6
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
~ A NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOME
Founded lijt
Published evening! except Sunday by
THE TELEGRAPH PRIVTIXO CO..
TelegTaph Building, Federal Square.
J. BTACKPOLB, Pr*t"t & Bdiif-in-Chirf
T. R. OYSTER, Busintis Manager.
OUS H. BTEINMETZ, Managing Eiitor.
Member of the Associated Presa—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
•nd also the local news published
herein.
All rights of republication of apeclal
, dispatches herein are also reserved.
t Member American
Ushers' Assocla-
Bureau of Circu
lation and Pen °"
Eistern °k fIC &
Avenue Building,
Entered at the Post Office in Harris
burg, Pa., as second class matter.
By carriers, ten cents a
4 week; by mail, $5.00
a year in advance,
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 26, 1817
This world tian been Jed more by
footprints than fjuide-boards. —H. A.
PORTER.
THE FARSICAL CLARK ACT
SCORE another bungle for the
farsical Clark act! That piti
ful attempt at municipal reform
has been responsible for so many
evils in the third class cities of Penn
sylvania since its adoption that it
might easily have been imagined it
had run the full of its possi
bilities in that direction. But another
has been discovered. Unless an In
terpretation can be placed upon it
that a careful study of the language
does not appear to imply, Harrisburg
will be unable to make Its own col
lection of ashes. The "joker" in the
law provides that such work must
be done by contract.
It so happens that collection by
contract has proved a failure here,
and very expensive. Councilmen es
timate that they could save money
and give the people better service by
collecting the ashes through the
medium of a municipal bureau. But
whoever wrote the law —and It is
said the author was paid a fabulous
price for putting together the mon
strosity that masquerades under the
. KUise of a model municipal act—was j
very careful to see to it that ashesi
must be collected by contract, thus
giving opportunity for such mis
carriages of public service as Harris
burg has been compelled to endure
under an old contract for many years,
and from which it just now hoped
to get away. The only escape from
doing the work by contract is for the
city to go back to the old method of
letting every householder see to the
removal of his own ashes. Either
through sheer stupidity or otherwise
this clause of the law is made to be
in direct opposition to the best in
terests of the city and directly fa
vorable to contractors.
Yet this is the law which was her
alded as advanced municipal legisla
tion, designed to "take council out of
politics and restore the government
to the people," as one enthusiastic
supporter put it when arguing the
merits of the bill before the Legisla
ture. In reality it lias done little or
nothing that was promised for it.
Party politics still plays a dominant
part in city affairs, the old faults
ivhen they have vanished have given
J place to others of kind, and now
tomes this stupid or vicious ash!
tlause to plague tho people. It is to I
tie hoped that City Solicitor Fox may
And some means of circumventing a
rule that would result in nothing but
loss and dissatisfaction to every
householder in the city.
MISCHIEVOUS MYSTERY
CUTTING the interminable coils
of red tape which hamper the
war activities of Uncle Sam
must bq the inevitable result of in
vestigations now under way at Wash
ington. Much valuable time has been
lost through the crossing of wires
and diversion of authority, but the
job has been a big one and Ameri
cans are a patient people.
With regard to disloyal citizens
and enemy aliens, however, patience
lias ceased to be a virtue. We must
now give thought as never before
10 the safeguarding of our Interests
at home and abroad, and tlijs involves
the careful weeding out of all
enemies in the guise of friends who
are taking advantage of our national
good nature and optimism.
It is beyond question the prudent
thing to conceal what is necessary
to be hidden from the Prussian gov
ernment, but much of the mystery
that has enshrouded official transac
tions has been construed as a shield
for Incompetence and partisanship.
For instance, the setting aside of
pre-eminently qualified men and the
elevation to high places of power and
responsibility of little men with no
previous training for the heavy
duties entrusted to them.
Americans have been accustomed
to frankness in public station and
while they appreciate the importance
of keeping under cover the-move
ments of troops and the important
purposes of the administration, they
are restless under a censorship that
too often treats them as children.
Washington officials have frequently
declared that they did not want to
prewent criticism, but the
WEDNESDAY EVENING,
highest of these public servants Is
said to have declared recently that
he "would like to see all the critics
exported." There Is a disposition also
to resent any expression of opinion
which runs counter to the precon
ceived notions of these who happen
to be in power. Patriotism Is defined
In these quarters as an unquestion
ing acceptance of the views of men
who will not tolerate any viewpoint
save their own.
The American people are backing
the government to the limit. They are
willing to do all that is necessary to
erusta the menace of Prussia, but
they must be treated ns a free peo
ple. American lives must not pay the
penalty of official procrastination and
red tape. Let us keep our military
and naval secrets to ourselves, but
why permit the camouflage of of
ficial big headednese to Interfere
with a proper public appreciation of
what Is being done to make the
United States effective In the war.
If reasonable criticism of palpable
shortcomings shall bring about an
improvement then there is no rea
son to withhold that criticism. Col
onel George Harvey, in a character
istic philipic anent the Colonel
House mission and the general con
duct of the war, says:
"We take for granted that the
President has formulated within
himself some policy which he con
siders would better be kept from the
public for the present. What it may
be we would not venture to surmise,
but surely he must realize that the
American people are not going to be
satisfied to hazard millions of lives
nnd expend billions and billions ol
money in an indefinitely prolonged
war without having something effec
tive to say about how that war is
waged. * * * To guess at the work
ing of the President's own mental
processes during this trying period
would be to speculate idly, because
whatever may have been Indicated
by his appointment of his friend
[Colonel House] as an arranger of
peace, has been swept away by his
reappointment of him as a wager
of war. So now it seems safe to as
sume that at last whether the Presl
dent is leading: the people or as Mr.
Roosevelt suggests the people are
leading the President, we have
reached a firm foundation, from
which to pursue a definite purpose.
General Simon Cameron was want
to declare that the real leader of
men first found out in which direc
tion the people were headed and
then led the way. President Wil
son has heard from the people and
no longer insists on "peace without
victory," hut upon a crushing de
feat of the Prussian beast. There
are evidences also of his change
of attitude toward these Americans
who are equipped for the big tasks.
General Goethals is an example.
The people want to keep step with
the President and to do so they must
be taken into his confidence so far as
possilble.
11IK EXTRA CENT
THE time has not long passed in
Pennsylvania, when one con*,
meant the minimum and there
are many who for a long time looked
upon the nickle as the least respect
able coin. Now there is more fuss
beingmade over the copper coin that
is at the bottom of our cuirency
values than over dollars. Mary peo
ple are using three-cent stamps ex
clusively, although local letters go
for two cents, to help the Govern
ment win the war. In divers wajs
we are giving the extra cent because
of the national expenses. We have
stood for six cents for our cigars
because we know that the people
around here who make them and
whose business we have helped build
up have to pay taxes and that labor
costs more. We have manfully pai:l
three cents for a Pennsylvania
apple that used to cost two and we
have put down a cent for the cake
that we used to get free with the
ice cream soda. We have even sub
mitted without murmuring to one
pretzel instead of two for a cent.
But some of our neighbors 'in
other cities are not so complacent
and are'about to spend some ihou-
I sands of dollars fighting efforts of
I street railway companies to ra'se
! the fare from five to six cents. In
other places the men who run movies
have seen patronage fall with a dull
thud because they charged a cent
more for a ticket. A charge of
another cent apiece for an egg in
buying the family supply has caused
frenzied talk in some communities.
The truth is that we ha-.' grown
accustomed to the nickle. Ten years
ago it came near being our smallest
coin. We are willing to have what
we used to get for five cents re
duced in quantity or quality, but
when an extra cent is demanded we
kick. Yet that extra cent is keeping
a good many enterprises, big and
little, going and a lot of people
steadily employed.
THE RIGHT TIME
THE forethought that brought
about the warning from Capitol
11111 that the time to plan next
summer's war gardens is right after
the Christmas packages have been
opened is the kind that is going to
put the coal and iron State of Penn
sylvania still higher up in the racks
of the food producers. It is doubtful
whether anything more uermible has
been said about food c.,.iservation
from Harrisburg this year." There is
no reason Why those who have con
trol of plots of ground should not
plan their garden on New Year's day
and those who do not havs a plct
can celebrate the day by arranging
with the owner of some land for use
next year. There are thousands of
Idle acres In Pennsylvania every
summer. Many of them are close
to cities. Practically every real es
tate oiieri 1 ' n takca lane: jut of
li\atlon. Much of it lies idle from
year to year. The owner can let
the war gardener have the use of It
subject to sale and he should not
chews at.- a who
has a lot can tell the would-be gar
dener how to go about It and tell
him where to get the seeds. There
In more than one store that will sell
tools cheap now. Encouragement
for a man who wants to start a gar
den and who lacks resources Is not
hard to get.
It is capable of being proved by
figures that the war gardens of Har
risburg. saved thousands of dollars
to the wage-earners of this city.
The same is true of practically ev
ery other place In the State. All
the thousands of gardens
planned, planted and cultivated
after war was declared. It will be
three months or more before we
reach the first anniversary of our
entrance into the war for freedom.
There is no better time to prepare
for next year's gardening. In fact,
this is the time to get ready.
T>oOKc*ot
By tle Ex-Committeeman
i
Presiding officers of the two
branches of the Leglslatnro have
completed appointment o£ men to
represent the General Assembly on
tho commissions to study the subject
of health insurance and to make a
report to the next Legislature and to
codify the insurance laws. Tho
health insurance commission will
meet in Philadelphia December 28
and the insurance codification body
Will meet in January. I
Senators E. E. Beidleman, Dau
phin; James B. Weaver, Westmore
land, and Charles W. Sones, Lycom
ing, and Representatives John M.
Flynn, Elk: William T. Ramser,
Delaware, and Isadore Stern, Phila
delphia, were named on the health
insurance commission on which Gov
ernor Brumbaugh named William
Flinn, Pittsburgh; William Draper
Lewis, Philadelphia, and Dr. J. B.
McAllster, Harrisburg.
The legislative members of the In
surance codification commission are
Senators A. F. Duix, Philadelphia,
and Frank E. Baldwin, Potter, and
Representatives W. M. Mearkle, Alle
gheny, and John Siggins, Jr., War
ren. The men appointed by tho Gov
ernor were A. J. Maloney and Rob
ert M. Coyle, Philadelphia, and E. A.
Woods, Allegheny.
The old age pension commission Is
to meet in Philadelphia in January.
This Is headed by Representative
James H. Maurer.
The State Chamber of Commerce
has issued a circular calling atten
tion to the importance of these stud
ies which are to be made for the next
Legislature.
The name of the Town Meeting
party has been pre-empted lor the
Fifteenth Congressional district,
comprising Tioga, Lycoming, Potter
and Clinton counties and for the
Tioga county legislative district. It
has also been taken for tho Clear
lield-Center senatorial and Clearfield
county legislative districts.
—A number of justices of the
peace who failed to file acceptances
| of their elections within thirty days
! after the November election are
making some vain appeals to tho
Governor and other state officers.
The state authorities, however, can I
not do anything for them and they
will not get their commissions. In a'
lew cases men who failed to file ac- |
ceptances have started out petitions i
for their appointment to the vacan
cies created by their own acts.
—Arrangements are being made
for the midwinter conference of the
Antisaloon league to start the move
ment for election of legislators pledg
ed to ratify the "dry" amendment in
Central Pennsylvania. This meet
ing is to be held here and a num
ber of speakers of national and state
importance will be here to talk on
the subject. Plans for similar meet
ings in other sections are being
made.
Governor Brumbaugh announced
late Monday the appointment of Ed
mund K. Trent of Pittsburgh, to be
deputy attorney general in the of
fice of Attorney General Francis
Shunk Brown. Mr. Trent succeeds
! Emerson Collins, of Williamsport,
promoted. Like Judge Wasson, he
was an active figure in the recent
Magee mayoralty campaign and his
appointment is generally attributed
to II r. Magee and his friends. Says
the Pittsburgh Dispatch: "Singulai--
ly enough it Is reported that at the
same time Mr. Trent's law partner,
C. B. Prichard, will be named as
j first assistant district attorney of
Allegheny county by District Attor
ney-elect Harry H. Rowland. Mr.
Prichard occupied the same relative
I position in the Bahcoek mayoralty
j camp during the recent municipal
election that Mr. Trent occupied with
the Magee forces. Mr. Trent has
held no political office. He was once
a candidate for the Assembly in the
Fourth Legislative district."
—The Philadelphia Record to-day
says: "Councils will meet In special
session to-morrow to pass the annual
appropriation bills for the municipal
departments for next year, and if the
plan succeeds to have the 1918 ap
propriations for the Supply Depart
ment carry the unpaid bills for the
present year, then the administration
financiers foresee a chance to grant
a. part of the increased pay schedule
for tho polieo and firemen. They
believe that there will be sufficient
funds remaining from the unappro
priated balances for 1917 to be used
toward these pay Increases that have
been put off until after the first of
next year. But there is grave doubt
that this scheme will work. In the
first place to Include deficiencies for
1917 in the annual appropriations
for 1918 might raise the question of
the requirement of a two-thirds vote
in Select Council, instead of the
usual majority in the affirmative.
The administration has come to rea
lize by the defeat of the bill to re
imburse the American Bridge Com
pany for $22,290.47 for delays for
which the city was responsible in the
construction of the Frankford "L"
that It does not possess a two-thirds
control in the upper branch."
—Friends of Ex-speaker George
E. Alter, of Allegheny, say that he
will not think of becoming a candi
date for Congress. TUe Ex-Speaker's
partisans in a number of counties
declare that he has the qualities to
make him an excellent harmony can
didate for Governor.
—lt Is understood that Senator W.
C. Sproul will break his silence on
the Governorship about January 1.
His friends are sending out Sproul
buttons broadcast and insist that he
will run when the time comes.
—Newspapers all over the state
are commencing to discuss the Im
portance of harmony In the coming
campaign and there is general com
ment that the attitude of watching
maintained by the Democrats ought
to be enough warning. The Phila
delphia Press and Scranton Republi
can editorials are commencing to
attract muoh attention.
—The latent move on lb* Capitol
HXRRISBURG TELEGRAPH!
THE DAYS OF REAL SPORT BYBRIGGS
Roderick," of the Department ofi
Mines, has been sidetracked again.
—ln this connection it is inter,-1
esting to note that Representative
Conrad G. Miller, of llazleton, an
nounces he is a candidate for Re
publican renominution and that Ex-
Senator E. F. James, of Hazleton, is
a candidate for the toga.
—The commission for Judge 11. G.
AVasson, of Pittsburgh, was for
warded to him to-day.
—H. Wellington Wood, Mayor
Smith's golf partner, was dropped
through operation of the civil service
in Philadelphia.
—Judge Aaron S. Swartz was
sworn in again at Norrlstown. He
entered upon his service in 1887.
—l*ottstown's new Republican
Burgess has appointed all Republi
cans but one to the police force ip
that former Democratic citadel.
—Joe Kenney, Democrat, has been
appointed a deputy by Sheriff-elect
Wyatt, of Schuylkill.
—The anniversary edition of the
Scranlon Board of Trade Journal is
not only resplendent in blue and
gold in honor of half a century, but
contains a lot of facts as to why
Scranton is and how the big north
eastern city is moving to vary in
dustries and diversify its business.
The lives of men who have been
1 the life of Scranton are touched
I upon in a way that some one ought
to do for Harrisburg. John E. Bar
rett, the talented author of "Penn
sylvania," contributes a poem on
1 "Our Home City" and there is a
! tribute paid to Colonel Louis A.
Watres, former Lieutenant Governor
I and well known to many Harris-
burgers, whom the Scrantonlans put
forward as a inau who is worthy ol'
being Governor. The endorsement
given in such a publication as the
Journal is rather indicative of the
strength of the Colonel in his home
community.
Demand Republican Harmony
Our valued contemporary, the
Harrisburg Telegraph, which has
many years of faithful service in
behalf of sound principles to its
credit, sounds a strong call for Re
publican harmony in Pennsylvania
us the ncessary prelude to victory in
next year's campaign.
The Republican has, on several oc
casions, pointed out that party unity
is essential to success, and that the
continuance of the fratricidal fac
tional warfare, so desperately waged
in Philadelphia, could not fail to be
disastrous to prestige throughout the
State.
We have had striking and costly
demonstration in national politics of
what party leadors, tired by personal
ambition and hatred of each other
can accomplish, and the experience
is not by any means encouraging
for the perpetuation of factional
strife in Pennsylvania.
The Telegraph has invited the
views of the principal editors of the
state on this subject and prints an
interesting symposium of their opin
ions which the party leaders may
peruse with profit. The sentiment is
emphatically for Republican har
mony and opposed to faction, and it
is forcibly emphasized that the rule
of the majority must prevail In the
coming campaign.
Party harmony and a strong can
didate for Governor, a man who is
not identified with any faction but
who is one hundred per cent Re
publican, are regarded as the chief
factors, for Republican success next
year. There must be an end to petty
quarrels for the general good, and
in the expressive words of the York
Dispatch "the factional hatchet
must be buried, and buried deep." as
a condition precedent to success.
Next year's campaign will be one
of the most important waged in
Pennsylvania for many a day. In
addition to the election of a Gover
nor, Legislature and members of
Congress, the electorate will pass on
the question of Prohibition, and to
an extent consider the subject of
Woman Suffrage.
In a broader aspect, the state,
will, by its verdict, foreshadow its
position in the next national cam
paign and shape its plans for the
great work of reconstruction which
is looming as a result of the war.
By uniting for harmony and vic
tory next year The Republican party
of Pennsylvania will relinquish none!
of the patriotic zeal with which It is I
upholding the present National Ad
ministration in the great world con
flict now on. Republicans are loyal
and devoted, and determined to
•tand by the President of the United
State* In waging the war to a finish
tor freedom and humanity, but this
■hould not deter them from putting
their own house In order, and exor
cising the evil spirit of faction by
which the success of their party is
menaced.
Th * present moment. Is opportune
for the Republicans of Pennsylvania
to get together, forget the past feuds
and strengthen their lines for the
great work that Ilea ahead.—From
the Bcranton Republican.
Y.M.C.A.Wants 'Regular Fellows'
JOSEPH 11. ODEL.L. in the Out,
look says: "In asking for volun
teers this is how the Y. M. C. A. !
officially describes the type of men
needed:
" 'This is no call to ninnies and!
milksops. The Y. M. C. A. needs!
real men, preferably men who have j
had some broad and gruelling ex
periences of life; men of education,!
yes: but, above that, men capable of (
understanding, sympathy, and an in
finite deal of hard, exacting work, j
Meifwho can turn a Ford inside out:
men who can play the piano and
lead five hundred othws in singing: j
men who are trained in athletics:
men six feet high and three feet
wide and eighteen inches thick; men'
who understand what Christianity
really means; men with humor and
leadership who have been earning - .a
hundred dollars a week and are will
ing to live on ten dollars a week. In
other words. Men.'
"And in the camps, cantonments
and other training stations, the as
sociation has 2,200 pitch men at
work. Among them are some who
have given up large incomes, others
who have resigned university profes
sorships, several college coaches, a
number of professional musicians, a
sprinkling of ministers of known
ability in the handling of men, and
the balance made up of the most
OUR DEAD IN FRANCE
Directly behind the front-line J
trenches there took place on No
vember 4 the funeral of three Amer
ican soldiers, the first to give their
lives for the cause of right. The
scene, under a gray sky and with
rain falling steadily, was very im
pressive.
Three companies of infantry
ffom the battalion to which the
dead had belonged, American artil
lery detachments, and a number of
French infantry and artillery form
ed a hollow square round the three
graves. They had been dug in the
open, in country, fought over in the
early davs of the war, and were to
comminute with thousands and
thousands of graves all over this
war-torn France, mutely testifying
that honor is sweeter than life to
France, Great l'trltain, Belgium and
the United States.
At the head of each grave a small
silk American Has flew in the wind,
and during the entire ceremony sa
lutes were fired in honor of the
dead—not the ordinary salute, but
shells aimed at and landing in ene
my lines at one-minute intervals
alternately from French and Amer
ican batteries. , , , •
After the coffins had been lower
ed into the graves the general com
manding the French division under
which the American troops are be
ing trained delivered an address, in
the course of which Ije
"In the name of the —th division,
in the name of the French army
and in the name of France I bid
farewell to Corporal Gresham, Pri
vate Enrlght and Pnvate Hay of
the Sixteenth Infantry, United Stetes
Armv. Of their own free will they
had left their happy and prosperous
country to come to France. They
wished to give their help, and also
their generous hearts did not for
get old historical memories. They
had taken their place on the front
by the side of France, and they have
fallen, facing the foe In a hard and
desperate hand-to-hand flght. Hon
or to them! Their families, their
friends, their fellow citizens will be
proud to 1-nrn of their death.
"Men! These graves, the first to
be dug In our soil of France at but
a short distance from the enemy,
are as a mark of the mighty hand
of our Allies, firmly clinging to the
common task, confirming the will of
the people and the Army of the
I United States to fight with us to a
| finish, ready to sacrifice so long as
It will be necessary, unttl final vic
tory for the noblest of causes—that
of the liberty of nations, of the weak
as well as the mighty. Therefore,
the death of this humble corporal
and these two private soldiers ap
pears to us in extraordinary gran-
nsk, therefore, that the mor
tal remains of these young men be
lleft here, lie left forever to France.
We will, in the fullness of pear#
i Inscribe Indelibly upon their tom'
•Here lie the first soldiers of the Kit
public of the United State* to fall
upon the eoil of France In the cause
of Juatlce and liberty.' And the pas.
aarfcy will atop and uncover his
>rnt Trweleawthroesh JTlcaeo* wed
successful secretaries from the eityi
associations throughout the country. I
"I have seen many of them in ac
tion—-healthy, whole-hearted, patient]
and generous men, who sprang to j
their task each morning after day- ]
break with a "Hurrah,' and went to:
their cots at night, dog tired, but I
with a song or a joke on their lips. j
Beside the regular secretaries I
found many volunteers. For in- 1
stance, at Camp Dix (New Jersey) j
there were sixty-four Y. M. C. A.
men at work in the Y. M. C. A. build- |
ings, but only three were pn full
salary, while twenty were entirely on
their own charges.
"There are more than four hun
dred Y. M. C. A. buildings in the
; camps, costing between s'i,oo and
$9,000 apiece to erect. The buildings
alone have eaten up about 3Vi mil
lion dollars of the 0 million uollars
raised last spring. I have seen more
! than forty of those buildings, at var
-1 ious hours of the day and in the
evenings. They were always
1 thronged with men— writing norne,
reading, toasting their feet before
the open lire, playing games, watch -
I ing the free movies or other enter-
I tainments, singing lustily in a relig
' ions service, or lißtening eagerly to
| a patriotic speech or to a sex hy-
I giene address by a medical author
ity."
from France, from every Allied na
tion. from the United States, those
who, in reverence and heart, will
come to visit these battlefields of
France, will deliberately go out of
their way to visit these graves and
bring to them tribute of respect and
gratitude.
"Corporal Gresham, Private En
right, Private Hay, In the name of
France I tbank you. God receive
your souls. Adieu."
THE COLOR LINE
Many persons arc greatly disturb
ed, one way or the other, over the
present status of the color lipe in
the military forces of the United
States. So much are they so, in fact,
that their demonstration has recent
ly caused the Secretary of War to
Institute an Investigation to find out
just what are the facts.
Since it was announced that this
investigation would be started, a.
colored captain of infantry—Thom-i
as E Morris, of Camp Dlx —has ap
peared in print with a communica
tion whose purport is to deny that
there is any discrimination against
the negro troops in the Army, or that
this branch of our citizenship are
being in any way prevented from do
ing their bit in accordance with then
excellent patriotic spirit. The color
ed man, he declares, is given an op
portunity to make good, and he win
improve it. , ,
Certain it is that the present heads
of our Army department are not
likely to err in the direction of ex
cessively favoring the negro. Hut
when our troops go into the battle
when they meet conditions that
make Impossible the distinguishing
of a man by his color, but only b>
his duality of manhood, then some
things worth while are goilng to
cover that color line so deep thnt no
body can find It.—Hartford Times.
OUTLOOKIBRIGHT
William A. Thomson, director of
the Bureau of Advertising, of the
American Newspaper Publishers' As
sociation, returned this week from
a trip t6 Chicago and points in the
middle west.
A representative of The Editor
and Publisher, interviewing Mr.
Thomson on the newspaper adver
tising outlook found him not only
optimistic, but Inclined to be en
thusiastic over the prospect.
Mr. Thomson said:
"It appears certain that govern
ment regulation and restrictions of
certain commodities will cause a
readjustment in a number of adver
tising schedules. So far as lam able
to judge, however, every line of ad
vertising that drops out of the dail
ies wilt bo replaced by a line or
more of new business,
"This is partle-ularly true In the
food situation. Every manufaetuier
who has a substitute for any of the
commodities on the restricted list is
looking for markets for his output.
Copy appearing In the dailies shows
plainly that manufacturers like this
are alive to the opportunities offered
by 'margarines'; condensed milks:
egg substitutes: meals and prepared
I foods —the list of newcomers Is a
1 long one.
PERFECT MAN'S COVEN
ANT
Behold Ood will not east away a
perfect man, neither will he help
the ♦vtlOew*.— Job, yUi, 4.
DECEMBER 26, 10T7
LABOR NOTES
Nearly 200 Topeka (Kan.) team
sters have signed a charter applica-
Uon to the Brotherhood of l'eam
stens, the largest number of charter
applicants In the history of Topeka
trade unionism.
The A. F. of L. has indorsed the
two-platoon system and ordered a
charter issued to unions of municipal
llremen, to be known as the Interna
tional Union of Fire Fighters.
Adelaide (South Australia) Trades
and Labor Council protests against
employers' claim that Australian
workers have adopted a "go slow"
policy and that war production is
hampered.
Trade unionists in New YOJIC City
ask municipal authorities to build
modern tenements on land purchased
at a cost-of $12,000,000 for a court
house. The site is now declared un
suitable.
San Francisco Janitors' Union has
started an organizing campaign
among women who are being in
stalled in this calling by omployers
who claim men janitors cannot be
secured.
International Brick, Tile and Ter
ra Ootta Workers' Alliance anrt se
ceding members liave amalgamated
the new organization to be known as
the United Brick and Clay Workers
of America.
OUR. DAILY LAUGH I
WHEN THE BIEIvS COME IN.
Mrs. Hyflier—Now that Christmas
Is over, what would you say to a
trip?
Mr. ITyftler—Tes, I expect a trip
througrh the 'bankruptcy court would
about lit.
1 €
C_
BIRDVIL-LE ETIQUETTE.
Dude Sparrow —Hey you ruba,
don't you know enough not to wear
a swallow-tail coat without . high
hat?
HER SUGGESTION.
There's no use talking- we're cot
to economise this year."
"All right. Suppose you ihtw
yourself every other day Instead ■
daily."
TIIE THING.
"Jones lii down and out."
"Oh, yen. Ho told me thb other
day he was paying cash for every
tMaa."
Sbnttng CJtial
Twenty-five years ago the bell-*
snlckle roamed the streets of Har
rlsbitrg on Christmas eve and tht
caroler sang before the homes of
prominent citizens for a voluntary*:
consideration, on Christmas mom.
The tin horn was a formidable
means of amusement and tho boy,
that drew boots was envied. Th<>
mechanical toy was a rarity and th®
candy cane was indispensible. Har
rlsburg's war time Christmas evei
had all the recent memories of!
snowstorms and there was not w
mumrher to be seen. The grotesque-!
ly garbed boys who used to hold
forth all over tho city and crowdj
Market and Third streets could not:
have found walking space in the'
throngs of Monday evening's lat ;
shoppers who slipped and slid over:
the pavements and the weather dis
couraged early morning serenade*.i
The State Capital had a prosperous
and matter of fact Christmas with'
most of the bar rooms closed. The
contrast between the observance ofi
the great holiday of the world yes
terday and twenty-five years ago waw
certainly striking. Many of the tra- ;
ditional features of tho 'induction of
the day from bellsnickles to jags'
were lacking and while we were lor
tunate in not having the. big fire onl
1 hird street and the close to zero
weather of Christmas a quarter of a
century afro it would have been
pleasant to have had some of the,
old-timo funinakers, whether fixed:
up as angels or darky minstrels.,
some singers or some ... .he trom-'
bonists and other bandsmen who
used to greet the rising sun or rath
er the hour when the almanac says
the orb of the day should rise. An
it was tho church bells and the clat
ter of the trolley carß awoke Harris
burg yesterday morning to a Christ
mas with over a thousand of its sons
under arms in camps and canton
ments and in foreign service, land
and afloat; more gifts to pass around
and a record of thousands of dol
lars given to tho Nation and the
charities which have become our
duty to support.
♦ • *
These observations show how
times have changed In Pennsyl
vania s capital. Twenty-five year,
ago we were sort of marking time.
£ow there is a busy, improved city.
The customs which were part of the
lire of the smaller community have
passed and the bellsnickle cavorts on
New \ ear's or Hallowe'en while the
joyous racket that used to mark
t imstmas morning breaks out on
the midnight stroke that ushers in
the Fourth of July at Zion church
chimes. Kven the church bells do
not ring as much on Christmas
morning as in years gone by and tho
postman instead of looking like
banta Claus has his heaps of mail
in wagons or automobiles and there
are a good many folks who are on
such bad terms with their milkmen
because of the advances in price
that tho purveyor of the breakfast
■, cream is no longer given the first of
the Christmas cakes. The shrewd
housekeeper holds them back for
the garbage collector and speculates
whether some scheme can not be
devised for burVing over the ashe.s.
Christmas this year Is like every
other day on the railroads, only
worse, declare the railroad men who
think back over the Yuletlde when
Ollie McClellan and Prank Ellmaker
used to not only shut down "slow"
on Christmas day, but did not mind
if the next day's movement was less
' than usual,
• • •
j The folks from Perry and Cum
i berland counties, from up the Juni
' ata valley and out toward Lingles
| town, Hummelstown and Geyer's
I Church and the boroughs and coun
! i trysides of "the upper end" who
I have come hero to make Greater
Harrisburg can get hack to the old
home a mighty sight easier than
.they could in 1892. The railroads
run more trains, there are trolley
gongs clanging now where sleigh
bells used to be the only sounds of
transportation and tho automobile
honks up to many a farmhouse with
in a forty-mile radius of Harris
burg where gasoline was considered
a deadly explosive a quarter of a
century since. So there are many
more Harrisburg people able to go to
distant homesteads than there used
to be and those who can not may
go to tho telephones and send their
greetings where twenty-five years
ago there were only blue x marks on
Len Klnnard's map of "proposed ex
tensions."
• * •
Ancestors of some of the crows
which flew into the city's districts
yesterday morning in search of food
denied them by the deep snow which
covers the fields would have been in
clined to resent tho numbers of
pigeons that they found in Harris
burg. The Capitol and Courthouse
pigeons which have become fixtures
are now back numbers. More Har
risburg boys and girls are keeping
pigeons t!.an ever before and the
flocks are to be seen in almost every
: part of the city, even in the residen
tial Fourth and Fifth wards. The
pigeon whose habitat is Harrisburg
appears to be fat, lazy and far more
numerous than twenty-five years
ngo. And from all we hear there are
fewer dogs, but more eats. Poll
parrots are fewer residents than
they were twenty-five years ago and
, the squirrel has become a visitor
more predatory than pleasant. And
| thank fortune the craze for white
mice, which was so virulent twenty
five years ago, has passed as a watch
in the night before Christmas to s*,e
i, if there is really a Santa Claus.
> 1 WELL KNOWN PEOPLE 1
■ —' W. H. Truesdale, president of
the Lackawanna, has offered the
road bed of an abandoned line of
the railroad to the new Lackawanna
Trail Highway Association.
—The Rev. H. W. Stiles, of Al
toona, has isued a statement in
which he ••alls on tho churches of
that city to form a forceful federa
tion,
—Dr. J. P, Glenson, Seranton
High School principal, was here yes
terday on his way to Johnstown,
where he will preside over the ses
sions of the State High School or
ganization of the educational meet-.
lngß,
—John J, O'Donnell, 'Wilkes-Rarra
t attorney, has been named as tha
chairman of the I.userne county aa
scssors board.
" —Judge 8. 15. Shut), of Monro*
1 county, was stalled In a snowdrift in
i'lke county for hours last week and
bad a very trying tlmo in zero
weather before being üble to reach
court.
—The Rev. l)r, Maitland Aiexan-.
der, in an address at Pittsburgh,
sharply attacked lack of equipment
at' cantonment hospitals which he
had visited,
| DO YOU KNOW
That Harrisburg gave thon
sands of dollars to tlio Christian
! Sanitary Commission in the
Civil War?
HISTORIC 11 ,\ It It IMHURO
t'amp Curttn officials marked th*
r lines of the ol{J camp when the can-.
tonment was broken up, Untor*
* tunt?r the line! wm
i, >