10 HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH A NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOME Founded IS3I Published evenings except Sunday by THE TEUBCHAPH PRINTING CO.. •IVlearrnph IlullUiiiK. Federal Square. E.J. ST.* CKPOL.K, Pres't & Editor-in-Chief F. R. OTSTER, Business Manager. OUS M. STEINMETZ, Managing Editor. Member of the Associated Press —The Associated Press is exclusively en titled to the use for republication of ail 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 Chicago, 111 1 [ Entered at the Post Office in K*rrls burg, Pa„ as second class mattf. Pv carriers, ten cents a 'week; by mall, $5.00 " a year in advance. WEDXESDXY. JANUARY 2, litis 11V seek many changes ami reme dies: the most important change, the most necessary remedy, would he a general eon version to Cod. — KING OK SWEDEN. GOOD RESOLUTIONS MANY a good resolution made yesterday was frozen stiff and snowed under to-day. Good resolutions on Now' Year's Day are easy to make and hard to keep. But 1 there is one that each of us. If he is to do his full duty by his country j the coming year, must make and ! keep. It is this—that during 191S j we shall do everything in our power ; to help the United States and our : allies win the war, and to refrain from anything that may tend to lengthen the conflict or detract from the effectiveness of our men in the Held. That means not only meatless and j wheatless days, but rigid economy ! in the use of coal —even next sum- • mer when the supply will be plenti- j fill: and in the use of the railroads, • which must haul freight to the ex clusion of passengers, and in a liun- | dred other ways that the govern ment may prescribe. There is on the one hand the necessity of keeping [business going full tilt in so far as | it* will not hamper the prosecution o: the war. In order that our Income 1 as a nation may not suffer to an ex ' t-'nt that will reflect upon the na tional credit, and on the other hand, a ready compliance with rules laid down for the furtherance of the : < tfleiency of war machinery the gov ernment has set in motion. It is a resolution that will require much thought and care in the observance, but one mightily worth while from the standpoint of patriotism. A NECESSARY SACRIFICE j THE American people are mak ing their tirst great sacrifice of comfort and convenience for the ] prosecution of the way in the re striction of passenger traffic by the government controlled railroads. We have been so used to strolling down to the depot at any hour and taking a train for anywhere with perfect assurance of arriving on time at our destination that we will not find it easy to face the new condi- j tions. It is a new story in American railroading when freight is given . preference over passenger trains and j when coal cars receive more consid- ; oration than Pullmans. But such arc j the exigencies of war and an adapt- ! able American public will not be i slow In getting used to the tem- i porary restrictions. To hundreds of passenger train men who must go back to the oper ation of freight trains the change will come as a distinct hardship. They will have to adjust themselves to new conditions under difficult cir cumstances. But they will have the consolation cf knowing that their sacrifice is necessary for the coun- j try's good and that they are per forming their patriotic duty just as ! much as though they had shouldered ' , arms and marched away with the expeditionary forces. SIX POINTS OF THE LONE STAR THE Lone Star of Texas looms high in the Democratic firma ment. From Texas comes Col onel House, the President's "person al friend;" from Texas comes Post master General Burleson, the polit ical agent of the administration: from Texas comes Attorney General Gregory: from Texas comes—once removed—Secretary Houston: from Texas, in like manner, came Attor ney General Mcßeynolds, now trans lated to the Supreme Court. And now, from Texas, comes Thomas B. Love, to be one of the new assistant secretaries of the Treasury. It is Thomas B. Love from Beloved Texas. WAR BRED TOY INDUSTRY AMERICAN manufacturers art making 90 per cent, of the toys being sold In this country to day, and they are never going to let Ihis wonderful and profitable Indus try, which has been developed since the war, slip out of their hands," de clares William G. Whlttemore, man- D:iger of the stationery and novelty department of the American News Company. Evidently Mr. Whltte more Is optimistic that the country . . . ... . : - WEDNESDAY EVENING, is going to return to the protective policy in the near future. Prior to the war he was in Germany buying toys for his concern. Certainly, his experience in that line of work must have taught him the possibilities of Gentian competition under low rates of duty. As far back as November, 1908, when the lust Republican tar iff lav was being framed, the Weed on Manufacturing Company said: "The toy business is a large indus try, and with proper protection could be increased three-fold in this country, but we are all held back by the cheap German labor and the low price of all raw materials in European countries." The war has given Vie toy industry a degree of protection of which it never dreamed. The greatest growth of our toy industry was during the period 1899- 1913, under Republican policies, when there was an increase of 125 per cent, in the value of the products, or from $4,000,000 to $9,000,000. During tliis time there was a grad ual growth from a seasonal to a per ennial industry. The treasurer of a Bridgeport, Conn., firm declared: "Our business has been built up un der the present tariff rate," and the president of a New York concern said: "It could only have been done under the shield of a protective tar iff." A little over a month ago it was announced that a cargo of German toys valued at $4,000,000, bought by American importers and paid for before the beginning of the war, but held up 011 the other side of the At lantic by British embargo, had been released for sale in this country. A resumption of German trade is to be expected when the war is over, and German soldiers, incapacitated for other work, will make toys at home. True enough, the present tariff law does not carry reduced rates on toys, except those made of china. But a tariff law which gives foreign com petitors free sway in our market is bound to react on every industry of the country. An index of the coun try's prosperity is the amount spent for toys for the youngsters. The de pressed year of 1914 was a bad one for the toy trade, while 1917 has proved an excellent one. Whatever prosperity the toy man ufacturers are now enjoying should not close their eyes to the competi tion of the future, which reports, without exception, indicate is going to be the keenest ever experienced in the history of the world. We must meet it with adequate protective tariffs, and the party to draft such legislation is the party of business experience and national breadth of vision. LET THE PRESIDENT DO IT IF it is necessary. In the face of persistent and insidious German peace propaganda, for the allies to make a new statement of their peace aims, let President Wilson be the spokesman. No statesman of the en tente has such a clear conception of the only terms upon which we can make peace as has the President, and none can set them to paper so well, if there is to be any peace talk to be indulged in at this time President Wilson should do the talk ing. Germany has been able to put all manner of construction upon some of the utterances of allied diplomats, but the Kaiser never has been able to make a convincing re ply to one of the President's mes sages, letters or statements. That is because he plays his game in the open, with his sleeves rolled up and all the cards on the table. THE IIOU.V DOG'S SNARL THE correspondence between Speaker Champ Clark and Ben jamin Strong, governor of the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, is spicy reading—in that portion which Mr. Strong supplies. The Speaker's end of it is rather lame; for he attempts to saddle upon the newspapers the responsibility for the assertion which he made In the course of the Liberty Loan drive to the effect that "a ring of New York financiers" were attempting to make the loan a failure. Mr. Strong points out an invidious j comparison of the subscriptions real- ] ized in the New York district and the! district where the Speaker lives. This, however, was not necessary to his argument—which is directed to the- attempt, in which the Speaker's remarks had a prominent place, to create a class feeeling between the many who possess little and the few who possess much. In making sacrifices for the nation at war, whether in the giving of their substance or of their flesh and blood, there is no distinction between the rich and the poor: and, as Mr. Strong so well says, this is not a time when men should be trying to promote sec tional and class distrust. PROHIBITION AN ISSUE PROHIBITION has suddenly loomed on the political horizon as an issue of the first magni tude. A year or two ago, when the State Chairman of the Prohibition party issued his call for a State con vention, the newspapers published a line or two about it under a single line heading and let it go at that. Now they give the item a black cap tion and quote at length what the chairman has to say about it. The newspapers are quick to scent a change in public thought and thei importance they attach to the com-1 ing gathering of the Prohibition forces In Pennsylvania should be a hint to political leaders. The day Is past when prohibition can be regard ed lightly or crowded into a corner and forgotten. It is a big and vital force In the community that is grow ing by leaps and bounds. It will be a wise leadership that gives it due and proper attention. Any other course would be stupid. Even liquor dealers admit the handwriting on the wall. Why not have it over with at once, so far as Pennsylvania is con cerned, and let the liquor men have time to find other lines of activity be fore the final blow falls—as fall It eventually will. 'PtKKOif&KUtla By tlie Ex-Comniitteemuii jj It is not improbable that a move will be made in the next Legislature to establish greater state control of the mercantile appraisers' work throughout the sixty-seven counties of the state. There has been a ten dency for some years to bring about closer relationship between the state and various county officers, notably in the case of sealers of weights and measures, who are now under the [chief of standards, while the Attor ney General has appointment or lawyers for various county work. One of the plans suggested is that the Auditor General should name the mercantile appraisers for each county. These men report to the Auditor General In any event and yet are elected by County Commis sioners. It is claimed that a change would not only mean better system In handling business which brings in large amounts of revenue, but that it would also be economical. One man who has been studying the subject voiced the belief that It would save a million dollars. Mercantile appraisers are now be ing named In various counties and will take up their work at once. —Auditor General Charles A. Sny der will probably decide by to-mor row just what he will do In regard to the audit he desires to make of the State Insurance Fund. The Auditor General has been told by officers of the fund that he can not make tlie audit of the fund as that is not within his jurisdiction. This position is taken on advice of the Attorney General and there will either be a compromise reached whereby the Auditor General will got Information which he wants re garding expenses or else a resort to the courts. Mr. Snyder said before leaving the city Monday that he wanted to be sure of his position and his right to examine the fund. There is no ques tion, said he, as to the powers of the Auditor General over the appro priation and he intimated that there miglit be some ventilation of the payrolls of the fund, which in his opinion, are higiv- than Necessary and at a figure which he feels sure will mean a deficit. The officers of the fund will meet the Attorney General to-day or to morrow in regard to the matter. The fund board, which is composed of the State Treasurer, acting Commis sioner of and Industry and Insurance Commissioner will await developments as its members feel that it is up to the Auditor General to make the next move. —Governor Brumbaugh's appoint ment of aldermen for Coatesville late yesterday ends an interesting situation. When Coatesville voted to become a city it had but one ward. It was then with two justices of the peace. Last election the people voted in favor of division into five wards. The justices claimed that they could not be superseded. The Governor has decided to appoint anyway. Four aldermen have been named and one is to follow shortly —Mayor-elect A. T. Conneil. Sheriff-elect J. R. Schlager and ' ommissioner John Von Bergen are in a nip and tuck contest to get the appointment of a registration com missioner to succeed Conneil. Mr. Conneil has been camping on the Governor's trail and the other men have been using the wires. The ac tivity for the place, which pays $3,- 000. is interesting because there will be no work for a commissioner to do for months. —Mayor-elect E. V. Babcock, of Pittsburgh, lias been causing some heart burnings by his refusal to make some police appointments as t? l e , The new will start off his administration with many new officials, it is intimated. Inci dentally, the contest of his expense account is going on. FOOTBALL IN HOLY LAND There is a desert football league now and its "season" is in full swing. There is also a Sinai team —I regret to say at the bottom of the list In towns with quite famous Biblical names you can hear now shouts of "Well played!" and "Off side!" I wonder what the Jebusites and the Perezzites, the Hivites and the Hit tites and the Amorites would think of it all, if they could hear it.— From the London riaily News. THE SIAMESE TWINS Says Hindenburg to Ludendorft: "Shall we retreat again? We can announce the British lost About a million men." Says Ludendorft to Hindenburg: "Another victory! Just go on winning backwards— leave The bulletins to me!" —Life. SIMPLE SOLUTION According to the Nebraska Food Congress, the observance of "meat less days" has caused a surplus of beef and mutton. Then why not re duce the prices?— From the Pitts burgh Chronicle-Telegraph. CUPID COMES CROPPER Ida incidentally indicates interest in ices. Irving, impressionable, in fatuated, injudiciously invests. Ida's indulgence in ices is inordinate, in satiable. Irving, impecunious, in eptly introduces inexpensive innova tions. Ida instantly irate indignant ly impeaches Irving's iterated infat uation, insinuating indifference, in urbanity. Ida's infantile invective illuminates Irving's innermost in telligence, inhibiting infatuation in tercepting intentions. From the Christian Register. MOTHER'S GOOD NIGHT When mother came to say good night And kissed and fondled me A vision of the angels came My eyes alone could see. For her sweet kiss brought Heaven near— I'heard the songs of love That came from that angeUc choir In happy spheres above. 0 scenes of childhood's days now dead! O happy hours passed! Why is it that the years have flown With joys too sweet to last? Could I turn back the years again And see those days so bright. And call the hours—the happy hours, When mother came to say good' night. The clouds are hovering o'er my head. The view is cold and drear; Instead of happiness there dwells Within my heart a fear. 1 reach my hands to grasp her form. But no, her dear caress Is missing and my life is sad, Unknown to happiness. But memory keeps her ever near; And see. she smiles at me, Recalling days of long ago. When life was glad and free. She beckons—yes, 'tin mother's call; Oh, what a glorious sight! I feel her touch as in the hours When mother came to say good night. —Frank L. Monteverde in the Memphis Commercial Appeal. (" ** Tlii ■'' ' ' ' HARRISBURG EDITORIAL COmENT~~| New Russia's drat donation to the cause ot world-wide democracy may be the release of about a million of German prisoners whom Gorman autocracy can use in beating up democracy.—St. Louis Star. So far as treaties are concerned, one signed by Trotasky is just as good as one of the Kaiser's. —New York Morning Telegraph. > It must be consoling to Roumanla to know that she has the Teutons in front of her and the Bolsheviki be hind her.—St. Louis Star. Siberia might get good and even for generations of oppression by ex iling political prisoners to Petrograd. —New York Morning Telegraph. The Bolsheviki are reported to have abolished all church weddings. This, is carrying their peace cam paign altogether too far.—St. Louis Stnr. We don't know when Germany will strike on the west front, but It is our business to see that what she does strike will make a large dent in her ambitions. —Chicago Herald. Germany makes a raft of singles, doubles, and three-baggers, but somehow most of her men are left out there on the bases.—Honolulu Star Bulletin. "LESS" DAYS My Tuesdays are meatless. My Wednesdays are wh^atless, I ani getting more eatlcss each day. My home it is heatless, My bed it is slieetless, They are all sent to the Y. M. C. A. The bar-rooms are treatless. My coffee is sweetless— Each day I get poorer and wiser. My stockings are feetless, My trousers are seatless — My Gosh, how I do hate the Kaiser. —Baltimore Sun. Trying to Save Militarism Germany, through Count Czernin, Austria's Foreign Minister, tells the', Russian agents of Trotzky that she is willing to negotiate peace with all of her enemies on the Russian basis of no annexations and no indemnities. If we understand what she is driving at, it is this: that the situation shall revert to what it was before hostili ties began and that the Powers sit around the green table and gamble with the autocrats of Prussia. There is just one feature of the German proposition that is of strik ing interest. This is that the Kaiser has abandoned for the present the dream of the world conquest by force; that he is trying to save his own imperial authority; to maintain his system of militarism intact in order that he may hurl it again at the opportune moment at the heads of all nations that stand in the way of his insatiate ambition. For it must be remembered that he and his bar barian advisers consider themselves to be "the salt of the earth" with the divinely-given mission of bring ing all people under the domination of German kultur. Such ambition may be thwarted for the time being, but it is not to be throttled short of the throttling of imperialism itself. And that is what the Allies are ex pecting to accomplish. No annexations and no indemni- j ties —it is a phrase that lends itself! to juggling. It has been twisted and j turned into meaningless expression' by Russia. And Russia is saddled ■ w ; ith the duty of passing it along to I the enemies of Germany. There is no j evidence that Germany has honest j intentions. Indeed, no annexations: and no indemnities, as she probably I has them in mind, would deprive the , world of any benefits whatever as the j result of the long struggle; would! permit Germany to escape without the slightest restitution for her I crimes; would refuse Alsace and j Lorraine to France; would restore 1 to the cruel domlnatlbn of the Turks the holy places of Palestine and, wha\ there is left of the Armenian people; would put no obstacle in the way of the virtual sway of Germany I from the Baltic to the Persian Gulf-1 Mittel-europa would still be attain- ! able. Germany is to-day the menace of' the world. Germany under her prop ositions advanced through the RUB-| sian delegates to Brest-Litovsk would j continue to be a world menace. And there can and will be no safety from j that menace until Prussian despot-1 ism and Prussian militarism are de- ] stroyed. us not be deceived by the Ger- j man Emperor bearing gifts. WAR ADVERTISING Whether or not wise advertisers j are planning to cut down the volume i of their advertising because of war j conditions has been a subject of . much speculation among sellers of white space. In some quarters it has | been said, with a measure of con viction that seemed to argue direct information, that the coming year would see advertising greatly dimin ished. Many advertising agencies i declared themselves ready for poor business, taking it as one of the In evitable consequences of the war. To furnish to its readers some first-hand information on this sub ject, The Editor and Publisher ask ed a number of advertising man agers, who attended the convention this week of the Association of Na tional Advertisers, what were their plans for the coming year. Their re plies, so far as the inquiry extend ed, leaves no room for any pessimism on the part of the advertising agen cies nor of the publications carry ing the copy of national advertisers. No effort was made to select any particular concerns, nor any special line of business endeavor, an effort having been made to secure repre sentative opinion. WASTED The boys who enlisted are giving, their blood In battle for mine and me; The women and babies are giving j their food In countries across the sea; They suffer privations undreamed In I our land For the same ideals wo hold, They make sacrifices we can't under stand Where in plenty are bread and gold; The mothers, the children, the old, the unfit, Are giving their all over there— By George! I don't want to do merely my bit But do my full share —my share! It's little enough I can do over here For the boys who are lighting for trie. But I'll give "till it hurts" and I'll give with good cheer—- When it pinches the prouder I'll be. Why, the shirt from my back I would joyfully tear Just to feel less accused, less ashame(l Every time my thoughts turn to our boys over there And the women and children and maimed; Just to feel I was doing my utmost with grit. Just to feel I was playing things square, Just to know I was not merely doing my bit But—thank God!—l was doing my share! ■ —Lee Shipley, in Leslie's. WHEN A FELLER NEEDS A FRIEND By Brigg, Growing Agnosticism and Blasphemy in Germany Adele N. and Russell Phillips in the Atlantic Monthly. IN contrast to the emperor's smug and almost sacrilegious claim of intimacy with the Deity, one is almost horrified by the wave of ag nosticism that has swept over Ber ilin. There is a greater increase of the other and worse extremists, who, with mocking and contumelious lan guage, neither assert nor deny the existence of the Deity because of the limits of human intelligence or of insufficient psychical evidence, but who absolutely deny and scoff at tho existence of God. The scourge of the disconsolate must not be confounded with the in lidei, who denies Christianity and th*> truth of the Scriptures. And Heaven knows that there are hosts of them in Berlin; blasphemotis hordes who attack the very tenets of Christian ity in public places without molesta tion by the authorities. What can stem the tide of blas phemy which is sweeping over Ger many? For the unbeliever thera-ls hope—for the blasphemer, none, in the lipast year the Berlin newspapers gave a great deal of space to sev eral undoubtedly brilliant writers. While our own papers were discuss ing the mohre vital questions of the moment—the problems of peace be fore and after the war—these writ ers consumed /ipace in a debate on the predilection of the Divine Pres ence for either combatant The discussion called forth a lively re ply in the Morgenpost, from the noted free thinker Schlunsen, who writes: AUSTRIAN AIMS In the course of a recent debate I in the Vienna Reichsrat the Czech j Socialist leader, Stransky, violently j attacked Germany and sharply j criticized Count Czernin's peace pro- > gram. Referring to Germany, Stran sky said it was the fatal desire for j the predominance of the German j nationality In Austria which had j brought on war. But for that the concessions of fered by Serbia would have been considered sufficient. Europe would stand a strong Germany, but not two strong German empires side by , side, governed from Berlin. Perhaps after all, Great Britain, France and j America are not so simple as to fight j merely lor the freedom of the Poles, | Bohemians and southern Slavs, but j fight rather for political reasons, for ' securing the guaranty of an Austria j independent of Germany and not [ ruled from Berlin. It has .been as serted that the alliance with Ger- | many is indissoluble, but nothing on earth is indissoluble. Even if the j union is so firm, circumstances may j arise to render its continuance im- ! possible, because they affect not only | the policy but the actual existence of : the country. Referring to Count j Czernin. he called the count's peace j conditions nothing but phrases. They i were no conditions at all, but only a | designation of the situation which should prevail after peace. They I were not even, as the count modest ly claimed, his 6wn ideas, but were "made in America;" that Is, they were President Wilson's Ideas put forth' at a time when America was at peace. ON THE OTHER FOOT "Did you ever notice," inquires I Mrs. Tom Thompson, "that a news-} paper always boosting for its home: merchants, is all the same, mighty 1 glad to report when people from an- j other town come there to trade?; Now. to be consistent, we ought to i say that the people who come here to trade ought to be ashamed of themselves for not tradlnV at home, W ought to revile them. is a jewel, all right. But we don't care much for jewelry anyway.— Kansas City Star. "Of what use is a debate on the existence of the Deity? The invis ible can assume no earthly obliga tion, can bear no mortal burdens. One might as reasonably say that the ether bore a message; that there was divine ordination In the sough ing of the night wind over the bat tle field; that God was a mere road to eome desired end; that peace could be found only at the termin ation of that road. There is only one God—fear. There is another God—annihilation. Expediency is the intercessor and completes the Trinity. Germany's one hope lies in that Trinity. "All hope in invisible intercession must be put away. Fear of the doom that awaits them must be in spired in the breast of all who op pose Germany. In that lies her sal vation. She must trust in no other. The struggle for unity would be its own compensation. When that is accomplished, Germany can dis pense her favors and can defy her enemies—and the invisible God." And what has been the result of this religious relapse? The terrible record of suicides which apeared daily In the newspa pers, especially of women. Accord ing to statistics, secretly passed about in medical circles for fear of repres sion by the government, suicides have increased 40.2 per 100,000 in- Saxony alone; and throughout the empire to 24.5 per 100,000, an in crease of from 15 to 18 per cent.— Adele N. and Russell Phillips in the Atlantic Monthly. YOUR SHARE I "He that loseth his life—shall flml it." I wasted a moment! My work un done, I stopped a bit and had some fun With the little ones waiting outside my door. < I played for a moment; and that moment's store. Of pleasure still lives in the hearts of three— The lad and the lassie, the heart o' me. I wasted an hour! I shut my desk, I left undone a momentous task To tell a sweet story to old ladies three— The old ladles hobbled away in their glee; Hobbled and chattered with joy in each eye. My work lies unfinished—yet—J happy am I. I wasted a week! There was much! to do , To advance myself; but some wind' blew A llnely orphan right into my home;; I stopped to give comfort to this sad > one. The task I wanted to do still lies. But the Joy is back in the little ones j eyes. I'm wasting my life! It seems to! me I never shall get where I want to be; I never shall be accomplished nor great, I never shall sit in a chair of state; So many things I must stop to do, I've no time for gceat things when I am through I'm wasting my life! But the chil dren smile, And the old ladies drop in once in ' awhile, [ And the poor lonely orphan goes smiling by, i With the light of joy shining from i his eye. I'm wasting my life! My talents lie dead, But I live In the joy of others in stead. Edna GroXf Paxtang, Pa. TANTTATrV 2, tm LABOR NOTES Portland, Ore., barbers have se cured a new union shop agreement. Civic employes at Toronto, Canada, have organized. Montreal, Canada textile workers will form a union. Fifteen local unions have recently been organized at Aberdeen, Wash. Cleveland, Ohio, has two women on its police force. f Carpenters at Sault Ste. Marie, Can ada, have secured a nine-hour day. New Haven, Conn., silver workers have organized under direct jurisdic tion of the American Federation of I^abor. OUR DAILY LAUGH REFLECTION ON HIS WISDOM. Wifey—A word to the wise is suffi cient. Hubby—That's well understood. Such being the case, why do you keep Jawing at me. HAS IT HAPPENED TO YOU? "Why on earth does your husband stand while eating?" "He's eaten in a quick lunch so long he can't get used to sitting down." UP TO THE MINUTE. "Is Mabel still devoted to that young man who owns the twelva cylinder car?" "No. She passed him up for aa army aviator." A DIFFERENT ANSWER. "Am I the first girl you hava loved?" , j "Oh, no. You axe about the tenth, 1 and my last* fcu Improved right along/' PBtetttag <gl|at "People need have no fear that we are going to scatter around poisoned corn right and left in our effort to kill the crows which have been making: considerable trouble for farmers and destroying bird life," said Dr. Joseph Kalbfus, secretary of tho State Game Commission. "The corn will be carefully prepared and pu; where it is not likely to be found by domestic animals or fowls. It never was the idea to have the corn thrown around promiscuously. Tho plan was worked out to have the corn put where tho crows gather and to have them get tho benefit. There are some crow roosta in this state which are Isolated and which other birds do not frequent. I know of some of them which are in the southern counties and those are the places where we will work principally. I have received some letters which In dicate that people do not understand what we are trying to do and who are much disturbed over the danger to chickens and game. We have had tests made with strychnine in the quantities that we will use to get the crows. Quail and pheasants do not mind it. Neither do chickens. On the other hand strychnine will kill crows, ducks and sparrows. The quail have been tested again and again." • * Some belated applicants for auto mobile licenses were rather indig nant yesterday when they stormed the office of the automobile division and found it closed. The day was a holiday and the whole force and some extra clerks had worked al most the whole night before to get the mall cleared up. Most of the peo ple who had forgotten to make ap plication in timo ran their cars with 1917 tags. ** * 4 Trolley cars have been held up on * half the streets in Harrisburg upon which they run the last week or so by coal teams, whose drivers have to I dig ways for their wagons to de liver coal. The ramparts of snow and ice from last month's storms are three feet high on many streets, and some of them are so solid that a wagon cannot go through, but must either go over them, which means trouble, or else have a place cut through which to move. A few driv ers have refused to dig wavs for their teams holding that, it is the householders' business. The house holders insist that at the prices they are paying and the small amounts of coal they must order they should not have to dig holes in snowbanks. ~ 4 * It was surprising the amount of mail handled by the Harrisburg post office during tho last ten days. The Christmas rush was unusual. Then the draft headquarters had a con siderable amount of matter to send out. Then the state shipped tons of automobile license tags by parcel post and thousands of letters to cor porations and others for reports to say nothing of the various licenses. • * If there is one thing that has Im pressed people having to deal with the draft it is the great field for practical Americanization. There are many good citizens in the making who could give a little instruction in American ideals and with their na tive shrewdness for looking out for what property or money they may have accumulated become as staunch in their love for their adopted home or community as any of the descend ants of revolutionary soldiers. There W has not been a systematic effort to win new citizens in this district, one of the big industrial sections and the taking of some interest with a view to helping, not isolating, the men from enemy countries will be profi table in the end. Men who take pride In the fact that their children were born here and are enrolled in schools where English is taught, are good material for instruction in Ameri canism. • • • These are the days when the Cap itol pigeons and squirrels are sur prised. not only at the coldness of the atmosphere, but of tho visitors to the park, and no one need be sur prised to find a squirrel making a flying dive for the back of a coat or clinging to a coat sleeve. The ani mals are hungry and frankly so. I Superintendent George A. Shrelner I has a fund from which he buys nuts I for the squirrels in winter time, but the trouble is that the animals are so fed up because of visitors that the rations do not suit their appe tites. As for the pigeons they fairly fall over one another to secure boun ty from visitors. Postmaster Sites saya that the people of Harrisburg appeared to think the "baby bonds" and the thrift stamps very good investments to make for Christmas presents. The postmaster says that Harrisburg will have a pretty fine showing of its own before any drive is made in be half of the bonds and stamps. # • Clei-ks in the telegraph offices are commencing to breathe again. In the language of one man who handles many messages it seems as though "every soldier In camp got a message from homo and sent one In reply." From all accounts the camp felicitations were numbered in the hundreds and probably thousands ' from Harrisburg and vicinity. In spite of the operators' lament it is a fine custom and one that should be encouraged. • • • Steelton's home defense unit is getting right down to business. Fol lowing the meeting at which the outline of the Harrisburg Reserves was given gatherings have been held for drill and tho men are now study 'nr the manual of arms and com mencing to salute on the streets. T'biß "mint'- his home or ganizations in three places and there are prospects of units being formed in Millersburg and some of the coal towns. They would be subject only to calls from the county or local authorities and 'not for s'ate service. 1 WELL KNOWN PEOPLE "" —Sheriff-elect Haddock, of Alle gheny, was formerly a city official of Pittsburgh. —Dr. J. Elmer Porter has been elected chairman of tho Pottstown Board of Health. —Ex-Sheriff Sanders, of Eaaton, was badly hurt by an automobile ac cident. —Ex-Senator Ernest L. Tustln, ot Philadelphia, Is to make a tour of the state to further the organization of the "sedition stammers." —Morgan Thomas, Lackawanna commissioner, is developing congres sional aspirations. | DO YOU KNOW ~~) That Harrisburg meat prod- i nets are betas Md by Persh- fk in*'a army? T HISTORIC HARRISBURG Wo less than five big council* of Indian chiefs were held hero afte the French and Indian war. Conrad Welscr cam* to attend on* of tham.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers