8
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
A NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOME
Founded iijr
Published evenings except Sunday by
THE TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO.,
Telegraph Hiilldlnc, Federal Square.
*. J. ST ACKPOLE, & Editor-in-Chief
V. K. OYSTER, Business Manager.
GUS M. STEINMETZ, Managing Editor.
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titled to the use for republication of
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THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, ltlS
' . —
Verily I say unto yon. Whosoever
mhall not receive the kingdom of God
as a little child, he shall in no wise
enter therein. —MATT. 10:15.
WANTED—A PRACTICAL HEAD
THE conditions which now exist
in the Water Department as a
result of a mistaken policy of
economy are so serious as to justify
the greatest care possible in overcom
ing a situation which involves peril
for the whole community. The
penriy-wise-pound-foolish theory of
municipal administration invariably
leads to troublo and while there may
be temporary popularity In "saving
at the spigot while losing at tho
bung" in the end comes adverse criti
cism, and worse.
In the present instance, the wel
fare of the city is at stake and there
ought never again to arise such a
situation as confronts Harrisburg by
reason of the policy of reducing wa
ter rents at the expense of necessary
equipment and expansion of the
pumping and reservoir facilities.
We are assured that every effort Is
now being made to place the pump
ing station in first-class shape, but
until the broken machinery shall
have been replaced and the equip
ment is up to the requirements the
people are bound to be more or less
nervous over a possible shortage of
tho water supply.
It is not improbable, however, that
out of this serious development may
come a realization on the part of tho
people that it is up to them to give a
little more attention to the selection
of proper officials to conduct the nec
essary business than has been the
case in recent years. And the pres
ent municipal body must learn the
lesson right here that trifling with
the vital welfare of the community
will not long be condoned by the peo
ple.
In the reorganization of the com
missioners for 1918 the apportion
ment of duties must be made with
reference to fitness and nothing else.
Whoever is placed at the head of the
Department of Public Safety, which
Includes the water works, should
have at his elbow a practical assist
ant who will give his whole time and
attention to tho proper supervlsloiv-of
this important public utility. After
the experience through which we are
now passing there will be no excuse
for any further failure and no expen
diture, however large. Is too big to be
made when necessary for the protec
tion and safeguarding of the health
*nd security of the community.
MUDDLING
O.F course, the newspaper or In
dividual who has the temerity
event to express a difference of
opinion regarding any feature of the
present administration at Washing
ton will be accused In certain
quarters of lack of patriotism, but
unless there Is a quick change of
front regarding many thingß that
affect the Interests of the people,
there will bo a whirlwind of protest
before the year Is much oldor.
It Is perhaps reasonable that fhe
enemy should be given no comfort
through criticism of military effort
or lack of preparation, but when It
comes to civic administration, as In
the case of the revenue measures
and tho regulations growing out of
their enforcement, the people have
a right to be heard. And they are
being heard with great frequency
nowadays, especially with reference
to the muddled Interpretations or
lack of interpretation of the Income
tax features of the revenue laws.
Since the turn of the year bankers
and lawyers and the people gen
erally have' been wondering how they
are to construe certain provisions of
the war tax law and even the spe
cial representatives of the govern
ment sent out through the country
to help the taxpayers make proper
returns are unable to clear up
mooted questions growing out of the
apecl'tl tax features imposed under
the war revenue measure.
If It Is difficult for experts to tell
what a law means and what is re
quired of tho people, how under the
heavens are the people themselves i
. •.! : -7 —_— . 1 ■
THURSDAY EVENING HABHI6BURG TELEGRAPH fANUART 3, 1918,
to determine theso matters? Too They have all been making so much
many "worthy" Democrats may he I money that the average is possibly
muddling the situation, perhapi.
STAND IW HOOVER
FARMER PRKSIDENT WILLIAM
HOWARD TAFT'S endorsement
of Herbert Hoover comes at a
time when the federal food controller
is sorely in need of popular sup
port. He,, has been subjected to un
mercifully severe criticism at the
hands of the congressional probers
and is in danger of losing that
confidence which the public has
reposed In him. Mr. Taft points out
that Mr. Hoover, in accepting the
controllership, was actuated only by
the highest patriotic principles and
that while his orders have worked
some hardship they have been of
Inestimable value in conserving the
food supply not only of this country
but of the allies as well, and that as
a result the country has been saved
a disaster of the first magnitude.
Unquestionably, Hoover has made a
lot of enemies. He has also made a
number of mistakes. But as a whole
what the former president says of
him is true. It must not bo forgotten
that Mr. Hoover is a man of inde
pendent means and that he is now
working without salary, save the
dollar a year which the government
allows in such cases as his. As a re
sult of his splendid efforts in Bel
glum, where at the outbreak of the
war he saved the people of that
stricken country from starvation, he
became acquainted as no other man
in the world was, or Is, with the food
supplies of the world and he early
recognized the necessity of food con
servation In this country for the per
iod of the war. He has done a mar
velous work and has Induced the
people voluntarily to do many things
in the way of "wheatless" and
"meatless" days and the like, which
governmental mandates were requir
ed to bring about In other countries
at war.
It is worth while to know that not
one of his acts, so far as the con
gressional inquiry has developed, is
open to suspicion and that in almost
every Instance his judgment has
proved to be sound.
The opinion of Mr. Taft is that no
mere personal antagonisms should
be allowed to stand between this na
tion and the successful prosecution
of the war, and he chides those who
place their selfish interests before
those of the nation as a whole. This
is a proper view and if it were work
ed out in practice at Washington,
there would not be so many blun
ders, nor so many little men in big
places.
RAILROAD CONTROL
GOVERNMENT control of the
railroads of the country c! a -Ingr
the war will determine once and
for all the question of government,
ownership of these great public
transportation agencies. It must
nor. be forgotten by the people that
the very thing which the law has
prevented—the pooling of traffic
facilities—is now being done under
government direction, with the
result that embargoed freight is
moving with increasing activity
everywhere.
Practical patriotism has beon
demonstrated by the railroad offi
cials all over the country. The vol
untary act of the 693 railroads of
the United States In merging their
competitive activities for the period
of the war and the uniting of all in
one continental system was a fine
exhibition of constructive patriotism
by the great transportation agencies.
Co-ordination of the nation's car
riei-s was the only solution of the
big problem. Freight congestion
will rapidly disappear under this
sane treatment of an increasingly
serious situation. Thousands of cars
have been saved for general traffic
by the pooling of coal and lake ore.
We must remember, as we go
deeper into the war, that it is not
possible to do in a war period the
things that were possible and .-eas
onable in peace times. Nor should
we forget that the railroad corpora
tions have been hampered almost to
the limit of utter demoralization by
regulations that even the govern
ment found It necessary to eliminate
in the Interest of the fullest use of
tho transportation systems of the
country.
We must realize —everyone of us
—that the United States Is in this
war to the finish and that it is in
conceivable there will be no mis
takes. We are putting the power of
the country in high gear for a
smashing blow at the Prussian
menace and It will be necessary for
all of us to cultivate all the patience
possible, even to the extent of al
lowing to pass unnoticed many of
the utterly bone-headed things that
are done In the name of govern
ment. But it can hardly be expected
that people will shut their eyes to
purely political maneuvering under
such conditions.
' ONE IN TWENTY-SEVEN
ASSUMING that the state of
Pennsylvania has 8,000,000 peo
ple and that there are 300,-
000 automobiles or trucks or other
motor vehicles, that means one for
each twenty-seven persons, to be lib
eral. And yet It is not one of the
States where automobiles are really
numerous. A year ago it was esti
mated that there were 8,500,000
automobiles In the whole United
States or one to each twenty-nine
persons. That number must have
materially Increased in the last year,
just as the registrations at the State
Highway Department showed a gain.
It may be added that the bulk of
the cars in the UnltejJ States last
year were owned in the big agricul
tural States of the West and the
group of threo States just to the
west of Pennsylvania, which are the
center of the car-making industry.
Some of those States had a car to
every eighteen or twenty persons.
higher now.
But Pennsylvania Is doing fairly
well to have one car for every twen
ty-seven persons. It means that all
of us will get a ride some time dur
ing the year anyway and that Com
missioner O'Nell will have a constant
flow of money through licenses to
lteep up the main highways.
T>EA*C* u
By the Ex-Conunittecman
Men who have been following the
course of the controversy between
Auditor General Charles A. Snyder
and the officers of the State Insur
ance Fund over the Auditor General's
desire to audit the fund are of the
opinion that the matter will go to
court and that a general opinion as
to the powers of the Auditor General
will be given. The act of 1810 gives
the Auditor General authority over
all public accounts. The Attorney
General has held in effect that the
fund is not a public account. The
next move will be made by Ihe Audi
tor General.
Next week argument wil be heard
in the Supreme Court on the "re
cess appointments," mandamus ac
tion and it is possible that before
this suit is decided that another em
bracing in a broad way powers of
the Auditor General, will be inau
gurated.
Mr. Snyder's charges that the fund
administrative charges were exces
sive, were denied in a vigorous state
ment by W. J. Roney, manager of
the fund last night.
—County Treasurer Edward D.
Frlebertshauser, of Allegheny, has
announced that he had appointed
Edward M. Kenna, ex-legislator, to
succeed Samuel J. Grenet as county
delinquent tax collector. Mr. Kenna
Just has completed his term of serv
ice as mercantile appraiser, a posi
tion in which he was elected by the
county commissioners. Prior to his
selection for mercantile appraiser,
Mr. Kenna had served as police mag
istrate, having been appointed to that
position by Mayor Joseph G. Arm
strong soon after the latter entered
upon his term as city executive," says
the Pittsburgh Gazette-Times. "Mr.
Kenna has been active in politics for
many years. The position he now
takes Is regarded as the finest in the
county. Among those who served in
it before Mr. Grenet were Archibald
Mackrell, Max G. Leslie and Dr.,E. R.
Walters."
—Ex-Representative William
Walsh, Vare leader of the Fortieth
ward, will succeed City Treasurer
elect Frederick J. Shoyer as a mem
ber of the Philadelphia Board of
Registration Commissioners. Gover
nor Brumbaugh will make the ap
pointment this week, Mr. Shoyer
having tendered his resignation pre
paratory to assuming his new duties
next Monday morning. The office of
registration commissioner pays $3,-
000 annually, while that of city
treasurer pays SIO,OOO. Mr. Walsh
is a member of the Republican city
committee and a friend of the Gov
ernor.
—The job of chief of police of
Pottstown which has been going
begging has finally been filled by ap
pointment of Harry L. Swavely.
—Conrad G. Graeber, new deputy
revenue collector for Northumber
land county, was formerly deputy
county treasurer and is a very active
Democrat.
—Wllkes-Barre will get more po
licemen and a pistol range for them
to practice in.
—The Philadelphia North Amer
ican attacks the city administration
for failing to establish the two-pla--
toon police system.
—Judge Groman, of Lehigh coun
ty, has ruled that owing to the war
Lehigh should not go to the expense
of a new courthouse.
—Williamsport women are insist
ing upon a woman being chosen as
city treasurer. '
—The Philadelphia Inquirer says
that Senator W. C. Sproul will make
announcement of his candidacy for
governor within a week. The Bul
letin says that notwithstanding the
apparent agreement of the factions
on Sproul there will be a continua
tion of the warfare in Philadelphia.
The Pittsburgh Gazette-Times inti
mates that announcements will be
made before long.
—George W. Acklin, Collector of
Customs for Pittsburgh district, died
a few days ago. He was well known
among Democrats of the state and
frequently attended conventions jnd
other meetings. There are a num
ber of deserving Democrats at Pitts
burgh willing to become his succes
sor.
—Frank H. Anderson, well known
to a number of Harrisburgers, re
tires next week as Burgess of Wil
kinsburg and was given a watch by
his policemen.
—Turner W. Shacklett, the new
Postmaster at Erie, has been re
warded for much Democratic serv
ice, including some hopeless runs
for Congress. Shacklett attracted
some attention at Democratic state
gatherings here by his fervency. He
was a national delegate once.
—Western Pennsylvanians are ex
pecting the visit of Senator Penrose
to Pittsburgh next week to be very
important. The Senator will spend
four days In Pittsburgh.
—District Attorney Nevin A. Cort,
of Westmoreland, has named W. T.
Dom, formerly District Attorney, as
his first assistant; Robert E. Best,
of Jeanette, as second assistant, and
Paul L. Feightner, of Greensburg, as
county detective. James B. Galla
gher, re-elected Clerk of Courts, and
W.Dick Hunter re-elected Prothono
tary, will make no changes in the
personnel of their office forces.
—Fred L. Roberts, secretary to
Mayor Joseph G. Armstrong, of
Pittsburgh, has been appointed Su
perintendent of the Bureau of Rec
reations by Director John Swan, of
the Department of Public Works.
The appointment becomes effective
immediately. W. F. Ashe has been
Superintendent of the Bureau until
about six months ago, when he en
tered the federal service as a super
visor of recreation camps near the
various cantonments. Since that
time Roy D. Schooley, chief clerk in
the Public Works Department, has
been acting as superintendent in
connection with his regular duties.
Mr. Roberts has been in the city
service for fifteen years, entering as
private stenographer to the then Di
rector of Public Works, E. M. Blge
low.
—lt is interesting to note in these
days when Democratic organs claim
to be the last bulwark of the free
dom of the plain people against the
corporations that Joseph F. Guftey,
chairman of the Democratic state
■committee, has been elected presi
dent of a big gas company of Pitts
burgh, which has been figuring in
complaints made against Its rates
before the Public Service Commis
sion. He is the operating head of
several gas companies. He is also
director or manager of a water works
and a trust company and some more
gas companies.
—Judges throughout the state who
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have been re-elected are in some
cases taking the oath in private and
in others are not waiting for the first
Monday of January to come around.
One of the interesting things is that
Judge Robert B. McCormick. of Lock
Ilaven, will /take two oaths in six
weeks. He was named to succeed the
late Judge H. A. Hail and will begin
his own term on Monday.
—There are some suspicions that
ex-Senator Walter Merrick, of Tioga,
may take it into his head to run for
Congress.
—Representative John Siggins, Jr.,
of Warren, one of the young legis
lators who made good at the last ses
sion, will be a candidate for renomi
nation.
EDITORIAL COMMENT""
Allies can stand another Verdun,
•but can Germany?— Wall Street
Journal.
The country may submit to a pork
less day, but Congress—never!— New
York World.
It Is feared that when Russia finds
herself she will know what It Is that
she has discovered. —Kansas City
Star.
Daniels hopes that we will not
hate the Germans. But we can dis
like them.—Philadelphia Public
Ledger.
An optimist is one who reads eag
erly about Senate Inquiries into the
shortage of necessities. St. Louis
Globe-Democrat-
The deep-seated democracy of the
Bolsheviki is indicated in Trotzky's
announcement that if they don't
have a majority in the Constituent
Assembly they will overthrow it.—
Chicago Herald.
The State Press
Intelligent people in France and
Britain discovered long ago that the
German system operates by arousing
all possible Internal dissensions in
every nation at war with Germany.
The American citizen or the alien
who devotes much of his time to de
nouncing alleged evils here at home
while carefully protecting
ism and kaiserism from his venom
should be kept under close scrutiny.
Whether he is actually in the pay of
tho kaiser is not especially important.
He is doing and saying what the
kaiser Is willing to pay to have done
and said —that Is the important fact.
I—Newcastle News.
Censors of tho Public School
Board of Philadelphia are at work
on the German textbooks eliminating
the atrocious stuff that tot years has
sung the praises of the kaiser and of
the damnable "kultur" which has
been made the vehicle of empire
building with the sword. But wh,v
bother to scissor and mutilate? Why
not throw the books out altogether?
Why not, indeed, banish the study
of German from the schools?
Germany is an outlaw nation. Its
one thought is domination through
brutality. When this war id over Ger
man will not be spoken except
among German people. The lan
guage will never be heard of in
diplomacy. The world can get along
very well without it. Throw it out! —
Philadelphia Inquirer.
Meanwhile, the allies must fight
unUl the military power o£ the Teu
tons is crushed and the kaiser Is
ready to submit peace proposals that
mean something.—Altoona Mirror.
Both Sweden and Spain have has
tened to show their friendly and
sympathetic feelings for Germany,
that of the former almost openly
avowed, and that of the latter scarce
ly concealed, by their acts of en
couragement to the false, faithless
and perjured Bolsheviki government
of Russia. Sweden and Spain have
made their choice, so have America,
France and Great Britain. When the
war Is ended there will be a frantic
scramble to secure the friendly ac
knowledgment of these allies In
whose hands will rest the destinies
of the world. But when those nations
recognize their friends It is not like
ly that Sweden and Spain will be on
the list.—Lancaster New Era.
Statistics from the most dependa
ble sources agree that the death toll
In the present war is nothing com
pared to former wars of any note. It
has been ilgured out that the num
ber of men killed in action or died
of wounds in the present war is at
the ratio of only 1.l per cent. At
the battle of Shiloh the Ninth Illi
nois lost 63.3 per cent.; the First
Minnesota, at Gettysburg-. 82 per
cent, and the Sixty-ninth New York,
1,000 out of 1,200 in twenty minutes.
—Lebanon News.
! Kaledines and the Bolsheviki
BY A. J. Sack, Director, Russian Information Bureau,
Woolworth Bldg., New York City.
FOR the last twelve years, since
the Russian Revolution of 1905,
every average American citizen
lias known at least one Russian word,
the word "Cossacks." I have just
ended a speaking tour through the
United States, and after addressing
during the past five weeks, fifty
seven meetings in thirty-two states,
with an attendance of about 65,000,
I have learned that every average
American citizen knows now at least
another Russian word, the word
"Bolsheviki." The Cossacks led by
General Kaledine, are now fighting
the Bolsheviki who endanger the
very existence of the Russian Re
public, and the purpose of this state
ment is to interpret for the American
public the real meaning and signifi
cance of these two factors in Rus
sian life.
I will begin with an explanation
about the Cossacks. People in this
country have been accustomed to
consider the Cossacks A counter- j
revolutionary power. The ground
for this presumption lay in the fact
that the Czar's government had used
the Cossacks extensively for suppres
sing revolutionary uprisings in Rus
sia for the last two, three decades.
It must be said, as a matter of fact,
that the old government sent against
the revolutionists, not only the Cos
sacks, but all other units of the army
as well. The entire army, as long
as the Czar's government was able to
control It, was used in Russia as a
counter-revolutionary force. The up
risings in part of the Russian fleet,
in 1905 and 1906, were suppressed
partially by the other part of the
fleet which had not joined the revo
lution, and partially by the artillery
at the fortresses of Kronstadt and
Sveaborg. The famous revolutionary
uprising at Moscow, in December,
1905, was suppressed by a few reg
iments of Infantry which came down
from Petrograd.
On the other hand, there is a ver
sion that the revolution in March,-
1917, started in Petrograd after a
Cossnck shot a police officer who had
just before killed a student for try
ing tp make a revolutionary speech.
And the Cossacks in Petrograd were
the first military unit to join the
revolution. About two weeks after
the revolution the first All-Russian
Cossack Congress met in Petrograd,
and It is very timely now to recall
the resolution unanimously adopted
at this Congress.
"The Congress of the Cossacks'
Delegates of all Russia has faith in
the administrative genius of the
Russian people, which more than
once has manifested itself In the
darkest moments of our national
history. The Congress firmly be
lieves that the Provisional Govern
ment, pursuing a domestic policy
based on the consent of all the or
ganized democratic forces, and a for
eign policy in complete harmony
with the Allies, will be able to guide
Russia into the paths of liberty and
democracy. The Cossacks of all
Russia, inspired with a deep demo
cratic spirit, are ready to render all
their support to the Provisional Gov
ernment in its work of eradicating
anarchy, preventing a counter-revo
lution, and safeguarding freedom of
election to the Constituent Assembly
so that it can be a tru- expression
of the popular will, and thus be In
strumental in making Russia a true
democracy."
While some people in this coun
try are still inclined to consider the
Cossacks a counter-revolutionary
force, JJie Russian democracy, with
the exception of the Bolsheviki,
whose opinion on this point or any
other should not be taken too ser
iously, think otherwise. The .All-
Russian Council of Worklngmen and
Soldiers' Delegates received the dele
gation from the Cossacks' Congress
with exceptional kindness and gave
them seats among the presiding
officers.
All the Cossacks of Russia now fol
low General Kaledlne, whose name
only recently became known in this
country. In Russia Kaledlne's name
became well known during the war
as the Commander of the Eighth
Army. General Kaledlne acted then
against the Germans in the same
manner as he is now acting against
the Bolsheviki. He Is always very
slow, taking his time to prepare a
plan, and the necessary measures for
its accomplishment, but when he
strikes, it is almost always a mortal
blow. After hearing many things
about Kaledlne from the Russian
officers who have fought under him,
I would say that Kaledlne may be
called the "Russian Tank." His
movements are slow but sure and
•effective iu reaching the objective.
It is possible that in tho fight
against the Bolsheviki Kaledine will
have the backing of all the construc
tive forces of the Russian democracy.
There was a definite report that the
Constitutional Democrats are sup
porting him, and it Is not impossible
that he has also the support of all
the Socialist factions opposed to the
Bolsheviki. There was a report that
five secretaries of the Kerensky cab
inet, led by the moderate Socialist,
Prokopovich, have joined General
Kaledine, and it is probable that he
also has the support of such prom
inent leaders as Plechanov, Prince
Kropotkin, Avksentieff, Madame
Breshko-Breshkovsky, Tseretelll and
others.
It must be said most emphatically
that Kaledine is not a counter-revo
lutionist, and his object, as far as we
know, has nothing to do with any
plan for the restoration of monarchy
in Russia. General Kaledlne's pro
gram was fully expressed in his re
markable speech at the National
Conference In Moscow, an'd now is
the time to make the people of the
United States acquainted with this
document.
General Kaledine was one of the
most impressive figures at the con
ference. Tall and powerful, he spoke
commandingly, emphasizing every
point of his declaration.
"Having heard the report of the
Provisional Government regarding
the difficult position in which Rus
sia finds herself," began General
Kaledine, "the Cossacks of the twelve
regions, the Don Cossacks, the Cos
sacks from Kuban, Tersk, Orenburg,
Yaitzk, Astrakhan, Siberia, Amour,
Transbaical, Semiretchinsk, Enissey,
and Ussuriysk, hail the decision of,
the Provisional Government to lib-1
erat'e itself finally in matters of na-|
tlonal administration from the pres-1
sure of the various class and party,
organizations, which, together withj
other causes, have brought the coun
try to the verge of ruin.
"The Cossacks, who have never |
known what serfdom means, the Cos
sacks who have been free and inde-|
pendent since time immemorial, who
have always enjoyed a large degree
of self-government, who have al
ways adhered in their own life to
the principles of equality and frater
nity, are not intoxicated by the new
freedom. Having received It anew,
having regained the freedom which
the Czars had taken from them, the
Cossacks, whose strength rests in
their common sense and in their
sane conception of the fundamental
principles of statesmanship, have ac
cepted the new freedom with dig
nity and calmness, and have imme
diately proceeded to put it into life,
by creating In the first days jf the
revolution, military committees
elected on a democratic basis, suc
[ ceeded in co-ordinating the princi
! pie of liberty with order."
Note—Mr. Sack a few months ago
delivered an address on Russia be
fore the Harrisburg Chamber of
Commerce.
LABOR NOTES
The British Association of Marine
Engineers has requested the govern
ment to supply each vessel with a
motorboat, to prevent prolonged ex
posure of shipwrecked sallorß.
The state-use system in New Jersey
Is replacing the old plan *>f contract
ing for the labor of convicts, accord
ing to the annunl report of the State
Labor Commission. Under this plan
the Commission supervises all work
performed by the inmates of New
Jersey penal Institutions, and allots
the work to be done by the convicts
which is for the state.
In a report covering three years of
progress officers of the International
Union of United Brewery Workmen
show that during this period wages
have been Increased $10,503,820 and
the working time reduced 4,558,212
hours. These gains were obtained
through the signing of 623 contracts
for 579 unions located in 447 cities
and affected 51,885 members.
Pennsylvania State Department of
Labor and Industry has issued a let
ter and poster to all employes of
women in Pennsylvania, calling at
tention to th* growing number of
women workers in the state, due to
war conditions, and pointing out that
In the present emergency the state
laws relative to women's labor con
ditions and hours have not been
changed. Men's wages are suggest
ed as a fair basis of compensation
for the women.
Ouer tfa
Ik "~P MVIUU
The biggest baby ever born in
Penn Yan, N. Y., came as a New
Years' gift to Mrs. Charles Granston.
It weighs eighteen pounds and )t is
said Food Administrator Hoover has
already cast a wary eye at Baby
Granston.
• • *
Story is told of a Pennsylvania
woman whose son served in the
Spanish War, and whose feats of
heroism she was fond of reciting.
"Yes, indeed", was one of her boasts,
"he fought in the Battle of Vanilla
and was all over the Hallowe'en
Islands."
• • • •
Most patriotic hen on record be
longs to Carl Smith, near Flndlay,
Ohio. Recently she stole a nest,
laid sufficient eggs to cover it. and
then settled down for a three weeks'
repose. Seven chicks were hatched
with the thermometer 18 dgrees be
low zero. And she is now starting
a new family.
* • •
The wife of a workingman in the
Midlands (England) was describing
a quarrel between two other women,
and her final comment was as fol
lows: "If 'er'd •said to 'er what 'er
said to 'er 'er'd 'ave killed 'er or
'er 'er!"
• * •
At a meeting at Seward, Neb., the
pastors and teachers of the German
Lutheran Church of the Missouri
Synod in Nebraska adopted resolu
tions of loyalty to the United States,
and recommended the cessation of
German language instruction in all
parochial schools of the state for
the duration of the war. One of
the leading parochial schools of the
state, located here, will drop Ger
man language instruction to-morrow
and It is expected that other schools
will adopt the same policy.
OUR DAILY LAUGH
A GOQD IDEA.
Nell—What New Year's resolution
j jiro you going to make this year?
I Bell—l haven't decided —I want
jto make one that can be easily
I broken.
A WISE FISH.
I She—l wonder why this gold flsl
never grows any.
He—The Intelligent little creatur
*nows there would be no room foi
him In that small globe.
NO DOCTOR NEEDED.
"Did the doctor put you on a
•let?"
"He didn't t*ve to—Hoover did
It"
ffopftfttg (Stfsi
People who have been ebeervteej
the railroads hi this section since l
Uncle Sam took control Bay that tlioj
first signs of a speeding up of freight
traffic can be seen and that the In
crease in coal traffic is commencing
to be notable. A few tremendous
coal trains have passed through tht*
city, but a larger amount Is golnpri
by Enola and from all accounts they
are only the forerunners of a *reatl
movement of coal as sidings ancli
lines of the Pennsylvania railroad all'
through the soft coal country have
for weeks been filled with cars of
coal. There have also been many*
cars standing on sidings along the.
Northern Central between this city
and Sunbury, some of it within tan
talizing distance- of Harrlsburg. Tho
Reading's coal traffic over the Sus
quehanna, which is far larger than
many people realize, is commencing
to grow and there are long trains of
ccal from West Virginia and tho
Connellsville district coming into
Harrisburg, split up at Kutherford
and sent on to th% eastern states.
Some of these trains are considerably
longer than the usual winter size of
coal trains, it has been customary
to cut dowji trains in winter, but coal
is being handled now in as long
trains as can be moved. Similarly
the empty cars are being rushed
back to the coal lields in very big
trains. When the new arrangements
for handling freight are perfected
there will probably be a volume flow
ing through Harrisburg every twen
ty-four hours that will make some
of the rush periods of 1917 seem like
dull days.
An interesting theme for discus
sion now in view of the Government's
taking over of the railroads is Just
what will bo done by the Public
Service i 'onunissioH with complaints
against the railroads. There are a
couple of dozens of cases pending
which if they are decided now will
probably be with some directions that
at a future date certain things bo
done. Tliis has been indicated by or
ders which provide that applications
for grade crossing abolition may be
renewed without prejudice after the
war or that new construction can bo
undertaken two or three years hence.
But what is interesting many is what
will be done about the complaints
of violation of the full crew law.
Operation is a matter for the Gov
ernment and there is no telling what
the future may bring forth in the
way of manning trains or running
railroads for that matter. Federal
control probably sets aside state
laws. •
Members of tho Harrlsburg Re
serves will resume their drills at the
City Gray's Armory tomorrow night
when two of the companies will
meet and go through the manual of
arms. Tho other companies will
meet Tuesday night. It is planned
to -take up interior guard duty this
month, a line ofwork In which the
Reserves will be given plenty of
practice as it will the duty they may
have to perform if called upon in an
emergency. Plans nre also being
made for indoor practice at the range
in tho Armory.
Men who have been observing the
Susquehanna river say that the Ice
will probably be as thick aa during
the winter ot' 1912 when the mercury
did some celebrating by going down
to "ten below" in February and trees
and hedges were killed by the cold.
Ice was reported that spring as
eighteen inches thick and some
Which was called "two-foot ice" was
talked of. In any event the ice that
spring was pretty heavy and only
the gradual thaw prevented even
more setious trouble than occurred
during the famous "ice flood" of
1904 When Middletown suffered so
severely and the tremendous cakes
of ice jammed the Susquehanna so
that the Columbia branch of the
Pennsylvania had to be dug out.
Speaking of those severe winters
it is interesting to note that the pro
longed cold spell which the country
has been enduring the last fortnight
is very unusual. In severe winters
recently there was a succession of
short cold waves such as those which
sent mercury down to zero last win
ter, but they never lasted very long.
The cold snaps of those winters
were very hard on people but they
v/ere able to get coal and to keep
warm. The intense cold killed much
game, ns coveys of quail were found
frozen and bird life was hard hit
generally. The probabilities are that
many birds will not be able to sur
vive the cold weather of the last
week because the snows have cov
ered the ground and the birds have
had to meet terrible cold in an un
dernourished condition. It was this
condition which prompted State
Game authorities to issue the appeal
to people to feed the insect destroy
ing birds as an economic as well as
sporting proposition.
• • •
From all accounts there will be
considerable curtailment of the usual
winter banqueting in Harrisburg
this year because of the war and the
conservation movement. Such din
ners as will be held will have menus
in line with the war and there will
be things eaten which can be classed
ns anions: tlie nonessentials, while
"war breads" and similar things will
be introduced byway of variety. The
annulment of some of the banftua
which have been annual features or
Harrisburg life will make a differ
ence, but everyone is looking for
ward to enjoying them all the mora
when the war is over.
wau KNOWN PEOPLE
—B. Dawson Coleman, the Leban
on Iron manufacturer, has been
named as a director of one of the
big Philadelphia Savings funds.
—E. K. Morse, the transit expert,
has recommended both elevated and
subway lines to relieve Pittsburgh's
problem. .
—John A. Brashear, the Pitts
burgh scientist, took time off to
make the New Year's address at the
Y. M. C. A.
' —Samuel Frederick Houston, who
becomes president of one of ttom
Philadelphia banks, comes of a fam
ily long identified with that business.
—H. P. Armsby, of State College,
has been elected a vice-president of
the American Association for Ad
vancement of Science.
| DO YOU KNOW ]
That Harrisburg Is sending
tons of tin plate to factories for
manufacture of Army supplies?
HISTORIC HARRISDtJRU
The first steamboat run on the
Susquehanna was in the thirties and
it ran to Sunbury from here after.*
many vicissitudes. ▼
COLD COMFORT
Anyway, we're glad the railroads
are to t>e run by a director general
from the treasury rather than by a
brigadier general from the quarter
master's department.