12
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
A NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOME
Pounded IS3I
Published evenings except Sunday by
THE TELEKRAFH PRINTING CO.,
Trlearraph Building, Federal Square.
B. J. STACKPOLE, Pre ft <S- Editor-in-Chief
R. OYSTER, Business Manager.
CUS M. STEINMETZ, Managing Editor.
Member of the Associated Press—The
Associated Press is exclusively en
titled to the use for republication of
all news dispatches credited to it or
not otherwise credited in this paper
and also the local news published
herein.
!All rights of republication of special
1 dispatches herein are also reserved.
I Member American
Eastern office.
Avenue Building,
Entered at the Post Office in Harrls
burg, Pa., as second class matter.
By carriers, ten cents a
week; by mall. $5.00
a year in advance.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13. 1917
The love of the beautiful is be
coming not only the possession of
the rich, but the desire and pos
session of the very poor. — JOHN
BURNS.
THAT POS7TAL SURPLUS
THE local subsidized organ of the
Democratic administration boasts
to-day that the "post oflloo de
partment closed its year with the
largest surplus In Its history," $D,_
836,211, and naively adds that "suah
showing must bo extremely gratl
tfylns to the publlo,"
It Is nothing of the sort, The
public Is not Interested In postal
■profits; what it wants Is service, and
•ervlce it Is not getting, The post
office department was not created
for the purpose of earning money.
Jt wa brought into being to provide
prompt and efficient transportation
of all manner of mall matter, and
this under the Wilson administration
It Is not doing. There never was a
-time In the history of the country
■when the post office department was
po inefficient as now. Indeed, con
ditions have become so bad that
newspaper circulation managers In
the East have taken unprecedented
.measures to draw public attention to
Its deficiencies In an effort to force
Washington to do something other
•than study the surplus columns.
So far from being "pleased," the
public Is angry and disgusted with
the whole department, and it would
much rather have a deficit with
prompt and certain service than a
aurplus, ever so big, piled up at the
expense of the people for whose
Ibenefit It was organized.
The local post office forces are not
to blame. Neither are the railway
mail clerks. The nine million profits
of which our contemporary boasts
were earned by the sweat and blood
of these men. Never has a faithful
force of workers been so badly treat
ed. Their work was hard enough at
heit, but when Mr. Burleson took
hold he Immediately cut down the
crews and lopped off many post office
employes. lie lengthened the runs
of the mail clerks and cut off post
office after post office. The result
was that the efficiency of the men
and the system was reduced. To
make up for this rank mlsjudgment
hoys and untrained men are now be
ing brought in to tide the department
over its rush.
Postal employes with long service
behind them and an unswering sense
if loyalty to the government have
stood this hardship with little com
plaint. Any other lot of .men in pri
vate employ treated so abominably
■would have been out on strike long
ago.
No. the public Is far from bolng
"pleased." It is "mad" clean through
and if the Demoerato organ doubts
it th® proof lies with any business
man It may chance to interview.
Remember, Christmas Is the chil
dren's holiday, and don't let the war
Interfere with your celebration. Santa
Cl&us doesn't care a hoot for the
Kaiser.
THE GARBAGE "HOI.D-UPS"
SPECULATION as to the conclu
sion of the garbage and ash
problems in this city is about
as full of doubt as guessing
when the war will end. For
months the municipal authorities
have labored with the question and
when there shall be a final deter
mination it Is a reasonable hope that
a practical solution will have been
leached. Manifestly, the taxpayers
are not going to be satisfied with any
return to the system or lack of sys
tem which has been a disgrace for
several years. They have a right to
expect that some plan be devised
that will mean a satisfactory collec
tion of the garbage and ashes at reg
ular Intervals.
Notwithstanding the frequent com
ment upon the outrageous "tipping"
which has been responsible for much
of the failure of the present system,
the handing out of lunches and
money to employes of the present
contracting firm continues in all parts
of the city. This means that these
employes deliberately ignore the
who does not contribute
THURSDAY EVENING,
out of his private purse for what
has already been paid for through
his taxes under a municipal contract.
Whatever system shall be finally
installed there ought to be sufficient
inspectors to stop definitely and ef
fectively the "holdup" of the people
by the wagon crews, who have boast
ed in some instances that they have
received more in tips than they did
in wages. The citizen who is respon
sible for these gratuities does not
realize perhaps that he is helping
to break down the efficiency of the
entire system.
Harrlsburg is too far along the
way to longer endure the imposition
and inconvenience that have result
■ed from the inadequate and indif
ferent service under the existing con
tract. There must be a change and
no consideration shown those re
sponsible for failure of the present
plan.
It i all up to the councilmen, and
we believe they are fully awake to
the importance of speedily closing
up the whole matter and preparing
for something like modern methods
in disposing of the garbage and
ashes of the community.
If this sugar shortage produces the
enlarged crop of maple syrup that is
promised, some of us old-fashioned
folks may look upon it as a blessing
in disguise.
LET US HAVE AX END OE IT
NOW that the final step Is being
taken in the Hardscrabble
controversy. It Is the hope of
all good citizens that an end shall
be made of the whole matter. All
property owners In the district af
fected must be dealt with fairly and
there is no indication anywhere that
there is any other disposition upon
the part of the city authorities.
Many of the owners of property, es
pecially on the west side of Front
street between Herr and Calder, have
waited patiently for the settlement
so that they may exercise options
upon homes in other parts of the
city. These have been subjected to
real hardships, inasmuch as in sev
eral Instances they have been un
able to take advantage of opportuni
ties which would have meant a con
siderable saving to them a year or
two ago.
City Solicitor Fox lias a clear grasp
of the situation and with judicial
fairness proposes to conserve the
rights of the city, while at the same
time doing nothing to impair the in
terests of the property owners. As
every possible phase of the contro
versy has been gone over at length
since the beginning of the proceed
ings, it would seem that the pres
ent session of court should see the
end of the dispute.
Time was when Hardscrabble rep
resented a considerable number of
homesteads with family traditions
and a history of many generations of
the same name, but during the last
few years there has been a gradual
change of the situation and the
houses are in many instances now
occupied by comparative newcomers.
Again we repeat that all con
cerned should have a square deal,
but no unreasonable attitude con
templating any delay should char
acterize the hearing this week. Let
us have an end of the chapter.
Who cares for a wlieatless day
with buckwheat cakes ripe and ready
for the plucking?
CONGRESSIONAL INQUIRY
NO matter what it may or may
not reveal, the Congressional
inquiry into the prosecution of
the war will have salutary effects.
The government has accomplished
wonders in its preparations since the
declaration of war last spring, hut
it might have done more and it is
not so much for the purpose of cen
suring those who have been respon
sible for errors and delays that the
present probe Is desirable, as It to
prevent similar happenings in the
future and to spur every branch of
the government to even greater
effort.
Many things will be brought out
that will not be pleasant reading.
The transfer of shipping from ex
perts in that line to the inex
perienced quartermaster's depart
ment. the quarreling and quibbling
over shipbuilding, the delay in get
ting guns and other equipment for
the Army, the shilly-shallying that
has resulted, in a year when more
coal was mined than ever before,
in millions of persons suffering
from cold; the blunders with respect
to the railroads—all these will come
out, no doubt, and the public will
be hurt and angry. But the general
result will be to cause those who
have been under lire to put on steam
with determination to make up for
lost time. And promptness and ef
ficiency are all the public desire.
Congress is not head-hunting.
j
TOOK BT T IiTj BY nORNS
GOVERNOR JAMES M. COX.
of Ohio, took the bull by the
horns yesterday and seized
several trains of coal bound through
his state to relieve a serious fuel
shortage there. The Governor acted
si gainst the instructions of the fed
eral fuel administrator, but accord
ing to his own best Judgment, and no
doubt Ohio people will stand by
him.
There Is a growing suspicion
that if the government had acted
promptly last summer and had
gotten the coal over the roads be
foro It was time to start the move
ment of crops and before the netds
of the National Army and the ship
builders became so urgent, there
would be no serious shortage now.
It is also open to debate as to
whether or not conditions have been
bettered by taking the distribution
of coal out of the hands of experts
and putting it under the control of
men, many of whom know very little
about It At any rate. Governor Oox
has shown us a new way of getting
coal when it is badly needed.
Ck
By the Ex-Commlttecm
Auditor General Charles A. Sny
der's declaration to some of the de
partment chiefs of the state govern
ment that he will not pay clerks re
cently appointed as "extras" and
paid out of contingent and emer
gency funds of the state government
unless he is shown that they are
essential, bids fair to create a ruc
tion in the state government and to
disarrange many of the plans of the
state administration to strengthen it
self in advance of the next primary.
The Auditor General has authority
to inquire into necessity and does
not seem to mind such things as
law suits.
The first place where the blow
fell was In the State Insurance Fund
where the bulk of the nine persons
recently appointed to places, iclud
ing some Harrisburgers, got informal
notice that they would be paid for
December, but after that their jobs
would end. The same Is said to be
true regarding some "extra" clerks
appointed for other departments and
whose use the Auditor General wants
to know about.
It is said that the Public Service
Commission has been asked to do
some explaining about its stenog
raphic bills and to inform the Audi
tor General why It cannot use Its
own stenographers instead of hiring
them from other cities.
Mr. Snyder says he simply wants
to know necessity. In previous ad
ministrations of the Auditor Gen
eral's Department sucl\ Inquiries
were taken as a matter of course and
he says he does not see why any
one should get excited over being
asked to tell why expenditure of
public funds for a clerk are neces
sary. Some of the state administra
tion men say that the Auditor Gen
eral Is going after recent appointees
of friends of the Governor. In any
event it is likely that there will be
some dismissals of persons recently
put on the payroll, which will add to
the pleasure of everyone concerned.
—lt is regarded as very likely that
General Charles M. Clement will be
named as a public service commis
sioner. The central section, which
was recognized In the appointment
of Robert K. Young is after one of
the places and as the General was
one of the Governor's candidates for
delegate who went down he is fa
vorably considered.
—Senator Boles Penrose last night
at Washington outlined some of the
plans'for the midwinter conference
of the Republican national commit
tee. He said: "The meeting In Janu
ary will be to arrange an educational
and publicity campaign for the con
gressional elections. The Republican
party hopes to be able to organize
the House and Senate. While we have
supported the administration In all
Its war legislation, we do not propose
that the party shall lose its Identity.
The last election was lost by a fluke
and now the prospects for the Re
publicans are encouraging." Senator
Penrose Intends to take a leading
part In consideration of any legisla
tion which may be proposed as a
remedy for the railroad problem.
Said ho: "I regard the railroad ques
tion as the most pressing of the day.
I understand the President will de
liver a message to Congress upon It."
—lt is said that Senator W. C.
Sproul has accepted a number of In
vitations to speak throughout the
state this winter. Highway Commis
sioner J. Denny O'Neil also plans to'
speak extensively.
—Governor Brumbaugh did not re
fer to political matters In his speech
at Scranton. He has declined to dis
cuss an extra session.
—lt is to be noticed that the State
Grange is carefully keeping out of
the controversy between the State
Commission of Agriculture and the
Secretary.
—The Town Meeting party an
nounced yesterday, after a meeting
of its executive committee, that the
contest for the election of Vare nom
inees to the offices of Receiver of
Taxes, Register of Wills and City
Treasurer had not been abandoned
in the Philadelphia courts. Steps
were taken toward making the or
ganization a permanent one by ar
ranging to form ward committees
which will work in conjunction with
the Town Meeting partv executive
committee. George W. Coles, secre
tary of the party, was elected chair
man. and Horace W. Rilley, formerly
of the Committee of Seventy, was
made secretary in place of Mr. Coles.
—According to the Philadelphia
Press, Keystone Congressmen were
too busy to call one state's congress
ional delegation together to hear the
suffrage pleas for the adoption of the
constitutional amendment at Wash
ington yesterday. Senator Penrose
did not arrive until late and the suf
frage leaders were unable to get
Senator Knox to assume the duty
which, he said, devolved upon the
Senior Senator. Representative Thom
as S. Butler, dean of the delegation
In the House, was not to be found
by the persistent women leaders.
They turned to Representative J.
Hampton Moore next but he declined
to assume the duty which naturally
belongs to the chairman. As the re
sult the Pennsylvania women who
wanted to address Pennsylvania's
membership as one, were compelled
to reach them individually. They did
not receive much encouragement
from Pennsylvania's Congressmen
and Senators. Both United States
I Senators are reported against the
suffrage resolution and fifteen of the
I thirty-six members will vote against
it-
—The Philadelphia Record says
that city's councils' finance commit
tee "held a reform sessfon yesterday
and while considering some addition
al salary increases and other expen
ses for next year, criticised the board
of judges who want to pay janitors
$1,200 a year, and stuck a probe into
the salary juggling game, whereby
salaried employes also receive extra
pay from special items appropriated
to the various departments. The at
tacks upon some of the comb nations
complained of were led by Selectman
Charles Seger, in criticising the
judges, and by Selectman Harry J.
Trainer, who pried open the secret
salary boost scheme. Mr. Trainer
evidently succeeded In reaching by
inference the persons upon whom he
is seeking to serve notice, and at a
meeting of the committee on Monday
will ofTer a resolution that is designed
to halt the practice."
—Jn all probability York's new
City Council will line up as follows:
Mayor E. S. Huguentugler, superin
tendent of public affairs; John R.
l.afean, superintendent of accounts
and finance; Dr. A. M. Grove, super
intendent of nublic safety; Harry
Head, superintendent of parks and
public pri>nert>' George M. Bollin
ger, superintendent of streets and
public improvements. Messrs. Hug
uentupler and are hold-over
connci'men, and Mr. Bollinger is the
only Democrat. It h. * een inti
mated that one of the first steps of
the new Council will be to abolish
the Civil Service Board lately ap
pointed by the present Council, and
if this is attempted a storm is ex
pected.
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BOOKS AND MAGAZINES
Two Hooka of Verne —Two volumes
of poems by Robert Underwood John
son, who has become his own pub
lisher, are shortly to appear from the
DeVinne press. One is a new edition
of his last year's volume, "Poems of
Peace and War," with numerous addi
tions. mainly of poems relating' to the
great war, some of which will be re
membered by audiences to whom Mr.
Johnson has read them on patriotic
occasions. Among these are: "The
Sword of Lafayette," "To Russia New
and Free." "The Victor of the Marne,"
"The Crowned Republic," "The New
Slavery" (apropos of the civilan expa
ration in Belgium), "The Answer of
the Lord, rhe First Gun," etc.
The second volume now published is
a collection of pieces relating to Italy
from Mr. Johnson's larger book. It
takes its name from the longest
poem. "The Italian Rhapsody," and in
cludes "Browning at Asolo," "Love in
Italy," "To One Who Never Got to
Rome" (on Edmund Clarence Stedma),
"Spring at the Villa Conti," "Come in
April." "The Spanish Stairs," "Titian's
Two Loves," "Farewell to Italy," and
others, to which is added "The
Crowned Republic," first published as
a greeting to the Italian War Com
mission on its arrival in New York.
These volumes are to be had of the
author, at 70 Fifth Avenue, New York.
Prices, respectively, $1.50 and sl.
SIGHED POTS
And they took their Journey from
Elim. and all the congregation of
the children of Israel came unto the
wilderness of Sin. And the whole
congregation of the children of Is
rael murmured against Moses and
Aaron. And the children of Israel
said unto them. Would to God we
had died by the hand of the Lord in
the land of Egypt, when we sat by
the flesh pots, and when we did eat
bread to the full: for ye have
brought us forth unto this wilder
ness, to kill this whole assemblage
with hunger.—Exodus xvi, 1 to 3.
KEEPING CHRISTMAS
I write as your brothter; a big fam
ily we.
With task set before to whip
Germany;
A task far from pleasant, we'd
rather forbear,
But to fail In its doing we never
could dare.
We have entered this "Made in Ger
many" fight
With anything else but a sense of
delight;
But Humanity called us and we will
not fail.
Nor at homo nor abroad will Patriot
quail.
Our incomes go down and expenses
mount up,
Supplies are much simpler for plate
and for cup,
It pinches and hurts, but we're sure
it won't kill,
And sure the results will warrant
the bill.
We're all of us feeling the pinch of
war tax.
But sufficient of bread there's none
of us lacks,
While over the seas, under Ger
many's heel.
Many thousands the pangs of hung
er now feel.
Since we have enough and plenty to
spare
Of the good things of life, who is
there should care
The dalntieA and luxuries now to
forego,
A common world brotherhood Int'rest
to show?
The Germans, true vandals, laid
Belgium low,
In France were brutal and savage,
you know;
For legalized warfare, regard they
have none.
Their name as a by-word through
ages will run.
Let our pity go out to those in dis
tress;
Let's save in our food, our pleasures,
our dress;
And the money we'd spend if these
things we'd buy,
Let's give it up gladly their needs
to supply.
Great gladness and Joy it will bring
to the heart
Of each who in saving of others
takes part;
Much greater, indeed, than any Joy
bought
In pleasing one's self, with others
forgot.
If thus we keep Christmas, the
Father above
Will recognize in It some kin to His
love.
That gave up His Son to save a lost
world.
And over us all His banner un
furled.
B. E. P. PKUCrH,
Harrlabnrs, Pa.
New Form of University Extension
By the REV. DR. JOHN FOX
AN EPISCOPAL. Bishop is quot
ed jtist now as saying that the
camps and cantonments are
really great universities. It is an
apt characterization. The chief text
book in these universities is the
Bible, and especially the New Tes
tament. The Library Fund will pro
vide other books of many kinds and
various values; and the more good
books there are, the better. The
Book of books is in the fine phrase
of the old dramatist: "Infinite riches
in a little room." It is, to be sure,
a sign spoken against. It always has
been. In every age it is under fire,
as Christianity itself has been, but
no weapon formed against it pros
pers. Never was it so successful as
it is today, never so certain a win
ner—the best seller; the most trust
ed ally; eyes to the blind; crutches
and feet to the lame and halt; a pil
low for the weary; medicine, yes,
and a surgeon's knife to the woun
ded; the only sure comfort to the
dying: a passport that will open the
gates of everlasting bliss. Mr.
Choate, who has so recently left us,
in the very height of his eloquence,
on a great public occasion in New
York, cried out with passion, "If we
can have but one book, O spare us
that!"
People are saying continually,
"What good can anyone see to come
outvof this dreadfullest of wars!" Is
it no good that today millions of
boys, some sincere Christians, many
others careless, wayward, in the
past; some, alas, wicked, are begin
ning now, under the shadow of their
impending baptism of fire, facing not
only death, but
"The dread of something alter
death.
"That undiscovered country from
whose bourne
"No traveler returns," —
all these are quietly and humbly be
ginning to search the Scriptures and
finding new light as to what they
mean. What is there more moving
ARTISTS AND THE MOON
The erratic behavior of the moon
in the sky has been a pitfall for
artist and poet; the mistakes have
provided much amusement to the
astronomer. Turner, the artist, has
painted the sun setting in the east in
his picture of the old Temoraire.
Hogarth's picture of "The
Last Stake," now gone to America,
in which Mrs. Thrale claimed to
have sat for the lady's model, is in
tended to draw a moral on sitting
up gambling all night, with the
moon looking in reproachfully at
the window. But the astronomer
recognizes a winter new moon, and
the hour is about 6 o'clock tea time,
so we may imagine the other mem
bers will be knocking at the door
and asking, "When are you two
coming in to tea?"
We still speak of new moon and
old, and so perpetrate the ancient
theory of Pythagoras that the moon
is not a celestial body coming round
every month, biit a sort of magic
lantern shown on the sky. This doc
trine of Pythagoras is still the ortho
dox theory in TurVey to-day, and,
to prove it, the national emblem of
the Orescent shows a star shining
through the moon; and Coleridge, in
the lirst dratt ol' "Christabel," Is
reported to have seated a star in the
horns of the crescent. —G. Greenhill
In Nature.
AMERICAN HUMOR
The irrepressible ebullience of the
Yankee soldier rises above the terror
of war and bubbles in sparkling ef
fervescence over the battle front. On
devastated fields, where he toils to
restore some semblance of civiliza
tion, he erects signs that indicate
his eternal optimism and defiance of
fate. These signs are not grim in
irony or threatening in aspect as are
some erected by the enemy, but are
full of the spirit of hope and pur
pose. The ripple of laughter that
tlows from them may strike some of
the more serious-minded as in some
soßse out of place, but they really
show no lack of reverence. They are
expressive of indomitable resolve to
revise and make useful what the foe
has sought to destroy. Daring death
with a Jest and flouting at physical
peril in characteristic of the light
hearted men who are going with all
their souls into the thickest of war'?
inferno. They work while they
laugh and bring an example of cour
age and hope to a land that needs
it most. American humor is an in
separable companion to American
pluck and determination and always
"the bravest are the tenderest, the
| loving are the daring.—Omaha Bee.
than to see such a sight as a young
lad with memories of home, or, if
you please, without memories, look
ing through this astronomer's glass
into the heavens, and discovering as
never before God in His heaven, the
better country, the Cross of Christ,
salvation now and thereafter, as he
sits on the rude benches or In the
ruder trenches of this new univer
sity?
Captain Bertrand, of the Chasseurs
Alpins, who bears in his body marks
of several wounds, writes, "Nothing
can draw you nearer to God more than
war. Four or live millions of young
Frenchmen with eager curious spir
its are there ready to receive the
Word." All this imposes a great re
sponsibility on the Bible Societies of
the world. There are other agencies,
and good ones, but naturally the
heaviest burden must and does fall
on these Societies. The British and
Foreign Bible Society has issued
more than six million Scriptures for
soldiers and sailors in sixty lan
guages. The American Bible So
ciety is well in its fourth million and
if the war goes on, must far pass the
six million mark. Not all its out
put went to our soldiers. On behalf
of the World's Association, who col
lected nickel gifts from the children,
half a million or more went abroad.
People are troubled about overlap
ping. It is an evil, but there is a
much worse evil, for some not to
get any Testaments, and this hap
pens sometimes. It is now officially
announced that there are five rifles
! ready for every American soldier in
I France. Rifles get out of order, and
! in the confusion of battle are lost,
i Many Testaments likewise are lost
lor destroyed. The American Bible
Society is asking for $400,000, dur
ing the period of December 1 to 15
and this amount at least is needed;
and if the war goes on, it really
should have a million dollars.
Dr. Fox is corresponding secretary
of the American Bible Society, in
i charge of this campaign.
HEALTH IN THE ARMY
Under modern scientific manage-,
mcnt of the army camps, only four,
kinds of infectious disease are giv-i
ing the medical officers trouble. For i
the last week for which the surgeon'
general's report is available, the I
week ending November 16, pneu-j
monia, vice infections, meningitis
and measles were the chief offend
ers. In no case were the conditions
alarming.
Thanks to vaccination the two
worst scourges ol' armies of the past,
smallpox and typhoid, were virtually
eliminated from consideration.
Among the 1,065,000 men in training
there were only sporadic cases of
typhoid, while smallpox is so nearly
negligible that it is no longer men
tioned in the army reports. In con
trast with army conditions are those
in Kansas City where indifference to
vaccination has permitted a small
pox epidemic to get under way.—
Kansas City Times.
THE REAL TEST
There is one striking and impor
tant i'act about the United States
which must be remembered by all
who consider the status of this na
tion and the Ltate of mind of the
American people in regard to the
war. It is the fact that although
we have been at war for eight
months, we have not yet begun to
pay the penalty in blood. There lias
been a few scattering casualties here
and there, of course, but so few as
scarcely to make an impression on
the mind and soul of the people.
This condition —perhaps unique in
history—unquestionably has a bear
ing upon the attitude of the people
toward the war. Precisely what its
effect la may not be easily deter
mined, but that there will be some
sort of change in the spirit of the
neonle. when t'nc first casualty list
from our first big battle comes in is
certain. That list may carry 2,000,
5,000, perhaps 10,000 names.
This will be a new experience for
our people. Nothing like it has
come to us so far. Yet it is the most
vital of all the experiences and con
sequences of yar and for the nations
of Europe it has long been the prin
cipal factor in the lives and thoughts
of the people. Until this experience
has come to us also and the nation
has reacted to it, we cannot soy that
our war spirit has been fully re
vealed. For this is the real test—
although we know 1 each other too
well to feel any doubt that the
country will meet it as it should an .'
must be met. —Charleston News and
CoadMt
1
Tree rkitts, 1917.
LABOR NOTES
Richmond (Va.) painters have se
cured a reduction of one hour in
the work day and wage increases of
'75 cents a day since April 1.
In nearly all the shipbuilding
plant in England and Scotland
women are employed in large num
bers. One plant alone employs over
6,000 of them.
Lawrence (Kan.) contractors are
accepting the new wage contract of
Carpenters' Union. Rates are ad
vanced from 37% to 45 cents an
hour.
Railway men of Dublin, Ireland,
indorsed the action of the Trade
Union Congress in deciding to send
delegates to the Stockholm Confer
ence.
A strike of the employes em
ployed in the Junior Army and Navy
Stores, Dublin, Ireland, has been
settled by giving the men an ad
vance of $1 a week.
Australian Federal and State gov
ernments have adopted comprehen
sive plans for the employment and
land settlement of returned soldiers
and sailors.
The British Government has made
a pledge to British labor that every
employer shall, after the war, "rein
state the working conditions of his
factory on the prewar basis."
Fort Smith (Ark.) teamsters and
chauffeurs have organized and affil
iated with the International Brother
hood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs,
Stablemen and Helpers.
During the second quarter of 1914
there were 7,265 women employed in
German mines, of whom 5,785 were
in Upper Silesia. During the fourth
quarter in 1916 there were 37,563 so
employed.
OUR DAILY LAUGH |
LACKED
PERBEVER- J \/A
ANCE. / C
It I ask you / Wk
once to marry fl f /j\ \ f/p
me and you say Vj V jjjm
"No" I'll never jURk \|ll flfflfl
•k you again.
You won't? *1
Well, I see now |
why you didn't ly
succeed as an I
Insurance agent. j I
SPgf TIVE HALLS.
HjT Did you see
K was she doing
when you saw
MBT She was pow
derlng her no**.
TROUBLE.
How is your !B. •. .-Tjia
wife?
Her head
troubles her a W Jt> 7*3^
great deal. Vr V
Do you think \v '
she has neu- jfL
ralgla? O/
No; she can't / 1 '"A
decide upon the / /I.
kind of new hat I ff
she wants. \?)
SURE WOULD.
fl\ I see Mr.
MM Prtc * * liL '
doesn't
Bmttng (Cljtrt
Some very, very queer ideas about*
military service are cropping up at'
the meetings of the district appeal
draft board at the State Capitol
these days and the abrupt manner
in which the board is acting uponf
some of the requests for exemption
from military service should carry
their own lessons. In one instance a
farmer from a nearby county camti
in and asked exemption from tbe ;
draft for his son who was Just
within the draft age and whom h
declared was essential to him in th
conduct of his farm, which, of
course, was vital to the food supply
of the nation.
I low many sons have you' ?' wu
asked.
Seven," said the farmer.
•It turned out that three sons wer*'
working on the farm and three
were helping other farmers between
times when there was no work on
the home farm, while the seventh
was a mere lad.
Another, instance puzzled th
members of the board for a whilfc.
An undertaker claimed he needed a
son within the draft age more than
the members of the board had any
idea. In fact from his remarks it
would be impossible for people to
die in his section without the assist
ance of the aforesaid son. Ques
tions developed that the son ran the
automobile. Finally it came out
that there was another son and he
was working in a furniture factory.
"Why don't you have that son
come and run your car? He is not
of draft age, and then the other
could go to the Army," was sug
gested.
Well," replied the undertaker,
you see I couldn't pay him what
he is getting- at the factory. No, it
wouldn't do at all. It would not
pay him."
A butcher asked exemption on the
ground that he was needed to con
serve the food supply. It was sug
gested that he would be a fine man
for the comissary department In a
camp. He is.
The meeting to be held at th
Capitol about January 12 in com
memoration of what Pennsylvania
has been doing to aid the country in
the war will be a patriotic event
such as has seldom taken place in
Harrisburg if the plans are carried
out. A speaker of national fame
is being urged to make the address
and the gathering will be of state
wide significance. The Pennsylvania
State Society is in charge of the ar
rangements.
The Pittsburgh Gazette-Times has
this to say of a man who is well
known here and who years ago be
gan a work whose importance is
just being realized: "The plan for
Americanizing our undigested for
eign population outlined by Dr. H.
H. Wheaton here on Saturday eve
ning is practical—and many peo
ple who have given the matter stu
dious attention will be constrained
to say, "at last." There has been
much generalization about Ameri
canizing the foreigner and every
body concedes it ought to be done;
but up to now little of a practical
nature has been accomplished out
side of the public schools. The Fed
eral plan to enlist 1,000,000 workers,
each of whom will pledge himself
to influence one foreigner to begin
the study of English will work, and
its possibilities for safety (Dr.
Wheaton made his plea on the pow
er for danger to America represent
ed by our unassimilated aliens) are
limitless. If, as Dr. Wheaton said,
and we all believe, the enemy is
working against us here by propa
ganda, a good propaganda of our
own ought to be pretty effective,
especially so as we are going to win
and Germany isn't."
"We are just beginning to appre
ciate the importance of our high-
ways as adjuncts to railroad trans
portation," said C. W. Burtnett,
chairman of motors and motor
transportation of the Committee of
Public Safety in Dauphin county
in discussing with a Telegraph re
porter the other day the call of
Saturday night for volunteers to
help clear the roads. "The motor
truclc and the passenger motor have
come to stay as means of cross
country transportation and he is a
wise man who takes them into con
sideration." Mr. Burtnett has found
in Ezra Hershey, treasurer of the
Ilershey Chocolate Company, a will
in.? worker in the eastern part of
the county and through him has
procured a complete list of owners
of motor trucks, passenger auto
mobiles, the kind of cars they have
and their willingness to serve the
government in times of stress. !n
the lower end of the county similar
information has been gathered and
preparations are being made to get
a caru index of upper end automo
bile owners. All over the state sim
ilar information is being gathered
and the automobiles that would
come voluntarily into the temporary
use of the government if needed
would crowd the thoroughfares all
over Pennsylvania. It is a big
work that is being quietly and effi
ciently done, this mobilization ot
the motor forces of the common*
wealth.
Some of the men who are home
from the camps are enthusiastic ovei<
Army life and the difference in bear-,
ing of some of the boys proves it.
One young man who WHS home over
the week seems to have gotten the
idea that his flrst duty while homs
was to recruit because he has been
busier than a marketmaster collect
ing rents on a crowded day. Another
young man spent hours instructing
some of his pals In the rudiments
of military training.
1 WELL KNOWN PEOPLE
—Jay Cooke, the Philadelphia
food administrator, comes of a fam*
fly long active in state affairs.
—Joseph Hollister, new vice-ooiv.
sul at Glasgow, is a Mount Carmel
lawyer.
—John A. McSparran, the master
of the State Grange, is urging farm
ers to do their utmost in a series
of addresses he is delivering.
—Dr. J. W. A. Haas, president of
Muhlenberg College, is one of the
members of Allentown's new civil
service commission.
—Major J. A. Moss, author oC
military textbooks and well known
here, has been detailed to the Fifty
fifth Regiment.
DO YOU KNOW
That HanWmrß people
among the earnest supporter's of
the Government in the flotation
of the Civil War bonds?
HISTORIC HAKUINIUmO
Early political gatherings us<l to
be held on the River Front
.times at Harris Farrjv • |