6
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
A NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOME
Founded IS3I
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E. J. STACKPOLE. Pres't and Editor-in-Chi m i
F. R. OYSTER, Business Manager.
GUS M. ST>EINMETZ, Managing Editor.
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Sntirn daily nvcrngc clrcnlntlon for the
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MONDAY EVENING, .TUNE 1»
No pleasure is covxparahle to stand
ing upon the vantage ground of truth.
—Frances Bacon.
THE HARD SCRABBLE CASE
TT was suggested in an address be
| fore the Chamber of Commerce the
A other day that the delays in legal
procedure In New York City and else
where had become a great national
evil which had aroused the best
thought of the lawyers of the country
In discovering a remedy.
There can be no doubt that the de
lays of litigation and the many
schemes of procrastination employed
in the hearing of causes constitute the
gravest peril to our system of Juris
prudence.
For weeks, as an illustration in
point, the Hardscrabhle ease has been j
awaiting decision in the Dauphin
county court while property owners
in the section affected worry over
their future homes, many of them
having negotiated months ago for
dwellings elsewhere upon the assump
tion that the city would take over the
property this Spring. Their purchase
of houses elsewhere depended upon a
final settlement of the condemnation f
proceedings and after considerable
backing and filling the matter was
at last submitted to the court, with
the understanding that counsel for the |
objectors would file without unneces
sary delay, their briefs. But other
weeks elapsed, the court meanwhile
courteously waiting the pleasure and I
convenience of the lawyers for the ap-.
pellants.
Now comes the statement that there
is still to be filed "a supplementary >
brief" for the objectors and the ques-1
tion in the minds of all who favor this
great public improvement is, "when
does patience cease to be a virtue?"
\
Mary Roberts Rhinehart, who wrote '
eome clever impressions of the St.
Louis convention, read in the face of
Bryan a forecast of Democratic defeat.
In fact, the gathering at St. Louis was
in the nature of a wake.
PERSONAM, LEGISLATION"
DESPITE the endorsement plank
in the Democratic platform, the
army provision in the adminis
tration's national defense program is
a more shameful makeshift than that;
which led to Secretary Garrison's
resignation. Our former Secretary of j
War warned the President of the j
senseless inadequacy of the Demo
cratic military program. The Presi
dent chose to accept Garrison's resig
nation rather than take issue with
Chairman Hay, whose chief contri
bution to the legislation has been the
getting of as much Democratic "pork"
into it as possible.
Mr. Hay's effrontery as a promoter
of '"pork" is astounding. He slipped
a joker into the bill in the conference
committee at the last moment which
makes his work in this particular a
masterpiece. This joker reads:
Provided, further, that of the va
cancies created in the judge advo
cate's department by this act. one
such vacancy not below the rank
of major, shall be filled by the ap-
? ointment of a person from civil
ife, not less than 45 nor more
than 50 years of age, who shall
have been for ten years a 'udge of
the Sunreme Court of the Philippine
Islands, shall have served for two
years as a captain in thp regular
or volunteer army, and shall be pro
ficient in the Spanish language and
laws.
The only man who fills the require
ments of Hay's joker is Judge Adam
C. Carson, of the Supreme Court of
the Philippine Islands, now on leave in
this country. Judge Carson is a de
serving Democrat and lives at River
ton, Va., in the congressional district
of Chairman Hay.
AX EXPLOIT IX PORK
THE Baltimore platform of the
Democratic party declared "We
denounce profligate waste of
money wrung from the people by op
pressive taxation through the lavish
appropriations of recent Republican
Congresses." The intimation in this
platform is that the Democratic party
proposed to put Into operation an eco
nomic program. That they have failed
utterly in this needs no proof.
Otv of the latest exploits in "pork,"
the charges for which the voters of the
country must pay, is the $50,000,000
appropriation recently voted in the
House for flood relief in the Lower
Mississippi basin.
The flood relief committee was cre
ated for the express purpose of adding
MONDAY EVENING,
this enormous amount for the recla
mation of lands in the vicinity of the
Mississippi river, an amount which
could not have been obtained If this
item had been left In the river and
harbor bill.
Aside from ti.e avarice of the South
ern Democrats for "pork." the present
scheme for Mississippi river improve
ment means a tremendous waste of
government moneys.
According ta the engineers of the
War Department, the only feasible
Mississippi river improvement project
is revetment improvement, which
would cost upward of $ 158,000,000.
This great sum Is out of the question,
so "pork"-seeklng Democrats plan to
grab $50,000,000 and throw It away—
sso,ooo,ooo will provide work for thou
sands of voters in the Southern States.
This, of course, Justifies it.
"Watchful Waiting"
AND this Is the end of President j
■Wilson's "Watchful Waiting" 1
policy in Mexico—no, not the
j end, the result—for the end is not yet.
j Because the President chose to
i force Huerta out of the presidency of
Mexico the United States is now fac
ing war with that country. The whole
attitude of the administration has 1
been such as to forecast for months |
Just such a break as is now threaten
ed. Carranza has repaid President
Wilson for his official recognition by
turning on him at every turn. He
has bitten the friendly hand the Presl- i
dent has extended to him. He has
done all he could to provoke war with
this country while playing the part of
a double-dealing reprobate. He has
smiled at the murder of our citizens, j
He has declined to aid in the capture !
of Villa or any other of the bandits
guilty of the border outrages. He has !
threatened an Invasion of Texas.
And this is the man whose so'le
claim to official recognition among the
nations of the earth is the friendship I
of the President of the United States. !
There is no question that these!
things are true. Writing as late as
last week, Senator Joaquin F. E. Bel
tran, of Mexico, than whom there is
nobody better acquainted with men
and affairs in Mexico, said;
In his extremity, financial, physi
cal and political, with the stubborn- 1
ness that has characterized him for j
the last two years, Carranza is pre- 1
paring with his right hand all his
resources for war with the United
■states, and, with his left hand, en
deavoring to provoke that war, but
to provoke it in such manner that
he can persuade his countrymen the
united States is at fault. Thereby,
the aged First Chief hopes to unite
Mexico under his standard, and. .
having united it. make peace with 1
the United States—which he knows |
peace to war—and then find
himself in command of a solidified
nation. Whether the ungrateful
head of the de facto Government
will be allowed to succeed in this
plan is in the hands of the United
States, and I do not wish to dis- 1
cuss the action of the northern re
public, except to say that recognl- '
tion of Carranza was the last step ■
in the ruination of my country. ,
The bandit Zapata, had he been
recognized instead of Carranza,
could not have done more damage
to Mexico, or been more dishonest
with the United States than the
Old Man of Cuatro Cienegas has
been. But whatever may be the
outcome of the schemes of Car
ranza and the politicians behind
him. it is certain that he has done
everything possible with the re- 1
sources at his command to prepare i
Mexico for war with the United I
States.
Weeks ago the President swung j
through the Middle West begging thej
public for support in his preparation
program. He intimated that condi-1
tions were such that any moment
might plunge the country into war.
He referred guardedly to the Mexican
situation, but In terms that anybody
might understand. He knew then
that it was all a matter of time until
Intervention be necessary. But
he has done nothing In the meantime
to increase the efficiency of the Regu-,
lars at the border. They have not one
more cannon now than they had then.
They have not one more machine gun.
They have no beUer transportation
facilities. They have no more air
craft. They have no great store of
ammunition piled up behind them.
Their hospital stores have not been
Increased. They have been left to
; drag along as best they could and they
are called upon, unprepared and poor
ly equipped, to face the well placed,
fortified, hard-fighting veterans of
j Villa and Carranza.
. More than that, the National
I Guardsmen of the country must now,
to bolster up and correct the colossal
blundering and bone-headed stupidity
of the administration, lay down their
own affairs and march away to
what?
The trend of business and .commer
cial activity is upward, and the crest
of the wave having been reached, as is
now believed, In prices of steel, we may
expect a revival of large building op
erations the country over. Expansion
of business has Increased the bank
loans, but conservatism has character
ized the credit situation and no dan
gerous inflation is In sight.
Senator Penrose has been taken at
his word by the Committee of Seventy,
which is preparing some legislation
looking to a revision of the Philadel
phia charter. Meanwhile the cities of
the Third class should prepare to ask
the Legislature for some relief In the
way of home rule.
American business Interests are look
ing toward Russia for greatly in
creased orders In every line of Industry
—agriculture. Industrial, railroads. Rus
sia is on the edge of a great develop
ment such a3 took pl/fcce in America
fifty years ago.
Nothing has done so much to Increase
confidence in the future as the con
structive and sane course outlined by
the Republican national convention.
The Days of Real Sport .... By briggs
OUT FOR,
'HE- Summer •/<
r I
IK
Sj the Ex-Committecman
Men nominated for State offices on j
: the Washington party ticket have let,
their partisans kno\y that they will
I net take any steps regarding canv
-1 Pf.ign preparations until after the
1 meeting of the Progressive national I
committee on June 26 and it would
not surprise a good many people if
the whole Washington ticket would
withdraw. This, of course, is con
tingent upon what attitude the ;
Colonel takes.
! Friends of William Flinn and 1
others Influential in the Pennsylvania
! organization of the progressives are (
predicting that about July 1 there will \
be a sudden cessation of Progressive
activity and that the State commit
toe will be called tb formally ratify j
what the national committee does in j
New York. One of the possibilities.!
lit was pointed out here to-day, is!
J that when the State committee meets '
'the Progressive candidates may with-!
| draw and the Republicans be en- |
I dorsed. However, there are reports
| that the Progressives may make de
mands for representation on the
ticket. This may be done through
| presidential electors.
The district Washington nomina-!
j tlons will depend largely upon local j
| feelings, but with the State organiza- j
| tion out of it the candidates could;
| not expect to make much headway in !
j a presidential year.
| —The Republican ticket was given
! hearty approval by the Republican
: county committees of Schuylkill and j
j York on Saturday. The Schuylkill \
j committee re-elected William S. Leib
as county chairman with some compli
-1 ments for his service and at York the 1
Progressive element went right back 1
into the fold and helped elect McLean
| Stock in place of R. S. Stahle. The
' meeting at Pottsville was harmonious
and enthusiastic, the attendance being
larger than in years. While the com- I
mittee of resolutions were busy draft- ■
Ing the resolutions, State Senator C. j
A. Snyder, candidate for Auditor Gen-!
eral, addressed the members of the
committee, numbering over 150 pres-j
i ent. and his remarks were greeted
| with much enthusiasm. He declared >
1 that President Wilson does not rep- j
resent the best In American citizen- j
ship and he proved his declaration to 1
the satisfaction of the committee
when he cited the weak policy of the
administration in reference to Mexico. |
The other speakers were Cyrus M. J
Palmer, John E. Sones, present mem- i
| bers of the Legislature, who are candi- ;
dates for re-election; B. J. Yost, of
Tamaqua, and Congressman R. D.
' Heaton. The Progressives of Schuyl
kill county are at sea. When William
Wilhelm, was interviewed last night
an to the plans of the Progressives in
the campaign in that county, he ad
mitted that he did not know. Mr.
Wilhelm has been identified with na
tional organization of the Progressives
j and his admission Is significant.
I —Vance C. McCormick, the new
Democratic national chairman, left
| to-day for Washington where he will
discuss the opening of the campaign
with ths President and tben announce
his plans. Mr. McCormick will likely
go from Washington to New Vork
where he will meet with the leaders.
A. Mitchell Palmer, the Democratic
i national committeeman from this
] State, will meet him in New York.
The new chairman's mail was filled
with letters of congratulation to-day,
but there were no additional contribu
tions, the $5 bill of Saturday sent from
Philadelphia being the only one re
ceived thus far.
—Governor Brumbaugh is expected
to take up the question of the new
highway commissioner and the in
surance commissioner this week. The
j Governor, who spent the week-end in
I Philadelphia, will be here to-day. His
j time will be largely taken up" with
i military matters, but there will be
I some things doing in the way of
! politics.
j —Ex-Judge Robert Gray Bushong.
of Reading, one of the Republican
j delegates from the Berks-Lehigh dis
! trict and one of the leaders in the Re
| publican organization which Is being
! developed in that county, Is being
mentioned as a possible candidate for
lieutenant-governor in 1918. Judge
Bushong made quite an impression
among the Pennsylvanians at the Chi
cago convention as a level-headed
young Republican.
The Pittsburgh Dispatch says: "Mrs.
Ftank M. Rocssing, vice-president of
I the National Woman's Suffrage Asso
ciation. predicts that the action of
!the Democratic National Convention
upon the suffrage question will cause
the defeat of President Wilson, unless
the Democratic Congress redeems the
party before the end of the present
session. The action of the Republican
convention upon the question was
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
much more satisfactory to the suffra- I
gifts, according to Mrs. Roessing's
view. Both conventions referred the
question to the States, but they did
it in different language, and Candidate !
Hughes will have all the best of it in
the minds of 3,000,000 women who
will have a vote for President, if Mrs.
Roessing is right about it."
—The movement for the new city
charter in Phildelphia is taking shape
and the Philadelphia papers say that
Senator Penrose will support it. The
committee of seventy has the matter
in hand.
—Dr. Galen Hain has been elected
president of the Central Democratic
Club to succeed Edward Moeslein who
resigned last week. Mr. Moeslein re
signed because of personal affairs.
—Dudley Field Malone, collector of
the port of New York, was here on
Saturday, coming with some of the
returning Philadelphians. He was as
optimistic as the weather permitted.
W. L. Gorgas and E. M. Biddle, Jr.,
the delegates from this district, got
back yesterday and praised the ticket.
—Vance C. McCormick resigned as
a governor of the Federal Reserve
Board at Philadelphia as soon as he
was informed of his election as na
tional chairman.
—Judge Monaghan, former public
service commissioner, will take the
oath of office to-morrow and there
will be quite a ceremony. Later on
he will be given a dinner. William
Draper Lewis highly praised the new
j-jdge ifi a statement issued Saturday
night.
—Narberth will have a special elec
tion on a loan of $58,000 on July 19.
—Senator W. C. Sproul in a state
ment issued at Chester highly praised
the national ticket and predicted that
it would sweep Pennsylvania with an
old-time majority. A similar speech
was made to Bethlehem Republicans
by National Delegate R. E. Statz of
Easton.
by National Delegate R. E. Stotz of
missals is expected at the Auditor
Gener l's Department for some time
at least. The latest changes are ef
fective July 1.
TELEGRAPH PERISCOPE ""
—The price of "watchful waiting"
will now be paid by the Guardsmen,
who must sacrifice their own interests
to correct the President's blunder.
—Just about the time we thought we
could sneak away to a baseball game,
the Susquehanna came along and
dampened our hopes.
—Please. Mr. Weatherman, remember
that the Telegraph's picnic is booked
for to-morrow.
—lf the Russians get over the Car
pathians some paragrapher will rise up
and call it hungry Hungary.
—The Democratic platform planks
may be useful, at that. A lot of office
holding Democrats are going to be in
need of firewood next year.
Wilson Platform
[New York Sun.]
i Will it be believed that the Demo
cratic platform of 1916, drawn under
the vigilant supervision of President
Wilson if not actually by his own
hand, contains this unblushing refer
ence to one of the most shameless of
the many perfidies recorded in politi
cal history?
] "We challenge comparison of our rec
j ord, our keeping of pledges, and our
I constructive legislation with those of
[any party of any time."
For an example, this pledge in the
platform of 1912:
| "We favor a single Presidential term.
I and to that end urge the adoption of
an amendment to the Constitution mak
j ing the President of the United States
'ineligible for re-election, and we pledge
' the candidate of this convention to
this principle."
One delegate from among one thou
sand and nine-two voted in the con
vention against the renomination of
the candidate who was pledged four
i years ago to the principle of a single
term by the same party that now chal
lenges comparison of its record for
keeping pledges with the record of
I any party at any time!
An Infamous Insinuation
[Philadelphia Public Ledger.]
| The attempt of certain of the Demo
|cratlc newspapers to fasten upon
1 Hughes the stigma of treason because
: his nomination happens to have met
the approval of some outspoken Ger
man-American Journals is the vicious
fruit of a shameless and dishonest par
tisanship. It is a sort of poisoned poli
tics, however, that carries with it its
! own antidote, for the American sense
of justice and fair play is too deeply
t rooted to permit mendacity to pass
muster as argument, or to sanction the
wholesale proscription of an important
section of the population by an Infa
mous perversion of truth and logic.
(
WATERING THE WEST
By Frederic J. Haskin
V )
THERE is an overworked south
western saying which tells the
stranger that "in this country
there are more cows and less milk,
more rivers and less water, and you
can see farther and see less than any
place on earth." That proverb Is in
danger of going badly out of date.
They are changing it to read that
"you can see farther and see more
than any place else in the world."
The work of the federal Reclama
tion Service is changing the whole face
and appearance of the country over
stretches as big as Eastern states. It
is one of the biggest things that the
American people have ever accom
plished, and before It Is finally fin
ished it will be a great deal bigger
than it is to-day. When the thirty
odd million acres of irrigable land in
the arid states are put under ditch
they will be capable of supporting a
million families —say five million peo
ple. taking the average family as it
is found on the farm. When you
consider that each such family Is cap
able of raising enough to support an
other family in a city in addition to
producing what' it needs for itself
from the soil, the importance of the
work in this day of congesting popular
tion is apparent.
It is hardly possible to comprehend
the whole work of reclamation in a
summary, but a single project can be
taken as typical. There are twenty
six projects of various types and sizes
irrigating the desert to-day. The lat
est and biggest to be added-to the list
is the Rio Grande project affecting
New Mexico and Texas, which will be
formally opened in the fall, though
parts of it are already operating.
President Wilson will probably be
present at the exercises dedicating the
propect to the service of the country.
In constructing this Rio Grande pro
ject, the biggest artificial lake in the
world was built in one of the dryest
of countries. It puts the famous Eng
lish Assuan Dam work in Egypt, that
long stood for the last word in rec
lamation engineering, completely in
the shade. The new Elephant Butte
dam, at Engle. N. M., stores three gal
lons of water for every two behind the
Assuan. It stores three gallons of
water for every one in all the reser
voirs of the Greater New York water
system, constructed and projected.
The Rio Grande is one of the half
dozen "principal rivers of North Am
erica, but while it looks well on the
map, In that part of its course that
is entirely in United States territory—
before it becomes the international
boundary line —it is a stream with dis
couraging idlosyncracies. In Spring
when the mountain snows melt it
comes roaring down a mile wide, and
plucks up modern steel bridges by the
roots. As the summer advances it
dwindles and shrinks, Just when its
waters are needed, until in very dry
years, it retires completely under
ground, leaving a dry sandy bed that
can be crossed afoot. The problem
was one of catching the useless
EDITORIAL COMMENT
War-prices have now affected Bibles.
Luckily in this crisis, a lot of people
have old ones that are almost as good
as new.—Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Well, anyway, tne United States navy
ranks a little nearer the top, and with
out aid from Congress, too.—Philadel
phia American.
No matter how Europe feels about it,
there isn't much chance for peace in
this country before November, anyhow.
—Savannah News.
Spending $1,000,000
The Chalmers Motor Company is
spending 1,000,000 this year to tell the
public of the quality of its cars. Hugh
Chalmers is a tlrm believer in news
paper advertising. He said in a recent
talk: ",Xhe National weekly and maga
zine is necessary, but the timely blow
is delivered by the daily paper in each
sales district. As a proof of our faith
in this fact we are using 1,600 news
papers throughout the country several
times each month in the campaign we
are now waging." The 1916 Chalmers
newspaper campaign will reach a total
of over 16,000,000 lines. Strong copy is
being used and dealers' names are
eigned to the advertisements. The
newspapers used varied In circulation
from 800 to 800,000.
False Pretense
America, prosperous, peaceful, bless
ed, is so because the Inscrutable pur
poses of God intended it.—The Hon.
John W. Wescott.
Obviously, then, Wootfrow Wilson de
serves no credit for America's present
—N. Y, Sun,
JUNE 19, 1916.
spring waters and holding them until
summer when every drop means
wealth.
Now the new Elephant Butte darn
has created a lake-—a lake more than
forty miles long, that the river has not
yet succeeded in filling. The storage
capacity is over eight hundred billion
gallons. In the five years' work on
the big dam, the reclamation service
built a town for its workers. At
times there were as many as 1,100
men employed, and living on the work
with their families. The government
supplied everything necessary for
municipal affairs from water and elec
tricity to a Y. M. C. A. and a moving
(picture show, that netted the reclama
tion fund a neat profit. The town was
laid out on the latest sanitary lines,
and had one of the best health re
cords of the whole southwest.
The Elephant Butte is only one of
the four biggest reclamation projects.
The other three are the Arrowrock
Dam in Idaho, the highest dam in the
world, the Shoshone Dam In Wyom
jing, only 22 feet lower, and the Roose
velt Dam in Arizona that whose suc
cessful completion marked the solu
tion of some of the toughest engineer
ing problems ever tackled. These
four dams will insure water supply
for 773,000 acres and homes for 13,-
000 families. The land when irrigat
ed will be worth $77,300,000 —a good
example of the conservation, not to
say creation, of national resources.
Such figures as these represent the
dry bones of the situation. To ap
preciate what the work means in a
human sense, it is necessary to see the
new towns that are springing up be
low the dams, the new class of farm
ers that is being brought into being.
The officers of the Reclamation Ser
vice optimistically believe that the re
claimed lands will produce one of the
most advanced and progressive types
of rural civilization that the world has
ever seen. Their reason for this belief
can be stated in three words —irriga-
tion means co-operation.
The main ditch, or irrigation canal
supplying all the farmers on a single
project is a bond that brings them
into the closest relationship. An irri
gation farmer has to work with his
neighbors, in the use of water at
least. The nati*-~ Mexican inhabit
ants of New Mexico are a good ex
ample of this. These people have
been farming in a small way by irri
gation for centuries. The rights of
water and the use of the ditch is one
of the big local questions with them,
over which they used to meet and con
spire and play politics in more primi
tive times to their heart's content.
The office of "mayordomo" of the
ditches, the man who regulates the use
of water, was one of the most sought
after in each county, and carried
with it much of power and dignity."
This same co-operative use of the
precious water has proved the starting
point for successful co-operation
along a score of lines for the new
American farmers.
' | OUR DAILY LAUGH I
[ .A i WILLING TO
\ MAKE GOOD.
y) You know those
yrw'ii* SiwL early vegetables
'*• i/lv" * promised you *
VKnTjCj Would you ac
cept a trip to the
« theatre next wln
ter instead?
MISINTER-
She (haughtl- A.
ly): You ask me
to go to dinner j ¥
with you? Why Wjl IV / \
I don't even know I ill
He: That's all Fill )U
right, I'm willing , 111 B
to take a chance, **" X*
WHAT THE ROTARY CLUB
LEARNED OF THE CITY
[Questions submitted to members of
the Harrisburg Rotary Club and their
answers as presented at the organiza
tion's annual "Municipal Quiz."]
Who are the members of the City
Planning Commission? What are the
functions of the City Planning Com
mission?
President, E. S. Herman: secre
tary, Benjamin F. Umberger;
George W. Reily, Francis J. Hall
and George A. Shrelner. Their
functions are to plan for the city
with Jurisdiction for three miles
i beyond city.
I
■Ebetttttg (Eital
Prof. Hiram H. Schenk, appointed
to the place of custodian of public rec
ords by State Librarian Thomas
Lynch Montgomery a few days ago
and who has assumed his work in a
preliminary way, is one of the au
thorities on the Germanic element In
Pennsylvania history, a noted collector
of data concerning early days in the
eastern counties and probably one of
the best posted men on early docu
ments. There are very few in the
State who know more about the early
prints of Philadelphia and the eastern
| part of the State than he and two of
I them happen to be Samuel W. Penny
packer and Martin G. Brumbaugh.
| Prof. Schenk is a close personal friend
(Of the former Governor and of the
I present Governor, and has long been a
correspondent of the able historian
I who is State librarian. He has held
I for several years the chair of history
and social science in Lebanon Valley
collegeand has a wide acquaintance all
through the eastern half of the United
States. He is peculiarly fitted for the
work which he will take up, that
of collating the public records of
Pennsylvania, province and common
wealth, and translating for posterity
the records in the dialects and lan
guages which figure so much in the
publications and writings of the State's
early days.
• • •
When Prof. Schenk was a student at
Lebanon Valley College and at Ur
sinus, where he took his degree, he
specialized in history and later when
he began to teach the subject gave
special attention to the study of the
history of our State. His
knowledge of obscure subjects, dates
of events, and names of men of affairs
long since forgotten is almost uncanny
to anyone sitting in his college lecture
classes. He has at his finger tips in
formation about the Civil War which
surprises leading historians with
whom he comes in contact, and in the
lore of the "Pennsylvania Dutch" set
tlements in Lebanon and Berks county
few are his equal. Prof. Schenk is one
of the best loved men on the Lebanon
Valley faculty and his ability to tell a
good story in his classroom and to mix
with the students In their rooms and
on the campus are perhaps the chief
reasons for his popularity. Those who
study under him learn things about
the Presidents of the United States
and the Governors of Pennsylvania
which they could glean from very
I few current works of history, and he
can tell stories of intrigue in the Eu
ropean courts that entertain you by
the hour. In politics. Prof. Schenk has
always been a strong Republican. In
his classes in economics he could
scarce retrain at times from sticking
a pin prick into the fallacies of Demo
cratic principles and he has shown
more than one young fellow the wis
dom of the principles of the party ot
Lincoln.
Another lover of Pennsylvania his
tory and one yho is well known here,
Henry C. Mercer, is also in the news
just now. Mr. Mercer is the man who
designed and placed the tile pavement
in the State Capitol. This pavement,
which covers the first floor and has
been criticised with severity by those
who do not know anything abhut it
or why it was put there, is one of
the great features of the building and
many of us have heard people from a
dozen States who have visited the
building speak in high praise of the
originality, attractiveness and histori
cal value. Mr. Mercer designed the
pavement and superintended the mak
ing as well as the placing of the
blocks. It represents one of the early
industries and it is greatly to be re
gretted that he was not permitted to
carry out the plan of having the seals
of the counties placed in tile about
the Governor's reception room. It
happens that Bucks county owes its
splermid historical society building:,
opened on Saturday, to Mr. Mercer.
He gave the money, superintended the
construction and practically furnished
the building, which represents an out
lay of SIOO,OOO. Bvicks has one of the
finest historical buildings and collec
tions and it is largely due to the enter
prise of the man who was not allowed
to finish in the Capitol work on which
he had spent time, thought and
money.
Have you noticed the number of
Sundays on ■which there have been
floods in the last few years? Yester
day was the third Sunday in less t,lian
nine months on which there was high
water and the river front banks were
thronged with people watching the
brimming Susquehanna. Incidentally,
there was a good bit of Interest taken
in the way the water front improve
ments will stand up under the flood.
Fortunately there is not much debris
and the standards are not endangered.
The crest of the greatest flood ever
known here, that of June 1, 1889, was
reached on a Sunday.
• » •
Dr. Samuel G. Dixon, the Stat© com
missioner of heath, now has more de
grees than any man connected with
the State government. The commis
sioner is not only a doctor of medi
cine, but an engineer and a lawyer.
In the line of honorary degrees he
now has doctor of science, one which
is very rare in this country.
WELL KNOWN PEOPLE ~
—Col. Henry Hall, Pittsburgh
newspaperman, is spending the re
mainder of the month in Wyoming.
—John Monaghan, the new Phila
delphia judge, is a native of Ashland
and one of the youngest men ever
named on the Philadelphia bench.
—The Rev. H. A. Weller, of Orwigs
burg, the new president of the Luth
eran ministeri-um, was formerly its
treasurer.
-t-M. L. Benedum, veteran Pitts
burgh oil man. is backing the new
Columbia oil ventures.
—Captain T. P. Magruder, U. S. N.,
well known in this State, has been
placed in charge of the division of
naval militia affairs at Washington.
DO YOU KNOW
That Harrlsburjf machinery is
used in hook binderies in Wash
ington?
HISTORIC HARRISBURG
Harrisburg made munitions for the
American army in the war of 1812.
An Easy Choice
Bishop Sanford Olmsted said at a
dinner party in Denver: ,
"The charge that the chut-ch is gov
erned by mercenary motives is an insi
dious one. I think this charge was best
answered by the prison chaplain.
"A chaplain was addressing a con
gregation of prisoners many of whom
had given more than one proof that
they were profiting by his visits. But
there was a certain rough, brutal-look
ing fellow who always scoffed and
sneered. And to-day this fellow, when
the chaplain greeted hlni, said:
"'No, I don't want to shake hands
with you, parson. You only preach for
money.'
"'Very goodi my friend! have it so,'
the chaplain answered. 'I preach for
money. You steal for money. Let God
choose between us.' "—Denver Post.