10 HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH A NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOME Founded it 3l Published evenlags except Sunday by THE TELEGRAPH PHIXTING CO., Telegraph Building, Federal Square. •E. J. STACK POLE, Pres't & Editor-in-Chief T. R. OYSTER, Business Manager. IUS M. STEINMHTZ, Managing Editor. t Member American Eastern office, Avenue Building, —cSfcagofilV. Intf ' Entered at the l'ost Office In Harrls burg, Pa., as s :cond class matter. By carriers, ten cents a week; by mail, $5.00 a year in advance. FRIDAY EVENING, AUGUST 10 Moderation is the silken string running through the pearl chain of all virtues. —FULLER. NO CONTROVERSY BOTH President Grace and Sec retary Baker having denied that there Is any difference be tween the Bethlehem Steel Com pany and the government as to the price of rails, the foolish story that Schwab had refused to make rails for the United States is set at rest. It was so little like the Schwab the American people have learned to j love and respect that few persons j paid any great attention to it, being j positive that there must be a mis- j take somewhere. Such tales do much harm and no good. Those who start them should be searched out and held up to public censure. Schwab having offered his entire; plant to the government for war purpose, it is not likely that he would refuse a government order without entering into negotiations for an adjustment or compromise satisfactory to both sides. Schwab is entitled to a fair profit and the government to fair prices, and it is j unlikely that either will be cheated of Its just due. To make a sensation of a mere j business transaction of the kind only j gives comfort to the enemy, which j is looking with eager, eyes for signs of discord In this country. A thoughtless reporter yesterday | wrote an item concerning the end of j vacation. The TELEGRAPH asks pardon of the countless boys and girls thus offended. A DELICATE SITUATION IT looks as though Kingdon Gould, the millionaire who claims exemption because he "has a wife to support," has brought down upon all well-to-do husbands (specific non-exemption instructions of the War Department. No sooner does he ask to be relieved of war duties because of "family responsi bilities" than the federal authorities come out with the statement that husbands whose wives are not ac tually dependent upon them for sup port, or who have parents who of fer to look after them, will not be exempted from army duty because they are married. It is a peculiarly delicate position Into whlcn many personally poor young men of prospective means or who have married the daughters of wealthy parents are foiled by this order. It is the pride of any man worth his salt that he is earning his own way .and that he does not look to parental assistance for aid In keeping his family. It will go hard with such to say to father or fa ther-in-law: "Here, you look after wife and family; I'm going to war." Then there is the wife's side of it, too. Not all wives are like the West ern woman who told a reporter who came to notify her husband that he was the first man drafted in his dis trict: My husband isn't strong, maybe he is not strong enough to be a soldier, but if they will take him I will do nothing to get him free. AVe are poor, just these little rooms are all we have, and Joe is often out of work. But I can make clothing and could take care of the two girls If their father went to war. It's a good war. Joe told me all about it. He'll go if they want him. Nor is It easy for the girl who has cut home ties and with her husband started out to found a household of her own to go back to live upon the bounty of her parents or her par ents-in-law. There are difficult days ahead for the young people who come under this recent ruling. MAGAZINES FOR SOLDIERS WHOEVER devised the easy method of sending magazines to soldiers, recently an nounced by Postmaster General Burleson, deserves the thanks of the army and the praise of people in general. The method is cheap, con venient and simplicity itself. Magazines and periodicals bearing the following official authorization— Notice to Reader— When you finish reading this magazine, place a cme-cent stamp on this notice and hand to some postal employe, and It will be placed in the hands of our sol diers or sailors at the front. No wrapping—No address. A. S. BURLKSON, Postmaster General. may be mailed at any post office, un addressed and unwrapped, by simply placing a one cent stamp on the magazine, regardless of Its weight. Only magazines bearing the official Notice and not addressed to any in- FRIDAY EVENING, dividual may receive this mailing privilege, according to the instruc tions of the post office authorities. Look your magazines over. If they bear the official stamp, as many of them do and as others will do in the near future, put a penny stamp over the notice and give some homesick, lonely Sammec In a foreign land a thrill of pleusure and an hour of re lief from the duties of army life. In these small ways we who re main at home "do our bit." Tammany is pledging itself to re form. When the devil was sick the devil a monk would be, etc. EAT FISH AT flsh Is the latest recommen- datlon of the Federal food au thorities and the advice is good from many standpoints. By eating more flsh we will con sume less meat, and meat is one of the articles of food that must be conserved if we are to come through the war without great hardship. Be side, flsh is cheap and, strangely enough, the more we eat, generally speaking, the lower the price will be. This is because fishermen now mainly depend for their market on the Friday flsh day. To be sure, flsh are eaten on other days, but Friday Is the one day of the week when fish replaces meat on the tables of thou sands of households. The supply of fish is almost un limited, yet fishermen must keep on hand large and expensive organiza tions in order to provide immense quantities of fish one day in the week and a comparatively small supply on other days. So, by using more fish every day the overhead ex pense of the fish firms would be re duced and fish could be sold for less than at present and at greater profit to the dealer. This is not mere theory; it is the calculation of fishermen themselves. But beyond it, we would be the bet ter for a larger ration of flsh. in our diet. We eat too much meat and an all vegetable menu is not attrac tive to many people. Fish is the happy mean. It is cheap and It can be made cheaper. It is wholesome and delicious. Eat fish! The government has given no better advice in all the reams of "food talks" It has issued since the war began. "CHRISTIAN" GERMANY A PASTORAL letter read In all churches of Germany last Sun day contains this sentence: We will comport ourselves as Christians toward our enemies and conduct the war in the future as in the past with humanity and chivalry. Then God preserve the world from Germany turned barbarian. WHAT OTHERS THINK HOW others regard the Penn sylvania State Police is shown by a recent editorial In the Cleveland, 0., Plain Dealer, which says: Pennsylvania was the pioneer constabulary State. before the present war this highly trained and efficient organization of State police had made an en viable reputation for itself. A few other States, impressed by the necessities of the war situation, have tardily turned to Pennsylva nia's example. Louisiana is the latest to embrace the constabu lary idea. With the National Guard units now in the federal service, Home Reserve companies not yet equipped and no provisional Guard organiza tion in sight all that stands between the people and lawlessness is the State Police. This little band of well trained men has a big task on Its hands, but it faces the condition fearlessly and may be expected to give good account of itself under any circumstances. States that have no such force at their command are in a bad way. KKKPIXG YOUNG THE other day a Chicago "wheat king" retired with his several million dollars, telling the re porters as ho tore down the sign be fore his office door that "henceforth he would do nothing, absolutely nothing; never had any chance to loaf as a boy and now I'm going to have my youth before I get to be too old." Any man who feels like that is old already. The only way to keep young Is to never tire of doing things. The man who wants to "loaf" is as aged as a fossil dodo, and of just as much use in the world. There is a philosophy worth while and a lesson in point, not only for our Chicago friend, but for all of us, in what George K. Chesterton wrote when he penned these lines: Whatever makes men feel old is mean—an empire or a skinflint shop. Whatever makes men feel young is great—a great war or a love story. And in the darkest of the books of God tbere is written a truth that is also a riddle. It is of the new things that men tire —of fashions and p"posals and Improvements and ch >.nge. It is the old things that startle and Intoxicate. It is the old things that are young. . . . We who do the old things are fed by Na ture with a perpetual Infancy. No man who is In love thinks that any one has been in love before. No woman who has a child thinks there have been sUch things as children. No people that light for their own city are haunted with the burden of the broken empires. r f>Q>tLtlc& tK By the Ex-Commlttooman This is the last day for filing nominating petitions by aspirants for nominations for judgeships to be filled this fall and a score of pa pers were filed soon after the office of the Secretary of the Common wealth opened. The papers on file indicate that there will be lively con tests for the nominations in Alle gheny and Philadelphia counties. One of the interesting features of the filing to-day was that papers were recorded to enter as candidates for Common Pleas Court nomina tions in Philadelphia six men not learned in the law. Another inter esting condition was that there !s scarcely a county in which associate judges are to be nominated that pe titions have not been tiled. The petitions filed for Philadel phia include papers for the follow ing lawyers: Richard T. McSorley, court No. 4; John N. Landberg and John Parker, Crittenden, court No. 5; and for the following not learned in the law: John Lyman, carpenter, and Roy Harold Sherman, machin ist, court No. 3; Walter V. Chew, machinist, court No. 1; Julius D. Love, physician, court No. 5; Wil liam J. Hlggins, Jr., compositor, court No. 4; George Ulrlch, clgar n\p.kei> and Emanuel Kline, notary, Orphans' Court. A petition was filed for George R. Booth for judge in Northampton. Petitions for associate judges were filed as follows: William T. Speiser, Simon K. Hoffman, James L. Bran nen, Montour; Dalton C. Bard, Clin ton; Frank Mason, J. Clayton Hix son, Fulton; John S. Hershberger, S. Albert Cessna Bedford; Henry Au chu, Cameron; George Zuendal, For est; David Gardner, Warren. —The nominations In the Twenty eighth Congressional district, com posed of W T arren, Mercer, Elk, Cam eron and Forest counties, where a special election will be held to se lect a successor to O. D. Bleakley, of Franklin, must be made at the primary election next month instead of under party rules. This decis ion was made at the Department of the Secretary of the Commonwealth and plans for a Republican party conference and for a meeting of the Democratic state committee have been abandoned. The first nominat ing petitions to arrive were received to-day. They were for U. G. Lyons, Republican, Warren, and E. H. Beshlin, Democrat, Warren. —Attaches of the Department of the Secretary of the Commonwealth were given a surprise to-day when a Cameron county man appeared with a nominating petition at 7.15 a. m. The department opens for business at 9 o'clock, which is the rule in most departments at the Capitol. Charles R. Willetts, clerk in charge of the recording of peti tions, who had gone to the office for an early start on the last day, re ceived the Wper which has the rec ord for early filing. —Legality of the Act of 1917 that extended the terms of commissioners in Hanover township is to be tested in the Luzerne courts. John Camp bell, who believes the act illegal, has filed a petition with the county com missioners as a candidate. The com missioners refuse to consider the pe tition, saying there are no offices to fill. Campbell has obtained a writ of mandamus, demanding that the commissioners receive his petition. The writ is returnable Wednesday. —Newspapers refer to the stories that the candidacy of Senator Wil liam C. Sproul for the Republican nomination for Governor would be announced after the fall elections as a jnattcr of course. The senator is prominently mentioned as experi enced ifi governmental and business affairs. Judging from the vehemence with which he is assailed in certain Democratic machine newspapers, his appearance as a candidate must be interfering with some plans. —The Sproul announcement has revived talk that Attorney General Francis Shunk Brown might have been a candidate. The friends of Colonel Harry C. Trexler, of Allen town: ex-Senator John S. Fisher, of Indiana; Louis A. Watres, of Scran ton .and Lieutenant Governor Frank B. McClain, all of whom have been much mentioned, continue to talk about them. There are several other availables, too. —On the Democratic side the poli ticians say it is a toss up whether the President wants to run Vance C. McCormick. A. Mitchell Palmer, Sec retary William B. Wilson or District Attorney E. Lowry Humes. —The entrance of the nonpartisan committee into the field of Phila delphia politics with the nomination of William Glasgow for district at torney and Ira D. Garman for re ceiver of 'taxes caused Edgar W. Lank, chairman of the Democratic city committee, yesterday to criticise the Democratic members who, he said, went outside of the party to place a refoim ticket in the field. "If this committee has organized, to start a fight within the Democratic party here, it will have one." Lank said. "I do not understand the pur pose of placing a separate ticket in the field at this time. We were sup posed to have got together and con ferred on ft ticket to place in the field against the organization slate. This has not been done, but this so called committee has come ahead and taken Fteps to name a ticket." Members of the Philadelphia city committee from the various wards conferred last night on slates for the respective wards and tickets will he set tip in practically every ward. Mr. Lank did not attend the meeting, but conferred with A. Mitchell Palmer, national committeeman, who spent the day in the city. Mr. Palmer de clared that he was in the city on per sonal business, but before leaving he saw Chairman Lank and the situa tion was discussed, but so far as could be learned no agreement on federal patronage was reached. The Super's Death Dewey, discussing the naval bat tle of Skagerrak, said at a Washing ton luncheon: "A naval officer, to succeed, must be very quick witted as well as re sourceful. In fact he must be like Hamilton Footlites. "Ham Footlites leaned on the rail of his sea-goinc yacht soliloquizing about love while the blue waves rolled and heaved splendidly, each blue wave being a super under a roll of canvas. "But the waves were here and there threadbare, and suddenly a wave ripped and a head bobbed up in the midst of the heaving sea and started around in bewildered fash lon. "Ham Footlites silenced the audi ence's titters with one stern glance, " 'Man overboard!' he yelled in stentorian tones. "Then super, managing to draw back his head through the hole in the wave, disappeared. Ham foot lites heaved a stormy sigh. " 'Another victim seized by the relentless rea, alas!' he said."—Chi cago Herald. HARRISBURG T£GFJ3 TELEGRAPH KELLY— THE NICKEL THAT ROLLED INTO THE PO DIM?" n,o, T '\ SOT MY K \ NICKEL J TAKE THE I ™ THE WORLD M 2£„S MY OWW \ LIKE IT WAS P— S ,~-^TABLE APART I . M POCKCT F ; A -R** ® O LLJ Y" Jusx To 7 ■—lf " R~ M 1 Ko 4 ™ ■ Got- PIEC6 —p J I .save TIME:! * it VAJAS 1 that vJiTwer !\ JEK 5 V -> r—~-^f A ML C G AKID ILL BE f , WEWJ "BUFFALO GUNO TO DO IT- Confidence in Russia "There are two drives on," said Prince Lvoff recently to a diplomatist at Petrograd. "One against the Rus sians in Galicia and one against the Germans at Petrograd, and that against the Germans is the most im portant for Russia." Nicholas Tchal kowsky. a famous revolutionist, well known in the United States, is quoted by Mr. Herman Bernstein in a special cable dispatch to the Herald to-day as bearing testimony to the completeness of Russia's victory over Germans at Petrograd. The Levln ists, he explained, are completely crushed. Mr. Bernstein gives details of the inglorious escape from the scenes of his activity of the notorious agent of Pru&sianlsm who sought to bring the Russian people into a state of vassalage to the kaiser. Mr. Tchaikowsky Is optlmtistlc over the outlook. "The Russian people having endured and suffered long will be able to survive the two great problems now confronting them—revolution and war." It is interesting to note that this famous revolutionist sees the dangers in volved in some of the proposals put forward in the name of revolution. Just now the minister of agriculture In the provisional government, Mr. Tchernoff, is a bone of contention. By promises, apparently of the "rain bow" kind, Mr. Tchernoff has made strong appeal to the peasantry of the land, but Mr. Tchaikowsky says of his project, "1 believe it would land Russia in bankruptcy." There is no tendency on the part of the leaders quoted by Mr. Bern stein in his cabled dispatches to the Herald to m'nlmlze the seriousness of the problems which confront the Russian people. All the more sig nificant, therefore, is their confidence that those problems will be solved and that Russia will rise stronger than ever. —New York Herald. Sounding Brass Both Chancellors Georg Michaells of Germany and Count Ottokar Czer nln von Chudwitz of Austria have risen to the fly which Lloyd George cast them. We have their answers to the speech in which he called the maiden address of Michaells "a sanctuary of shams," and It Is Inevitable that we should subject them to a careful analysis. Do they ring true? We cannot think so. There is the sus picious clangor of sounding brass and tinkling cymbal In them both. It certainly is a mystery, and it would seem an impossibility ((but for a world-old experience that we pos sess the power of distinguishing hollow notes in the most skillfully bombastic language. In the same way we detect the falsity of tone when a counterfeit coin Is rung upon the counter. We may not be able to explain "how," but we cannot be deceived. In the address of the Gorman there are too many words for the thoughts. There are useless repe titions. The progress of the argu ment is circuitous and contradictory. His mental footprints remind us of those chickens in a dooryard after a fall of snow, beginning nowhere and leading no whither. He seems to be covering up his tracks, like a fugitive criminal who fears the scent of the bloodhounds As for the Austrian, he is over bold. His tone of confidence Is far too slashing and vehement. He is too certain that the Teuton allies cannot be whipped. His purpose to fight to "the last extremity" Is too vainglorious. He is altogether too willing to ignore the question as to who started the war. He is talking through his hat, in other words. It may seem a fragile basis to found a hope of victory upon—those hollow tones In the words of the two great chancellors —but It is not sel dom that even in the greatest pos sible events a deeper and more accu rate knowledge may be gained from the tone of a voice or the spiritual quality of a letter than from either fact or figures. We have been listening for this brassy sound. Faint Indications of it have been heard before—little jar ring notes, faint quavers, tiny dis sonances cacophanous tones—but now they are loud and clear and unmistakable. They are the tones which sounding brass and tinkling cymbals always scatter on the star tled air. The chancellors are whlstllngflown the wind.—Cincinnati Enquirer. A Persistent Sleuth Rural Policeman Payalnger went the Mallory section and fail ing ID locate the criminals for which he went In search, he resolved not to return empty handed, so he came down upon a large rattlesnake and dealt It a death blow. The rattler was 56 inches long and had twelve rattles.—From the Mulllns Enter prise. SOLDIERS AND SAILORS TO BE SHOWN HOW TO TO educate the soldiers and sai lors in the new American army and navy regarding the evils of the drink habit, the United Commit tee on War Temperance Activities In the Army and Navy has been launched by the Commission on Tem perance by the Federal Council of Ihe Church of Christ In America, the World Christian Endeavor Union, the Epworth League of America and eleven other national or international antialcohol organizations, both Cath olic and Protestant. Harley H. Gill, of California, for merly national vice-president of the Intercollegiate Prohibition Associa tion, has been named as executive secretary with offices at 289 Fourth avenue, New York city. "We are reliably Informed," said Mr. Gill, "that thousands of soldiers who never before used liquor have been sadly dobauched through the unusual drink temptations offered In Europe, thereby greatly lowering their efficiency. The work of our icojnmlttee Is to maintain In our training camps a thorough educa tional campaign to fortify the sol diers against booze. The program In the camps will be directed by Y. M. C. A. secretaries and the army and navy chaplains, who have promised hearty co-operation. "We are now preparing a soldiers' The Song My Paddle Sings West wind, blow from your prairie nest. Blow from the mountains, blow from the west. The sail is Idle, the sailor too; 0 wind of the west, we wait for you! Blow, blow, 1 have wooed you so, But never a favor you bestow. You rock your cradle the hills be tween, But scorn to notice my white lateen. I stow the sail, unship the mast; I wooed you long but my woolng's past; My paddle will lull you Into rest. O drowsy wind of the drowsy west, Sleep, sleep. By your mountain steep. Or down where the prairie grasses sweep! Now fold in slumber your laggard wings, For soft is the song my paddle sings. August is laughing across the sky, Laughing while paddle, canoe and I, Drift, drift. Where the hills uplift On either side of the current swift. The river rolls in Its rock bed; My paddle is plying its way ahead; Dip dip. While the waters flip In foam as over their breast we slip. Be strong. O paddle! be brave, canoe! The reckless waves you must plunge into. Reel, reel. On your trembling keel, But never a fear my craft will feel. We've raced the rapid, we're far ahead; The river slips through its silent bed. Sway, sway. As the bubbles spray And fall in tinkling tunes away. And up on the hills against the sky, A fir tree rocking its lullaby, Swings, swings. Its emerald wings. Swelling the song that my paddle sings. —E. Pauline Johnson. Crown Prince's Career Then there was the conspicuous blunder, not yet explained, of the de lay of the crown prince to bring his army Into its appointed place in line converging upon Paris. This com. | pelled General von Kluck to swing his army to the left to cover the gap Instead of heading toward Paris, and gave Joffro his chance to strike at the weak points on the Marne, Sep tehber 5. Of all the commanders of the eight German armies that Invad ed France none remains In power except the crown princes, who are Irremovable no matter what mis takes they make.—The Independent. The Coolest Place Yesterday, the hottest of the year, brought out that the city lockup Is the coolest place In town. New ol<jc trlc fans keep a nice breeze go'.ni* through the screened windows. - Bellalre Correspondence, Pittsburgh Post. and sailors' manual, together with bright, snappy letters and literature. Stereomotographs will be Installed in each Y. M. C. A. 'hut'i and portable outfits furnished to reach smaller camps. These stereomotographs will show a large number slides, each one carefully prepared to drive home to the soldier's mind some facts re garding the effect of booze on him self, his army and his country. Some of the best speakers in the nation, such as Governor J. Prank Hanly, Richmond P. Hobson, Dr. Daniel A. Poling, Charles Stelzle and Governor Carl E. Milliken. of Maine, have been engaged to visit these camps and ad dress the men. • "Not only does this work have the united interest of the religious and reform organizations of the country, but the sanction and support of the commission of the War Department on training camp activities, of which Raymond B. Fosdick is chairman, and the advisory interest of the war work council of the Y. M. C. A. through Dr. George Fisher." A fund of SIOO,OOO Is being raised for the purpose of carrying the plans to a successful issue. The officers of the committee so far selected are: fchairman. Daniel A. Poling, Boston; vice-chairman, Anna A. Gordon, Evanston, 111.; secretary, Cora H. Stoddard, Boston; chairman of ways and means committee, Charles Stelzle, New York. Labor Notes Retail clerks at Memphis, Tenn. have secured a minimum wage. Peoria (111.) Machinists Union has raised wages 10 cents an hour. Canada's Independent Labor Party will place candidates in the field. Housewives in Bell City, La., have adopted overalls for housework. Canada has opened a government creamery at Henriburg, Sask., Can ada. Toronto, Canada, gloveworkers have received a 25 per cent. Increase in Women schoolteachers In Philadel phia are allowed to marry while teaching. Holland has one hundred soap fac tories, producing about 10,000,000 pounds of soap a year. Russia is considering a scheme for the universal conscription of women labor. Windsor, Canada, school trustees have decided against re-engaging teachers who contemplate marriage. Forty-five per cent, of the women who live at home are supported by their relatives. The United Farmers of Alberta, Canada, have adopted a resolution in dorsing conscription of men and wealth. Women schoolteachers in Ireland receive the same pay as men for the same kind of work. From August 13 to 18, at Colorado Springs, Colo., International Typo graphical Union will convene. Waterproof-garment workers at Boston demand increased pay and re duced hours. Definite plans have been worked out to "man" the street cars of Cleve land with women conductors. In June, 1886, the membership of the Order of Railroad Telegraphers was twenty-five. To-day the mem bership is 60,000. Members of the Toronto Musical Protective Union and Moving Picture Operators are seeking an Increase of wages. PROSPERITY BULLETIN NO. 47 Business has been good and there Is no reason why it should not continue to be good. BEEMAN BROTHERS. New York. AUGUST 10, 1917. The Way to Independence It is estimated by investigators into such activities that as a result of the war gardens" in cities and small towns, vegetable prices this year are 25 to 50 per cent, lower than they they were last year. To that extent the consumer supplied his own de mand—and that is the secret of in dependence. The consumer who is prepared to take the hint and bend his will and his muscles to the task may further reduce the cost of living by taking a little place in the suburb where he can have a cow and chickens, in addition to his vegetable garden. Thus in time he can supply many of his own and his family's needs by simple application of labor to land, which operation the political econo mists tell us Is the source of all wealth. He will realize that man is not by nature a parasite, but belongs properly rooted in the soil from which he derives sustenance by di rect means. Modern life is complex because men have made it artificial. Prob ably three-fourths of every man's labor is expended in the supplying of artificial needs or requirements, carefully built up by the herding of people in cities. Those who value independence enough to get it should profit by the lesson of the "war gar dens."—Chicago Daily News. OUR DAILY LAUGH ASSISTING IJATURE. "Our young rubber trees are not Erowing very rapidly." "Why don't you go around and stretch 'cm a little every morning." SAFETY FIRST. How did the accident happen?" "He got run over'when he stopped o rea-d a 'safety first' sign." SAVING SPACE. • "Why all this cry for thin ratches? People are living largely in flat* now you know. All you save in space helps. J'*" O -r*"* ▲ MYSTERY. Bird—Now Just what kind of e bird could have laid those funnj green eg*sl iEbftttng fflljal Capitol Hill is Just now suffering from the usual hot weather wave of crank letters and singular com munications that seem to wax and wane with summer heat. Crank let ters are a necessary part of the busi ness communications of departments of the State government and they are generally more numerous in Au gust than in any other time. They are not governed by anything else. They deal with every subject under the sun. The other day Governor Brumbaugh was solemnly addressed by a man who demanded that he "coerce" the Legislature into passing a law regulating upon some original lines certain practitioners. The time when the letter came gave oppor tunity for the man who answered to say that the Legislature was not in session and some one mused that the Governor would have been glad of information as to ways to do what the man wanted some months ago. One of the most original letters to reach a department on the Hill was from a person in Missouri who kind ly offered to "take charge of all su preme court work for the State of Pennsylvania." An answer was given that the State had already made complete arrangements for such af fairs. The courts are a favorite ob ject of letter writers, but they gen erally get such formal replies that the correspondence ends abruptly, Perhaps the best example of putting al \ importunate letter writer on a siding was given by a prominent leg islator, whose idea has been brazen ly copied by some people at the Cap itol. He had been pestered by a man who liad a fancied grievance. So ho answered his fifth letter this way. 'As tho, weather is very hot, let us forget this matter. I scarcely know how I can thank you for the valu able information given, but I assure you I will regard it as confidential." James C. Deininger, executive clerk to Governor Brumbaugh, be came a farmer the other day with out notice. Mr. Deininger went down the Susquehanna to visit Colonel James Delaney, at Riverview, and after he had enjoyed the scenery for a time he went to see his host's truck farm. There he was presented with a hoe and informed that polite ness required him to work. Mr. Deininger says that he is now fully informed as to the meaning of that famous poem, "The Man With the Hoe," and that he can write several additional stanzas. ♦ ♦ • James C. Thompson, who is one of the candidates for city commis sioner, has a rather unusual knowl edge of the State government. At divers times he has been connected with different branches and has been especially well posted in regard to the highway, building and assess ment ends. Several of the other can didates have also been connected at various times with certain branches of the city government, two of them being former mayors. Auditor General Snyder and State Treasurer Kephart ran the govern ment yesterday with assistance of Adjutant General Stewart and Su perintendent Shreiner. It happened that some people having business at the Capitol discovered that the Au gust days have come and that prac tically all of the department chiefs were away. They found the two fiscal officers on the job, not enjoy ing the weather but verv much around. They kindly volunteered to give the callers anything in the wav of information, but nothing of value. When one of the men suggested that there were not enough men to pre vent the Capitol from being taken away, they replied that they would telephone for Stewart as the word "vacation" was not in dictionaries when he came into the world. Any funnier combination could hardly be imagined than that which met residents of the far eastern end of the city yesterday afternoon. An electric wire broke off on Derry street near Twenty-sixth street and after threshing around In the wet weeds kindly got out into the street. It put out of business the telephones of a certain district. "When eventide came people found that there was no current for the electric lights. They found telephones not working weii. Then they found that the grocery stores were all closed because of the grocers' picnic and there was no place to buy candles. • • It is always the absurd that really happens. Yesterday afternoon a man walked into a store dripping wet. He had been caught in the rain and thoroughly caught. He just ran with rain. When the people in the store looked at him pitifully he said: "I didn't come in here to get out of the rain. I came to get something." A man in the store promptly asked what he could do for him. The wet man turned and was about to ask for what he wanted when he faced this sign: LOOK FOR THE SUNNY SIDE • * * "Going to be any blasts to-night. Cap?" asked a man of a fellow who appeared to be bossing things in the water-filled hole that will be the new hotel at Third and Walnut streets. Business of being densely ignorant displayed by the man in charge. "Hey, going to blast again to night?" persisted the inquiring man. "Don't you think the people around here got enough the other mornin before daylight?" finally replied the other. "Oh, they did. How about you?" persisted the persistent one. "Say, if you can tell me just when it's going to thunder I'll see about the niftiest blast you ever heard," finally came from the patient and aggrieved man at the pit. WELL KNOWN PEOPLE —Highway Commissioner Black expects to free more toll roads next month. —Judge McMlchael, of Philadel phia. has gone to Maine for August. —Prank Curboy, Allentown ath lete. Is home from several weeks In Mexico where he had adventures with bandits. —Dr. Louis A. Klein, named on the federal veterinary board, was formerly Deputy State Veterinarian. —Harry A. Mackey, chairman of the Compensation Board, is rapidly recovering from his recent Illness. DO YOU KNOW iThat Harrlsburg tried out steam navigation on the Susque hanna In the thirties? HISTORIC HARRISBURG Where the Commonwealth stands used to be a pig iron warehouse whence Iron was sent to Fort Pitt. Metropolitan Idea It appears that once a westerner, visiting New York, was held up by a footpad with the demand: "Give me your money or I'll blow out your brains!" "Blow away," said the man from the west. "You can live In New York without brains, but you cannot with out money."—The Lamb,
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers