title to what is left. There remains about a year in which to acquire the remaining property and meanwhile the State au thorities will have a study made of the landscape treatment so that the next Legislature will be In nosltion to direct what is to be done with the en tire section east of the Capitol as well as the older part of the park bounded by Fourth, Walnut, Third and North streets. THK COM.MISSION WHIRMGIG HARRISBURG is being treated as j are the other third-class cities j of the State to the usual whirli- I gig of political manipulation as a re- I suit of the commission experiment. Instead of being able to give their at tention to the important public du ties, which are delegated to them, the five managers o£ the city's afTairs are. pulled this way and that by political interests to the detriment of the best interests of the people. It was obvious from the beginning of this new system that these unfor tunate differences would arise. In stead of promoting harmony of action, the exact opposite has been the case. We have heard much of nonpartisan ship and all that sort of thing, but it must be plain to the wayfaring man that politics will always prevail without regard to the particular form of administration imposed upon thc munlcipalities by the Legislature. All that the citizens of Harrisburg desire is that the political eruption may not striously impair the efficiency of the government which will start out on a new lap next Monday. In the playing for position the commis sioners will do well to keep In mind that their first and most Important duty is the transaction of the people's business. Naturally there will fee some political by-play; that is to be ex pected. Hut this should simply be a diversion and not in any sense al lowed to Interfere with the more seri ous duties of the commissioners. We hear much of combinations of one sort and another and such com binations are certain to develop from lime to time. Just as they do in all legislative bodies; but it doesn't fol low that all the energy of the com missioners shall be exerted in rivalry of any sort. If anything will ever force civil ser vice as an inflexible rule of our munici pal sdminlstratlon In Pennsylvania, It Is the demoralisation that seems to come with every change of admlnis tratton The Colonel Is not putting his O. K. on several ambitious persons who sspire to be candidates for the Presi dency, He Is'maintaining at Oyster Bay a strong position on the watch tower, and what will be his final con FRIDAY EVENING, HARRISBURG s?Sii& TELEGRAPH /DECEMBER 31, 1015 • olnsion remains for the Oyster Bay Rage himself to declare. It is rather amusing that practically every man mentioned for President thus far is said to be ac ceptable to T. R. We suspect that all this may foreshadow a situation in which the Colonel may determine that he himself is the only solution. THE PASSING YEAR THE passing year will be recorded on a dun-colored page in /he history of the world. It has seen more of bloodshed, more of sor- I row. more of waste, more of wicked ness than humanity a year previous could have thought possible. It has witnessed no great progress in any line of endeavor. It has watched Europe in its march back toward the Middle Ages. It has seen the flower of German, English, French and Russian youth destroyed. Its journey of twelve months has been along a road strewn with human hopes, shattered cathe drals and ruined towns. Its way has been marked by the corpses of women nnd children slain without excuse and without warning, in sheer wantonness. The wreck of civilization has been left in its wake. "Frlghtftilness" has been Its keynote. And all this for what? That the selfish ambition of one man might have sway; that brute force might be matched against moral suasion; that autocracy might be substituted for the individual freedom that has been growing apace In the world for the past century or more. Fortunately for Europe, fortunately for us, fortu nately, indeed, even for those who nre at this moment laying down their lives In such gallant manner in behalf of that monarchal government that would sway the world, the sun so long dimmed is beginning to show Itself a trifle just over the horizon and another New Year's Day may see a brighter future in prospect for Europe and the world at large. That seems to be the biggest promise of a year that has had but little indeed for which humanity may give thanks. In our own country, even, the arts and the sciences have lagged. The accomplishment of wireless telegraphy and the perfecting of long distance talking by wire have been the only out standing mechanical developments of the year. We have not been thinking of promoting the ways of peace; our minds have been turned to war and preparations for defense against some such unscrupulous foe as laid waste all Belgium. Perhaps in the end it has been well that we are awake to possibilities of that kind, but the sub ject has taken much of the time and the thought of our best minds and civilization is the poorer therefor and Americans have been robbed to some extent of the birthright of progress which otherwise would have been theirs. The year has been poor in accom plishments for immediate good both here and in the world at large and the only hope held out Is that the sacrifice will not have been in vain; that from the blood and travail of the past twelve months a new civilization and a new hope for humanity will be born. Else 'twere better that the year now waning had never been. craws PLAY THE newspapers of the present week have published the first of a lot of photographs made on board the Ford peace ship, and one of them shows what the photographer has labelled "Two distinguished mem bers of the Ford peace party playing leap frog; the Rev. Charles F. Aked leaping over the Rev. Dr. Jenkyn Lloyd Jones." That picture, it seems to us, sums up the whole Ford peace project— play. If a Legislature had undertaken the voyage it would have been called a "junket" by the opposition press. As a vacation trip for tired business and professional men it might have been a boon to many. As a serious effort to end the war in Europe it would be a joke were it not for the pathetic failure of its founder to measure up to the standards many of his admirers had set for him. Flash lights of the delegates gath ered in serious conclave aboard the peace ship might have elicited smiles of pity; snapshots of two of the most "distinguished members of the party" playing leapfrog when the world thought they were weighing between them weighty problems of interna tional welfare excite only derision. The picture ought to be preserved for use in school histories accompany ing the paragraph that will some day bo devoted to setting forth the fruit less voyage of the Oscar 11. It sums the situation up so well. A LESSON FROM GERMANY IT is estimated by careful students of the subject that when the Euro pean war is over American tourists will swarm to trans-Atlantic coun tries, spending annually not less than $500,000,000 there and depleting our own resources to a corresponding de gree. Perhaps! and then again, per haps not. It is not at all unlikely that the same public sentiment which puts the stamp of disapproval upon the hyphenated American will also place a mark of disfavor upon that species of citizen who can see noth ing of Interest or superiority In his own country, but must spend his leis ure time and surplus money to gratify the pride and replenish the pockets of natives of Europe. Probably we shall learn and practice the economic principle enunciated by the Emperor of Germany when he said to his peo pie: "Always remember that when you spend your money In other coun tries you make your own country that much the poorer." ["Pollttc* OV 'Pejovoifttfuua By the Ex-Oommlßcemu ' "TTTI—m• Mayor-elect Thomas B. Smith, of Philadelphia, who Tiad Governor Brumbaugh for a golf partner at At lantic City, and continued the political "conversations" he had with him in this city just before Christmas, was visited last night by Senator Penrose, and It is intimated that the harmony program on which the mayor has been busy lately is being worked out. Mean while, there are said to be some move ments under way between William A. Mugee. former mayor of Pittsburgh and now Public Service Commission er, and the Vare brothers which may upset things. Friends of Senator Penrose say that there will be no contest and that the election of Republican State commit teemen favorable to him for national committeemen cam be expected. • —Judge John Faber Miller, who was appointed 'ge and then elected for the full tei in Montgomery, took the oath yesteraay. —Chester's new mayor is going' a head appointing olficers without. regard to the proceedings to test his election which have been under way at Media. —York city firemen have joined in a protest to city council against re duction of appropriations to the com panies. They will make a lively con test against the ordinance. —Judge Mayer Sulzberger, the noted Philadelphia jurist, in a sort of farewell talk yesterday declared that he thought the old method of se lecting judges was preferable to the scramble under the new acts. —C. E. Albrightwas yesterday named as chief of surveys to succeed George S. Webster, who becomes director of docks in Philadelphia. The Vares take credit for him. He is considered an expert. —Daniel Haggerty has been ap pointed the Democratic real estate as sessor In Philadelphia. Both factions claim him. —Representative James A. Dunn was yesterday re-elected president of the Twenty-third ward Republican club in Philadelphia and given a por trait of himself at a banquet. —Stephen J. Toole, retiring county commissioner of Allegheny, was ap pointed mercantile appraiser and there may be a tight over it with the new commissioners. The office pays about SB,OOO. Toole is a Democratandfollows the Old Guard flag. —Ellsworth Kelley. city clerk of Scranton, may have to light for re election. —Wilkes-Barre and Altoona will have very peaceful changes of admin istration, it is said. —Senator P. W. Snyder, of Blair, is said to have congressional bees buzz ing about him. —Some notable changes in the bench of Pennsylvania will be made on Monday and judges whose names have been household words will retire. In the Cumberland district Judge Sadler will leave the bench after a long and not able career, being one of the few judges in State history to be succeeded by his son. In the Juniata Valley dis trict J. M. Woods, a former senator, will be succeeded by Thomas P. Bailey and in Adams county, ex-Senator D. P. McPherson ascends the bench on which several members of his family have sat with distinction. Judge Swope, whom he succeeds is one of the well-known judges of the State. In- Lancaster, Franklin and York sitting judges begin new terms. In Chester, Berks, Lawrence, Mercer. Center and Tioga counties well-known judges re tire. —The commissions for Justice Wall ing and Judge Rossiter were sent from the Capitol to Erie last night. —Reading's mixed municipal situa tion is said to be on a fair way to be settled without the aid of the courts. —Governor Brumbaugh is now said to have his eye on several noted en gineers for public service commis sioner. The men boosted for the place change from day to day. —The borough of Sayre is having trouble. The volunteer tlremen have refused to serve any longer because of lack of support from town council. —Suit to prevent $160,000 being placed in the sinking fund, which would place Montgomery county out of debt, is threatened in Norristown. —Congressman S. Taylor North of PunxsAtawney, is being boomed for renoniinatlon by his friends. They say that he will be renominated without difficulty. —Erie county will likely have a couple of candidates for the full term judgeship which will be filled at the election iiv 1917. It is said that op position to Judge Whittelsey is cer tain. —Some of the cities are finding compensation expensive. The new city of Bethlehem must spend S7OO for insurance at the start. —State Chairman Crow is in Phila delphia looking over the situation. THE CHIIISTIANS OF MODERN BABYLONIA Throughout Mesopotamia you will find the descendants of th» ancient Babylonians still living Tlie.v call themselves Nasranl or Christians; Europeans frequently call them Chal deans. Though they all speak Arabic, they stiff retain among themselves their Chaldean language, whieh is similar to the ancienl Babylonian. They are a large, well-built people, with light skin, and with features re sembling those upon the sculptured fig ures from the walls of the ancient pal aces. They are by far the most pros perous and progressive people in the valley. The Christian Herald. TOM IHBVMN OF YA 1.13 [From the Philadelphia Public ledger.] There is a certain spirit which In the exultant day of victory or In the mourning hours of defeat is held to be typical of Yale; and that Yale spirit was In the blood and mettle of Tom Shevlln. Be "was ever a fighter;" and he did nut sit for the portrait of a carpet-knight or a "barley-sugar efflgy." The real, live man had faults enough, but Yale loves him for the ends he has made, the halfbacks he set on fire, the teams that on nerve and grit played better than they knew. Ills proteges did lose mightily to Harvard, to be sure, in the reaction of that, galvanic impetus thai triumphed over Princeton. But as a captain of lost causes, an eleventh-hour Phil Sheridan from Winchester, no other man like Shevlln lias been known at New Haven. To steer a winning eleven from strength to strength Is one thing: to be called In and given full charge of a demoralized assortment of plavers on the eve of the all-Important matches Is a different business. To Shevlin it was sufficient glory to serve Yale. Be Rave his life for her athletic renown. Others have laid their intellectual laurels at the feet of their alma mater. He did what he could for her. and he did his best. "DON'T I,END MONEY TO KEI,\- TIVBH," SAYS MINISTER Says a minister In the Family's Monev department of the January American Magazine " 'lf a relative "strikes" you for a little loan, and you have the money and are generously disposed, make him a present of the amount; If you do not care to give the monej away, harden your heart and say. "No!" You'll keep the relative's friendship longer, and you'll have a little larger bank account at the end of the year.'" - THE CARTOON OF THE DAY mmmmrnmmmu I ■ ————MMMJ NEXT TURN! ifSJ%jh|i| t £%5»jJ %W ''"'"FFPL HEYI ]^/ APPEARANCE P . I VAUDEVILLE lj TELEGRAPH'S PERISCOPE ] —Getting up in the morning when one has the "grip" is like pulling loose from a plank to which one has been glued. —Now prepare to write it 1916. —Forty-cent gasoline would do much to settle the jitney question. —Dr. Cook is finding it as hard to get to Germany as to the North Pole. —Substitute an H for the first capital SI and you'll know what we think of those Mummers. 1 EDITORIAL COMMENT" "We congratulate the President on his novel vigor," sneers tho London Chronicle. Perhaps in time we shall be able to congratulate the British Government on some novel military vigor in the Balkans and at the Dar danelles.—New York World. "Germany has such immense stores of copper as to suffice for years to come," said the Chancellor in the Reich stag, and the cheers that greet<Sl this statement almost drowned the sound of the workmen's hammers stripping off the copper roof.—Wall Street Journal. Yuan Shi Kai having accepted the Imperial crown, in spite of Japan's oh ection, Tokyo dispatches say that Ja pan will now address another friendly note to China. "Friendly." somehow or other, irresistibly reminds us of Mr. Bryan's parting "God bless you" to Mr. Wilson.—New York American. El— ■ Tes&C Searchlight gte WAR DOCTORS ORGANIZE The doctors engaged in the Red Cross service in Europe are planning an or ganization which will bo of great influ ence In the establishment or peace and good understanding.' it is to be known as the Brotherhood of Physicians and will, include members from every na tion. It will be devoted entirely to the promotion of relief of human suffering without regard to national differences. Dr. J. J. Metzler, of Rockefeller In stitute, New York. Is to be its first president. He is now formulating the text of the invitations to be extended to prospective members. The unttv of purpose of the medical profession" has been unbroken throughout the war. Each member has given his service for the relief of human suffering and it is believed that this common benevolent purpose in one great profession can be used as a lever for lessening the preju dices which will remain even after hos tilities are over. WHERE DEMON RUM IS EX TRENCHED The trustees of Sailors' Snug Har bor, the valuable ten New York City blocks extending from Eighth to Eleventh streets, and from Third ave nue to University Place, have an nounced their intention to close out all saloon leases as fast as they ex pire. This action will not immediate -1 ly create that much dry territory in I New York, however, for there are | many long term ground leases to be I considered, and on such property there are buildings erected by the lessees in which liquor is sold, and no change can be made during the life of these ground leases. The Chris tian Herald. Our Daily Laugh j TIME TO GEO* BUSY. Dancing In- ~~j structor: 11 Isn~ /® -4 [ ! time for me to In- x J vent another jw Friend: Think Dancing In- >Mll structor: Yes, I jM wV understand there IjU are two towns Em j dancing my last * one alike. VERY CLOSE. How did It hap m e up on the tele- MY MEW YEAR'S WISH By Wine Dinger If one wee wish I could express, And have that wish eome true. I'd wish that each and everyone (And that would take in you) Might have a New Year full of joy. And Incomes of the sort That Uncle Sam demands shall be ' Covered by long report. By Frederic J. Haskin AFTER wrangling through three sessions over il, the Democratic senatorial caucus finally de cided to refer the question of cloture lo a nonpartisan committee. There it will probably repose for a long lime, but sooner or later it Is sure to come up again, for It always has a few ardent supporters in the Senate. Now that senators are elected by popular vote, these agitators are as serting that they will make a national issue of cloture and appeal to the common-sense of the people. This being the case, the people might, like to know what cloture is. Cloture means the act of shutting:, and in this country it refers to the mouths of senators. It would not shut them arbitrarily or abruptly, or in any undignified way, but it would set some limit of time upon their speaking. The United States senate is one of the few parliamentary bodies in the world which has absolute freedom of debate, so-called. In the House of Representatives, debate may be brought to an ehd at any time by moving the prev'ious question. Nearly all parliamentary bodies, including most of our State and municipal legislatures, have some similar rule. The British parliament formerly had unlimited debate which was finally brought to an end by the efforts of Mr. Gladstone. In the French parlia ment the closing of the debate is by one or more of the mem bers crying out, "La Cloture!" Ile question is then put by the president and voted upon immediately. In the German Reichstag a vote upon cloture may be had upon the demand or thirty members. In Austria-Hungary cloture must be put to the vote upon the demand of any member. Belg ium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland are other countries whose parliaments make use of cloture upon the demand of anywhere from one to ten mem bers. Cloture is opposed in tlie Senate upon the grounds that absolute free dom of debate should be retained in one house of congress and that it strengthens the minority, which is an effective check upon the tyranny of the majority. In the Senate every one may have his full say, every jot of material and information is brought to bear upon the subject: It cannot be "steam»rollered," no matter how strong the preponderant party. The senators who have demanded <ioture, point out with some indigna tion that so.-called freedom of debate is somewhat less beneficent in prac tice than In theory. Instead of in suring careful deliberation and dis cussion, It has given rise to the notorious filibuster which enables a few senators to defeat, a measure by simply talking until Congress ad'- journs or everyone gives up In dis gust. By talking in relays, moving to adjourn or take a recess, making the point of no quorum and other dilatory tactics, a very few deter mined and long-winded senators, can -hold out against all the rest. THE STATE FROM W TO DW A world's champion has been dis covered in Hazleton. Young Iceland Gordon Schweitzer is the speed-king who claims he is the fastest man in the world on the cinder track. In fact, he does more than that—he ad mits his wonderful ability. He says he can do the hundred yard dash in nine and two-fifth seconds, clipping a fifth off the world's record, and at other [distances he is equally good. Some cruel individuals might think this young man Schweitzer to be a "cheese," but it is hard to think that when he believes so thoroughly in him self. Usually one does not look to the driver of a pretzel wugon for subjects about which to write romantic trage dies. If there is anything that is un romantic, It is a pretzel. After having his skull fractured as the result of an accident, William Schmidt, this Phila delphia pretzel maker, stuck to his wagon and delivered to customers for six hours. It is thought that he fell from his wagon In a faint and was run over by his own wagon. Two young men living in Erio are afloat on a huge ice-floe on Lake Erie. They were skating near the shore when the cake broke off and was swept rapidly away by a 40-mile-an-hour wind. They were soon lost to view, and the last report stated that a tug was chasing the Ice down the lake. "Pigs is pigs," all rtght, but this is the first time we liave heard of pigs acting like wolves and bears. Mrs. Charles, of T-,alrdsvllle. keeps a large , flock jif chickens and turkeys and re cently \ many have been disappearing. CLOTURE The filibuster is a truly heroic exer cise and one surrounded by many glorious legends. Senators have been known to talk for eleven or twelve hours with only an occasional pause for a cup of tea. They have been known to read Huckleberry Finn and the Pickwick Papers and to tell the stories of their lives and describe the beauties of their native land from end to end. All of which shows that our senators are a robust crew, but does not seem to have much to do with real freedom of speech. Instead of promoting fair discussion it makes it dangerous for the majority to start a debate lest it never end. It has en abled minority senators to secure the passage of an undesirable amendment by the threat of a filibuster. Instead of promoting mature deliberation, it. has brought into being a parliament ary lactic about as intellectual as stopping a freight train by piling bricks on the track. The evils and absurdities of the filibuster can scarcely be denied by anyone, but those who are opposed to an unlimited majority rule declare that freedom of debate in the Senate must be preserved at any cost. A measure may be rushed through as far as the Senate, they say, but tnere It must receive a very thorough over hauling indeed. The Senate, accord ing to this theory, is a sort of check upon the ruthless, impetuous speed with which the House does business. It should be remembered in this connection, however, that the journey of a bill from the brain of some con gressman to the statute book is a long and hazardous one in any case. First, it must be submitted to the House of Representatives by the member who has drawn it. By the i House It is referred to a committee. If it is a bill of any importance, the committee summons experts and holds hearings, often taking testi mony, literally, by the wagonload. From the committee of the House the bill will very often be sent to the President or to the executive head of the department to which it applies. For example, the parcel post measure was doubtless scanned by the post master general and his assistants long before it oame back to the House. The bill will then be reported to the House by the committee, where it will be de bated very fully—even though not in definitely—and so finally it will come to the Senate. Here It must once more be grilled by a committee: everyone who is sup posed to know anything about it must be called upon for an opinion; and then, as a last and final ordeal, after It has passed through months of careful consideration by four or five different bodies, it faces the unlimited debate of the Senate. The flood of measures introduced into the congress of the United States is like a troop of soldiers charging a long series of trenches. The ones that get to the last ditch not only must have considerable merit but a whole lot of luck, and in that last trench stands the big gun of filibuster which may blow them to pieces, in the hands of a single man. They were finally traced to the pig pen, where it was found that Mrs. Porcus and her daughters had been dining sumptuously. Slightly more than one million dollars have been appropriated by the coun cil in Reading, to run ♦he city for tho year 1916. This seems reasonable when one considers that in a certain university town of a hundred thou sand, with but 3,000 students, it is estimated that at least one million is spent with the merchants of the town by the students annually. Leap-year will soon bo ushered in, and tlien, you may believe, will tho wall-flowers come into their own. Then will they have an opportunity to show their more fortunate sisters that all Is not gold that glitters, and all are not simple that look so. We know that, none of our readers are wall flowers, so we are not afraid of hurting anybody's feelings by printing this. The Johnstown Chamber of Com merce had ladies at their noon lunch eon yesterday, but in spite of that fact, everything was run off on sched ule time and the guests were summar ily dismissed at 1.30 along with the others. MAKING A DATE! ON A DATE STKAIIKn The raising of dates is the greatest industry of the Euphrates valley. Autumn Is a feverish time among the date merchants. Then the dates are ripe and are loaded onto tho ocean steamers at Busreh. *nd the boats race down the Persian Gulf, across the In dian Ocenn, up the Bed Sea. along the Mediterranean and across the Atlantic, to be the first to arrive with the de licious fruit for our Thanksgiving table. Once' I sailed directly from Husreh to New York on one of the an nual date steamers a Journey of forty-two days.—The Christian Herald. lEtmring (Etjat In spite of tlie fact tliat the interest and dividend period of many concernj which formerly made payments on th> first of the year has been changed, it 18 safe to sa£ that an amount of nion<* not equaled in years will be put into circulation in Harrlsburg to-morrow. To begin with, there is a large amount of city and counly indebtedness on i (. h (oupons fall due to-morrow and quite a large amount of industrial art«i ot er securities held by Harrlsburgers and their institutions have payments due on January X. Business transac ts due on the first of the year con tribute quite a good bit, more than most, people think, according to one of the city's bankers. Anil then there whlri,",'i,?! er ? US Private obligations ani on ~ 0 . f om ,ho flrst " f the Of ™,rl Payments will be made. J ' J he holiday will prevent . rCa ' ly al,d the cn «h Is nn nf ti Pl s °t° speak, for the closing these affairs. No two bankers nhS.l? 1, V ? the same estimate in ."I" 0 ' 1 ,non ey Will be paid out in Harrlsburg to-morrow, but thev ''' •! eo "' «° b « I" high figures with sicferaWe S ° " mUBt bc c ° 11 " * ♦ • ~w as "weeding out" day in n«r»ir.,?i , ''', ty and county offices " where present incum- ♦ ® Way ,0 ncw officials or subordinates on Monday incident to changes of administration. Clerks and ?n™" g^,P K °. r u sma " "house clean ing " the i r d( ' Bks and old letters s ° onc k,nd or another 'hrown away or dumped Into the waste baskets. Kven in the olllces ! e V'r e w be 110 changes the Deads of departments and their clerks cleared the decks and closed their year - The official year ends .Monday and as to-morrow will be generally observed as a holiday the office statfs to-day finished up all the odds and ends of business for 1915. ♦ • ♦ < apitol Hill has been seeing more twenty-dollar bills lately than the average man runs across in half a life time. The reason is that this is the period of the year when automobile licenses are taken out, and as Father Penn wllKnot take anything but cash, eel titled checks or money orders, a good many owners of cars send him twenties, especially as a twenty pays ;° r a type of car that is in general use. The result is that every day the State Treasury that often goes through a day without actual cash but thousands and thousands of dollars represented by checks has been overrun with hank notes. The "yellowbucks," however, are pleasant to look at. • « • The ruins of the houses in South 1' ourth street which were wiped out. by fire last autumn are serving ad mirably for advertising matter these days. The other day twenty-one dis tinct advertisements were counted on one building alone and there were signs of varied hue on all the others. It is a rare space that the shrewd ad vertising man lets go unadorned. There are some automobile owners in Harrisburg who are progressive to a degree. Under the law every car run on January 1 must display a iicense for 1916, but cars may not bo run in 1915 with only 1916 licenses. Hence some owners have attached their yellow 1916 licenses to the backs of their blue 1915 tags. The new one.<A are longer than those in use now an<^ there is a promise of the new year in the yellov edges of the 1916 crop when they are displayed together. The sleet storm which wrecked so many trees about the citv and dam aged some of the finest in Capitol Park was the cause of the smashing of one of the squirrel hotels in the State House park. The house was located on the last sturdy limb of one of the smaller trees near the Mexican monu ment, but when the sleet came and encased the limb and the house in ice it was too much and the whole busi ness fell to the ground. The squirrels seem to have escaped. The Harrisburg Public Library, which will close its second year on Monday, will probably show a total circulation this year equal to two books for every person within the cor porate limits of Harrisburg. The cir culation last year was considerably over 100,000. This year will beat it. John A. Scott, of the State Work men's Compensation Hoard, has been ill with grip at his home in Indiana. Mr. Scott was taken ill a week ago and has been unable to attend meet ings of the board, which is preparing to launch the compensation system to morrow. WELL KNOWN | —F. P. Truesdale. of Uniontown, will have charge of extensive railroad improvements in that place. —Thomas IT. lliggins, who is figur ing in the mayoralty contest, at Ches ter. is a former postmaster of that city. —Mayor Blankenburg, of Philadel phia. lias declined a New Year's re ception. —John Ellis, the aged Pottstown inventor, celebrated his ninety-fourth birthday a few days ago. —William D. Ileebner, controller elect of Montgomery county, has re turned from Florida. —-The Rev. Francis E. Grunert, of Staten Island, has been appointed prin cipal of Nazareth Academy. DO YOU KNOW That Harrisburg boiler plates arc used in many manufacturing es tablishments? HISTORIC HAItRINBURG Zachary Taylor visited here early in his career as an army officer. WIIV GET KIC'H mK K SIICEMES WORK FOB IHG INVKSTOHS ASIII FAIL FOH SMALL ONES "Those who labor hard for thotr money and who luive a still more ar (luouH strufffflfc In Mving small sums, says a banker in the January Ameri can Magazine, "naturally fall easy vic tims In many instances to the desire for sudden riches. Rut the fatal error lies In supposing that the person of small means can afford to take tb» chance If he or she loses they lose all. The largo capitalist and the profes sional money-lender have the law of averages working with them. They afford to sink money into twenty tures if tliev make s thousand pe • cent, on one. They arc protected by the law of chance, the average safety of their investments depending upon no single rlßk. •■Risk Ik a necessary part In busi ness- but should be borno by the strong, never by the weak. The pro moter who talks about the small in vestor being given the same oppor tunities as the very rich is indulging In bunk.' He always forgets to say that a safe 5 per cent, bond or a 6 per cent, mortgage, 'cold. Impersonal de positories for funds.' will at the end of five years have paid their ownerp 30 per cent to 35 per cent, (allowing for compound Interest), and that the vast majority of new ventures with big promises will have paid nothing. "Onlv the man who can afford to take risks has any business tr. look for an Investment that will make him rich <julckl}\"
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers