8 BARRISBURG TELEGRAPH i NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOME Founded IS3I Published evenings except Sunday by THE TBLEURArH PRINTING CO, Telegraph Building, Federal Sqaar*. E.J. STACK POLE, (r Editor-in-Chief P. R. OYSTER, Bvsintss Manager. ■ OUS M. STEINMETZ. Managing Editor. Member of the Associated Press—The Associated Press Is exclusively en titled to the use for republication of all news credited to It or not other wise credited in this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of republication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. Member American Newspaper Pub lishers' Associa tion. the Audit Bureau of Circu lation and Penn sylvania Associ ated Dallies. Eastern office. Story, Brooks & Finley. Fifth Avenue Building, New York City; Western office. Story, Brooks & Finley, People's Gas Building, Entered at the Post Office in Harrls burg, Pa., as second class matter. /( By carriers, ten cents a t. W.eek; by mall, $5.00 a year In advance. TUESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 2 "One man pins me to the trail, xchile with another I walk among the stars." —Emebsox. 1 THE SPIRIT OF SACRIFICE ONE of the things which must impress every observer of the people of Pennsylvania, be he native, resident of a sister common wealth or a man from beyond the seas, is the spirit of sacrifice mani fested since the nation entered the war to make the world safe for democracy. The Keystone State has j for generations been pre-eminently a business State and its brainiest men have turned their attention to In dustry, finance anfl other lines of activity rather than to government, which has much absorbed the thought of many men in the South ern States, for instance, and In some Western Commonwealths In partlcu-' lar. When the nation made its business; it called upon the business men who had made Pennsylvania a world factor in industry, transportation and | science to give their aid to the na tional defense. These are men who have assembled at th§ national and j State capitals, in the largest cities, j in the centers of industry, at mills, | mines and factories, to do their "bit." ! These men have earned their spurs. | In many cases they are well on In; years and have reached that period l in life when relaxation is considered | only fair. Yet, they are passing the reins of the businesses which they have built up to others, dropping pri vate affairs, forgetting even healthful exercise recommended by their phy sicians and passing up social engage ments to help the common cause. This State has the example of big railroad men leaving home and pleasant associations, making mone tary sacrifices to help behind the lines in France. W. W. Atterbury, vice-president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, well remembered by many railroad men here when he worked In the Altoona shops. Is in the war land to rebuild the railroads, and within a month by his side will be M. C. Kennedy, president of our own Cumberland Valley railroad. Mr. Kennedy, one of the big men of Southern Pennsylvania, eminent as a railroad executive, so situated that he could enjoy life, is going to leave It all to handle work In France that would appal younger men. In our own community he illustrates the spirit of sacrifice that Is going to make Pennsylvania a force that will help win the war. COAIj PRICES SO far as Harrlsburg Is concerned It would have been better for the consumer of coal If Dr. Gar field had remained head of the col lege which he graced with so much ability. Certainly, he was a better college president than he seems to be a fuel administrator. Named by President Wilson to bring down the price of coal to the poor his first move has resulted not In a reduction but In an Increase. The best Dr. Garfield has been able to do Is to safeguard the public against further extortions, but since he has enabled the operators to sell their coal at the mines at higher prices than they ever hoped to real ize and has transferred that burden over the heads of the retailers to the shoulders of the consumers, the only difference in the advance, so far as the consumer is concerned, Is In name. It used to be called corpora tion gTeed and now It passes by the more euphonious term of govern ment regulation. But the effect on the purse of the householders is no different. Perhaps the fault is not so much In what Dr. Garfield has done as In the false hopes the President held out for cheaper coal. The whole pubject of fuel and Its transportation is so complicated that even the most expert could not be expected to set tle It In a month, or a year. If Dr. Garfield Is able In twelve months to figure out a solution we shall be con tent, but let's hear no more of price reductions that become Increases as they are put Into effect THE NEW DRIVE THE new drive to take Harrls burg and Dauphin county en tirely out of the second draft Is In good hands. Lieutenant Lesher, successor to Captain Harrell In this recruiting district, had a very TUESDAY EVENING, largo hand In placing Harrlsburg In the proud place the city wu assigned us the only municipality In the State to escape the first draft, and It was like him to go about this latest recruiting campaign In the original and energetic manner Just an nounced. There are many advantages which the volunteer has over the drafted man, not the least of which is that he may choose his own branch of the service, whereas If he waits until summoned he must go where he Is out and misses the help of being trained beside seasoned men of older units. But best of all Is the opportunity offered by the recruiting officers who are endeavbrlng to organize a Dau phin county unit for service during the war. A soldier who 1s associated with his friends and neighbors In the service is happier than the man who goes among strangers. He takos away with him, so to spoak, a part of his home community and he feels that the unit to which he belongs Is In a way identified with that com munity, which makes a better soldier of him and of his fellows. Young men of draft age could do worse than Investigate thoroughly the advantages offered by the new drive for recruits. AS MAN TO MAW NONE of us has given much thought to the horrors of this war we've entered. We've stood at the curb, cheered the boys as they left for training camps, and then hur ried lest we be late for dinner. We've read the headlines on the war news; and then turned hurriedly to the sports page. We've told ourselves that we're bound to win, but we haven't stopped to count the cost. This la a real war. Before It Is over tremendous changes will have occurred In this country—as they I have occurred In England and France and all the other belligerent coun tries. To-day the good old United States goes on just as It has been going for a century. To-morrow—• but to-morrow Is another day. Think ing men dread the to-morrow that much come to the United States should this war continue for any length of time. As man to man, we people of Har risburg must gel down to brass tacks _ | in the matter of this war. can t all go to the front. We can't all go over the top. Some of us must stay at home. And all of us at home must stand back of the boys doing the fighting. The first Liberty Loan found many buyers in this city and surrounding district. The men In the mills and ' shops, offices and the farms did sur prisingly well. Some of them have apparently thought better of their first action, because the Telegraph learns with regret that In numerous instances men who bought bonds "on time" have quit cold —have demanded the money they already paid. This Is not American —and It is not patri otic. As man to man, It Is giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Within a couple of weeks this dis trict's share of the second Liberty Loan is to be sold here. And If the district does not better its first per formance there will be reason for the remainder of Pennsylvania to ridi cule Harrlsburg. ' We will be much like the up-state volunteer fire com pany that was long on parade and poor on extinguishing fires. We have put out much paper dealing with our patriotism. But If we don't back that patriotism with our dollars we slack —and we slack badly. Perhaps the man who Is reading this editorial does not have SSO In cash; and for that reason will hesi tate about buying a bond of that de nomination. But by day-by-day denial and ef fort he can save the money—and In the meantime his employer or the Harrlsburg banks will hold his bond, or bonds, for him. Perhaps this will be a long-distance war. That Is, perhaps it will be drawn out to an extent little dreamed of. And In that case the side that can endure will be victorious. Those nations will win In which the men and women co-operate and devote themselves to the serious task of winning. We've cheered the thousand* of Harrlsburg boys—the Dauphin county boys, who've gone to war. And now are we going to buy a bond and back them? Or, through our careless Indiffer ence and our failure to realize that this Is war, are we going to say "To the devil with "em"? As man to man, what's your answer? A DAY OF PRAYER THE Harrlsburg Ministerial As sociation evidently believes In the old adage which bids us "Pray dovoutly but hammer stoutlys" The proposed Day of Prayer for Soldiers, endorsed yesterday by the Rotary Club, Is the suggestion of an organization that has contributed In no small degree to the patriotic ef forts of the city since war with Ger many was declared and which has contributed of its own membership to the armed forces now In training. It comes as the sincere conviction of devout Christians, men devoted to the uplift of humanity and the spiritual welfare of the community. Surely, as Dr. Bagnell so well put it In his address before the Rotary Club yesterday, we can spare one day for prayer If we can devote a dozen to parades. We do not talk overly much—most of us—of prayer or our religious convictions. The everyday activities of a busy Mfe and an Inborn reticence regarding the discussion of personal religious views stand in the way. But few of us have ceased to entertain belief In the power of prayer, and certainly If ever there Is occasion for the invocation of divine mercy and help, it Is when our young men are going by hundreds and thousands to face the forces of a mighty evil that will seek to destroy* their bodies and to meet temptations that will try their souls. IK "~P CKKQ If a>VUL By the Ex-Committeeman Steps which may lead to a court action to obtain a decision on what really constitutes the fifty-one per cent, of the votes to entitle a can didate to a sole place on the ballot will likely be taken at the State Capitol to-day by Auditor General Snyder and President Judge H. O. Eechtel, of Schuylkill county. If an agreement cannot be reached which will settle the status of Judges Bechtel and Berger, the matter will be taken to court. If this occurs it will be the second situation arising out of the 1917 primary to go to court, the Philadelphia orphans' court test, which carries with it the Governor's right to appoint in Mon roe county also, being the other. The matter will be taken up with Attorney General Brown and Secre tary of the Commonwealth Woods, and if it is decided to make a test it will be started here at once. The two Schuylkill judges claim that they are sole nominees. The decision would govern in Philadelphia, Alle gheny, Lnzerne and other counties, it is believed. The bill presented to the last Leg islature to clarify the fifty-one per cent, clause, so much talked of about the Capitol a year ago as the result of the 1915 judicial primary never got anywhere. Attorney General Brown and Sec retary Woods are working on a new angle of the soldiers' voting. The original plan was for commissioners to be sent to each of the camps where there are bodies of Pennsyl vania troops, drafted men or student officers. Since the reorganization of the National Guard division was or dered and even companies split up the problem grows greater. Efforts to find out just exactly what Is to be done by Washington are under way. It is hoped to get the plan ready for Governor Brumbaugh's ap proval by Friday. —Counties are commencing to send lists of candidates for the offices to be filled by county-wide votes at the November election to the Depart ment of the Secretary of the Com monwealth for the malting up of the pamphlet fqr the soldiers' voting. Under the decision of the Attorney General only county-wide and city wide nominations will be included, but spaces left on the ballot for the lesser offices. The plan Is to send the pamphlet to the printer next week. —Thousands of blanks giving power of attorney to men to pay taxes for soldiers have been sent to the camps an'd it is expected by the end of the week that most of them will be In the soldiers' home com munities. Saturday Is the last day to pay taxes. —People up the state are watch ing with the closest interest the de velopments in the Philadelphia Fifth ward scandal and the result is bound to have more or less effect on Mayoralty elections and in some county elections, according to opin ions of men from various counties who have been here on business at the Capitol departments. Every move is followed with the closest at tention at the Capitol. —Senator Vare has refused to dis cuss the report that he gave Deutsch a check or to talk on other phases of the situation. Attorney General Brown says that all he knows about stories that he may enter the cases is what he sees in newspapers. Judge Eugene C. Bonniwell is out in a statement attacking the statement made by Senator Vare and printed yesterday. —Judge Bonniwell will have op position for president of the State Firemen's Association, it is now re ported, from Butler. —Speeclimaking has been resumed in the Pittsburgh Mayoralty fight. Scranton has not started the strenu ous side as yet. —The fact that Senator W. C. Sproul, of Delaware, hearted the Del aware county llremen's delegation to the State Firemen's convention at Butler Is rather significant In these strenuous political days. The Sen ator will make a speech and his gubernatorial stock can be expected to be bullish. —Dr. C. J. Hexamer, well known all over the state, is to retire as head of the German American al liance in Philadelphia. —The Philadelphia Record to-day gays that titles for the "American" and "Liberty" parties were pre empted yesterday In the oftlco of the I Philadelphia County Commissioners i l>y Vare followers and former work leri of the almost defunct Washing- HARJMSBURG t6BB* TEXEGK&FH THE MRS. GAVIN—JERRY TRAVERS MATCH ATJVYKAGYL -: - .:. By Brigg CTh*T tiTice <3AU\ /"TVE MADE this 1| _ I G IT 3, ANJ AU;-ULLY „ „ X IDEA FoR "Tt-e mßy V\W>VKA6VL ' TO TXIRIMG "Tne PUTTING, AvS THEY fo AftOUMD THE <®s|\ Oor . 1 AtuewcE course. y ton party, which, under the leader-] ship of County Commissioner (George P. Holmes, has become an annex to the Vare organization. Seven of the ten signers of the petitions accom panying the pre-emption papers are known to be either Vare men or for mer Washington party workers. The Record says: "The object of the pre emptors Is believed to be the placing of two supposedly reform tickets in the field for the purpose of confus ing independent voters and detract ing votes from the real independent ticket which is to be put in the field for the November election. Rumors that petitions for the pre-emption of a title for a fake independent ticket would be filed with the County Com missioners have been current - for some time." —Headquarters for the independ ent movement which was organized as a result of the gigantic protest meeting in the Academy of Music last Thursday night were opened yesterday in Philadelphia in the rooms used as headquarters of the directors of the successful Blanken burg campaign in the 1911 Mayor alty race. Thomas F. Armstrong, chairman of the campaign commit tee, Issued a statement announcing that the committee hourly was re ceiving pledges of support to such an extent that he was confident in going ahead with arrangements. —According to some rumors in Northwestern Pennsylvania, Gover nor Brumbaugh will hold oft making an appointment to the Public Ser vice Commission until after the elec tion. —Democratic state headquarters sleuths are having some trouble get ting Reading Democrats to be good. There were so many ambitions for county office that the primary left sore spots. —Lively political battles with li quor as the issue are starting in five counties not far from Harrisburg. They are Perry, Fulton, Juniata, Mlfliin and Union. —A Danville'dispatch says: "Thel official count of the primary vote in Montour county completed disclosed ! the fact that Associate Judge James L. Brennen, a license granter, whose j term, with that of Associate M. H. i Schram, expires the first of the year, to have received 51 per cent, of the! vote cast, thereby gaining virtual re- j election. The contest for the other associate Judgeship, now held by: Schram, Is between Simon Hoffman and George Hunlock, the latter sup ported by the 'dry' forces." LETTERS TO THE EDITOR J| OTHER EVILS To the Editor of the Telegraph: To the Ministerial Association of Harrisburg—My attention has been called to" an open letter to the May- ' or and Chamber of Commerce the Ministerial Association of this; city which appeared in The Patriot; of September 25. I have read care fully about the evil influences ex erted by the burlesque shows wher-; ever presented. In reply, will state that there are worse evils in this city to-day than the burlesque shows. Look at the houses of prostitution operated openly through this city without the/ear of the police inter ference, where married men and women go, sending their souls down to eternal punishment. Which is worse before the eyes of God than | all tho burlesque shows. But no at-I tention is paid to these. I am notj : in favor of burlesque shows, but if : the ministers want to protest against one evil, why not against one of the worst evils which wrecks the souls of many of our men and worn- j; en of our city through the existence i ' of houses of prostitution I know of houses in a certain neighborhood! right back of a church where yttle schoolchildren puss "very day, j making remarks about those houses. • Think of it! Ministers, how can a 1 : person bring up children in the feari of God when evil influence is placed j right before the eyes of our chil-1 i dren of our city? I think It is time: 1 for the ministers and Christians of this city to stand together and de-j mand that action be taken against the houses of prostitution of our city. I If the ministers want to stop one eveil. whv not ston nil of the evils? j Commence at the bottom and not nt| tho top. Now, every minister thatj wants to see our city stand out be- , fore the world as a moral city should ! work together and stop the greatest evil, why not stop all of the evils? < bo wake up and do your duty. A CHRISTIAN. ' THE PEOPLE'S FORUM PEA COAL To the Editor of the Telcfrafh: I will endeavor to tell you the story of pea coal the "po6r man's coal"—the price of which has Just been fixed by the President of the United States at $4 per ton at the mines. The operators had always been glad to sell it for $2.80 per ton, and it was not until the direct order of the President was promulgated that the new price of $4 per ton at the mines went into effect. This cool is being produced at a ; labor cost of less than 12 cents a! ton. Wherein is the Justice to the consumer in the order of the Presi dent in increasing the price $1.20 a ton to the poor people? I do not believe either the Presi dent or Fuel Commissioner Garfield has the faintest idea of the true sit uation. And I fully believe that an examination by them as to the true facts in the case will be the means of relieving the poor man from this new added burden, which is without cause or excuse. The President knows little of the mining region and must rely on hearsay. But the situation in tho anthracite coal field is such noW that something must bo done. The miners are talking strike, and they mean business, too. A strike now would be a national calamity, j They are talking strike now because of the increased price of coal. They ) know pea coal—-the "poor man's ! coal"—the President does not. They | know what it costs to produce the "poor man's coal" as it is now pro- I duced—the President does not. Do you -know that the operators i we mention in this article are send | ing out coal at an actual labor cost ! of less than thirteen cents a ton and | that the President says, "Charge I $4.00 a ton for it?" Does the President know that the | greatest quantity of this, the "poor j man's coal," pea coal, comes not I from the mines now In operation, but. from the hands of dead men, ; men who have long mouldered in i their graves? And yet this is a fact. | It is natural for the President to j associate coal with mines. And it is I also true that all coal originally comes from the mines, deep down under the ground. But the President also ought to be informed that the vast majoritv of the pea coal, "the poor man's i coal," now on the market, was dug | by men who lie in rotting caskets I and most likely forgotten graves— ' the men of half a century ago. He should also be Informed that all this former waste product has already been paid for by the public , once, and that the present owners ! of this formerly scorned waste, glad ; ly receiving $2.80 a ton at the mines - before his order, should not be al- I lowed $4.00 a ton. Nobody found any fault, with the $2.80. Plenty are finding fault now. That there may be no question as to the author of it or any doubt as to his reliability, I want to say I am from Ashland, Pa., served in the legislatures of 1901, 1903, 1905, 1907, 1909 and 1915. I also had the honor of serving my constituents in Congress. I have spent all of my life among the coal miners and know what I am talking about Coal Mined by Dead Men When you read the story don't go away with the idea that I say deep-1 mined coal, coal cut from the mines, j can be had at a'labor cost of thtr-| teen cents a ton. It cannot. But i also • recollect the vast majority of j your present pea coal was mined by! dead men—gone and forgotten long years and years ago. We now take up the last method j of the anthracite coal operators in! filling your coal bins by means of! the modern coal washery. It is this new source of coal supply that keeps the -ammunition plants, the manu factories, the engines which run the country, the thousand-and-one I things for which power is necessary, | going. I Were It not for this modern meth od, these same power-driven plants would be seriously handicapped by a lack of fuel; the price of coal, . high as it r.ow is, would soar, not I only to the clouds, but the clouds be | compelled to seek a much higher , altitude to make way for these same : <onrlnir nrlces. The coal barons are now reaping millions upon millions of dollars of profit* from n waste product scorned as trash within the past ten rears; and now this same trash and refuse may be the nieans of saving the nation. Perhaps you have never heard of Ashland. Many good things lie hid den from the public view. Ashland is in Schuylkill county. It is the former home of John .Penn Brock, the founder of the present anthracite coal fields. John Penn Brock is dead. Brock came to Ashland in the early 40's and purchased from tho state mountains, hills and valleys. It cost him 26 cents an acre—less than the price of a coal bucket full of coal now. He leased to Tom Bancroft a portion of the land. Tom Bancroft started in the mining busi ness, and the Bancroft washery of this article is the result. Bancroft is dead for many years, as are all the men who, in those days, mined the coal. The public paid for it once. Now they are paying again, and a higher price than Tom Ban croft ever dreamed of. The Bancroft washery is at the southerly end of Ashland and Is tho newest, latest and ultra-modern washery of them all. Washeries are something new, if a decade is now. The Bancroft washery well illus trates them all. In the good old days, when one had only to scratch the surface to find unlimited quan tities of fuel, anything less in size than egg coal was scorned of no value but a loss and detriment to the operator. The Bancroft coal banks give a fair illustration of the unlimited quantities of good coal thrown away and discarded. A quarter of a mile long and 400 feet high! You may think of the number of years it took Tom Bancroft and his employes to put that mountain of the then refuse there —dig and bjast it out of the ground deep down in the mines, haul it to the surface, separate it, and haul it out on the same banks you see. Fortunes Taken From Waste The same banks have paid to the new within the last six months, it is said, $700,000. Think of it, $700,000 from a waste product scorned ten years ago, and all in six months and with about forty employes. This single bank is good for several years to come. Hundreds and hundreds of these some kind of banks follow one after the other like a continuous chain over the entire anthracite region. In the wildest days of the California gold craze nothing was ever heard of like this. Let us give you some figures. They are approximately correct, although not absolutely, since the writer has not access to the books of the com panies. The Bancroft washery at Ashland sends out, on an average, 22 % bat tleship cars a day. These cars rep resent 1,100 tons a day. If we take two-flfths of the 1,100 tons, or 440 tons, as pea coal, at the new estab lished price of the President, It amounts to sl,7ft. This Is only taking two-flfths of the entlro prod uct. I am nure T rm tinder the. actual figures. 'And then take an other two-flfths of the 1,100 tons a < ! ay. or 440 tons, as the smaller sizes under pea coal at $2.80 a ton and ) r-.s'-.B ?! 2?? Then If we take only one-fifth of the output as chest nut coal, the chestnut amounts to sl,osfi a day. Thus you will find that the Bancroft washery produces. If my figures are correct, $4,048 per day. Not bad for a trash bank, is it? And a new "instalment has been made In this washery by which the company expects to catch enough flno coal that is really only a soft muck, to pay the salaries of all the employes of the entire plant. ALFRED B. GARNER. A SLACKER PLEA "If the war got over here I would fight," a slacker at Camp Funston said, "but I don't want to until then." An excuse often heard, but merely an excuse After the war had got over here It would have been too late to fight. We have been six months at war and we aren't ready yet. Ger many was making war on us on the other side of the ocean. Its whole course showed that it was onlv a question of time when the war would have been brought to this side. The man who says he would be willing to fight if our shores were Invaded, but not otherwise, is simply dodging. He wouldn't fight at all.— Kansas City Times. OCTOBER 2, 19T7 LABOR NOTES The war may help women teachers since fsew York is considering the breaking of the rule against re-em ployment of married ones. Kansas City (Mo.) firemen have completed an organization and ap plied to the American Federation of Labor for a charter. Of the 200,000 graduate nurses in this country there are only 6,000 in the public health nursing field. The others are engaged In private serv ice. President E. P. Ripley, of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe rail road urges the necessity for import ing a quarter of a millon Chinese laborers. At a meeting of the Railway Clerks' Association for Ireland the attention of the government was called to the Inadequacy of the pres ent war bonus. Salt Lake City (Utah) workers in the metal trades have secured an in crease in pay of 35 cents a day and recognition of their union. Canada's great farmers' organiza tion. the United Grain Growers' Lim ited, will eventually enter both the milling and meat-packing industries. Fifteen thousand textile workers in Passaic, N. J., have been granted the third wage increase since Decem ber last. It amounts to about sl,- 000,000 a year. International Bricklayers and Ma sons' Union has expended $20,315.75 in benefits in the last year. There are 1,603 pensioners, which cost $25,490 a year. Oakland (Cal.) Cement Workers' Union has put into force a new scale which calls for $4.50 a day, being an advance of 50 cents a day. 1 OUR DAILY LAUGH 8 INSIDE IN FORMATION. members talked didn't have a chance myself. A CONSIDER ATE HUBBY. (fV \J( Jones does ev- \ jßi ! f&rgaw erythlng In his y| V, power to make his wife happy. Yes, he even C argues with her. . •' i if fA PRACTICAL Would you marry a man who loved you could dress you? very 'desirable absolute neces- EXPL.AINED. i" . Wsre you ever so much in love J you couldn't j \/\j Certainly, x \ flowers and the- V ,X .Wgil ; \ atres are the \aV Iff jIV/ cause of that / B 11 condition. L Brmtng Oftjat Officials connected with the fiscal! end of the state government do nofci look to the direct inheritance tax la.wf to begin to figure as "<+ expected In tho revenue of the stat until some timq next year. This is becnuse certain counties have been slow in getting started, and while estates coining under the act have boen noted and preliminaries ar ranged the machinery for handling the proposition is not perfected. In Philadelphia, it is stated here, new dockets are to be opened and a num ber of matters arranged, while in some other large counties little prog-A ress has ben made. Allegheny coun- 1 ty is stated to be one of those which has started off without difficulty. Many questions have arisen in other counties on which njlings have been asked and some legal matters have turned up. Most of the counties of the state have filed appraisements under the new law. the smaller ones being the first, whllo a number have also made payments. The amount of revenue to be raided this year, how ever, Mill not be very great in opin ion of people at the Capitol. Three hundred bushels per acre has been found to be the average f { nions in Pennsylvania by the statisticians of tho State Depart merit of Agriculture who looked up the matter for an inquirer living in the onion belt" of Crawford coun ty, where onion raising is a spe cialty. The department found where as high as 400 and 500 bushels an acre had been gotten but they were exceptional cases and the figure given is twenty-four bushels better than the average for the country. The planting of onions this year was more extensive tjian known for a long time and the increase in tho crop is expected to send the total for Pennsylvania over 100,000 bushel^. J. H. Gingrich, who retired as day chief operator of the Postal Tele graph Company here this week, was known to a generation of newspaper correspondents and businessmen and tho friends of "lightning sling ers" all over the state. Mr. Gingrich spent over a quarter of a century in charge of wires in the Postal office and in that timo handled copy of some famous newspapermen and on many a big story sent out of Har risburg, which is somewhat noted for the news which originates here. He now gets a well-earned rest. Mr. Gingrich is to be Succeeded by Frank Teusper, son of the manager of the Western Union for years. There is not going to be as much hunting In this neck of the woods as usual this fall, although in the deer hunting counties there will probably be numerous parties. Ono reason is that a number of young men who made it a point to go into the woods every fall have gone into the Army or are away and another is that am munition now costs considerable money. Such a thing as investing a couple of dollars in ammunition and going out for an afternoon's sport now means more than a five-dollar bill. Some of the men who have been cultivating "war gardens" are get ting ready for next summer, and it is to be noted that they are taking the advice of the men at the State Cap itol and are clearing the grounds of old potato stalks, tomato vines and other masses of vegetation so that the insect pests will not have roost ing places and bases for attack next year. It is also to be noted tlia® ground is being fertilized and put into shape for a good yield next year. ** * • The suggestion that automobila owners give soldiers a lift appears to bo pretty generally observed here abouts. There >are eeemingfy aa many soldiers about here as befora the Guardsmen went away becausa of the proximity of the Gettysburg camp and the aviation warehouse and the recruiting work and the sol diers have a good time getting rides, especially to and from Middletown. • * • Speaking of Middletown, it is in* terestlng to see the tremendous ship ments being made to the govern ment storehouse at that point. You can not get very near the storehouse, but the fact that 162 motor trucka were mobilized there in one day for storage awaiting a rush order shows what the building can accommodate. Just what else Uncle Sam has in the big building that squats Just below the site of old Camp Meade would be interesting to recount, but that would be telling. • • James McCrea, Jr., who will go with Atterbury and Kennedy, the railroad chiefs, to France, to help rebuild the railroads behind the lines, used to live in Harrisburg. Mr. Mc- Crea is one of the high officials of tho Pennsylvania in the western district. His father, who later became presi dent of the Pennsylvania, was super intendent here during the strike ot 1877. Young McCrea, as he was known In college days, was guard on Yale's famous team when Orvllle Hlckok was the other guard. • Representative John McKay, of Luzerne county, was among visitors to the Capitol yesterday. He came here in the interest of several mat ters at the departments. [ WELL KNOWN PEOPLE —A. C. Robinson, well known in Pittsburgh banking affairs, will head the new merger of banks in Pitts burgh. —Joseph K. Thropp, who aspires to go to Congress again, is a promi nent iron manufacturer. —United States District Attorney Humes, or Western Pennsylvania, reappointed yesterday, was for years an officer in the National Guard. —The Rev. Dr. Glenn Moore, Johnstown, has retired from the ministry to take up editorial work at. Washington. —Joseph GafTney. chairman of Philadelphia councils finance ccr*i mittee, says that the hearings on th v transit lease will be contln* month. | DO YOU KNOW That Harrisburg has big In- ' dustrlcs. but the small ones that have made York and Ijan- canter notable? $ HISTORIC HARRISBURG The first elections were held at John Harris' warehouse when this was a township of Lancaster county. HEALTH IN LONDON London, said a prominent official of the Metropolitan Asylum Board, Is wonderfully healthy Just now. There Is an exceptional shortage of dlseare, but a remarkable thing is that diphtheria cases are exceeding those of scarlet fever. There are 641 scarlet fever cases under treat ment, and 1,086 cases of diphtheria, which Is the lowest record in the annals of the board. —London Tele- I graph.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers