14
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
A NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOME
Founded IS3I
Published evenings except Sunday by
THE TELEXiKAPII PRINTING CO.,
Telegraph Building. Federal Square.
* "E. J. STACK POLE, Prts't & Editor-inC hirf
P. R. OYSTER. Business Manager.
GUS M. STEINM-ETZ, Managing Editor.
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Wtlert 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.
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a year in advance.
3"- THURSDAY. DECEMBER 20, 1917
' m.
™ Hurry and Cunning are the (wo
i apprentice of Despatch and of Skill,
* but neither of them ever learn their
master's trade. — COLTOX.
**.
*■ • ■=
THE BVDGKT
. y* COUNCIL is engaged In the
** I . annual agony of paring down
the budget. Like all surgical
fj£ operations, if properly performed the
I**- patient will recover, perhaps little
fcf or none the worse for the exper
f#* pnce ' Indeed the cutting away of a
r... little surplus here and there may be
very beneficial. But right there is
where it behooves those who are
wielding the knives to be careful.
£ Among the items are many re
quests for increases of salaries. These
are difficult days for the salaried
■ man and none will begrudge the
public servant his pay, but in grant-
'' ing advances here and there Coun
,-L cil should be careful to go about
£ the matter in an equitable manner.
It will not do to keep on and on
raising pay in this or .that direction
without giving thought to those
St whose salaries have not been ad
vanced in many years. No private
* employer could do that and main-
Jljjj tain an efficient force, and the city
(a is in precisely the same position.
•; t'ouncilmen should scan carefully
every salary raiser proposed and so
NT divide the money available for that
purpose that the deserving shall re
ceive each his full share and not
appropriate all to a favored few.
'■ There are, also, the departments to
think about. Street cleaning, street
J repairs, health, parks—all ef these
r i have been created for the public
rgood. All have their place in the
city government and all must be
adequately maintained. Everything
**■ told, it is a puzzle of no mean pro
ngs
portions.
\YIIAT A CHRISTMAS!
I- p(OME of us are making our
Christmas preparations with a
touch of sadness and a bit of
u homesickness about the heart. For
home is not really home with loved
w ones off in the training camps and
vacant places at the holiday feast.
! Rut we keep on smiling, and re-
Hw membering, and ltyiking forward
Jjj* hopefully and joyously toward an
other Christmas. For what a Christ
£'* mas that will be when the boys come
** home! What a Christmas when at
IS last there really is peace again on
earth! It is something to live for.
> =
FARM LOAN BONDS
*. ENATOIi PENROSE has given
notice that he will contest the
kJ effort of Democrats in the Sen
t.. ate to pass the Hollis amendment to
the federal farm loan act authoriz
ing th 2 Secretary of the Treasury to
\J* purchase $100,000,000 worth of
• .. bonds from farm loan banks in 1918
stnd as many more in 1919. The Sen
ntor has raised a very proper ob
ns jection. A careful inquiry should
J- proceed any such legislation, • es
r.. pecially as it has been pretty gen
u erally understood that some of the
farm loan banks have not been as
carefully conducted as tjie principles
of good business denuuid. At all
* events we have gotten "lready too
jJJ far along in the habit of voting hun
■' dreds of millions of dollars in a few
'7 minutes and without debate. It will
be well to go slow with tills latest
ir proposal.
£ MI'ST MAINTAIN TI'HMMKES
* m HE orders issued by the Public
I Service Commission in the com
plaints against three Lancaster
* county turnpikes indicate pretty
t Plainly that the highways on which
T toll is chargeij must be maintained.
There has been a disposition on the
Part of turnpike companies, whose
*• owners realize that the days of the
• stop and pay on roads are nearing
£ an end. to let things slide. They
h allow ruts and holes and even drains
IT to go unrepaired. Practically every
thing la permitted to run down on
some turnpikes, except the toll gates.
The commission has served notice
fjj that so long as toll is taken service
*• must be rendered. The roadbeds
Jg must be kept safe, the drains rnain
w tained and other things be fit for
£ public use. It may be years before
the State takes over all of the turn
ip pikes and the commission seems to
ijf be determined that pending the re
i
)
THURSDAY EVENING,
moval of the gates the travel
ing public shall get smooth and f-afe
riding at least for its money,
PI'IIIJSH THE DINM>YAI.
LET us have a published list of
those people who won't buy
Liberty i;onds, who decline to
join the Red Cross and who refuse
to subscribe to Y. M. C. A. or Knights
of Columbus war work funds. Let
us know who they are, so that we
may treat them for what they are.
By that wo do not mean poor folks
who cannot buy bonds or those who
can glvo reasonable excuse for fail
ure to assume a share of the private
citizen's burden of the war, but
those who are prompted to withhold
their means by mere perversity of
spirit.
The time has come when those
who are not for the nation must be
regarded as against it. The sheep
must be separated from the goats. As
the Providence Journal says: Every
German or Austrian in the United
States, unless known by years of as
sociation to be absolutely loyal,
should be treated as a potential spy.
Keep yours eyes and ears open.
Whenever any suspicious act or dis
lcyal word comes to your notice com
municate at once with the Bureau
of Investigation of the Department
of Justice.
We are at war with the .most
merciless and inhuman nation in the
world. Hundreds of thousands of its
people In this country want to see
America humiliated and beaten to
her knees, and they are doing, and
will do, everything in their power to
bring this about.
Take nothing for granted. Energy
and alertness in this direction may
save the life of your son, or husband,
or yotr brother. A sure sign of dis
loyalty is failure to purchase a bond
or to subscribe to the war funds.
pr#viding of course, the person so
licited is financially able to do so.
By all means let us have the names
of those who insist on aiding Ger
many by withholding their dollars
from the United States, so that we
may file them in our notebooks for
reference. Our people have a right
to know who's who, patriotically
speaking, in Harrisburg.
THE WAR AND BASEBALL
FORMER GOVERNOR JOHN IC.
TENER, discussing the possibili
ties of the coming season, says
that despite the war "the people
must have baseball."
There have been and are those who
believe that all forms of enjoyment,
fecreation and sport should be dis
continued for the period of our con
flict with Germany, but Mr. Tener
is not one of them. A hard worker
from his childhood, the former Gov
ernor plays just as hard as he works.
That is why he is still young at an
age when many men are beginning
to feel their years. It should be so
with all of us. We shall grow stale
if we do nothing but work. "All work
and no play makes Jack a dull boy."
The harder we work the mpre are
we in need of diversion, and the
American public's .great outdoor re
creation is baseball. The boys took
their baseball outfits with them to
Erance; where is the harm in con
tinuing the game at home?
SOL'TH .MAKES RIO SLAM
REPRESENTATIVE FITZGER
ALD, of New York, .will re
tire from Congress at the end
of the year. His assigned reasons
are that he feels the need of mak
ing provision for his family r-nd
that his private affairs have been
neglected through the service which
his Congressional membership en
tails. Mr. Fitzgerald will practice
law in New York.
It is no secret at Washington that
Fitzgerald has found his position
irksome since the Wilson admin
istration came in. He is a Tam
many man and as such, despite his
great ability, his high character and
his powerful position in the House,
he has ever had cold welcome at
the other end of Pennsylvania Ave
nue. This, doubtless, has con-
Iributed to his decision to retire.
He is chairman of the House
Committee on Appropriations, and
that is the only great chairman
ship in the House which is held by
i Northern man. It will now go, in
all probability, to Representative
Sherley, of Kentucky; and Southern
domination of national legislation
will bo without a single flaw.
THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
TO-MORROW afternoon school
will let out with a rush and a
shout for the holiday season.
It has been "some" week. Ask any
teacher if that is not so. For child
hood recks little of war and the grim
figure of the Kaiser is dwarfed to
smallboy size and lost entirely to
sight behind the collossal presence
of the beneficent Santa Claus. And
this is quite as it should be, the
Kaiser having murdered some thou
sands of children, while dear eld
Santa has wrought his magic spell
and blest the Christmas days of mil
lions. Which is why Santa Claus
will be making his endless rounds,
cheerful, cherubic and smiling, cen
turies after the imperial Wilhelm,
like Caesar, "dead and turned to clay,
will stop a crack to keep the wind
away."
The spirit of ChVistmas is the spirit
of childhood, and so when Christ
mas Combines with the boys and
girls in a conspiracy against school
discipline the wise teacher bows to
the inevitable, turns the pages
of the singing book to "Jolly
Old St. " Nicholas, Bend Your
Ear This Way," lets the younger
pupils recite "The Night Before
Christmas" and enters upon a season
of Christmas trees and excitement
that winds up Friday afternoon be
fore the great holiday in a very orgy
of holiday celebration.
It's hard on cold-blooded school
efficiency, but it's great sport and
he were a hard-hearted Old Scrooge
indeed who would have it otherwise.
Looking back over the years, there is
' a halo of mellow memory about the
' bit of spruce on a school room desk
that is a treasure, lndeeil, to him
who holds It In his heart as preen
and lovely as the day It bloomed
gaudily in its dress of home-made
trimming from its anchorage in an
erstwhile Inkwell. And there is Joy
in the recollections of the old school
"treats" that thoughts of more pre
tentious gifts of later years cannot
mar. The riches of childhood fire
not measured In dollars and cents
and all the lessons are not learned
from letters, So let the fun be fast
and furious on the final day. Out
I upon stupid textbooks! Let Santa
reign supreme!
'Po&ttca- Ik
By the Ex-Comniittccnian
The manner In which the friends
of Superior Court Judge William D.
Porter, of Pittsburgh, have taken
hold of the proposition of renominat
ing the judge and the emphatic en
dorsement given him by the bars of
a number of counties, has raised the
hope of many Pennsylvanlans that
the state may be spared in 1918 a
repetition of the recent primary and
general election scrambles for places
upon the appellate benches. In a
number of counties members of the
bar have given hearty approval to
the course of Judge Porter and the
sentiment manifested in favor of his
renomination has been so general
that there is now not much doing in
the way of opposition.
Men active In politics in Pennsyl
vania have upon a number of occa
sions expressed the hope that when
the state is engaged in strenuous
contests for the nomination of party
tickets for state offices next year
that it would be a tine thing to keep
the single state-wide judicial elec
tion out of partisan politics. The Por
ter candidacy will furnish an oppor
tunity for testing the strength of this
feeling and also of the popular at
titude toward the nonpartisan act.
—lt is very evident from what is
being said and done at the State
Capitol that Governor Martin G.
Brumbaugh proposes to take a hand
in the primary campaign. The Gov
ernor has told friends that he will
make speeches in behalf of candi
dates for the Legislature pledged for
the "dry" amendment* and many
look for him to depart from tradi
tions connected with the last years
of gubernatorial terms and go 011 the
stump. The Governor is fond of cam
paigning and with his well-known
personal predelietlons In behalf of
antiliquor legislation he will not
want for a theme.
—Men opposed to the "dry"
amendment are already setting up
pins about the state and are bending
their efforts to sew up the nomina
tions for the Legislature in both
parties. Some of the Democrats are
in a quandary as they fear to openly
take up the amendment because of
effect on some of their most ardent
supporters.
—Mayor Smith was indicted by the
Grand Jury yesterday on charges of
contempt of court and conspiracy to
violate the Sher*n law in connection
with the outlawry in the Fifth ward
last primary election day, which re
sulted in the' killing of George A.
Eppley, a special policeman. Isaac
Deutsch the political opponent of
James A. Carey, a Mercantile Ap
praiser, and one of the principals
alleged to be responsible for the
reign of terror that swept through
the ward on that day, was indicted
on charges of murder and man
slaughter, together with Lieutenant
David Bennett, Policeman John
Wirtschafter. Michael J. Murphy,
Emanuel I'ram, Lewis Feldman and
Clarence Hayden, his political fol
lowers. '
—Retween 30.000 and <O,OOO votes
are expected to be added to the
strength of the Town Meeting party
through plans which will be placed
in operation at once, says the Phil
adelphia Press. It is the purpose of
the new party leaders to secure a
complete list of names on the as
sessors' lists, which closed last night.
These will be compared with the
names of those who are registered on
the voters' lists of last fall. A dif
ference of more than 40,000 is ex
pected to be revealed. Every man
who failed to register for the recent
election and who is now on the as
sessors' lists, will be subjected to a
personal canvass, with the idea that
when a large number failed to enroll
in August and September, they rep
resented the Independent element
who lack interest in elections when
there is no prospect of a vigorous
right at the polls.
—The city of Scranton has started
to cut down expenses and three II ,
department battalion chiefs have
been dropped.
—General regfet is being manifest
ed at the Capitol on the retirement
of Deputy Attorney General Horace
W. Davis. He had many friends here
and made a fine record.
—Mayor-elect Babcoek has every
one guessing on his appointments in
Pittsburgh. Announcements are due
next week.
—The fight against Representative
John E. Arthur, of Philadelphia, ac
cepting a Philadelphia city office ap
pears to have been sidetracked.
—J. O. Mulhern, well known here,
has been made an assistant fire mar
shal in Philadelphia,
—Auditor General Snyder's notion
in ordering a new audit of the state
insurance fund finances is attracting
much comment as it is taken to in
dicate'a policy of much activity on
the part of the Auditor General to
hold down expenses in departments
if it looks like creating a deficit.
BOOKS
Rooks, books.
With golden looks—-
Hives of rarest honey!
Story—Song,
A friendly throng—
The world for little money!
Rlow, blizzards, blow!
The hearth's aglow.
No pther comfort needing
Than just the light
Of pages bright—
Sweet sheltered fireside reading.
With friends o' mine
I sup and dine —
The gentle, kind and clever,
And though I'm poor
In worldly store
I'm rich in friends forever!
—Frank L. Stanton in the Atlanta
Constitution.
Learn How to Stoke Furnace
[From the Mother's Magazine.] ,
Learn to fire your furnace or stove
economically. If you don't know Just
what to do with the drafts, or the
best way to fire with the various
kinds of fuel, write to the manufac
turer, giving the name,date of manu
facture. and style number; he will
send you the desired information.
HARRISBtTRG tfiSSS TELEQRXPH
A HANDY MAN AROUND THE HOVSE' .... BY BRIGGS
• -
/ ABSOLUTELY
<tQ) ./.NOTHIWG
v - x ON
11 ' f ' ' r - HUM I
ttssl '
LABOR NOTES
Since the war began the employ
ment of women in the British metal
industries has increased 84 per cent
Of the 200,000 women and girls
employed in the district of Birming
ham, Eng., 25,000 are organized.
Missouri, Kansas and Texas Rail
road has raised wages of its feder
ated shop employes IVa cents an
hour.
On some of the street railways in
Great Britain half the cars are be
ing operated by women.
Frisco Cement Finishers' Union
has negotiated a new agreement
which includes wage increases.
More than 300,000 girls are en
gaged in cutting moss in England,
where, after being dried, it is used
for fuel.
Buffalo. N. Y., has raised wages
20 per cent for city laborers, hy
drant men, repair men and foremen.
Munition makers in this country
say they can operate their plants
successfully with TO per cent of wo
men as employes.
An American army of 1,000,000
men will require the output of 4,-
000,000 men, working in factory,
field and foundry.
Of the international organizations
in Canada the Brotherhood of Rail
road Trainmen heads the list with
a reported membership of 10,684.
The harvesting of the Canadian
crops was done mainly by women
and girls.
Drug clerks in Kansas City, Mo.,
are organizing to reduce their 90 and
95-hour work week.
Mason City( Iowa) carpenters will
get the eight-hour day on January 1,
1918.
DEAR MOTHER O' MINE
I am sitting tonight far away from
the place
Where I'm sure there are others see
a' beautiful face;
And as 1 sit here writing line after
line, •
I 'most hear the voice of dear Mother
o' Mine.
There's many a Christmas has come
and has gone,
Since the first one I saw its bright
ness put on;
But never -a one failed my thoughts
lo entwine
And affections about this dear
Mother o' Mine.
Sometitpes there were sorrows that
strewed my path thick.
And sometimes were griefs that
made the heart sick;
But troubles could never so thickly
combine
As to separate Christmas and dear
Mother o' Mine,
Or might it be joy that was piling
tip high
And showing to me a cloudless blue
sky;
Yet the sun of delight could never
so shine
As to hide the loved face of dear
Mother o' Mine.
The years have come on and have
then fled away,
And her locks that were dark are
now silvery gray;
But itarch through the years and
you'll not find a sign
That she's ever been fess than dear
Mother o' Mine.
Her hands are now toil-worn, her
Jorm less erect,
Her features less plump, her step
circumspect.
But you can't find another, I care
not how fine.
That begins to compare with dear
Mother o' Mine.
In childhood's distress or in man
hood's deep need.
To each call for help she quickly
gave heed.
Nor ever was heard her lot to repine,
This blessed and sweet dear old
Mother o' Mine.
Yes, Mother, dear Mother, we're
both growing "old,"
And all our life story will soon have
been told;
And Christmas reminds of the Savior
* Divine,
Who gives life eternal, dear Mother
o' Mine.
And when we have crossed to the
beautiful shore,
Where partings and troubles can
come never more,
We'll see how "all things worked to
gether" so flr.e
For your "good" and my "good,"
dear Mother o' Mine.
B. E. P. PRUGH.
The Man For the Job
WILD the congressional inquir
ies into the conduct of the
war—or, to be more exact, our
preparation for war—result in the
downfall of the Hon. Newton D.
Baker as secretary of war?
That is the question which, just
now, has first place in the public
mind: and there are only two an
swers to it—yes and no.
• Those who give the affirmative
answer hold that Mr. Baker s not
big enough for this job and that the
war cannot proceed as it should
until a "more sizal/le" man is put
In charge.
Those who give the negative an
swer. however, appear to rely, main
ly upon the well known character
istics of the present occupant of the
White House, to stick to his own
appointees through thick and thin:
particularly where the tight on them
might imply something of a reflect
tion on his own judgment—the Hon.
Josephus Daniels being a conspic
uous example of a man glued to his
job through the cohesive power of
opposition.
AVhatever may he the outcome of
it all, one thing appears very, clear.
It was inevitable that somebody
would be under fire before we had
progressed very far with our part of
the war; and what better target than
the secretaryof war—as was the case
vith Secretary Alger, in '9B.
Which brings to mind, by the way,
Mr. Dooley's famous remark, made
at that time to his friend Hennessy.
"There's a dale of dif'frence," he
said, "betwane being secri'tv of war
and secri'ty of a war." And so it is
—as Mr. Baker is finding out for
himself.
And it might be added, it is much
easier, of course, to find the mis
takewnade by the secretary of war
—in war times—than it is to avoid
them. In other words, being "sec
retary of a war" is a much bigger
job than the average man is capable
of handling without making mis
takes, and many of them however
easy it may be for him to criticise
mistakes after they are made.
Nevertheless, a fair criticism of
Mr. Baker's administration —and one
that covers all of his other mis
■takes as a whole —is, that he, or
someone, insisted on getting rid of
the one man in the army who could
and would have saved him from
many, if not all. if the mistakes that
have been made; particularly, the
mistake of "fiddling" with the busi
ness in hand.
That man. as everyone knows, was
Major General Leonard Wood, for
merly chief of staff —now relegated
WHEATLESS THERE
We are born In this Georgia valley
with a "single eye" for three things,
the weather, the harvest and Al
mighty God. We have had practice
in keeping our vision clear and our
attention fixed on the main job. We
,heard much, for example, about
"wheatlcss days" and "meatless
days." But for us, this has been a
"wheatlcss" year. The freeze in Feb
ruary destroyed all the grain in this
section. We live on corn bread. It
is the best, most nourishing bread in
the world except for Yankees and
foreigners who do not know how lo
prepare it.
And even of corn we have had
little enough. Last summer the
floods destroyed two-thirds of the
crop, so we could noi .tten pig"
during the winter. Therefore we
have had meatless days a-plenty, and
thought nothing tragic about that.
For we have had an abundance of
butter, milk and eggs. We havo not
suffered and we have never had bet
ter health. Nearly every young sin
gle man of draft age in the valley
has been called and accepted in the
■National Army. Not one has been
returned to us as "physically untit."
We arf! vty proud of this record.
We just sent them down to Camp
Gordon in their Sunday clothes, and
told them to do the best they could;
that probably they would not worry
about wrist watches and the time of
day when they got in sight of the
enemy's trenches.
We are strongely quiet about these
young men. We have uttered not
one word of complaint. We are just
TO DOUBLE THE ADVERTISING SPACE
GORDON H. CILLEY, advertising manager of the Philadelphia
store of John Wanamaker, announces that it is planned to use
this season double the amount of advertising space used last
season. This policy is'adopted in order to overcome selling handicaps
imposed by war conditions, to properly educate people as to the new
complexion of buying problems, and to establish the great store still
more firmly in public esteem as a service institution. The Wanamaker
example should be cited, by publishers everywhere, to any and.all
merchants who may be inoculated with the virus of timidity and over
caution. It is an example which the wise will follow and the foolish
ignore.—Editor and Publisher.
to a divisional training camp in
Kansas. For some reason or other,
the administration has insisted, all
along, in sidetracking General Wood.
First, by removing him as chief of
staff and sending him to Governor's
Island; next by giving him his choice
of positions at Manila, Honolulu or
Charleston—with the result that he
took Charleston—and then, while
he was doing such wonderful work
whipping the South into shafje for
war, suddenly shifting him to a post
out west.
Many were the explanations of
fered, at the time, for these "pro
motions" for General Wood; but the
trouble with all of them was, they
attributed motives to the administra
tion which the administration, itself,
never for a moment entertained. In
other words, the "move-on" orders,
handed to General Wood were not. J
necessarily, intended as a recogni
tion of his superior ability and ex
perience as an organizer—not if the
administration knew itself.
On the contrary, it is an open se
cret that when General Wood—testi
fying in his usual frank way beforo
a committee from Congress—made
bold to say that what the War De
partment most needed was to be
"sand-bagged," he started something
that someone else in the War De
partment, felt called upon to finish.
And, even though the sand-bag"
was not used on General Wood, the
means adopted appear to have been
quite as effective.
The result of all of which is. the
Nation has lost the best service of
cne of its best soldiers; the one nan.
in fact, who had a sufficient gra?p of
the situation and energy and finish
that goes with it—to get this coun
try readv for war in about half the
time that will be required by those
who needed to be "sand-bagged.
The administration could do no
bigger tiling, right now, than to re
call this great American soldier to
Washington and make him chief or
staff and turn him loose to cut out
the underbrush and dead timber. If
it should, by any chance, do such a
! thing, the country would begin to
I see a difference at once—and so
(would Germany.
But. frankly, we don't expect it.
And we don't expect it, because,
with General Wood as chief of staff
and Newton D. Baker as secretary
of war, it would be putting the cart
before the horse, so to speak. And
candor compels the further admis
sion that it hasn't been the habit of
the AVashington administration, so
far, to surround itself with men of
the highest capacity.
dumb, holding our breath for what
may happen. We are not coddling
them, nor sending them boxes from
home. They can live on war rations.
They always have done it on less.
And we reckon they will do their
duty when the time comes, because
they are accustomed to performing
hard duties with sublimely uncon
scious dignity.—Corra Harris in the
New York Independent.
'NOTHER HERO
He wears no medal on his vest,
No lettered bronze adorns his chest.
Ho makes no grandstand bid for
fame,
The hero stunt is not his game.
But he has faced the stress of life
And smiled .through tears and pain
and strife.
While war has put him on the sklus,
He's fed a wife and seven kids
And clothed and housed his growing
brood
And never made a comment rude.
He goes his humble, helpful way
And spends bis salary each day.
The war-mad throng won't shout his
name,
But he's a hero just the same.
—Elmira Star-Gazette.
LOCAL PRIDE
Let bards blurb of Elysian Fields or
Terra del Fuego.
Both may be fair. I do not care.
They're too far from Wamego.
There is, indeed, no place like home,
as Payne said in his stanzas,
None to compare, so good, so fair, as
dear Wamego, Kansas.
—Kansas City Star.
DECEMBER 20, 19) 7.
Otfer the
uv "~pe>tfuu
One advantage a talking machine
has over the human voice is that
you can shut it off or change the
record.
• ♦ *
Must be some good in the coal
barons. We read: "Following their
usual custom the Keystone Coal and
Coke Company, Jamison Coal Com
pany and the H. C. Frick Coke Com
pany and perhaps several other t>ig
Westmoreland county corporations
will distribute tons of candies, or
anges, bananas, popcorn balls f.nd
other sweetmeats at their stores and
mining plants this Christmas or the
day before. Every child as well as
the parents will be given Christmas
treats."
The lovely town of Ardmore, Pa.,
has been substantially put on the
map lately by a "movie fan" dog,
named Fritz. He is owned by Mrs.
J. W. Macßeynolds who takes him
to the films every night. Friends of
the owner say it is the "cutest thing"
how Fritz pays close attention to a
Mary Pickford reel and how he
moans sadly when a is
shown."
The hot denial of Austrian news
papers that Austria is not a vassal
of Germany certainly recalls the eld
ballad:
"There was a young lady from Niger
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger;
They returned from the ride
With the lady inside.
And the smile on the face of the
tiger."
OUR DAILY LAUGH
HORRIBLE. ,SL U .
Ist Microbe—
What's wrong 7. . (®'®rLviilr
with you? ('/<■/>
2nd Microbe
—I had a hor- -SC' "si
rible dream! I 'sJ
dreamed I fell \ , • g
into a can of -Jfe ,
antiseptic ' solu
*Wg\\ ONLY THING
b TILAT WOUIjD
yj N TB Spar row
$) I ft | Whatja get in
m/kto] B your stocking
K/iy ( Christmas?
fIWT B Stork Samu
a old thing, a
| n candy canol
breach of prom- J
now she has IB |
backed out.
UNRECOG
ABILITY.
£ $ / The folks
* who are run
| ning this war
: don't know any
: No, my boy's
Si P army six weeks
now and they
haven't madi a
; \ T colonel out of
Eirening (ttljal
Indications are that hy this ttm
next year that substantial progresl
will not only have been made on the
preparation of the twenty-seven oi
so acres embraced in Capitol paib
extension for the landscape garden
ing which is to make It one of th
beauty spots of the state, but that i'
will also be possible to see the niß
changes which will be made along
the streets which bound the park.
Specifications will be drawn up
shortly for the coping to be placed
at the base of the terraces which
will rise from a little inside of th
present edge of the park in Third
Walnut and North streets and it ia
•the idea to let contracts for this
work withing a few months so that
when spring comes around the ac
five operations can be started. This
work will mean that the sidewalks
on the Capitol park side of Walnut
ahd Third streets will be abolished \
and there will be materially widet ™
driveways. The city will have to
furnish the wider street in North
but that will come with the years.
At Third and Walnut streets there
will be an indentation into the park
for highway purposes which will be •
semicicular in form and not only
afford more room for that busy in
tersection of streets, but also per
mit of the creation of a formal en
trance to the park. With the en
larged federal building and the new
Penn-llarris this formal entrance
and the "circle" will make a very
attractive spot. It is hoped to get
all this under way in the next
twelvemonth and to push things
along in the extension. It is also
possible that the new highway
through the pnrk extension, which
will be on the lines of Aberdeen and
Fast streets may be opened and
Fourth street closed. The Harris
burg Railways Company otticiais are
ready to begin preparations to move
their tracks whenever the Common
wealth asks. About the only thing
to be adjusted is the strip along the
Pennsylvania railroad which is un
der discussion with that company.
By this time next year it is also pos
sible that the people of Ilarrisburg
will have authorized the relocation
of the bridge at State Street co that
it will be part of the great schema
of adornment of the city.
Rival claims to Fish Island, in the
Susquehanna near Wilkes-Barre and
underlaid with valuable coal depos
its, which lias been before the State
Board of Property for twenty years
and attracted state-wide attention,
will not be opened up again by the
Board. Today it decided not to
grant a rehearing- prayed by Edwin
A. Hoffman, of Wilkes-Barre, who
has contended since 1897 that no
patents were ever issued to the
Mitchell and Shoemaker interests
which have held title for years and
under whose leases coal has been
mined and other operations conduct
ed. The present title is said to date
from 1811 and Hoffman was refused
nineteen years ago on the ground
that the title had passed from th
state. He was refused a rehearing
in 1901 and in 1915 renewed the
case, presenting an old map which
he contended proved his assertions.
The Board, however, held that it
was not after discovered evidence
and refused to reopen the proceed
ings. In another case the Board
held that the state could not be a
legal intervener and claim 300 acres
near Mont Alto for which a patent
was issued to John Horner in 1904,
but on which it was contended no
survey had ever been filed. These
two questions have long been pend
ing before the Board and will deter
mine litigation which has attracted
much interest.
"We have had more snow and
real cold weather up in Erie than wo
have ever known in the month of
December," said Ex-Auditor General
A. E. Sisson while on a visit to tho
Capitol yesterday. "This has been
a busy year along the lake," said tho ?
general, "but we are having winter 1
of the old-fashioned kind."
Dr. Charles T. chairman of
the commission to select a site for
the new State Insane Hospital, says
that his commission is now ready
to receive invitation to view sites,
but is not anxious for midwinter
trips. The commission wants to se
cure a site which will be amplQ and
healthful and wants suggestions.
"What is the reason that people
persist in driving on car tracks?
Don't they know that by going or.ly
in the place made by tlie cars that
they are really restricting the road
way because they do not help make
any?" asked a man yesterday. 'The
traction company pays for the open
ing of the tracks and everyone else
uses them; the rails become clogged
with snow and ice and the wheels
spin around a couple of times, wast
ing energy, without making any
progress. I can't understand 'why
teamers and auto drivers do not try
to make paths or tracks and keep
them open instead of running in on
railroads and filling them with
snow." 0
"This snow is too big a proposition
for the city as it is now consti
tuted,' declared another man. "The
snow is really a pretty serious prop
ositi-in. It is ahead of time and
tr ter than expected. The allow
ance for fighting and removing pnow
-nras made on the basis of experience
in former years. This is an extra
ordinary snow and comes t a time
when labor and carts are hard to
get. The city's regular force is small
enough and does fine work consider
ing its appropriation, but this snow
needs a big force of men o tackle
it and Clear it off. And the prob
lem is where to get the men r.nd
the carts at this time?"
These are the days of conserva
tion even in Christmas greetings. A
rather nicely printed paper bag was
received here today from a Virginia
city, conveying best wishes for a
Merry Christmas. It was just an
ordinary paper bag such as you re
ceive when you buy peanuts.
WELL KNOWN PEOPLE
—Dr. Wilrner Krusen, Philadel
phia director ctt health, who seized
coal for a Philadelphia charitable in
stittition, says he would do it again
if occasion arose.
-—R. S. Taylor, prominent, resident
of Bethlehem, will take charge of
the antisedition campaign in North
ampton.
—D. W. Kuhn, Pittsburgh coal
administrator, asks heads of estab
lishments to lend him trucks on
Sunday to move coal from mines.
—Cass Morgan is the new mercan
tile appraiser of Lackawanna. He
lives in Scranton.
-—Major Russell Reall, General
Pershing's adjutant, is a native of
Unlontown.
DO YOU KNOW
That Harrlsburg people are
furnishing considerable material
to make soldiers comfortable
over the holidays In the big
camps? '
HISTORIC HARRISBURG
Peter Barbezon, a French trader,
is said to have had a trading post
at Liocliiel before Harris came this
way.