10
H ARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
A XHII'SPAPBR FOR THE HOME
Founded ISJI
Published evenings except Sunday bj
THE TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO.,
Telegraph Ilulldlnar. Federal Square.
J. STACK POLE. Pris t and Editor-in-Chief
I'\ R. OYSTER, Business Manager.
GUS M, STEINMETZ, Managing Editor.
A Member American
ing, P Chicago, 111.
Entered at the Post Office In Harris
burg, Pa., as second class matter.
_^£gJl3By carriers, ten cents a
week: by mail, $5.00 a
year in advance.
WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL 11.
Stroke ye here an' stroke ye there,
Folk will stan' a (teal o' strokin';
A wee bit crumb that's swallowed
tcrang
Gars ye do a deal o' chokin'.
Axox.
THAT SCHOOL CONTROVERSY
WITH the return to-day of Presi
dent Stamm no time should
be lost in taking up and finally:
udopting the report of the special!
advisory committee with respect to
the choice of a high school archi-!
tect.
The only argument that has attract
ed much attention in opposition to the
selection of William B. Ittner, of St.
I.ouis, has been that he might not be
able to complete the structures as
planned within the appropriation set
aside. With prices of labor and com
modities as changeable as they have
been the past year, and always tend
ing upward with no sign of reduction,
any architect or builder might be
hard pressed to form an accurate es
timate on an undertaking so large,
But on that score Mr. Ittner, in a let
ter to the board, has pledged him
self very definitely. He has said:
In looking up the program fur
nished me under date of Januarv 16
l>y j-ecretary Hammelbaugh. which
must be the program referred to.
as it is the only communication re- n
ceived, I can • find no particular
mention as to sites, or any amount
out of the total set aside for their
purchase, except that $1,000,000
is the amount stated for the build
ings in the program. From this, it
would appear that $250,000 has
been reserved for the purchase of
the necessary sites.
Ftegardless. however, of the total
amount which may be necessary
for the purchase of sites, it is en
tirely possible for me to plan with
in the limits fixed by the Board,
for individual buildings, and I can
unhesitatingly obligate myself to
do so, if entrusted with this work.
The statement that I do not plan
economically and am extravagant,
is neither warranted by fact nor
borne out by my record. On the
contrary. I have to my credit
many notable works proving de
cidedly to the contrary.
Mr. Ittner calls attention to his
work along this line elsewhere. If
this is all there is in opposition to
the St. Louis man and the special
committee feels the way it does about
his ability and the advisability of giv
, ing him the work, then there is little
more to be said.
He points out that at Dallas, Texas,
he has just completed three school
buildings, with $300,000 for two high
schools and a grammar school. The
. three buildings cost $500,650, and
were completed for $509,170, Includ
ing all extra work.
In Minneapolis, the generail contract
for the Central high school was $401,-
ltitt, and the building was not only
let within the limit of the appropri
ation, but was actually completed for
$3,500 less than the contract pripc,
on account of economies found pos
sible during the progress of the work.
In conclusion, Mr. Ittner in his let
ter to the board says:
Suffiee it to say. that if awarded
this work, I will hold the costs
within the limits fixed by the Board,
and will make a careful study of
all the elements involved, local or
otherwise, with a view of having
the buildings not only efficient, but
most economical and workable.
VOTED WITH REPUBLICANS
READERS of the Congressional
Record will not fail to notice
that Representative Rankin, of
Montana, was recorded as voting with
the Republicans on all of the roll
calls which were taken on the open
ing day of the session In connection
with the election of officers of the
House.
She voted for Mann for Speaker
and so on down through the list to
Lyons for postmaster. Miss Rankin
announced before taking her seat
that sfie had been elected on the Re
publican ticker and that she would
follow the nominations made by the
Republican caucus.
The only Congresswoman is in po
sition, it would appear, to give some
Congressmen a few good pointers.
WAR FINANCES
THE proposal to linance the war
wholly or chiefly by immediate
taxation overlooks the funda
mental of fiscal legislation—which is
that the beneficiaries of expenditure
shall bear the burden equitably.
The beneficiaries of the war are
not wholly the men and women of
this generation. They include the
generations yet unborn, to whom the
overthrow of Prussian autocracy and
militarism and the destruction of the
German menace mean infinitely more
than the prevention of the shelling of
New York or any ether American
city ,or any of the more immediate
WEDNESDAY EVENT-NCI.
I benefits of an Allied victory. And
future generations will recognize
their debt and will be glad to pay it.
I There will be sacrifices in plenty
_ I for this generation to make in con
~ j nection with the war upon which we
y | are entering. Our burdens will be
heavy enough in any case. An issue
| of bonds to partly meet the situation
- J will not be resented by our children.
f EVERYBODY OUT
_ 1 EVERYBODY interested In the big
n -I—' patriotic demonstration to be
held here April 23 should turn out to
* night. The committee will meet at
" the courthouse at 7.30, and all who
would like to have a part in arranging
?, for the parade and rally that is to
fc
- follow are invited to be present.
v
- "Whether your name has been an
'• nounced formally as a member or not,
you are requested to attend.
Harrisburg is loyal; loyal to the
core. But that is not enough. There
* is nothing like the congregation of
great masses of people to engender
enthusiasm in any cause. Just now it
is highly important that we all "show
our colors." When the line of march
is formed April 2 3 It should embrace
j delegations from every organization
worthy the name in Harrisburg. Come
out this evening and help plan for the
big procession.
This applies to everybody, but par
ticularly to those who arc heads of
■ societies or associations that ought to
1
. be in the parade.
I
1 The Colonel can see no good reason
why he should not be permitted to have
a part in the war. Neither can any
body else not blinded by partisan poli
tics. Both Roosevelt and Taft would
be mighty useful to President Wilson
at this time.
XO NEED EOR MILITARISM
ONE of the chief obstacles to the
assertion and maintenance of the
rights of the United States has
been the fear on the part of many
of our own citizens that military pre
paredness to defend those rights
would lead to a permanent policy
of militarism.
Study of our history proves that
there is no probability of such a re
sult. Following the Mexican War,
the Civil War and the war with
Spain, our armies -vere disbanded
and 'the Commander-in-Chief found
himself with no increased power over
the lives and activities of the peo
ple.
During tlie war in which we have
now engaged, unusual authority will
be vested in the executive branch of
the government, but Congress should
take diligent care that such increased
power shall be limited to actual nec
essity and shall continue only .until
the close of the conflict.
We want neither militarism nor
government by bureaucracy. Democ
racy and centralized government are
irreconcilably antagonistic.
FIIX SPEED IX JAPAN'
TEN years ago Japan possessed j
4,000 factories using power
machinery, with an aggre
gate of • 120,000 horse-power. In
July, 1907, the total net ton
nage of Japan's commercial fleet
was 679,000. A recent investigation!
shows Japan to have now 16,000 fac
tories, employing 1,500,000 hands, and
with a total horse-power of 1,125,000;
the tonnage of her commercial fleet
being 1,169,105. ' The Japanese fac%
tory hands receive about one-tenth
the \jage paid to American factory
hands; the overhead factory charges
■ of Japan are nothing like what they
are in the United States: the cost of
operating a Japanese ship nowhere
approaches the cost of operating an
American ship, and yet the Japanese
vessels operate under government sub
sidy. When the war is over how long >
before Japanese prows will be sig- j
naling full speed ahead for the Ameri- |
can market, where the only bar to for- :
eign goods is the badly sprung hyphen !
in the Wilson-Underwood tariff law?
| A CREED EOR HOME-MAKERS
AS a part of a plan to make the'
town of Helena. Ark., one of i
the most attractive places in
the West, the City Commission lias
( issued a creed for home-makers, which
is worthy of adoption by eastern cit
; ies and towns. It follows:
Believing in the gospel *>f good
1 things, 1 pledge myself to beautify
| and keep beauteous the landscape
from my upper window. The four
sides of my habitation shall be
t without offense to the senses of my
neighbor or the stranger within my
' sight. The way before mv door, my
neighbor's door, or the thorough
fare of trade, 1 will not abuse or
put to unworthy use. In every way
, consistent with my station and citi
zenship, I will encourage tidiness
by work and example; I will help
make the country beautiful.
Every man who has a piece of
1 ground can do his part to make Har
> risburg more beautiful. The sad lack
of lawns makes it impossible to do
. much in ornamental plantings, but
i homes and business places can be
made beautiful with porch and win
dow boxes filled with vines and bloom
ing plants. In our present effort for
practical gardening let us not lose
r sight of the delicate and dainty
s things in God's great; out-of-doors.
3 DESERVING OR ENTERPRISING
5 rT>HE Civil Service Reform League
J[_ conjectures that there are others
i who will follow the postmasters
r into the ranks of the classified civil
i service—collectors of customs and of
s internal revenue, United States mar-
I shals and the like. We conjecture the
same. These offices are now all held
i by Democrats, some deserving and
[ others enterprising, and nothing is
i more, likely than that they will be
; taken care of.
AIN'T IT A GRAND AND GLORIOUS FEELIN'?.. . By BRIGGS~I
h6>j \ . W77T-7777r
You L ewe V 1 AND rmally )A yf - amD at \\
Yfeuß "owe VA T ° Lunch hour
ow A CIOUOT take A , T v FCTv/'/ " w,
HORNN6 mfcy CHAKJCC aw® 'Z" , Y */'/a '/>
££2" <ys "I ~A Mt > look ' ' OM-H-H- M
WHY ' '/S / 5 list The cornew Aiki'T . it. mC'SjZ
; V robbers . Glor I-OOS
back v HAD LEFT /XKH f\
THIS ' i Th£ LA>s " r T,Me: / FjEeuM .
r- '
ToliUct Ck
By the Ex-Commltteeman
It was said on the Hfll that the
bills introduced yesterday to change
the primary days from Tuesdays to
Saturdays were not expected to get
far. The experiment of holding uni
form primaries on Saturdays was tried
out and found not to be very satisfac
tory and the change was then made
to Tuesday. Difficulty in making re
turns and the fact that an election
day always interferes with business,
which is heaviest in many localities
on Saturdays, are among the reasons
given.
—Opposition to Senator Beidle
man's Home Rule resolution is said
to have developed among some of the
corporations of the State which fear
that it might not work to their ad
vantage. On the other hand many of
the cities and practically all of the
boroughs are in favor of the proposed
amendment to the resolution which
would permit them to make their own
forms of local government and mem
bers and senators who oppose the
measure will have a difficult time ex
plaining when they go back home.
—Through the efforts of Senator
Vare. an agreement may be reached
between the Penrose leaders in the
Legislature and Governor Brumbaugh
as to the control of the $2,000,000
appropriation to be made as an emer
gency war fund in Pennsylvania.
Senators Sproul, McNichol, Crow
and Snyder, of the Penrose delegation
have accepted Senator Vare's sugges
tion, made last week When the ques.-
tion first came up, that a board con
sisting of the Governor, Auditor Gen
eral and State Treasurer should han
dle the money. Senator Vare also
suggested that it might be wise to in
clude Lieutenant Governor McClaln
on the board, as the other principal
officer of the Commonwealth and the
Penrose leaders said they would agree
whether the board was composed of
three or four State officials. Senator
Vare, acting for the Senate leaders,
who confer with Governor Brum
baugh on the matter.
The senators have been placed in
possession of full information to show
that precedent always had placed the
expenditure of emergency funds of
this sort in the hands of the Execu
tive, and that in every State where
the Governor was commander-in
chief of the State's armed forces, he
was given like discretion.
It has been decided to report quick
ly the emergency war fund bill and to
speed it through in case the Gover
nor makes an agreement. The sftnount
will be kept at $2,000,000, and should
larger and additional funds be re
quired to cover the State's share of
the war burden, the money will be
provided for in a separate bill, and
according to the Governor's ideas,
spent under the direction of a war
board, because of the great responsi
bility and demands of the work. It is
the Governor's idea that such a war
board should be formed on lines in
accordance with precedent in former
cases in Pennsylvania.
With No Thought of War
[Kansas City Times]
Chancellor Von Bethmann-Holl-'
weg says Germany has not attacked,
and will not attack the United States;
she does not want, and never did
want war with us—in short, he
strongly protests his friendly inten
tions toward this Nation.
Very well, then. If he feels this
way about it, certainly we should bo
fair and meet him half way. Though
not going on the same principles of
international usage which permitted
Germany to kill Americans on the
seas, break treaties and enslave a na
tion, we might, nevertheless, in out
case wholly in the unselfish interest
of humanity and international law,
adopt the German custom of making
a few "rules" for the guidance of
any nation interested. And since Ger
many was so conscientious as to warn
the world of the things she was about
to do, we, too, should be fair and
warn the imperial German govern
ment of our rules.
For instance, we might let it be
understood that no submarines sent
out to destroy neutral lives or prop
erty shall be allowed to enter the At
lantic or Pacific oceans on penalty
of being blown out of the water.
Then we might let it be known
that, with the permission of the Bel
gian government, we propose to
march an army from Ypres to Liego
and liberate an enslaved people.
In doing these things we would not
be attacking Germany. Of course, if
any Germans were so "reckless" as
to get in the way and interfere with
these rules, they might get Into trou
bue, but that would be their own af
fair, not ours. .
We could solemnly assure the
chancellor that we were not making
war on Germany, never wanted war
and had no intention of making war.
Nothing, in fact, could be farther
from our minds.
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
THE RISING
by Thomas Buchanan Read
OUT of the North the wild news
came,
F\*r flashing on its wings of
flame,
Swift as the boreal light which fliees
At midnight through the startled skies.
And there was tumult in the air,
The life's shrill note, the drum's loud
beat.
And through the wild land everywhere
The answering tread of hurrying feet.
While the first oath of Freedom's gun
Came on the blast from Lexington;
And Concord, roused, no longer tame,
Forgot her old baptismal name,
Made bare her patriot arm of power,
And swell'd the discord of the hour.
Within its shade of elm and oak
The church of Berkeley Manor stood;
There Sunday found 4he rural folk.
And some esteem'd of gentle blood.
In vain their feet with loitering tread
Pass'd mid the graves where rank is
naught;
In that republic of the dead.
# 9 9 •
The pastor rose; the prayer was
strong:
The psalm was Warrior David's song;
The text, a few short words of might—
"The Lord of hosts shall arm the
right!"
lie spoke of wrongs too long eendured,
Of sacred rights to be secured;
Then from his patriot tongue of flame
The startling words for Freedom
came.
The stirring sentences he spake
Compell'd the heart to glow or quake,
And, rising on his theme's broad wing,
And grasping in his nervous hand
The imaginary battle-brand.
In face of death he dared to fling
Defiance to a tyrant King.
r N
| Rhymes From the Nursery j
I used to like to sing the Nurs
ery Songs in our books,
I liked to sing about the birds and
flowers and the brooks.
But NOW I only want to sing about
the grand old flag
''America,'' "Star Spangled Banner"
or 'The Dixie Rag.'
I used to want to see the an'mals
when they came to town,
With the "Big Show" when the funny
clown paraded up and down,
But now I only want to see the Sol
diers straight and fine,
That march around to "Glory, Hal
lelujah," in a line.
I used to be a pacifist—l hated so to
tight.
But now I want to pitch in hard, and
slam at left and right
The fellows who say Uncle Sam and
the Red, White and Blue,
Ain't just the only things that ever
popped up into view!
It seems to me I've undergone a
change clean through and
through,
I'm "fired" with Patriotism for the
old Red, White and Blue,
If I wore only twenty 'stead of jest a
little kid.
I'd morel) straight off into the fray,
jest like "the fathers" did!
EDNA GROFF DIEHt,.
Paxtang, Pa.
The Slacker
I will take mine ease in mine inn,
I will sprawl in mine easy chair,
I will carve my meat,
I will drink and eat,
I will sleep—for why should I care?
Outside is the tramp of feet.
Where beardless boys march by.
There's a banner waves—
Hurrah for the slaves!
For my ease they will do or die.
Too old: I limp: I am sick:
I'm conscientious—and war is a sin.
Bet my country be sold,
I will hide my gold.
And take mine case In mine inn.
—Nicholas Deacon In Baltimore Sun.
In Memoriam
Availing herself of her ecclesiastical
privileges the clergyman's wife asked
questions which, coming from any
body else, would have been thought
impertinent.
"I presume you carry a memento
of some kind in that locket you
wear?" she said.
"Yes, ma'am." said the parishion
er. "It is a lock of my husband's
hair."
"But your husband is still alive,"
the lady exclaimed.
"Yes, ma'am, but his hair is gone."
—Minneapolis Journal.
Even as he spoke, his frame, renewed
In eloquence of attitude.
Rose, as it seem'd, a shoulder higher;
Then swept his kindling glance of fire
From startled pew to breathless choir;
When suddenly his mantle wide
His hands impatient flung aside.
And, Io! he met their wandering eeyes
Complete in all a warrior's guise.
A moment there was awful pause—
When Berkeley cried, "Cease, traitor!
cease!
God's temple is the house of peace!'
The other shouted, "Nay, not so,
When Ood is with our righteous
cause;
His holiest places then are ours,
His temples are our forts and towers
That frown upon the tyrant foe;
In this, the dawn of Freedom's day.
There is a time to fight and pray!"
And now before the open door—
The warrior priest had order'd so—
The enlisting trumpet's sudden soar
Rang through the chapel, o'er and
o'er.
Its long reverberating blow,
So loud and clear, it seem'd the ear
Of dusty death must wake and hear.
And there the startling drum and life
Fired the living fiercer life;
While overhead, with wild increase,
Forgetting its ancient toll of peace,
The great bell swung as ne'er before.
It seem'd as it would never cease;
And every word its ardor flung
From off its jubilant iron tongue
War, "War! war! war!"
"Who dares"—this was the patriot's
cry.
As striding from the desk he came—
"Come out with me, in Freedom's
name,
For her to live, for her to die?"
A hundred hands flung up reply,
A hundred voices answer'd, "I!"
The Same Spirit
[From the Sioux City Tribune.]
Sinking American ships and killing
American citizens in the vague hope of
inflicting injury upon England by such
methods is just another ramification
of the spirit which devastated Bel
gium In order to get a short cut to
France.
And Why Not?
■When it seemed as if the United
States would have to fight France,
what did Adams do? Sent for ex-
President 'Jeorge Washington at his
Mount Vernon home and virtually
offered him dictatorial powers at the
head of un army. Indeed. Washing
ton refused to accept unless he ob
tained the power to name his own
maior generals.
Theodore Roosevelt and William
H. Taft are two private citizens whose
knowledge of world affairs ought now
to be of great value to our country.
What a cheer would go up if the
President were to capitalize the wis
dom of the two living ex-Presidents.
—Girard in the Pybllc Ledger.
Ate 'em All Herself
A girl was required to write a
brief sketch of Queen Elizabeth. Her
paper contained this sentence:
"Elizabeth was so dishonest that
she stole her soldiers' food."
The teacher was puzzled and called
the girl.
"Where did you get that notion?"
"Why, that's what it says in the
history."
The hook was sent for and the pas
sage was found. It read:
"Elizabeth was so parsimonious
that she even pinched her soldiers'
rations."—San Francisco Chronicle.
Preparedness
The late General Funston was talk
ing one day to a reporter about pre
paredness.
"Most of these preparedness
schemes are Idiotic," he said. "Con
scription is the only thing. If we
adopt anything else, we'll be no more
prepared really than the old scrub
woman was.
"An old scrubwoman fell from the
eleventh story of an office building.
The fall killed her, of course. Her
pastor said on his consolation visit to
the family:
" 'Was she prepared? Oh, I do hope
she was prepared.'
" 'She was prepared, all right, par
son,' said her son-in-law 'for as otie
dropped past Lawyer Shark's second
story window the lawyer distinctly
heard her say:
" ' "Now, for a bump!" ' " —From
the Washington Star.
No More Discoveries
If Germany institutes a blockade
of the Arctic Ocean, as announced
from Christiania, polar expeditions
will be in danger of encountering the
added obstacle of ruthlessness.—New
York Worl/
APRIL 11, 19*17.
Labor Notes
On and after May 21, 1917, journey
men sheet-metal workers in San
Francisco will be paid $6 a day. This
is an increase of GO cents.
The Waiters' Union of East St.
Louis, 111., has secured agreements
with Belleville restaurants that pro
vide for a minimum wage of $6 a week
and a 10-hour work-day.
Ip Texas a joint legislative board,
composed of the State Federation of
Labor, railroad firemen, bricklayers,
carpenters and railroad telegraphers,
has drawn up a long list of demands.
A farmers' department In the Ham-
I ilton (Canada) Board of Trade for the
purpose of bringing these two bodies
i closer together was recommended at a
I special meeting of tl\e Board.
| The Ohio House has passed a bill
making it unlawful for employers to
threaten to discharge employes unless
they vote for certain candidates or
use other forms of coercion.
An extended effort is being made by
the California State Federation of La
bor to have the Workmen's Compen
sation law amended and to secure an
anti-injunction bill during the present
session of the Legislature.
Metal shoes resembling skates,
which grip firmly when weight is ap
plied to them, have been invented to
enable men to climb steel frames of
buildings, bridges and some types of
poles.
In Germany thousands of women
are now said to be mobilized not far
behind the firing lines, doing much of
the work of transport, bigging
trenches, building shelters, assuming
any service likely to relieve men of
fighting ability.
The formation of a British army
division to be composed largely of
young clergymen has been suggested,
as 26,000 clergymen have received cir
culars asking them to accept assign
ments to government work.
I OUR DAILY LAUGH
I B " g '' H * n °'
I ' j Hello, when Is
\ i A this elevator go
in * upT
NATURAL IN
FERENCE.
Bess
where that sum
mer hotel Is lo
cated.
CONSERVING
THE FOOD
SUPPLY.
Bridegroom
tAre you fellows
planning to bom
bard us with
Best Man
Sure! With
bushels of It.
Bridegroom
Then do me a
favor. Put it up
in neat packages
and deliver It
gently. I have
two mouths to
feed now and rice
is nourishing.
AN UNKIND
KNOCK.
Said on* who
loved dollars
and cents,
''These ball
too much ex-
Have they nailed
up the hole
in the
fenee?"
©jetting (Eljat
There seems to be little doubt that
the Legislature will adopt antidrug
legislation of a drastic character. The
hearing held yesterday was not 80
much for the purpose of discussing;
the advisability of passing such a
law as of reaching a conclusion as to
the best type of bill to put through.
Captain Archibald Mackrcll, of the
Pittsburgh Department of Safety,
who spoke before the House commit
tee at the hearing, has a bill of his
own before the Legislature but he is A
i,i Vor of any drastic legislation that
will meet, the need. After the meet
ing he said he felt "ory much en
couraged over the interest of the leg
islators and believes that ji stringent
Tf , w "' be enacted.
„ "Every man, woman and child la
this State of ours should, and I ate
sure will, welcome any effort that fs
made to stamp out of existence a
n i°r, B , tbat is gnawing at the \itals
of this nation," he said following t}ie
hearing. "It is worse than war, it. is
worse than death, it is worse than
any plague or pestilence that might
descend upon us, because it doesn't
come and go, but it is here always
with us. and growing steadily and
steadily until it has become a menace
to the life of our country.
"A nation's future depends upon its
youth, its hoys and girls who will
be the men and women of the fu
ture, and it is at them that the drug
habit strikes its most vicious blow.
Boys and girls of tender years, many
of them not past the public school
age, are numbered among its victims
by thousands. And it is no respecter
of persons for its destructive influ
ences will be found in the home of
the rich as well as the poor. It breeds
criminals at an alarming rate and
along its pathway are strewn count
! less broken hearts, wrecked homes,
i shattered careers and human dere-
I licts to whom the mercy of death
seems to be refused.
"The drug Henri's greatest punish
ment is that he has to live and en
dure the tortures of a habit that is
seldom if ever actually conquered.
Once in the grip of the habit the vic
tim usually remains its slave until
the end. I venture to say that not
one of these unfortunates wilfully or
voluntarily cling to the habit. They
would gladly give it up, but they no
longer possess the will-power and the
physical strength necessary to make
the light successfully. I have heard
them beg to be cured, to bo locked
up so that they couldn't get more of
the drug, and in the next breath they
would be on their knees pleading for
it. I venture to say the majority of
our greatest crimes have 'dope' as
one of their elements. A large per
centage of criminals r.re addicted to
It."
* . *
State legislation is necessary to
back up the Harrison drug act. This
federal statute is not complete of it
self. Tt deals with habit-forming
| drugs in an inter-state commerce way
| but leaves a big gap under a court
| decision rendered a year ago in Phila
| delphia. It is now proposed to make
the State law enough to land
behind the bars not alone those who
illegally sell such drugs but all who
are found with any such in their pos
session.
Chief Wetzel, of the Ilarrisburg po
lice force who has been waging a per
sistent war on "dope" ever since ho
was appointed, is one of those who
agree with Mr. Mackrell in what he
says concerning the awful danger
that the Illegal sale and use of drugs
holds for the public at large. De
spite all that he can do, tinder pres
ent laws, the sale of drugs continual
in Ilarrisburg, but he will undertake?
to put the "dope" sellers out of busi
ness entirely if the proper laws are
enacted.
• • *
Physicians, on the other hand, say
that the Harrison act has greatly re
duced the number of drug users. Di
rectly after its enactment, when hun
dreds of those addicted were unable
to get supplies from the regular
sources and did not know how to buy
a supply by the "underground" sys
tem used by criminals and those who
since have learned the ropes, many
victims became seriously sick. Many '
of these people recovered and havo
not since gone back to the habit.
Scores of others died. In nearly all
cases friendly physicians and consid
erate families were able to give the
public some name for the fatal Ill
ness other than the real cause, so that
the death list from drugs never ap
peared so large afi it really was.
* * *
Anxious to get a job, but very hope
ful that he might not get one with
the government, was the stand re
cently taken by a seeker for informs)-
tion M. one of the public libraries. He
asked to be shown all the acts of the
Legislature that might exempt a man
from military duties if he had relig
ious scruples. He said that he had
passed the examination for postal
clerk and that ho might possibly get
his eommission before his conscrip
tion but was anxious to be on the safe
side.
The clerk very obligingly looked up
the acts that had bearing on exemp
tion and called his attention to the
act of January 3, 1916. This act pro
vides that any one having religious
scruples may be exempted from active
duty on the firing line but not from
such noncombatant duties as the
President may prescribe. It was a
small loophole, but large enough to
give the future government servant
satisfaction. He departed very much
pleased.
Baedeker's Opera
Orchestra —A place to leave your
hat and coat while smoking a cigar
ette in the foyer.
When the orchestra starts an ill
mannered crashing to indicate the
approach of a finale, the gentlemen
arise and adjust their silk toppers.
Then in unison they walk briskly
down the aisle, tapping cigarets on
monogrammed cases.
On the descent of the curtain the
ladies raise their hands aloft In the
attitude of prayer, simultaneously
bringing the palms together sharply
In quick succession. This is supposed
to register pleasure that the act is
over.
Family Circle —The spot where one
hisses the applause and applauds the
hisses.
The appearance of the conductor
at any time is the signal for rounds
of clapping from all those who wish
to prove that they are educated to
distinguish a conductor from a first
violinist. With each shift of the con
ductor's vane he of the billowing
locks and unstinted tie says, sotto ,
voce, to the girl with the bobbed hair
girded by a fllet:
"Ah! The Swansdown motif," or,
"This staccato movement heralds the
entrance of Zlegfeld."
After the curtain fall, if the shouts
of "Brfiv-O" "Beese" and "On Coore"
are sufficiently persistent, the singers
are compelled to come out in front
In an attempt to quell the disturb
ance. This is styled a curtain call.—
From Life.
Murder Then Justifiable
Murder, of course, is a crime, but
we feel that it is justifiable when a
group of men are discussing the se
rious war situation for some dreamy
eyed individual to butt In with the
question: "Who is the champion
ping-pong player of the United
States?"— New Orleans SUUm