Harrisburg telegraph. (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, December 14, 1917, Page 18, Image 18

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    18
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
A NEWSPAPER POR THE HOMB
Pounded
Published evenings except Sunday by
THE TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO,
Telegraph Building, Federal Sqaare.
E. J. STACKPOLE. PreSt (r Edittr-in-Chirf
T. R. OTSTER, Business Manager.
GUS 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
dispatches herein are also reserved.
. Member American
ifl Newspaper Pub-
S Ushers' Associa
tion, the Audit
Bureau of Circu
lation and Penn
sylvania Associ
ated Dailies.
Eastern office.
Avenue Building,
New York City;
Western office.
Story, Brooks &
Finley, People's
Gas Building,
_ Chicago, 111.
Entered et the Post Office In Harris
burg, Pa., as second clas3 matter.
By carriers, ten cents a
trilSS!*' week; by mall, $5.00
a year in advance.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1017
Drudgery is the gray angel of
success.—Dß. GAXNET.
THE DAYS OF NOAH'S ARK
THE days of the Noah's Ark, the
tin gee-gee, the toy enfeine and
train! How we who have out
grown the period of the Christmas
stocking look back upon them with
reminiscent smiles that are half sighs j
lind tugs at the heart that are half
thrills, half pain. Dear days of Santa
Claus and Christmas trees, of joys
untinged by the cares and sorrows
the years bring. Dear days; dead
clays, we sometimes think.
But they are not dead, no Indeed!
They're only sleeping, and very light
ly at that, for those of us with young
folks about the house, or grandchil
dren homecoming for the holidays,
or even for those who must go out
into the highways and byways to find
the little folks whose homes are so
humbje that they escape oft-times
even the watchful eye of good old
Santa Claus. And they can be
brought back from the land of
dreams to the reality of the pres
ent without any of the painful jolts
that the ghosts of Christmas Past,
Present and Future found necessary
to jar Old Scrooge loose from his
unti-Christmas moorings, if you will
just let the spirit of the past work
within your bosom this evening for
an hour or two as you sit by the
lire awaiting the clock on the mantle
to notify you of bedtime.
Cast your mind back to the days
when the smell of spruce spelt
Christmas to you and when you
wouldn't have traded the unex
plored Christmas stocking for a mil
lion dollars in gold piled high on
the old kitchen floor; when the
Noah's Ark elephants that looked
Jike lambs, the pigs that resembled
dogs, and Mr. Noah who looked ex
actly like Mrs. Noah,. were more
precious than a real, live men- 1
iigerie would be to-day, when the
tin gee-gee was a charger bold and
t lie toy engine and train trundled
unconcernedly up hill and down dale
si cross the oilcloths and over the}
rugs, propelled by your own trusty
light arm and puffing gusty ex
hausts from your own lusty lungs.
Oreat business, wasn't It?
And the Noah's Ark, and the tin
>;ee-gee and the toy train and cars
are just the same to-day as they
were then. If there Is anything
• hanged it is somewhere inside
yourself. The remedy lies also
within yourself. Christmas is the
c hild's holiday, and so you cannot
enjoy Christmas fully unless you do
no as a child, and as you "become as
one of these" so do you practice best
the doctrines of the Great Founder
of Christmas. It's an experiment
worth trying, and you've no idea
how enjoyable the trying of It can
be.
We see no reason why the coal ad
ministrator says present coal prices
are the "maximum;" everybody knew
that before he spoke.
CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM
AMERICANS who have not stud
ied closely the eastern situation
with respect to the war are not
in position to understand or appre
ciate the vast Importance that will
bo attached to the capture by the
British of Jerusalem, in Russia, the
i.alkans and even In some parts of
Austria and Germany, where re
ligious convictions are deep and
where the redemption of Jerusalem
from the infidel has been for years
a household prayer and as strong
a desire in the heart of the wor
shipper as it was in the days of
the Crusaders.
Germany understood this pasalon
lor Christian possession of the Iloly
City, as witness the Kaisor's
churches and hospitals there, but as
iidual the German play to the paople
had its basis in military prepared
ness, for it has been charged and
not denied that the well-placed
imperial buildings were all con
structed so as to be turned Into
fortresses at a day's notice. This
■ .uering to religious feeling was good
politics on the Kaiser's part, the
■ •ITect of which has been dissipated
by the ununderstandable desertion
of the Turks by the Germans, who
'—& ' . |
KKIDAY fTVIiNING, HARRISBURG qfSßftt TELEGRAPH! DECEMBER 14, 1917.
left them to face alone the hope
less task of staying the British ad
vanco on the ancient city.
All through Russia there will go
up a mighty rejoicing when the cap
ture of Jerusalem becomes known,
and, as some writer has pointed out.
If the British continue their advance
the Turks may find it necessary to
fight their last decisive battle at
Armageddon, thus fulfilling in a
measure Biblical prophecy. The
capture of Jerusalem, followed by
such a victory for Christian arms as
described, would have a powerful
political and moral effect upon mil
lions of people in favor of the allies.
Jerusalem from earliest times has
been a center of religious and mili
tary activity. Early authors trace
the r.ame to a phrase meaning
"vision cf peace" and while there
may be some doubt as to the authen
ticity of this, certain it is that the
Arabs were wont to call it Bcite
Makdls, which means "the sanc
tuary#" There is a big gap In its
Biblical history, but enough has
been learned from various sources
concerning its earlier days to war
rant the assertion that from its very
foundation it was_ a city highly re
garded as a place of worship and
forever the object of conquest by
covetous rulers or peoples, 1' rom
the time when Ptolemy I laid low
its walls to the present it has been
fought over, captured ai>d recap
tured, and its walls and buildings
have beer, so frequently thrown
down and mingled with the dust
that the modern city is built npon
the var.t debris of dead and gone
generations and the exact lines of
tho orig'.nal town are in doubt. One
cannot but remark the difference be
tween the military methods of there
early conquerors and those of the
British who surrounded the city
and decided to make no direct at
tack upon it because of their fear
that seme of the ancient shrines
might bo damaged. Germans might
also find food for reflection when
considering this and comparing i
English military manners with their i
own astrocious destruction of price
less relics in France and Belgium.
But the most important effect will
be upon the minds of those mil
lions of devout souls to whom Jeru
salem is a place of holy pilgrimage
and to which if a man goes once in a
.ife-time his profoundest desire has
been attained. Turks, Armenians,
Greeks, Jews, Russians, native peas
ants and countless others yearly
wend their way to the city, each to
worship in his own way, and Ihe
prayer cf millions of Christians in
the Near East has been that the
Holy City might be wrested forever
from the control of the Infidel. Con
sequently, British arms have won a
great moral victory in the taking of
the city and the allied cause has
gained mightily in prestige. Also,
the Turkish threat against the Suez
canal has been nullified.
These are the days when the street
car man and the Jitney driver wonder
why they didn't go to France months
ago and take an easy Job in the front
line trenches. •
"The Kaiser," says an exchange, "is
a modern Nero," which, we submit, is
pretty hard on Nero.
BUSINESS AND THE WAR
THROUGH a species of hysteria
in some quarters the impres
sion has gotten abroad that
I economy should be practiced to such
an extent as to practically eliminate
business. One of the business
authorities of the country says that
economy alone is not sufficient; that
each one must bend to his dally task
with renewed vigor, ability and with
determination to work more and
earn more. He says further:
A prosperous nation can win
the war far sooner than if reg
ular industry lagged. The great
and small businesses must be
spurred to larger profit-making
by every legitimate employment
of skill, industry and ingenuity.
The country must be made pros
perous and kept prosperous, not
business as usual, but business
and profits more than usual, if
possible WHENEVER THIS
DOES NOT INTERFERE WITH
THE INDUSTRIES OPERATING
FOR THE WAR.
President Wilson is believed now
to be fully advised as to the business
situation and Congress is also hear
ing from the people so that it may
be expected that conservative ac
tion will be taken with respect to
any matters affecting the business
interests of the nation.
Secretary of the Treasury McAdoo,
in his report to Congress, Bounds a
more hopeful note in this paragraph:
It Is my earnest conviction that
the general /economy of the coun
try should be permitted to re
adjust itself to the new revenue
laws before consideration should
be given to the imposition of ad
ditional tax burdens.
It is his judgment that further
revenue legislation ought to be Ser
iously considered only in the face of
a situation making it impossible to
sell controvertible and partly tax
empt bonds upon a four per cent,
basis.
In short, it is dawning upon those
at Washington, as well as the people
generally, that business cannot be
hamstrung without seriously Impair
ing the revenues of the country and
the credit necessary to a forceful
prosecution of the war. The people
of the United States are ready to
give to the utmost, but we must be
reasonable in our attitude toward
business and industry, so that we
shall not Ignoranfly or otherwise
destroy the fountains of the coun
try's prosperity.
A man on the car this morning told
us that this snow storm was nothing
as compared to {he kind they have up
North, but that didn't make us a bit
jealous.
We used to rejoice in a heavy snow
because that permitted us to go
sleighing; now we complain because
we have to put the automobile up.
ToUtict Ck
By the Ei-C(ftmlttcciiiin jj
Partisans of Senator William C.
Sproul, Highway Commissioner J.
Denny O'Neil and other men who
have.been in the "mentioned col
umns" of the newspapers in con
nection with gubernatorial honors,
sat up and took notice last night
when they found that Glitord Pln
chot had been making speeches be
fore the State Grange at Willlams
port and had thrown a hay rake over
his shoulder and declared that he
and the other farmers proposed to
be recognized. Three weeks ago Mr.
Pinchot turned up In Harrisburg
with a substantial corps of labor men
backing him, and while the partisans
of several men close to the state ad
ministration were declaring that he
was not In gubernatorial running the
former forester was opening head
quarters in Philadelphia aud assum
ing a preoccupied air.
The appearance of Mr. Pinchot at
several • meetings has been much
commented upon lately, but the fact
tnat ne was on the program at the
Mate Grange meeting without the
scouu, of other candidates being
aware of it, is rather interesting. For
years A. Nevin Detricli, of Cham
bersburg, was active in the State
Grange, Abut then he joined hands
with Pinchot in the great uplift a
icvv years ago. When that subsided
he became chief examiner of the
fetate. Insurance Department
Mr. Pinchot has a number of oth
er speaking engagements, and it |j
understood that the' Grangers are
rather pleased with bis spe<?ch yes
terday.
Highway Commissioner J. Denny
O Neil is home from Washington
where he attended the national con
ference of the people interested in
the Anti-Saioon League. Mr. O'Neil
is taking an active part for the "dry"
amendment and proposes to be in
the forefront when the time comes
for Pennsylvania to act on the meas
ure. Mr. O'Neil also has a number
of speaking dates outlined.
—Every now and then some one
conies to Harrisburg and says that for
a real out-and-out harmonizer and
trained man of affairs candidate why
go farther than Lancaster county's
Congressman, W. W. Griest. He has
been much talked of around here
for a week.
—The people who are talking
Griest are insisting that the candi
date for Governor should not come
from either Philadelphia or Pitts
burgh. They thus chalk off Senator
Sproul, Commissioner O'Neil and ex-
Speaker George E. Alter. However,
it is easy to do such things six
ni.-jiiths before the piimary.
General C. M. Clement's friends
are getting active for him for Public
Service Commissioner. It is said that
if he desires the place Deputy At
torney General Emerson Collins will
not stand in the way. Mr. Collins
has been booked pretty industriously
lately.
—Auditor General Snyder went
away yesterday afternoon without
seeing the Governor and the ques
tions of extra places on the Hill, re
instatement of men who were
dropped and quarters for depart
ments will go over for a few days.
District Attorney Samuel P. Rotan,
—"lnvestigation of magistrates by
which led recently to the arrest of
Meglstrate George A. Persch on
charges of misconduct in office and
failure to make proper return of fines
to the city treasury, is being con
tined," says the North American.
"Proceedings by the City Solicitor for
City Controller John M. Walton will
be started within a few days to Beize
the books of Magistrate Harry Im
ber, one of those on the list being
investigated by the District Attor
ney."
—Robert G. Kay, appointed by
Governor Brumbaugh controller of
Chester county, following the death
of Controller Ash last August, has
notified the County Commissioners
that he will start legal action against
them as well as the sureties of Con
troller Ash for the recovery of
$552.74, with interest, which, he
says, was paid to Fred T. Mac Do
nald, of Kennett Square, former
country treasurer, without legal au
thority. Controller Kay does not al
lege fraud, but negligence. During
1915, while Mac Donald was ill. a
clerk in the office deposited $882.74
of the mercantile tax, which was
credited to the county funds. At the
end of his term Mac Donald settled
with the county. Kay's term ends in
January. i
—The Philadelphoa Inquirer to
day says: "Stirred by the informa
tion' that, in conjunction with the
outburst of crime that has terrorized
Philadelphia for more than a week,
disorderly houses, encouraged by
a politician, had been reopened in
the Thirteenth ward. Mayor Smith
yesterday ordered the police to close
every place of this character in the
city at once. The Thirteenth ward
includes c large section of the Ten
derloin district. While this was be
ing done, thirty-two policemen were
being tried—six as a result of dissen
sion in tlie department—and ban
dits continued to operate freely here.
One of these cases was a charge of
theft of a beefsteak against a pa
trolman.''
—Mayor Smith yesterday appoint
ed Representative John E. Arthur,
of the Ninteenth ward, to succeed
the late Frank J. Cummiskey as
chief o" the Bureau of City Property.
Arthur's term as a member of the
House from the Twelfth legislative
d'strict, which comprises the Nine,
teenth ward, does not expire Until
December, 1918. The appointment
of Arthur is regarded as a slap at
Megistrate-elect William J. Camp
bell. as Arthur is a lieutenant of
State Senator David Martin.
CAMELS
You may talk of horses, of tho wild
and speedy mares,
Thunderws fire-footed, where the
prophet's weapon fares,
Saracens and Afghans out the hlgh-
way of Jehad;
Give me strings of camels on the
road of Astrabad!
Camels and processions on the road
to Bagdad town,
Drawn like notes of music on the
desert, gold and brown;
Do, re, me —I count them as they
string along in line,
Laden with their treasure chests and
jars of Syrian wine.
Dream your wiry mustangs in the
sage and chaparral,
Broncho busters on the plains and
ponies by the wall;
Horse dealers and horse stealers my
heart cannot command;
I have strings of camels on the road
to Samarkand!
Orderly and dutiful, the little door
of years
Opens up in wonder lahd; the cxinel
train appears.
Who that knows the gorgeous East
their magic can withstand —
Velvet-footed camels on the road to
Samarkand!
—Will Thompson in the Ceniury
Magazine.
SOMEBODY IS ALWAYS TAKING THE JOY OUT OF LIFE
A .
r u that
HEARD Tne V.J ) . 0 Tft „ J l_r - *
6\A>ELI_eST little I YEH,/ \ / " \ MlNl T y
3omg "The OTHER { J J I h*-*-- HP** J
UlfiHT !'! j / —V y
'oh- -o7
j s I / "THAT { AU(_ AGA'iiO \f
( ' lAM iE? LI we START OFF- \ AKit> MEfSfrE Th£ \ I PRONUS£D
V in, I*-/* f y' * F 1 CA, ° get / { The wife
x VLi ' \ THAT FIRST MOTE/ COMejtb Me I MEET
—~ v ""
ocer tfwe
£>t "~pe>v>uu
Marie Romanoff, one of the ex-
Czar's daughters, is learning stenog
raphy now and a Western Pennsyl
vania newspaper comments: "We
bet the little girl will have more fun
sticking her gum under the office
chair than she would under the
throne."
The oldest minister of the Lu
theran Church died recently at Mar
tinsburg, W. Va., the Rev. Dr. Wil
liam Gerhardt. who was one hundred
years old In October. He was born
in Hesse-Darmstadt and came to this
country at one year of age. He was
also the oldest living graduate of
Gettysburg College.
"Tighter and shorter" is the order
for next spring's styles in women's
raiment issued by the National
Cloak, Suit and Skirt Manufacturer's
Association. Shorter and tighter
skirts and plainer garments of all
kinds are advised.
"We go to church. Do you?" Is
the sign posted generally over a cer
tain town of Pennsylvania and one
was stuck up in the window of the
county Jail. The local paper won
ders if this means the sheriff's fam
ily or the prisoners.
Five schools in Cambria county
have had to close because there are
no teachers.
"Hobo Wins Heiress" is the head
line in a Reading paper which star
tled the society folk of that city. The
story recounts the marriage of Caro
line Cramer Steinmetz. one of the
wealthiest society girls of Reading,
to John W. Schweitzer, who describes
himself as a "soldier of fortune." He
Is identified with an association
which publishes a magazine for
tramps, that is "the rejuvenation of
the disinherited of the earth." The
bride's friends in the D. A. R. were
greatly shocked.
The roster of enlistments in Penn
sylvania shows many volunteers of
a literary bent and occupation. These
have always done their bit, even
poets not having the reputation of
slackers. This recalls the reply of
the Artist Whistler who was found
deficient in chemistry and turned
down for the English Army. When
asked about it he said: "If silicon
were a gas, I would be a soldier."
The biggest war cake ever baked
was recently completed in the Wal
dorf kitchen in New York and is
now on the way to France as a
dessert for 2,400 soldiers and sailors
on Christmas Day. It is a fruit cake,
four feet in diameter, weighing 3GO
pounds. Hope the Hun periscopes
don't get a whiff -of this.
DON'T PROPHESY
There's a boy in our town perhaps
that grown folks don't think much
of because he's always getting into
mischief. Grown folks have a way
of looking at such fellows as bad
eggs, and pretty soon they manage
to give them reputations which
really hurt. We've known of cases
where parents wouldn't let such a
boy come around their house to play
with their boy. And they prophesy
that the boy in question will never
amount to anything. Right there
they want to look out. We've known
fellows of that description who when
they got at the business of life made
it buzz and finished three leaps and
u jump ahead of the rest of the
buncli. There's a heap of difference
between badness and freshness.
There's ar lot of difference between
meanneas and mischief. And don't
you ever forget it.—From the Amer
ican Boy.
RED CROSS KNIGHTS
I will bo a Red Cross knight!
I will wear the sign!
I will help the goodly fight
With the strength that's mine.
Some may blow the stirring fife,
Some may win a sword,
Some may give a precious life
Fighting for the Lord.
But at home my task Is plain—
Not the field for me.
Yet with heart and hand and brain
Soldier I may be!
I may knit and sew and fold;
.1 may save and give
Pennies, dollars, notes or gold
That our boys may live.
Take the Cross and lend a hand
In the godly IlKht,
Children of a gallant land,
Each a Red Cross knight!
—Abble Farwell Brown, of the
Vigilantes, in th 6 Worcester Times.
I Well Are You?
ARE you a civic mendicant, re
ceiving the unequaled benefits
of American citizenship with
out giving anything but the faxes
forced from you? Are you a civic
wliiner, always complaining about
the way "they" who govern you do
things, despite tin fact that "they"
is really you?
Are you a civic coward, afraid of
losing worthless friends, or of "in
terfering with business," if you call
attention to Inadequate service or
poor methods In public school ad
ministration, or in the street clean-*
ing, or in some other portion of the
public service?
Are you a civic sneak, trying to
avoir, just taxation by evasion or
downright dishonesty, and thus put
ting upon your neighbor' part of the
burden which is yours? Are you a
civic waster, considering that the
water supply, the food and fuel you
buy, the service of collecting garbage
and refuse, the city's parks, and in
FATE'S HAND AT HALIFAX
Not the least astonishing aspect of
the Halifax disaster is the seeming
ly trivial and avoidable cause of the
vast amount of ruin. The colliding
vessels were both in charge of ex
perienced harbor pilots and were
moving under control in fair weath
er. Signals were excUanged, "and
as the outgoing boat, the Mont
Blanc, did not seem to get the oth
er's signal, it was repeated." Then
came the fruitless effort to go astern,
the crash, the fire and the devastat
ing "explosion.
What went wrong? Did the hu
man faculty fail at this critical mo
ment in men of long training in sea
life? Was the mistake in giving the
signal or in receiving it, in the man
on the bridge or on the part of the
man in the engine room? Was it
due to a defect in the signal appa
ratus?
Whether the human or the me
chanical element failed, the disaster
appears to have been due to a con
spiracy of cit4:umstances such as
wrecks railway trains, sinks ocean
liners and wreaks havoc In spite of
all intelligent precaution. The psy
chological moment arrives and
something goes wrong which pre
viously has always gone right.
Chance, as the French saying goes,
is the business agent of God. And
certainly that was the grimmest
conceivable work of chance which
made the ruin of a great city and
the loss of thousands of lives de
pend on the narrow margin of a few
yards of seaway between two ships
and the momentary failure of a hu
man brain ceil or an inanimate sig
nal wire to' act.—N. Y. World.
OUR SHIPPING DANGERS
The American Shipping Board's
theory for getting rid of the U-boat
ravages is building more ships than
the submarines can destroy. As Mr.
Colly, a member of the board, says
"the solution is found in the enor
mous shipbuilding program of the
United States." That is as much as
to say, the submarine's ravages can
only be met by building more ships
than it can destroy. This, Mr. Colby
says, is successfully going on, and
next year there will be more ships
than the submarines can destroy.
The unfortunate feature connected
with this sinking of ships is that
they may have cargoes of food and
munitions that cannot be so easily
rebuilt as the ships.
It does seem that a sufficient
amount of money has been spent on
the Navy to establish a line of de
stroyers and submarines across Ger
many's prohibitive sea zone to pro
tect our shipping going that way.
The great dreadnoughts don't figure
much in this war. The destroyers
might. More transports are needed,
of course, but along with them more
protection is needed to prevent the
holes Germany is making in our
shipping.—Ohio State Journal.
BULLETS IN BLOOD,
(From the Literary Digest]
Cases where shell fragments or
bullets have been carried through
the body by the circulation of blood
r.re occasionally reported from the
war hospitals. In one, described re
cently in the Lancet (London), a
bit of shell migrated from a vein in
the thlffh to the heart, being unsus
pected until tho autopsy. This story,
according to a last Issue, has been
capped by a German surgeon who
I found a shell fragment In tho left
[ventricle at an autopsy.
general the community service for
which you pay or do not pay, is to
be used less carefully than if it was
not related to the present needs of
the fighting world?
Are you a civic "uglifier"—to use
Dr. Eliot's good word—who throws
refuse into the streets, who fails to
keep his home premises pleasant in
the eyes of his neighbors? Do you,
in your business, spread the virus
of civic smallpox through either us
ing or permitting the placing of the
advertising signs which assault the
eyes of your defenseless neighbors?
Determine the status of your citi
zenship. By searching self-Inquiry
find out whether you are a negative,
and therefore bad, citizen; whether
you are a selfish and destructive citi
zen, pulling down what others are
endeavoring to build up; or whether
you are truly a constructive citizen,
Jealous for the quality and the honor
of the government of which you are
a part.—J. Horace McFarland, In the
New York Independent.
RUSSIA NO HELP
[From the Scientific American]
So long as we speak in general
terms, Russia as a source of sup
plies for Germany appears formid
able indeed; but when we descend
to details, and particularize as to just
what supplies the Boche is to get
from Russia, and how he is to get
them, we discern a great light.
Is it food that is to be supplied
by the new republic? We think not.
The summer just past has not been a
season of hard labor in Russia; her
workers have been working In the
same way that her fighters have
been fighting—with fine phrases. All
men of all factions have been too
busy with talking to pay much at
tention to the sordid details of work.
Even now the Bolsheviki cry for
bread, and whence is it to come?
Already the food situation in Mos
cow and Petrograd is reported as
desperate. Hungry already, Russia
will be hungrier before she is fed,
and the thought of Germany draw
ing sustenance from her is a lu
dicrous cne.
But, persists the calamity howler,
think of all the other resources of
Russia! Germany can come in and
help herself to coal and .iron and
petroleum and platinum %nd copper
axjd ail the other things of which
she has such heed. Again we beg
to differ. Until coal and oil and
metals are able to take legs unto
themselves and walk from the Urals
anft the Caspian to the Rhine, Ger
many will do nothing of the sort. It
takes railroads to move all these
things—railroads with -tracks and
rolling stock, and above all, loco
motives in good shipe. The fact
that Russia is, crying for 1,500 en
gines to save her from ruin is but
faint measure of her transportation
conditions. Materials of which there
has been most urgent need have
lain for two years at Archangel be
cause they could not be moved.
Transportation conditions in
France are bad. In Germany they
are worse. In Russia they are in a
state of indescribable demoraliza
tion. At the worst, then, the Rus
sian situation does not threaten us.
Nothing which can happen in Russia
can by any possibility afford Ger
many<fi source of supply for any of
the things of which she stands in
such dire need.
GOUGING THE PUBLIC
According to the New York Com
mercial, the public is being uncon
scionably gouged by wholesalers and
retailers 01 necessities 01 lite. It is
making some revelations which are
of interest in the hope that Mr.
Hoover can put a stop to profiteer
ing. On the whole, it considers the |
"rctuiler the great offender, but the'
manufacturer and jobber ulso come.
|in for blame. The manufacturer!
• faces heavy increases in all kinds j
: of taxation and he is never sure as l
to the cost of raw materials in the 1
future. He has marked up his rates, I
which in some instances are declared
to be unfair, but the retailer goea
him one better.
No one doubts the accuracy of
these statements, but the situation Is
a very difficult one. When there is
heavy demand and uncertain future
most business men are inclined to
charge as much as they can get.
With luxuries there is less complaint,
because most persons can do with
out them, but the actual necessities
of life are growing so expensive that
the wage-earner is suffering and but
for the fact that the average fam-
J ily Income is larger because of high
er waged, the situation would be ln-
J tolerable. —Philadelphia Enquirer.
LABOR NOTES
To equalize unemployment in the
winter months, members of Seattle
Wash.) Painters' Union will work
five days a week. Saturday will be
the 'offday.
An immediate effort will be made
to organize waitresses, stenogra
phers, telephone workers, cracker and
confectionery workers and all other
industrial lines in Philadelphia.
An investigation of the conditions
surrounding womafi workers in big
industrial plants engaged on war
contracts for the Government will be
made by the Pennsylvania State Com
mittee of Women in Industry.
The United States Shipping Board
has opened a shipbuilding school at
Newport News. AVorkmen from steel
shipyards in all sections of the coun
try will attend.
Since last April, when tills country
declared that a state of war exists
with Germany, the United States Gov
ernment has Inaugurated a definite
policy of recognition of organized
labor.
A point on the credit side of muni
tions factories is that in populous
districts of England they are helping
to solve the slum problem by elimi
nating the slums, for as fast as fac
tories spring up and extend slums
come down.
OUR DAILY LAUGH
HER NEXT JOB.
"Is your wife knitting for the sol
diers."
"Yes. That is she intends to just
as soon as she finishes a lovely pink
i and yellow sweater and a few other
; little things she needs for herself."
IN NO HURRY ABOUT IT.
Judge—Prisoner, It Is your right
o challenge the Jurymen you object
o.
Prisoner —All right, your honor;
i*ll reserve the right until after they
nake their decision.
: A KICK FROM BIRDVIL,I*E
Sparrow—My. some people have a
■ nerve sticking their waste paper
right in my doorway!
NEWER LOVE.
"Doe# she think very much of that
♦viator?"
"Oh, yea. She worships the very
ground he flies over."
r
Batting Gtyat
"There Is more savins being don<
in Harrisburg now than probabl;
ever known before. The Liberty Loat
campaigns and the numerous otliei
calls which have been made upon
the public for funds have checked
reckless spending and X think that
you will find there are more people
laying by money now than you real
ize," said ft man who has been con
nected wit:i financial institutions ior
years and who is an observer of con
ditions. There are some peoplo who
do not agree with him and who Bay
that before the peoplo of this com
munity can save much they must
cut down their expenditures. As a
matter of fact both are right. TheA
is more money being saved and there
seems to be just as much money
being spent as before for various
things that go to make up the pleas
ant side of life. However, there is
more money loose in Harrisburg
now, to use a slang expression, than
"for a coon's age." The amount of
business done hero has been increas
ing, wages on railroads and in mills
are up and while living is high,
wages are also up. Another man
active in financial affairs said that
one of the oddest things he ran
across was that people persisted in
regarding investments in Liberty
1..0 an as expenditures. They have a
totally different view regarding the
thrift stamps which are considered
as pure saving. The savings accounts
at banks have been going right on
up and there are probably more de
positors to-day than ever before in
Harrisburg. Incidentally, there will
be more people required to make in
come tax reports than one would
have believed possible a year ago.
• • •
Attorney General Brown has been
asked to furnish some expert ad
vice to a debater in a western coun
ty. This young man is on the nega
tive side of a debate in his school,
the subject being, "Resolved, that
more crimes are committed in anger
than for money." In order to put
one over on his opponents he deter
mined to seek the highest legal au
thority in the state, sending liim a
formal letter.
• • *
Dozens of justices of the peace are
considered as likely to lose chance oi
holding office for the terms for which
they were elected last month because
of their failure to file acceptances ol
the election with prothonotarles ol
their counties. The returns of thi
prothonotaries are commencing t(
reach the Capitol and show nurner
ous instances wherein no respons<
came from the men chosen as loca
magistrates. Unless the acceptance;
are certified the Secretary of th(
Commonwealth does not issue a com
mission and a vacancy is createc
which stands unless the Governo
makes an appointment. There nr
quite a number of townships am
some boroughs where vacancies havi
existed because no petition was fir
culated for appointment of any one
Under the law the justices have thir
ty days in which to file acceptances-
Governor Brumbaugh is signing th
commissions of the men electee
judges or re-elected at tire elsctioi
last month. The parchments, whlc!
bear the great seal of the state, wi!
be sent to the men elected within
few days.
• • •
Dr. Joseph Kalbfus, Secretary o
the State Game Commission, to-da
expressed the belief that the tott
kill of deer this year would in
ahead of any previous year. On I
a few reports have come in froi
wardens, but Dr. Kalbfus says "dec
have been plentiful and there hav
been many hunting parties. Froi
what we hear there have been som
fine bucks shot and the sportsmc
seem to have been successful 4 i
many parts of the state. lam sorr
to say that some does and fawr
have been shot and we are trying t
trace the hunters. The fall of snov
however, prevented much killing <
does for it would be easy to trac
the persons responsible. T<\ my min
it will be a very successful deer set
son and the kill will be a record."
• * •
All branches of the Pennsylvani
railroad employes are important, bn
now employes are expected to t
on the job every minute. Of cours
some branches are more essentU
than others and keep going day an
night. On such a busy system oi
would suppose there is no time du
ing working hours when any offl<
is entirely deserted. Even at tl
noon lunch hour someone Is on dut
Yesterday, however, there were tvi
departments where persistent cal
failed to bring an answer. Ev<
the obliging girls at the Pennsylv
nia railroad telephone exchani
were unable to explain the absen
of all employes. Calls to the 01
department were abandoned. Fi
times the other department w
called without a response. "Cat
understand what Is wrong up there
said the telephone girl. "Just wa
I will see if X can't get someone
answer." At last someone w
there. "What Is It?' said a man wl
a husky voice. A request was ma
for one of the clerks. "He is n
here. No one is- here and there w
be nobody here for a half-hour
least. Don't you know what day tl
Is? It i,s pay day and everybody
up at the paycar. I just got bac
The others will be along soon. T
paycar won't wait for anyone,
we have to hold up office busln<
until we get the cash."
• • •
Louis A. Watres, formei*
ant-Governor, who was hero yest<
day will retire on St. John's Day
grand master of the Masons of Peri
svlvanla and while here met a nu
ber of friends who congratulated li
upon his administration of affal
Mr. Watres has been a very act
official and has a host of friends
this part of the state.
| WELL KNOWN PEOPLE"
—President Pro Tem. Buckmar
giving his services as chairman
one of tho draft legal advisi
boards.
—Judge Barber, of the Carl
courts, has asked the saloonkeep
to close on Christmas.
—Dr. William T. Ellis, of Swav
more, the traveler, is in England
ter a tour of Kussia. He thinks
BoUhevlki will win out in the e
—Robert H. Norgang, tho new
phans' court clerk of is
Allen town schoolteacher.
—Banking Commissioner
says that he is awaiting the res
of the bank call this week with
terest because he thinks it will sh
some big savings.
| DO YOU KNOW
That IXarrlnburg b nianufac
taring dozens of things that ar
used for national defense and I
doing its bit and more?
\
HISTORIC HARRISBURG
This place was a depot for c
airy during the War of 1812's li
campaigns