10
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
/ XEUSPAPER FOR THE HOME
Founded IS3I
Published evenings except Sunday by
THE TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO.,
Telegraph Building. Federal Square.
E. J. STACK POLE. Pfts't ana Editor-in-Chief
- . R. OYSTER, Business Manager.
GUS M. STEINMETZ, Managing Editor.
Member American
Newspaper pub-
Hi § fßp g nue Bulldl ? g '
c'ago, 111.
Entered at the Post Office in Harris
burg, Pa., as second class matter.
By carriers, six cents a
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a year in advance.
THURSDAY EVENING, DEC. 21
Courtesy is the eye uhich overlooks
your friends' broken gateway, but sees
the rose which blossoms in his par
gen.—ANON,
THIO PRESIDENTS PEACE NOTE
PRESIDENT WILSON'S note ask
ing the various governments of
the warring nations in Europe
to state the terms upon which they
are willing to make peace is a timely
and statesmanlike document. It is
difficult to understand how any of the
powers will be able to make other than ]
a friendly reply, whether or not they
arc prepared at this time to state in I
concrete terms the least they will |
take, or give, in return for the pros- '
peets of a lasting peace.
There are already indications that
in some quarters the President's pro
posals have been regarded as
prompted by German influences,
but this cannot be substan
tiated and even though it were true
nobody should object, since the note
does not seek to make an immediate
peace, but merely to lay a foundation
upon which the conflicting interests
may stand when the time comes for
finally settling their differences. It is
apparent that there can be no end to
the fighting until each side knows pre
cisely what the other isfightingfor.and
the note is no more than a polite re
quest for information. "What is all
this row about?" asks the President.
"And what do you hope to get out of
it?V Roughly summed up that is the
substance of his note.
Beyond question, it will serve a use
ful purpose from the standpoint of the
United States. A belief has been
abroad in Germany, and in some of
the allied nations, too. how wide
spread is not apparent. that the
United States is willing that the war
shall go on indefinitely; that we on
this side have no other thought in
mind than the trade we are getting
out of it. The President's proposal j
should do much to convince Europe of j
the good intentions of this country.
Peace will bring with it trials and trib- '
ulations greater for the United States. |
possibly, than those of the war, but
for all that Americans, one and all
are for peace, and more than all else,
a permanent peace.
How strongly former President j
Taft's League to Enforce Peace idea j
has taken hold of the world is shown
by the President's expressed hope that
the war will be followed by some such
alliance. He is sowing see<J on fertile
ground. If ever, now is the time to
organize the nations of the world for
the prevention of war. Every govern
ment in Europe is sick of fighting and
every man in the trenches and woman
at home would hail as a heaven-sent
blessing, any guarantee against a repe- I
tition of such frightful slaughter as!
has swept the world since German
armies first crossed the Belgian fron
tier.
"Eleven Belgians shot to death after
courtmartial." Another evidence of the
peaceful, humanitarian methods of the
Germans in Belgium. After the war
Villa might go recruiting among the
officers in charge there.
DANIEL S. SEIT3S
THE death of Daniel S. Seitz re
moves from the municipal life
of the State one of its most
skilled legal advisors and from the
bar 9f Dauphin county a brilliant
member. Few men in Pennsylvania I
knew more of third-class city legisla
tion than Mr. Seitz. His views were
consulted by other city solicitors
everywhere and he was in constant
demand as a speaker at municipal
gatherings. He served the city of
Harrisburg well for many years and '
saved hundreds of thousands of dollars
for the taxpayers in suits before the
court.
Mr. Seitz was a young man and had
before him great possibilities. He had
the mind and the training that would
have made an excellent Judge of him.
and had he lived it is entirely probable
that in time he would have been ele
vated to the bench of Dauphin county.
His affable disposition and his readi
ness to serve made for him hosts of
friends both in Harrisburg and the
State at large who will sincerely
mourn his death.
Do you remember the time when you
searched about for a bit of spruce to
decorate your desk on the last day of
school before Christmas?
RIVERSIDE'S WITHDRAWAL
ALL those interested In the growth
and development of Harrisburg
will regret that Riverside has
been discouraged in lis efforts to be
come a part of the city. To be sure,
there were expenses to be met and
•banges to be raide and perhaps some
THURSDAY EVENING,
debts to be assumed, but so there were
also when the Tenth ward came In
and again when the Thirteenth ward
was annexed.
We must expect both to give and
to take In mutters of this kind, and
quite a lot of giving would have been
justifiable in the case of Riverside,
which from a tax-producing stand
point is far superior to the Tenth
ward when it was admitted or the
Thirteenth ward when it became a
part of Harrisburg.
! Our City Planning Commission has
extended its supervisory duties to
! Riverside and beyond. Why? Because
! it was assumed that at no distant day
j the suburb would be taken over by
the city and now, when it comes
knocking at our doors, having fulfilled
I the requirements of the municipality
and being one of the most desirable
j residential districts in all the country
i roundabout, we turn our neighbor
i away.
Eventually Riverside will become a
ward of Harrisburg. It is that now in
| everything but name. When it does
i come in the cost to the city will be
far greater than at present.
I One of the most notable features oZ
| Lloyd George's speech is that he has a
full conception of the size of the job
lie has undertaken.
W. \V. GILCHRIST
INTENSE application to a profession
that is difficult at best unquestion
ably was largely responsible for
the untimely death yesterday of W.
W. Gilchrist, noted composer, organ
ist and chorister, at an Easton hos
pital. Dr. Gilchrist was as much be-
I loved and as widely known in Har-
J risburg as in Philadelphia. His long
I and excellent service as conductor of
! the Harrisburg Choral Society en-
I deared him to all who heard the de
' liglitful concerts given under his
I direction.
Dr. Gilchrist was an untiring
worker. How he accomplished what
he did was a marvel to all who knew
him. Of a sensitive, delicate constitu
tion he placed himself on the rack of
almost incessant and grilling labor,
and the penalty was broken health
and death at a time when many men j
are in their prime.
The eminent musician left his mark
upon the musical history of Harris-!
burg. Not only was the success of
the Choral Society largely due to his I
ability, but he taught the people of |
the city a greater love for good music I
and gave the first word of encourage
ment and advice to many a discour- J
aged young musician.
President Wilson is thinking about j
the advisability of a protective tariff.
We suppose he thinks he dug the idea ;
out all by himself.
THE HOUSING PROTEST
THE protest of the Colored Law
and Order League against hous
ing conditions in some of the dis
tricts largely given over to the uses
of the negro population is not without j
very good reason. It requires no
more than a casual examination of
conditions to show that. Nor is Dr.
Crampton, as spokesman of the lea
gue in a recent newspaper interview,
far afield when he says that over
crowded houses and unhealthful |
surroundings are responsible for
much of the crime that exists in those
districts. His opinions on this co- j
incide most remarkably With an ad- j
dress, delivered on the same day that j
his views were published, by!
Mrs. Booker T. Washington at Plamer {
Memorial Institute in Greensboro, X. ;
C., when she said:
What is said of the colored peo
ple and their homes in the country
may a well be said of them in
their homes in the larger cities.
Those owning well-furnished and
large, comfortable homes are the
select few. If the authorities of
the cities would take under con
sideration the fact that we are
really a part of the bodv politic,
and although we are a distinct race
with, perhaps, some distinct traits
and characteristics, we have inanv
things in common with all other
citizens of the community, and une
of these is a love for family life, a
desire and yearning to bring our
children up in a wholesome and
clean atmosphere, a growing desire
to create for ourselves an ideal
which impresses itself more and
more in decent living, and to en
courage such we would have more
and better homes In the cities.
Colored people should not only be
encouraged to build homes, but
build them beautiful. I,et the au
thorities of the Southern cities
build the sidewalks and sewers in
front of the colored man's hanie as
well as the white man's, if they
would encourage beauty and clean
liness in colored homes. The white
man of America is ahead of all
other men in and out of America,
because his devotion to beautiful
homes, wife and children ever in
spires him to greater and higher
life. Then if the white man would
help to further elevate the colored
race, let him aid in the encouraging
of greater respect for his family
and the providing of comfortable
and beautiful homes in the country
as well as in the cities, with cleanli
ness a guiding word in every step
forward.
Mrs. Washington is correct in the
main and errs only in that the negro
is no better situated than many a
white man of far larger means, in
that he is, for one reason or another,
in no position to build for himself
the kind of house he would like to
have. It remains for the cities the
big, broad men of the cities, we mean,
with the time and the means at their
command—to remedy this crying evil.
The housing conditions of Harrisburg,
for example, is a matter for public
shame. It menaces the health and
the contentment of the whole city.
The germ trail of the slum leads
everywhere. Disease bred In the
quarters were families live more like
beasts than men, spreads rapidly to
more well-to-do sections, if you want
to take a purely selfish view of it,
and crime and anarchy are bred in
such places. There is no bigger work
before the State and the local gov
ernment to-day than that of provid
ing proper housing facilities for
white and black alike.
Every man and woman has a right
to his or her share of sunshine.
Every boy and girl has a right to his
or her share of good fresh air. What
■boots it if we pay hundreds of thou
sands of dollars to give all the people
pure drinking water, and if we pay
more thousands to protect their milk,
and if we keep our streets free of dirt
so that bacteria may not breed; what
boots it if wo do all this and then let
A GOLFER'S IDEA OF A REGULAR SANTA CLAUS : : : : By BRIGGS
hundreds of those people live in
wretchedness and squalor for the sake
of the few paltry dollars the careless
owners are able to wrest from them
in rent?
"JofTre Retires."—Newspaper head
line. Maybe, but not enough to hurt
much.
Death is no respecter of seasons.
*"po£tttC4. Ut
| By the Ex-Commlttecman
The name of Representative Aaron
B. Hess, of Lancaster, turned up in
the contest for the Republican nomin
ation for speaker of the lower house
of tho Legislature to-day when it was
intimated that the Lancaster man in
stead of being for either Cox or Bald
win, would be asking support of
friends among legislators for himself.
Mr. Hess, who succeeded Lieutenant
Governor Frank B. McClain as the
member from the city of Lancaster,
was talked of as a possible candidate
for speaker months ago, and if the
Baldwin candidacy had not made such
headway it is likely that he would
have entered the race. Mr. Hess has
declined to say where he stands and
the five votes of Lancaster are claimed
by both Baldwin and Cox.
A statement by S. R. Tamer, of
Pittsburgh, prominent in the Order of
Railroad Conductors, attacking Bald
win's vote for the full crew repealer,
came here to-day and was received
with mixed feelings about the Capitol
owing to the fact that Edwin It. Cox,
the State administration's candidate,
voted the same way. At the Baldwin
headquarters it was declared that the
attacks being made upon the Dela
ware man by James 11. Maurer, mem
ber from Reading, and various men
connected with the mine workers' Or
ganizations were being offset by as
surances from individual workers that
they resented being used in a fac
tional scrap.
—Attaches of the State government
who will start to go home fpr Christ
mas to-night are being given quiet tips
that anything they can do to help line
up their home members of the House
in behalf of the Governor's speaker
ship candidate and his legislative pro
gram will be appreciated. There is
nothing unusual in this. It has
been done many times before when a
fight was on. and it is to the credit
of a good many men in the depart
ments that they have voluntarily of
fered their services. A number of
•men from up State counties were call
ed gn the carpet yesterday and told
to get busy when at home and a spe
cial drive is being made by the Ad
ministration forces to secure at least
one vote from Tioga for Cox.
—Governor Brumbaugh's decision
to retain Banking Commissioner Wil
liam H. Smith, when it had been wide
ly announced by his political advisers
that the veteran chief would be asked
to give way to a younger man, is said
to .have been the result of energetic
protests by mail, telegraph and tele
phone from some of his closest friends
in Philadelphia. Several of these men.
who were personal friends before the
Governor got Into State politics,
strongly urged him not to permit the
Banking Department to be even men
tioned in the present fuss. In addi
tion protests came from all parts of
the State In such volume and from
j such people that the Governor resisted
[ the advice of political friends and did
not ask the resignation as had been
proclaimed he intended to do. Mr.
Smith left for home yesterday after
j noon. He has been 111, but every dav
j has been in telephone touch with the
department and all reports go to him.
Whether he will be forced out later
on is a matter of speculation. The
Governor, however, Is standing by him
now against considerable political
pressure.
—Representative Ed-win R. Cox. ac
companied by ex-Representative Dan
iel J. Shern, spent yesterday In Fay
ette county endeavoring to get mem
bers of the House to line tip for the
Philadelphlan. Mr. Cox said that he
was well satisfied with the outlook and
that his election was a certainty. He
will operate In other western counties
while Congressman John R. K. Scott
works in the anthracite region, where
he is lining up the labor people against
Baldwin.
—An attuck upon the candidacy of
Hlchard J. Baldwin for his course on
local option Is said to be under way
among HOIUO of the Governor's friends.
An attempt to offset the candidacy of
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
George W. Williams, the Tioga county
"dry" member, will be made by local
option friends of the Governor.
—Congressman W. S. Yare last night
issued a blistering statement in reply
to some Penrose and McNichol fulmi
natlons against the Governor, es
pecially the charge that the Governor
is He charges 'that Pen
rose an Miver brought about Hughes'
defeat and says that Penrose is also
an ingrate. The speech caused much
comment in Philadelphia because it
charged faclionul war to Penrose.
—Newspapers in Philadelphia and
Pittsburgh contain protests tiled with
the Governor against the removal of
Commissioner Smith. It is not ad
mitted at the Governor's office that
any have been received.
—Senator Penrose held a confer
ence with friends in Washington yes
terday and went to Philadelphia to
day. He will be here next week.
—null Moose legislators are de
manding that the Governor name A.
Nevln Detrich superintendent of pub
lic printing and binding right away.
The administration is holding off as
long as possible, as it Is intimated that
E. J. Lafferty, of Philadelphia, is be
ing strongly backed.
—lt is said that Representative Nel
son McVicar, of Allegheny, has been
quietly visiting members friendly to
him in the west and that his name
may go into the caucus.
—The Baldwin headquarters were J
visited by a number of legislators,
anions: them Corbin, of Mifflin; Spang
ler, of York, and Powell and Thomas,
of Luzerne. Baldwin announced last
night that he has gained one vote since
Tuesday and now has 111, and lie ex
pects to run it up to 120 before the
week is out.
To-day the 41 legislators elect from
Philadelphia will meet in the head
quarters of the Republican city com
mittee and draw lots for their seats in
the House. William E. Finley, execu
tive director of the committee, issued
the call for the meeting and William
S. Leib, resident clerk of the House,
will conduct the drawing. It is ex
pected that efforts will be made to
sound out the sentiment among the
legislators as to their attitude on the
speakership fight. Both factions have
disclaimed, however, that any political
='s-'niticance was attached to the meet
ing.
bits ot the
Out o' Doors
Through the Snow!
Are yuli longin' to feel like a thing
made o' steel
Full o' vigor an' snap an' go?
Then ferget yer cold chills and the old
doctor bills—
Let's go out fer a plough through the
snow!
Yer growin' plain fat in yer steam
heated ' llat —
Go pull on a pair o' old boots.
That tig, easy chair's a delusion an'
snare!
Old Age an' that seat's in cahoots!
Get into yer coat—Shucks! why bundle
yer throat?—
Yuh act like it's fifteen below!
Sure, the wind's gona bite—it's no warm
summer night—
We're off fer a plough through the
mow!
There's plenty o' light—it's full moon
to-night—
Through the lields! Let's pass up the
road—
Here gimme a lift! I'm stuck in a drift!
It's not only snowed, man; It's blowed:
Gone five miles anyway?—O, 'bout
three 1 would say—
Vhat! wnnta hit back fer the fire!
O, sure, if yuh say—l was jest under
way—
(Pst! Between you and me I'm a liar!).
Business Briefs
i The location of a dozen farm loan
banks will be announced In a few days.
The peace move has had no effect on
the d-mand for steel.
A Philadelphia Stock Exchange seat
sold yesterday for $3,500.
Oklahoma announces another 10 per
cent, rise in the price of Sinclair oil.
Paper to the value of $40,000,000 was
exported from the United States the
past year.
A Citizen's Obligation
[From the Kansas City Star.]
General Scott, chief of staff of the
army, is not one of those patriots who
think an untrained volunteer armv of
Americans, drawn hastily from civil
life, armed with anything handy and
rushed to the country's defense could
meet on equal terms the trained and
disciplined armies of foreign military
powers. The chief of staff says quite
frankly that if the National Guard,
I NEW MARK TWA
THE following new Mark Twain
stories have been dug up by Al
bert Bigelow Paine, the famous
humorist's biographer, anl printed here
by courtesy of Harper & Bros.
God KnouN Where
One evening a few years ago Brander
Matthews and Francis Wilson were din
ing together at the Players' Club, of |
New York, when the former made the j
suggestion that they write a letter to
Mark Twain. "But," objected Mr. Wil
son, "we don't know where he Is," for it
was at the time when Mr. Clemens was
away traveling somewhere. "Oh," said
Professor Matthews, "that does not
make any difference. It is sure to ilnd
him. I think he is some place in Eu
rope, so we had better put on a 5-cent
stamp." So the two sat down and com
posed a letter which they addressed to
MARK TWAIN,
God Knows Where.
In due time they received a reply
from Mr. Clemens which said briefly,
"He did." Then someone sent a letter
addressed, "The Devil Knows Wherfi,"
which also reached him, and he answer
ed, "He did, too."
How They Start
It is said that the first paragraph
Mark Twain wrote when he began his
editorial duties with the Virginia City
Enterprise was this:
"A beautiful sunset made Beranger a
poet, a mother's kiss made Benjamin
West an artist, and sls a week makes
us a journalist."
Mark Twain Drolleries
Some maxims of "Pudd'nhead Wilson,"
that later creation of Mark Twain's hu
morous fancy, deserve immortality. For
quaint association of Incongruous ideas
and shrewd insight into weak human
nature, they are unique. For example:
"The holy passion of friendship is of
so sweet and steady and loyal and en
during a nature that it will last through
a lifetime if not asked to lend money."
" 'Classic.' A book which people praise
and don't read." "The man with a new
idea is a crank until the idea succeeds."
"The truth is stranger than fiction,
but it is because fiction is obliged to
stick to possibilities; truth isn't."
"Few things are harder to put up with
than the annoyance of a good example."
"It were not best that we should all
think alike; it is difference of opinion
that makes horse races."
"The English are mentioned Ih the
Bible: 'Blessed are the meek, for they
shall Inherit the earth.'"
"April 1. This is the day which we j
are reminded of what we are on the |
other 361."
"Why is it that wo rejoice at a birth i
and grieve at a funeral? It is because!
we are not the person involved."
"Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage
with a college education."
"When in doubt, tell the truth." :
The Original llnrher Story
One <lay Mark Twain was being shav
ed by a very talkative barber and was
forced to listen to many of the barber's
anecdotes.
Stopping to strop his razor, and pre
pared, brush in hand, to commence
again, the barber said: "Shall 1 go over
It again?"
"No thanks," drawled Mark. "It's
hardly necessary. 1 think I can remem
ber every word."
Doing TlilngK Wrong
In bachelor days Mark Twain had
heartily expressed the antipathy of
bachelordom for all chambermaids be- |
cause of their hostile Ideas of tidiness.
trained under the provisions of the na- [
tiunai defense act, which requires only i
seventy-five days' training In three
years, should be employed in actual !
was service it would take six months' t
firing line experience to make soldiers I
of them.
There is, of course, only one way to
| avoid the dangers of this kind of elev
enth hour training for the nation's ae-
I fenders and that way, as General Scott
' points out, is to compel every Ameri
can citizen of military age and physi-
I cal titness to take a soldier's training
lin time of peace. He owes that servico
I to his country, the General says, quite
|as much as he owes other forms of
> taxes which he pays In money. It is
the only fair and Just way of raising
an army of defense. It distributes the
obligation equally on all shoulders.
Compulsion, which is always a reserved
power of the Government, and which
l would be exercised in case of necessity,
] would fall less heavily on civil society
if Americans were prepared to perform
military service than If they were hur
ried, untrained, into camps of war.
Perhaps It Is not generally understood
that the Constitution and laws of the
country already provide for compulsory
military service. Every citizen capable
of bearing arms may be drafted. But
what is not provided for Is compulsory
training, and there lies the futal weak
! ness of conHcrlptlon as now provided
| for. Conscription without training is
worse than any of the terrors of war
which the pacifists have dwelt on. It
means lives thrown away without serv- i
Jing the nation's defense.
DECEMBER 21, 1916.
"They always put the pillow on the
opposite end of the bed from the gas
burner," he wrote, "so that while you
rend and smoke before sleeping, as is
the ancient and honorable custom of
bachelors, you have to hold your book
aloft, In an uncomfortable position to
| keep the light from dazzling your eyes.
I If they cannot get the light in an in
| convenient position any other way, they
move the bed. They always put your
books into Inaccessible places. They al
ways put the matchbox in some other
place. They hunt up a new place for it
every day, and put up a bottle or other
perishable glass things where the box
stood before. This is to cause you to
break that glass thing. They always
save up all the old scraps of printed
rubbish you have thrown on the floor
and stand them carefully on the table
I and start the fire with your valuable
MSS."
Degrees and Degree*
In ISBB Mark Twain received from
Yale College the degree of master of
arts, and the same college made him a
j doctor of literature in 1901. A vear
later the university of his own State, at
Columba, Mo., conferred the same de
gree, and then, in 1907, Oxford tendered
him the doctor's robe.
"I don't know why they should give
me a degree like that," he said, quaint
ly. "I never doctored any literature; I
wouldn't know how."
Getting Back nt Him
Mark Twain once asked a neighbor If
he might borrow a set of his books. The
neighbor replied, ungraciously, that lie
was welcome to read them in his li
brary, but he had a rule never to let
his books leave his house. Some weeks
later the same neighbor sent over to
usk for the loan of Mark Twain's lawn
mower.
"Certainly," said Mark, "but since I
make it a rule never to let it leave my
lawn you will be obliged to use it
there."
Mark Twain on Smoking
In his speech on his seventieth anni
versary, Mark Twain said:
"I have made it a rule never to smoke
more than one cigar at a time. I have
no other restriction as regards smok
ing."
"I smoke in bed until I have to go to
sleep; 1 wake up in the ni&lit, some
times once, sometimes twice, sometimes
three times, and I never waste any of
I these opportunities to smoke. This habit
i is so old and dear and precious to mfe
| that I would feel as you. sir, would feel
] if you should lose the only moral you're
| got—meaning the chairman—lf you've
j got one. I am making no charges. I will
| grant here, that I have stopped smok
| ing now and then, for a few months at
| a time, but it was not on principle, it
| was only to show off; it was to pulver
j ize those critics who said I was a slave
! to my habits and couldn't break ray
bonds.
"To-day it Is all of sixty years since I
began to smoke the limit. I have never
bought cigars with life-belts around
them. I early found that those were too
expensive for me. I have always bought
cheap cigars—reasonably cheap, at any
I rate. Sixty years ago they cost me $4
j a barrel, but my taste lias improved,
latterly, and I pay seven now. Six or
seven. Seven, I think. Yes, it's seven.
But that Includes the barrel. I often
have smoking parties at my house; but
the people that come here have always
I just taken the pledge. I wonder why
i.that is?" ,
I OUR DAILY LAUGH
HIS COST OF
Wry LIVING.
What do you
give for Christ -
1 give up and
give In and my
wife gives out
SPECIALTY.
i Jones doesn't vaX. M
cut much ice as
a skater, does *4-y wßj
break* a lot of
Ibemttg (Eljat
Between the speakership contest and
the meeting of tho State Educational
Association Harrisburg will be a lively
place next week, and If there are any
vacant rooms in any of the hotels they
will be at a premium. The big new
hotel would be a mighty useful thing
to have next week. There will be
about 2,000 teachers and men and
women interested in education hero
next week for tho educational meeting,
which will have an important bear
ing upon legislation pertaining to
school affairs, and the presence of
ex-President Tuft will be an event of
first importance. The speakership con
test will bring many men here earlier 1
than usual for the opening of a legis
lative session and there will be numer
ous headquarters .staffs and plenty of
men Interested in legislative affairs to
see how the members line up. Then,
too, Harrisburg will have its usual list
of holiday week functions and there
will be much doing.
♦ * ♦
It's remarkable how many people
are buying Christmas greens and
mistletoe despite the high prices be
ing asked, in hundreds of windows
throughout the city holly wreaths tied
with big red bows are to be seen hang
ing and on every street car can be seen
from one to half a dozen men or
women taking bits of green home.
Prices this year are the highest ever
quoted and for a really good looking
holly wreath 40 cents is not an excep
tional price to be paid. Christmas
trees, too, arc selling at anywhere from
75 cents to several dollars, but they do
not seem to lie going so fast, many
people evidently waiting until the last
minute, hoping they will come down
in price.
♦ * •
Not all the money received by Har
risburgers from Christmas savings
funds was spent for Christmas pres
ents this year, according to a well
known downtown banker. More than
60 per cent, of the money issued in
Christinas checks has been placed in
the bank at interest, he says, and
more is expected after December 25,
when folks know just how much they
can afford to "salt" away after all the
purchases have been made.
* # •
Harrisburg liremen for the second
time this week had a pleasant (?) cold
weather job after lighting llres at
which they had to lay more than a
thousand feet of hose in a single line
to get a stream of water. On Monday
morning after the lire at. the Central
Iron and Steel Company plant some of
the water froze in the sections of hose,
causing the tlremen several hours'
work thawing out the ice and drying
the hose. The same thing occurred at
Highspire when the Harrisburg boys
were called there. On cold days it Is
almost impossible to prevent some of
the water from freezing before the
hose can be taken back to the engine
house and dried. "Every time I do
this," complained one fireman as ho
stopped to warm his lingers, "I wonder
why in heck I'm opposed to a paid
department."
* •
The fuss over ash cans which mark
ed last week calls to mind a story told
by one of the old-time residents of
this city who "reminisced" of the days
before the water works was built. In
those days, said he, water was fur
nished by wells, some of which were
only filled up twenty-five years ago:
from springs which have been turned
into city sewers these many years and
from the river which was not polluted
by sewage and knew not the contam
inating sulphur from tho coal mines
nor the destroying wastes from fac
tories. Certain men had routes for
sale of drinking -water and one cranky
individual who used to draw water
from a place on the river near the
big island got the cream of the trade.
He finally got more and more arbi- •
trary but because of the water ho
supplied, which was supposed to come
from some spring in the riverbed, he
held his business. Finally he said
that he would not permit any dipping
from his barrels unless people did it
with buckets which he offered to sell.
Everyone owned a rowboat in those
days and the monopoly went to smash
in short order.
• * *
Dr. Clarence ,T. Marshall, the State
veterinarian, whose humor is as joy
ous as that of State librarian Mont
gomery, Is out with a new form of
much used proverb. We have all
heard that "a whistling girl and a
crowing hen will come to a bad end"
and the converse "A girl that whistles
and a hen that crows will make their
way wherever they go." But listen to
this new version designed especially
for farmers which the learned author
ity on cows, sheep and horses has to
give: "Whistling girls and good fat
sheep are the best property a farmer
can keep."
• * *
Frederick E. Bower, of Lewishurg,
who was here yesterday to secure a
pardon for a client, which he did,
created considerable amusement when
lie remarked In opening his speech
that the first and last time he had
appeared before the board was in
1883. "I came to protest against a
commutation, but it was granted, f
am here this time to get a pardon,"
said he.
rWELL KNOWN PEOPLE ~
—Judge A. S. Swartz, of Montgom
ery county courts, is ill with a heavy
cold and his colleagues are also ill.
-_E. T. Stotesbury is planning to act
as Santa to a number of poor children.
—N T . It. Turner lias been appointed
United States commissioner for the
Easton district.
—N. A. Whitten, senator elect, who
has been 111, but who will come here
anyway, was a member of the last
House. He is a steel inspector in the
Pittsburgh district.
—David ,T. Davies, city solicitor of
Scranton. adjutant of the Seventh Di
vision, will be home from the border
in a short time to resume his work.
| DO YOU KNOW
That Harrisburg makes special
steels l'or baby coach springs?
HISTORIC HARRIHBVRG
The first church in Harrisburg was
at Third and Cherry.
"You Always Pay"
[Kansas City Star.]
"You always pay, you know," said
the forger, Whiteman, who was cap
tured last week in Cincinnati after
years of liberty as a fugitive from
Justice.
Sure you do. Whether you violate
man's law, or Nature's law, which Is
another name for God's law, you al
ways have to pay, and the full price,
too. Some pay, as Whiteman did, In
dodging and slinking through the
world like a hunted beast, his mind
worried, his face *radually taking on
a furtive look, knowing always that
somewhere ahead lay the steel-jawed
trap all set and ready.
Some pay with broken health: oth
ers with broken hearts; some surren
der friends.and love; some give all in
life worth living for: some cast their
conscience to be gnawed by the
wolves of remorse: some not only
pay their own share in full, but shift
part of the burden to their children,
and their children's children, even
to the third and fourth generation:
for the debt must be paid to the last
farthing.