12 HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH A NEWSPAPER FOR TIIE HOME Pounded ISJ: Published evenings except Sunday by THE TBUBGRAPH PRINTING CO., Trlesrraph Building, Federal Square. TS. J. ST ACKPOLE, PreSt & Editor-in-Chief F. R. OYSTER, 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 Newspaper Pub- I Ushers' Assocla- Bureau of Circu lation and Penn sylvania Associ ated Dallies. Eastern office, Finley, ' Fifth Avenue Building, Western office, Brooks & Entered at the Post Office In Harris burg, Pa., as second class matter. rgl'V r f^l■ By carriers, ten cents a O*' ..." week; by mall. $5.00 a year in advance. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19, IDI7 To trill what God doth will, that •is the only science that gives rest. —MALEBBK. A TIMELY INQUIRY THE public will welcome the pro posed inquiry of Congress in to the incompetencies lays of the Shipping Board, for the purpose "of weighing the anchor of officialdom and cutting the hawsers ] of red tape which are foundering the board." Whoever pronounced that definition summed up the situation in a nutshell. The greatest need of the nation is ships and there has been more bungling there than in any other branch of our war prepara tions. The trouble has been that the President tried to mix personal abil ity and political appointments, with the customary sad results. Congress may investigate till the cows come home or the Kaiser comes over, but until certain radical weak nesses at the very top of the govern ment are recognized and removed the Shipping Board will not be freo from controversy and resulting de lays. President Wilson is an able und well-meaning man and his pa triotism is beyond question. His great fault is slowness of decision, and his inability or unwillingness for one reason or another to select big men for big jobs. A glance at the cabinet and at the make-up ef various war boards is proof of this. That we have got along as well as we have in the months since war was declared is traceable largely to the business organization and indus trial capacity of the country, to the business experts who volunteered to work for a dollar a year and a vast amount of adverse criticism and to the splendid body of trained and ex perienced experts in the Army and Navy. Whenever the President reaches the point, which he doubtless will, where he is willing to consider abil ity first and political preference sec ond, the government will attain a de gree of efficiency and rapidity of action which will have no misgivings when Congressional inquiries are suggested. Until that time the Ship ping Board muddles will continue to mar otir military plans. MOTIIKHS AND SONS ONCE more the patriotic spirit of Harrisburg has been splen didly expressed in the iarge number of volunteeers who have gone into the service of their coun try since the first draft some weeks ago. So large is this number that the recruiting officers here believe that this city will be passed over in tho second draft. Whatever there was of slackerism In the early part of the war is rap idly disappearing. Recently a young man from another town wrote his mother that he wanted to enlist; that he knew she was glad he wasn't called In the first conscription and thought he himself was glad, but somehow after a little he wasn't glad at all, that he had been going around feeling like a sneak, that every time any one congratulated him on having escaped he wished to heaven they wouldn't. He hoped his mother wouldn't be all broken up by his decision to enlist: that Hhe wouldn't want him to go on foellng like a sneak! that he didn't think It was good for a fellow to feel that was'i nor for his country either. Then lie waited for his mother's answer to his letter! Bhe wrote him that she wasn't sure that it was right In his rase, that he had never been remarkably strong, that as a boy she remem bered how he dreaded the sound of a gun, and that she wasn't sure he could bear to kill men—the boy who had cried his heart out over a dead bird. 'Then she recalled that he must have thought twice or a hundred times before he came to his decision and she tore up the letter and began another, In which she wondered whether he could get a position Where l>e wouldn't have to go to the actual front, because she didn't know how she could bear that. Then she tore up the second letter and started another in which she said she felt she ought not to lntluenoe him against enlistment; that If he felt It was surely his duty she must bear her part. But she finally coa- WEDTTESD AVTEVENTNG, J eluded that she wanted her boy to j j do his duty and she wrote how lonely ■ she would feel.' but that she wanted to do her part—And Anally with a full realization of the duty of moth-| crhood she destroyed what aha had ! written and wrote this: "You're the real thing, and I am no proud of you, I would like to hug you. Of course, you don't want to go on feeling like a sneak, and I should feel like one myself If I let you. Go ahead and enlist, dear and I'll enlist with you—for the dur ation of the war, as the phrase Is." But the boy had been testing his mother. He couldn't wait to write the words of his pride in her and this is what he wired: "You are the real thing yourself. Will enlist to day. Love." The mothers of this country con stitute a strong line of defense and they are doing as much to maintain the morale of the fighting troops as all the other agencies combined, God bless 'em. I Down With Factionalism WITH an unselfish purpose and no thought other than the welfare of a great political organization, whoso traditions wnd achievements constitute an honor able part of the nation's history, the Telegraph has, time and again, earn estly protested against the faction ism that is imperiling the very exist ence of the Republican party in Pennsylvania. Frequent appeals to influential leaders to bury their dif ferences and co-operate in support of great fundamental principles and worthy candidates, have had the hearty endorsement of stalwart Re publicans throughout the state. The party press has endorsed this news paper's position and many messages and letters have been received com mending our advocacy of party har mony for the public good. Among the rank and file—the men who fight the battles in the trenches —there is a wide-spread and Increas ing sentiment in favor of getting to gether against the common political foe, now entrenched in high places and constantly digging in for a stronger offensive. Arrogant and partisan to the core, Democratic bosses are sending forth the propaganda of nonpartlsanship in the hope of still further weaken ing the Republican lines, meanwhile hoping that the patriotic support of the government by men of all parties may serve to divert attention from the purely political maneuvering of the groups who are first of all inter ested in their own ambitions. Elsewhere this evening the Tele graph prints a number of letters from editors whose faith in Repub lican principles cannot be questioned and whose views upon the factional foolishness which now menaces the party should be of special interest to leaders and followers alike in the Republican organization of Pennsyl vania. There are no differences so irrec oncilable as to be offered as excuse for party dissension. Harmony is easily attainable and no peurile per sonal animosities shall stand in the way. PIGGERY DISPOSAL COUNCIL has the approval of the public In its solution of the garbage disposal problem. The new contractors will have to hurry if they hope to get their piggery established and working within the brief time yet remaining before' the expiration of the present arrange ment. but once going there should be no more complaint of uncollected refuse, for it will be all to the ad vantage of the contractor to gather the garbage as quickly as possible in order that it may be fit for fodder when it reaches his disposal plant. Pork, Mr. Hoover says, is one of the big factors in winning the war for the allies. The larger the pork supply the more efficient our fighting forces and the simpler our food problems, for pork is one of the few kinds of meat that may be cheaply prepared in appetizing ways to keep in almost any climate under even the most adverse conditions. Pork can be carried by the soldier when any other kind of meat of slmlllar nutritive value would spoil. It Is a nourishing, satisfying and generally pleasing diet. And what is quite as important. It can be pro duced in les3 time than is required to mature any other form of meat ration. If. therefore, Harrlsburg can make 1,000 pigs grow where none grew before, and at the same time dis pose of its waste, it has done a pa triotic as well as a practical thing. The wonder Is that we did not come to the piggery solution lonff ago, for there is nothing new or novel about It. It used to be the fashion, not so very long ago, to carry the garbage to the pig pen at the end of the garden plot and use It to fatten the family bacon. The new plan Is merely an enlargement of the size of the pail and the pig pen. It la ap plying an old household expedient and economy to municipal govern ment. foUUct U 'ptKKOl jicaiucc By the Ex-Committeeman Inconsistency of the Democratic bosses, national and state, who de precate talk of politics at this grave hour" and are bending energies to the perfecting of a great political machine in Pennsylvania, seems to have attracted attention at Wash ington. The fact that while some of the bosses of the Democracy, na tional and state, were making speeches and giving out interviews that this was a time to eschew po litics and the cobwebs were being wiped from the windows of Demo cratic state headquarters was r.ot lost on many people. It is all part of the scheme to keep people interested while setting ready for the big cam paign to swing the state next year. This activity behind the scenes seems to have impressed many peo ple who observe public affairs, and Jonathan Bourne, Jr., president of the Republican Publicity Associa tion, which is peculiarly applicable to Pennsylvania, says in patt: "If this is not time for politics, why has the Democratic national committee recently organized on the most systematic campaign basis ever attempted by any party committee in the United States? Why is that committee issuing partisan publicity matter and maintaining an exten sive publicity bureau? If this is not time for politics, why do we have a solidly Democratic cabinet, why are the Democratic campaign con tributors given the most powerful positions in our war organization and why was the chairman of the Dem ocratic national committee chosen to go as a representative of this country to the war conference in Eu rope? "If this is no time to talk tariff, why are we maintaining a tariff com mission, why was that commission placed in the control of free traders, and why is the commission now con ducting a tariff inquiry? Shall the businessmen of America keep silent while an official organization of free traders talk tariff? Shall men who exercise alert foresight in their pri vate business adopt a 'watchful wait ing' policy in public affairs? Shall we postpone preparedness for peace until peace has come? Shall men be told that they are 'nervous and hys terical' when they urge preparedness for commerce lust as they were when they urged preparedness for war? Shall men who believe in 'America First' leave tariff discussion and tar iff legislation to that political partv which, in 1913, legislated for Eu rope and Asia first? "Shall Republicans cease to talk politics while all the power of the administration is being used to place Democrats in office? Let the Demo cratic press answer." —lt is also to be noticed that while the Democratic bosses, na tional and state, are shaking their heads solemnly over the tendency of anyone else to talk politics, that the bosses are taking good care to huild up the machine. The new laws pass ed because of. the war make many places and deserving Democrats are taken care of. In every revenue dis trict Democrats are being put on the public payroll. This is presumably also to be deprecated as a conversa tional topic. At Scranton alone Revenue Collector Ivirkendall named five men to places paying from sl,- 400 to SI,GOO a year, one of them being Bernard Kelley, burgess-elect of Dunmore. —Mayor E. B. Jermyn, of Scran ton, Philip V. Mattes and Albert Da vis, of West Scranton, are mention ed as probable candidates for state senator. Mr. Davis was a candidate four years ago, losing to Senator Lynch by only a few votes. —Eight Tamaqua men, who start ed an election contest to prevent George Krell taking his seat as tax collector, unexpectedly found them selves as defendants yesterday at Pottsville when they were put on the witness stand in court and asked as to whether they paid their taxes within two years. Ralph Dry, Her bert Becker and Jay Gould gave sat isfactory answers, but there is a doubt as to whether Albert Ans pacht, another petitioner, qualified as an elector. Other petitioners will be heard on Monday, and, if they fail to qualify, the petition becomes invalid. —While Governor Brumbaugh has not made any direct reply to the question whether he intends to call a special session of the legislature or not to act upon the prohibition amendment, it is generally assumed from the tenor of his remarks that he considers it useless and that as the last legislature was "wet" he would share responsibility for de feat of the amendment if he sum moned the assembly to act on the measure. The Governor says a de feat in Pennsylvania for the amend ment would have serious conse quences. Only in the event that there is a change in sentiment, which would have the effect of caus ing legislators to line up for the amendment, will the Governor call an extra session. It will be recalled that the vote on local option last spring was 127 noes to 72 ayes in the House and that the "dry for the war" bill went down with 102 noes to 64 ayes. —Auditor General Snyder says that he hopes the supreme court will settle once for all the question of the rights of the State Senate. The auditor general is just back from Philadelphia hand says that he is not "after any one," but simply trying to see that deficits are not created and that money is spent along the lines contemplated by the legislature of which he was a mem ber. —Death of Judge L. L. Davis, of Pittsburgh, makes another vacancy for the Governor to fill. Judge Pa vis, who was well known to the lawy ers of the state, had been a member of the bar for thirty-seven years and a judge since appointment by Gov ernor Stuart in 1908. —Ex-Congressman Wanger, of Norriston, has suffered a mental breakdown. He had been in ill health for some time. —Friends of Senator P. C. Knox say that he would not consider run ning for governor under any condi tions. —Delaware county "drys" have! started their antilicense tight. A Chester dispatch to the Philadelphia Press says: "There will be no an nexation of Delaware county or any part of It to the city of Philadelphia, according to the leading men of uuu A discreet old housekeeper in Nor ristown when rebuked by the com mittee for not observing a meatless day answered very sharply that she was making good the same as any body else. "I only give 'em hash on no-meat days," she defied. Lehigh County has evolved a plan which promises to be of much value in disposing of the farm labor prob lem during next season. The local Public Safety Committee is raising funds to secure various types of tractors which are to be hired out to farmers who may be unable to pur chase such machinery. The Com mittee is also organizing "Co-opera tive rings" among the farmers for co-operation in the use of motor driven implements. The meanest use for camouflage yet registered is identified with the pursuit of an errant husband by a Philadelphia woman who was per mitted to search a hotel along with several detectives, because all of them carried great floral horseshoes with the words "Happy Birthday." There was no doubt about the hus band being surprised. CRUELTY FOR I. W. W Tarring and feathering seeming impotent to curb the I. W. W., why not go to the extremes of cruelty and try soap and water?— Atlanta Constitution. OUR DAILY LAUGH THE SILVER V LININO. \ Oldbatch I * ihould think !% jrou'd be ex- V\ fiTji . loyod by your fV' ivlfe's notoriety u a rabid mill !ant suffragette. I //£> Henry Peck —Oh it Is not ao VHk lad. Last year IIHL the did six J W aonths in jaft. jJF 0 UP-TO-DATE. Mifi Mrs. Ostrich i —My> my ' how * much better one's feathers look on one's head, than on lOa the tall ' THE RAINY, Funny! My wife alwayi MB '/[ y. goes shopping /J 1 ,/A on rainy daya *" ft and asks me for ' j a check before //• I/j she starts. >/'/# V H'm. Sort 'f £ % rainy day ' *- check, eh? A WARNING. NSMK ft /$ Bpar row WjßJu f.f Hey, Mr. Wood wKfS /k pecker what do '/ n Y&. you mean? tiw // 7 Can't you read !!^^|jl| | i j|l|!!|| that BlKn7 '■inn iii" o > Brntfttg (Hljat While the heavy snow which cov ers this part of Pennsylvania may be very valuable to the farmers as fertilizer and be interesting to us city folks because of the quantity of soot and dirt that it collects In the course of one busy twenty-four Harrisburg hours, there is no gain saying that it has been a very ex pensive proposition for this munici pality and its people. When the snow began it cost the Harrisburg Railways Company some hundreds of dollars and the railroad companies spent money as fast as the snow lell. Since that time householder have been pouring out their money to keep the sidewalks clear and al-< most every day it has been necessary to repeat the process. In addition, merchants have been kept on the jump to maintain their supplies and IT w j £ to s P en d money, while the United States government has been a contributor to the general snow expenditure. What the snow will cost the city' will be interesting to ^ ow ' w "' Probably run higher than the ordinary citizen thinks. To open crossings costs hundreds of dol lars and the bulwarks which havo arisen at street corners in the lust few days rather point to the expen siveness of real winter. The clear ing: of the business section has been a heavy task and when it is eonsid ered how enormously the traffic has grown in the down town part of tho city the last few years and the great Christmas business being done it will be worth noting that street cleaning is a way to spend money. This early December snowstorm is doing a lot of people good," re marked a medical man yesterday. "It's getting them out to shovel snow and that form of exercise I prescribe for all who cafl stand it. Try it your self. You will eat a lot afterwards, but you will feel better. Shoveling snow is not only good for what nils most of you indoor fellows, but it does a lot of good for the general public. Go shovel snow." "Say, you go tell your doctor friend to get the people to shovel snow for economic and safety rea sons as well as health," remarked a man more observant of conditions from a public standpoint than the medical man to whom X mentioned the enthusiasm of the eminent phy sician. "If he will get his patients and his neighbors and his friends out to shovel snow it will do this town a lot of good and solve a problem. Why, we can hardly get anyone to shovel snow at all. We have to pretty nearly corral men to shovel off the pavements. The man of the house is too busy, the boys have too much on their minds now and as for the people who used to pull our doorbells out by the roots before breakfast to clean our sidewalks, they are not to be found. I sup pose clearing the sidewalk will go to the women folks." "Both your people are wrong. The sidewalks are being cleared about as ever and don't let anyone think they are not. There is a lot of snow and it takes a lot of work and consider ing the weather conditions are lair," said a city official. Fears that Pennsylvania is going to experience the most serious short age of seed corn in many years were expressed by officials at the State Department of Agriculture today and steps to secure a big supply are be ing taken. The matter will be brought up at the meeting of the State Board of Agriculture in this city next month and at the sessions of the various allied bodies. It is stated that the supply in sight i* much less than usual in the big 'jori(J raising counties, while in the north ern tier much of the corn depended upon for seed was killed and much of it is standing unhusked as a re sult of the killing frosts which oc curred during the early part of Sep tember. In some of the western counties the farmers had short crops and sold extensively, feeling confi dent that the eastern counties would be able to make up any deficiencies. The eastern county men have sold just as extensively, it seems. State draft headquarters and the Adjutant General's Department are commencing to receive many letters from Russians in various parts of the state demanding to be released from the draft. For a .time they re quested it. Now they are officially demanding to be relieved. Most cf them contend that their business is essential to the nation, but there are many who now consider that their country is out of the war and that therefore they should not be classed with the Italians and Frenchmen. The Russian rases are being Investi gated. • • The Oil City Derrick, better known among the people of Northwestern Pennsylvania and in the newspaper world as "Boyle's newspaper" has issued one of the most notable of the special editions of the year. It is more than a mere newspaper publi cation; it is a historical record ol that wonderfully endowed section of the Keystone state and a review ol its enterprises. It is as unusual from a typographical standpoint as it ig for the matter that It contains. WELL KNOWN PEOPLE ] —Clinton Rogers Woodruff, chair man of one of the Philadelphia boards, is introducing some ideas ol economy into the draft work ir Philadelphia. —State Librarian Thomas Lync! Montgomery is booked to deliver ar address before one of Philadelphia'! book lovers' clubs in Phlladelphli next month. —Judge Wanner, of the Yorl courts, has attracted some commen in York county by holding that sal< of tobacco on Sunday is a vloiatioi of the old Blue Laws. —Bishop Hoban, of Scranton made a stirring address In behalf o the Armenians at his city in com pany with Bishops Talbot and Berry —I. A. Deisher, well known here Is the head of the Reading Jewel ers' Association. DO YOU KNOW That Harrlsburg wheelbar rows arc being used in Kurope? 'HISTORIC HARRISBURU Col. Boquet, who vanquished thi Indians raised some of his force ii the Harris house at the Ferry. AIR SERVICE SAFEST Rear Admiral Robert K. Peary sale in a recent address before a largi gathering of newly enfranchises women in New York that of al branches of military service in th< present war, aviation is the safest The hospital service, said the admir al, is the most dangerous. Artiller is placed by Admiral Peary as nex In point of relative hazard, with th Infantry next., and the cavalry as th safest of the various branches, ex cept the service in the air.—Atlant Constitution.