- ••* "_'_^"- y " ' " * ' / ' •
MONDAY EVENING, HXItRISBURG (jfH(s* TELEQRXPH! JAWUARY 21 ! , 1914
8
fIARRISBDRG TELEGRAPH
A NBWSPAPER POR THB HOMB
Pounded IS3I
———
Published evening* except Sunday by
THE TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO,
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P. R. OYSTER, Business Manager.
GUS M. STEINMETZ, MANAGING Editor.
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herein. '
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I Member American
llshers' Assocla
latlon and Penn-
EMtirD °k fIC &
Avenue P.ulldlng,
FlnUjr,
Entered at the Post Office In Harrls
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gflTT"h _ carriers, ten cents a
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a year In advance.
MONDAY, JANUARY 21, 1018
Higher titan fear and stronger than
fate
Are love and faith that patiently
wait. — ANON.
A GREAT BATTLE CRY
IT WAS a happy thought which
prompted the Pennsylvania sol
diers at Camp Lee to Invite the
House and Senate of Virginia to
help celebrate the birthday of Gen
eral Robert E. Lee. In the first'
place, it is remarkable that Pennsyl
vania men should have so far for-1
frotten the trying days of Gettysburg
as to rejoice in the fact that their
camp ia named for the commander
of the forces that onco threatened
to split their State in twain, and, j
secondly, it is worth comment that
the Southern solons so readily]
should have understood the feelings
of the Northern boys and joined
with them ip. the observance. It all
goes to prove the strength of the
bonds that bind us. We have had
our misunderstandings, but like
most family jars they have been
soon forgotten and certain gentry
some 3,000 miles from here are
about to learn that the rrtel yell
and the union cheer combined form
a battle cry that will make the
Hun's most bloodcurdling hymn of
hate sound like the children's chorus
at a Sunday School picnic.
. Yes, we know it's getting around
toward Ground Hog Day, but it's a
foregone conclusion he's going to see
his shadow.
AGRICULTURAL WEEK
THE State Capital Is host this
week to the representatives of
the State's agricultural and al
lied interests who have been coming
here for their annual meetings for
more than a decade and it is glad
to extend its greetings at a time
when Pennsylvania needs the best
thought of its farmers and what
help the economists and scientific
men can give. The Keystone Sta'te
is going to need more food than
ever before next winter. It is a!
state marvelously fertile in spite of I
the fact that its wealth is in the)
products of the mine, the mill and
the well. It is being called upon|
to increase its acreage in grain and I
its yield of vegetables. And it willj
respond.
As in almost every line labor Is
the great factor. The draft, the
cities, the Industries, the railroads
have drawn heavily from the youth I
of the farm and the pre-eminent |
problem of the week's gathering will I
be to find a way to replace the
hands when sowing and reaping
times come around. Harrisburgr, as
ihe center of a big agricultural dis
trict and an industrial and trans
portation city In the bargain, is keen- !
ly Interested in the solution of this!
question and bespeaks its interest |
and support for the plans which!
may be evolved.
In the mid-winter exhibition of
farm products and the display of I
the farm tractor, which ploughs by
day or night, this community has a
big Interest. Many of the things
to be shown were raised in sight of
>our Capitol's dome and the trac-j
lors fi.ro those of firms which have
offices and branches here. We want
this exhibition to be an annual af
fair and of the greatest possible use
to our people. •
It would have been a fine thing for
the flsh story crop If this vacation had
occurred next July.
PRICEPUBLICATIONS
THE public will approve Donald
McCormick's plan for the pub
lication of food prices in Har
risburg. The local food administra
tor is about to inaugurate a prac
tice recommended for every com
munity in tjie State and which is
designed to give the public the bene
fit of what are believed to be fair
prices for provision staples on the
' cash and carry" plan. Of course,
charge accounts and deliveries will
cost the consumer more. The deal
er who simply turns his goods into
cash over the counter can and
should sell for less than his coro
potitor across the way who gives
credit and delivers the purchases.
The biggest benefit to be derived
from the price publications Is the
advance Information the consumer
will be given as t,o general condi
tions. Any grocer who overcharges
will be known to the trade at once,
but any dealer who so desires may
undersell and so increase his sales.
Prices will range, of course, just
ns quality of goods varies. All ap
ples, for example, are not of one
grade and the best will bring more
than the poorer, as is always the
case. The same applies to all other
lines. Price publication will not
necessarily be followed by sharp re
duction in the cost of living, but
carefully studied the lists should
prevent the consumer from being
victimized by profiteers, and that is
all they are designed to do.
"Fight or go under," says Lloyd
George, which is equivalent to an
order to "go over."
ALL SIQNS FAIL
IT'S an "Sid adage that "all signs
fail in dry weather," and the
same might be said of hard win
ters. It usually happens, in this
latitude and longitude, that a thaw
follows a snowstorm. This has oc
curred so frequently in recent years
that the sound of slelghbells became
almost as rare as that ancient form
of social pleasure known as the
"sleighing party." Even in the old
en days of New England, if we are
to believe Mr. Whittier's observa
tions in "Snowbound," a moderation
of temperature and bright sunshiny
days followed in the wake of a
storm. But not so in Central Penn
sylvania this year of our Lord 1918.
Our lot Is zero weather, snow, zero
weather, and then more snow, with
the mercury scarcely as much
raising Its eyebrows between times.
Not that we object so much to
snow, as such. It was all very well
for the family of the aforesaid John
Greenleaf Whittier, for example, to
"sit the clean-winged hearth about,
content to let the north wind roar
in baffled rage at pane and door."
If that's the kind of thing a bliz
zard meant in these days we would
pray on bended knees for a bliz
zard every night. Bpt, as the poet
also wrote, times have changed, and
now what does a blizzard mean? A
"day with the family around the fire,
listening to the "wintry blast shake
beam and rafter as it passed," or to
make merry over the "mug of
cider simmering low, the apples
rputtering in a row," or to toast our
feet before a glowing log while, as
the snow-laden gale swept by, the ■
"merrier up its roaring draught the j
great throat of the chimney laugh- j
ed?" Any such ideally cozy lot for j
us poor mortals of a modern day j
when the blizzard descends and the j
weatherman begins to "strafe" us?)
Not much!
Here's what happens. We crawl
out of bed two hours earlier than
usual, after repeated proddings of
conscience—and our wives—to make
the rounds of the water spigots, test
ing 'em for freeze-ups and, alas, too
often finding "em. We cuss the coal
shortage experts at Washington be
cause we dare put on only a table
spoonful of coal at a time when the
temperature demands a bushel, and
we shovel a path so that the milk
man —if he ever comes—may deign
to pause long enough before our
door to leave a quart of six cent
milk for which he collects twelve
cents. And after a breakfast
snatched In a hurry In a cold kitch
en, what? Why, a sharp run for the
7 o'clock trolley, which on snowy
days usually comes piking along,
somewhat after the manner of the
dillar-a-dollar scholar of Mother
Goose, somewhere between 10
o'clock and noon.
Of course, we know that the car
won't be there, but—again using the
language of our poet friend upon a
somewhat different but no less tragic
occasion "hope will dream and
faith will trust, that, somehow, some
where, meet we must," and so we
go rushing away for the car which
doesn't come and we get down to
work mad clean through an hour
late and the boss gives us a look like
you imagine Mr. Wilson would pass
to the Kaiser should the two meet
on the boulevard, and the whole
poetic efTect of the "snow, the snow,
the beautiful snow" is lost upon us.
Besides, by that time the falling
mercury has turned our thoughts
back again to that dwindling coal
pile. We shudder for the reputa
tion of the good Quaker poet had he
tried to write his "Snowbound" to
the meter of modern conditions.
"Lack of coal shuts theaters in Ger
many." fajjs a headline, and too much
coal on the railroads shuts 'em up In
America.
CHICKENS COME HOME
THE hearing of the threo can
didates for city treasurer be
fore council on the charge of
having gone "too far" in soliciting
the support of Commissioner Gross
for the office named, turned out as
anticipated. Mr. Gross admitted
there was no Intent to bribe or to
offer other illegal Inducement. This
is gratifying to those who have the
good name of at heart and
who are indignant that even the
suspicion of scandal should attach
to any public official or transatlon
in Harrisburg. But while the men
Involved are to be congratulated,
the legret must be expressed that
the Incident ever should have hap
pened. There appears to have been
absolutely no excuse lor it, and th?
good names of not only the three
men under Are have been Injured,
but the commissioner himself does
not come off unscathed, while the
city itself is a helpless sufferer.
Mr. Gross, no doubt, will guard
his tongue very carefully in the
future. By a strange coincidence
he himself the past week was the
victim of Just su'ch another tem
pest in # a teapot as he stirred up In
the treasurershlp . contest. There
was absolutely no ground whatever
for the charge brought against htm
before Alderman Landls of having
violated the election laws with re
spect to reporting his campaign ex
penses. The accusation was based
upon a triviality that had no stand
ing in law. The suit never should
have been brought. Mr. Gross was
unnecessarily brought into public
notice In an unfavorable light, but
he knows now how It feels to be
unjustly accused.
'f otitic* Ck
By the Kx-Committeeman
Aside from demands for party
harmony and that the ghost of fac
tionalism in Philadelphia be no
longer permitted to stalk abroad
in the state west of the city line,
the Republican newspapers of the
state appear to have paid very lit
tle editorial attention to the booms
launched by any of the men talk
ed of for the gubernatorial nomi
nation. Senator Sproul and Com
missioner O'Neil have had a few
nice things said about them, but
the general disposition appears ro
be to wait until things become set
tled, there being a belief in many
parts of the state that a compro
mise that will make victory certain
is possible.
That such a view is held at the
Capitol is well known and thought
ful men in Philadelphia and Pitts
burgh have the same id<;a. Demo
cratic newspapers are so fearful of
such an agreement being reached
that they are helping on the quar
rel, quite overlooking the jars in
their own household.
The Democratic slate making con
ference Has again been postponed.
It was to have been held this week,
but it is off until further notice.
—Mayor Smith is now having his
troubles in Philadelphia from his
own people, while in Pittsburgh
Mayor Babcock is engaged in rath
er strenuous matters with the Ma
gee faction. The Philadelphia mayor
has been unable to get some per
sonal appointments in his police
bureau and he has been taken into
court on the two-platoon system by
friends of the policemen.
—Democratic state leaders are
commencing to get scared over tho
congressional lights. There are - now
four men wanting to be Democratic
candidate for Congress in Berks
alone; three in the York-Adams
district; two in the Northumberland
district and half a dozen in the
Seventeenth where Congressman B.
IC. Focht is going to be re-elected.
Even Warren Worth Bailey will
have opposition if he tries to run
again in the Cambria-Blair satrapy.
—J. G. McCloskey, of Pittsburgh,
has been added to the Democrats
from Pennsylvania being made coun
sel in Palmer's alien property bu
reau. Palmer is looking after hts
own.
—The Philadelphia Press prints
this rather unusual declaration for
a Philadelphia newspaper: "It
would surprise many Philadelphlans
if they knew the strength of the
anti-Philadelphia feeling in politics
throughout the State, that is, the
feeling that the factional strife in
Philadelphia is getting so bitter that
it is bending the interests of the
party in the state to its purposes
beyond legitimate bounds. Up
state politicians will insist with all
the strength they can command, it
is safe to say, that the Republican
party be committed to harmony in
the state campaign. If none of the
candidates now in the field can com
mand the support of both Penrose
and the Vares, up-state will do the
best it can to force an agreement
on a new candidate. Nothing that
has reached public notice within the
last week has caused the insiders to
lose their belief that when a show
down comes the Vares will be found
accepting Senator Sproul as their
candidate."
—Concerning developments In
the gubernatorial situation tho Sun
day edition of the Philadelphia In
quirer says: "There was a throng
of callers at the offices of Senator
Penrose yesterday, most of them
from interior counties. While they
got no official tip as to the next
Governor from the senior Senator,
among themselves they practically
all agreed that Senator Sproul is
the logical man to meet present
political conditions. Among the
Vare lieutenants it is known that
some of the most potential factors
in the Vare organization do not hes
itate to say that they believe Sen
ator Sproul to be the one man upon
whom their forces can unite with
the assurance that every Republican
can be confident of getting fair
treatment under the next state ad
ministration."
—A Wilkes-Barre dispatch has
this interesting northeast view to
present: "The Ainey boom develop
ed quickly in view of the fact that
party leaders here were able to sea
that the situation in Pittsburgh and
Philadelphia offered splendid op
portunity for a compromise thereby
opening the way for northeastern
Pennsylvania to get political recog
nition that has been denied it since
the days of the late Governor Hoyt.
In it has been the fact that
whenever Luzerne boomed a candi
date for state office, Lackawanna
leaders refused to go along. Luzerne
leaders too were not anxious to go
along whenever Lackawanna devel
oped a candidate. There has been
political jealousy for many years.
The situation has now suddenly
changed, for with neither Luzerne
nor with a strong can
didate to ofter, the surrounding ter
ritory was looked and Alney
sentiment was found."
—Ex-Judge A. A. Vasburg, who
Is generally credited to be close to
Senator Penrose has spoken at
Scranton for a re-classiflcatlon of
the cities of Pennsylvania. He says
that under the law. Scranton is a
city of the second class, and is be
ing over-burdened with legislation
that was really intended for a mun
icipality the size of Pittsburgh.
According to Mr. Vosburg's plan,
Philadelphia would be a city of the
first class, Pittsburgh in tho second
class, and Scranton In the third
class. The cities having a rating as
third class would be dropped to
fourth.
—Schuylkill and Delaware coun
ties have joined In endorsing Supe
rior Court Porter.
—Ex-Representative Jonathan
Currier, of Clearfield County, wants
to run for Congress.
—lsadore Sobel, of Erie, has a
boom for Congress at large as has
Evan Jones, of McKean.
—Chester City Democrats think
they c.in win that city's legislative
seat with James L. Rankin, a young
lawyer.
Over
in ""pfcKIUU
Lock Haven young people are
having the time of their llf'" dancing
on the ice. "Ice hops' aro all the
rage. To the music of skilled or
chestras they dance until dawn,
kindling big fires with slab wood to
warm up occasionally.
The government is to forbid the
manufacture of left hand plows.
What will be next left handed
waste baskets?
A Pennsylvania mother, Mrs.
Sarah Faust, of Hyde Park, has been
allowed $6,000 insurance by the
United States Government for the
death of her son, William L. Faust,
who was killed when a German sub
marine sank the steamship Antilles
on Oct. 17, 1917.
Mrs. James R. Gerard, of Read
ing, was walkipg down the main
thoroughfare the other day when:
"O, mercy!" Instantly a crowd gath
ered as Mrs. Gerard, recognizing her
fur coat and muff, which had been
lost one years ago, seized them
from another woman who was sport
ing the finery. The coat is valued
at and the muff at JIOO.
A bullet covers about two miles
in five seconds, and sound travels
the same distance in a little over
9 Vfe seconds. No one has ever esti
mated the speed of gossip.
"Potsdamnatlon" has' been coined
by a New York man to describe the
disease which afflicts the world.
FIGHT THE PESTS
According to C. R. Orton, of the
botany department of the Pennsyl
vania State College, now is the time
for every orchardist aud farmer to
plan his next season's campaign
against plant diseases, which annu
ally destroy from ten to twenty-five
per cent, of his crops.
It is too late to do anything for
the wheat crop now, but those who
grow oats and barley should get
their formaldehyde and treat their
seed for smut at any time when the
weather is not too cold. Care should
be taken to disinfect sacks in which
the treated grain is stored.
Potato growers should buy a sup
ply of the same chemical for the
disinfection of their tubers next
spring to prevent scab diseases and
blackleg. It would also be well to
lay in a supply of copper sulphate
to spray the potato crop later on.
Orchardists should be getting
their lime sulphur and other spray
materials before the spring drive,
when the market is rushed and the
supply may be low. This is the slack
time of the year and many of these
preparations may be made now
with great^pVoflt.—The Pennsylvania
Farmer.
THE WAR /.V SOCIETY
"Henry, I don't like Mrs. Jenkins
"No?"
"She's so—abreast."
"So what, Clara?"
"Abreast. So up on the war."
"Not a defect, is it?"
"Yes, because she doesn't really
know. When I give up a whole day
to the Red Cross and have to get
the children oft to Aunt Emma's
and all, I don't have time to read
the morning paper, and she bursts
in on us and says. 'O isn't it awful
about Kaledines,' or, 'O Isn't it
grand about Cambrai,' and it makes
me pretty hot to think we none of
us have the time to read a little and
show her up! Now she's going
around and telling everybody that
what we need to win the war is un
ity. '
"She already has four knitting
bags; her new one opens down the
front and cost $9. And she has one
of these new knitting desks—ma
hogany with compartments for
everything. She always has the
very latest 'War novelties' she calls
them. She enjoys the war, Henry."
"The reverse of taking your
pleasures sadly?"
"Yes. WTien there's a gap in the
conversation and somebody has to
fill it up. she sighs and says, O, isn't
the war terrible? but she told me
the other day that she didn't know
what we'd all have done for lunch
eons and entertainments if the war
hadn't come along and given us
some new Ideas. She served five
different kinds of war bread at her
Relief for Starving Armenians Lun
cheon. That's the wav she Is."
From the Katonah (N. Y.) Villag
er.
The Si niter's Last Chance
Jill the sinners of my people shall
die by the sword, which say, The
evil shall not overtake nor prevent
us.—Amos, Ix, 10.
ALAN SEEGER
Somewhere in France where crosses
lean
Above bo many graves to-day;
Where faded lilies place their screen
And summer winds kneel down to
pray—
You who first ventured overseas
To watch, at last, tho light grow
dim, • **
God must have sent his gentlest
breeze
To bring your spirit back to him.
Somewhere in France, dust unto
dust,
Yot( wait beyond the Inn of Life,
Where through lone nights the
guarding crust
Shuts out the clamor of the strife;
But far above the crimson sod
No barrier your soul might stop.
When from the great white throne
of God
You see the Legion cross tho top.
A year ago to-day you knew
The endless melody of song;
You saw that summer skies were
blue —
That drifting summer days were
long;
You waited, while the twilight's
breath
Came crooning some old serenade.
To hold your "rendezvous wifh
Death
At soihe disputed barricade."
To-day the Legion holds the Upe
Unbroken by the driving mass.
Where you have helped to write the
. sign
In dripping bloOd—"They Shall
Not Pass!"
And now beyond the far divide
You see the starry flag advance
Among the millions who have died
For love of liberty—and France.
The eagle's wings at last are spread
Above a never beaten shield,
"Where still among the deathless
dead ,
Tour spector haunts the clotted
field;
And borne afar on summer's breath
Vou send this message hurtling
through—
"l had a rendezvous with Death—
I did not fall that rendezvous!"
—Urantland Rice, "Bongs of the
Stalwart" (Applaton's).
WHEN A FELLER NEEDS A FRIEND
1 DIDN'T 'WAMT!
HER 1 PRECIOUS LIL SVAjeCT- J
POG.SN HEART* to CATCH COLD AND/
f/ofc WANT HER PRECIOUS pie- EITHER- WHV DON'T I
Eg? LITTLE <SVME6THEART Y OU PYY A VEIL ON HIM- /
To CATCH COUP I TN' POOR KID CAN'T
AMD DIE- NO NO / WALK. ISNIT
BUMDLTL
| Why Not Use
THE time is not far distant when
the government will need all
the help it can get from every
intelligent and patriotic leader of
men and from none more than from
Mr. Roosevelt, whose personal fol
lowing Is still the greatest and most
devoted in the country.
We wonder sometimes whether the
President appreciates how many
hundreds of thousands of loyal citi
zens feel a sense of personal tragedy
in the shelving of one who must be
regarded as the most generally recog
nized, if not actually the foremost,
patriot In the land, in this hour of
the Nation's greatest peril. Be
cause the country acquiesced In the
President's correct judgment that
only professional soldiers should be
entrusted with high commands in
France, it does pot follow and it is
not the fact that the country is
pleased to have Mr. Roosevelt ig
nored or is unaware of the value
of the unique service which he
might render. * •
He ipay r.ot have the technical
Qualifications of*a corps comman
der, but Our Colonel is a true sol-
THE STATE PRESS
Berlin boasts that since the "cam
paign of U-boat frightfulness" began
in February, ten million tons of ship
ping have been sunk. The best the
United States can do in the coming
year is to build about 3,000,000 tons,
and it will take the straining of ev
ery nerve to build that quantity.
AVhat is the answer? Consent to
peace on Germany's terms? The
very opposite. The greater the
amount of destruction that Germany
is creating now, the greater Is the
necessity for completely destroying
her ability ever again after this war
to destroy.—Allentown Call.
Many northern newspapers are
doing southern states a grave injus
tice when they question the sincer
ity of those states on the prohibition
question, by statements to the ef
fect that the prohibition question in
the south is a negro question and
that the whites are only desirous of
keeping booze away from, the blacks.
Prohibition is popular in the south
to-day because the south has had
practical demonstration of Its bene
ficial results. It is popular in the
south for the same reason it is pop
ular in the west. It is popular In
the south for the same reason it
will be nationally popular within a
few years. Booze is on its last legs.
—York Gazette.
They Won't Lose a Cent
Now liussia's new leaders pro
pose to repudiate all debts, but we
guess that' won't bother the laun
drymen much.—Grand Rapids Press.
TRUE LIBERTY
This is true liberty: when free-born
men
Having to advice the public, may
speak free.
Which he who can, and will de
serves high praise.
"Who neither can nor will may hold
his peace;
What can be Juster in a state than
this 7
No free people remain silent
when their vital interests are being
put In Jeopardy by incompetent ac
tion and control, and a volume of
public opinion must be so developed
as to make the President, who has
shown himself to be very respon
sive to prublic sentiment when it Is
strongly manifested, and Congress
take proper measures to the end
that, the vast and vital resources
and Interests of the country may be
directed by competent hands under
adequate control.
I GEORGE W. WICKERBHAM.
dicr; neither slacker nor quitter, and
a patriot from top to toe as he has
given all four of his sons, so would
he give himself without a mur
mur. • • •
The one point we would make is
that in Theodore, Roosevelt the
country has a great asset which .the
government is not utilizing to full or
even partial advantage and that, if
the President would hardily put
aside his preference for "differing
radically with a man when he isn't
in the room" because "when he is
in the room the awkward thing is
that he can (and probably would)
come back at me and answer what
I say," and summon hia predeces
sor for a frank conference, he would
go far to achieve the unity which
he truly pronounces essential to
success. •
Our Colonel himself opened the
way when he enthusiastically In
dorsed the great message as "a sol
emn pledge" and insisted that "the
American people must de%'ote them
selves with grim resolution and
wholehearted purpose to the effec
tive translation of this pledge into
action," —which is, above all else, of
course, what the President most ar
dently desires George Harvey in
the North American Review.
Price-Raising Results
A newspaper that hesitates to
raise its price in the present era of I
high costs, because of a fear of cir
culation losses, would seem to have
little faith in the sticking power of
its clientelo, according to a nation
wide poll taken by The Fourth Es
tate of newspapers which had re
cently abandoned the 1-cent price.
—The Fourth Estate.
Too Much Conservation
We have made another discovery.
There are men in this town who
observe entirely too many waterless
days.—Houston Post.
SHOVELING SNOW
Shoveling snow is an exercise heal
thy.
Shoveling snow sets a fellow
aglow.
Few of the pleasures enjoyed by the
wealthy
Hnva half the virtues of shoveling
snow.
Suppose Brown and Jones, who
are golf loving neighbors,
Whenever it snows In a contest
would go,
Would plan a point system for scor
ing their labors
And make ( a keen game of Just
shoveling snow.
Soon Brown would be buying the
latest in shovels
And Jones would be proud of hfs
follow through stroke.
Their neighbors would flock from
their steam heated hovels
And stay to compete, though they
came but to Joke.
Block tournaments soon would be
widely the fashion
And champions their medals
would boastfully show,
We'd have thrilling races to wqger
our cash on.
And spend all our spare moments
praying for snow!
O, life is a game and a sport and
a revel!
It's just the dub players who get
it askew.
We grumble and fret and complain
HAap a >iii
At what would be fun if we took
the right view.
Try shoveling snow in the true
sporting spirit—
You'll And It a game to arouse
■yoif all through • •
And then, if you need further proof
of its merit, 9
. After cleaning your walk you may
clean mine off too.
, JOSHUA LOTT.
LABOR NOTES
Engineers in the lumber mills of
Vancouver Island, B. C., have noti
fied employers that they want the
ten-hour day reduced to one of
eight hours and that they demand
a readjustment of the wage scale
and double time for all overtime.
The. "railroad strike" bugaboo is
discounted in a report by the Fed
eral Board of Mediation and Con
ciliation. which says that Interrup
tion of interstate railroad service by
labor disputes has been almost
negligible since the board was or
ganized four years ago.
Congressman Keating, chairman
of the House Labor group, asks Con
gress to increase the wages of all
Federal employes. The proposed in
creases range from S3OO a year for
workers receiving less than $1,200 a
year to S6O increases between sl.-
800 and $2,000.
The State Industrial Welfare
Commission has ordered that no ex
perienced woman er minor employ
ed in a California laundry or dry
cleaning establishment shall be paid
less than $lO a week. Hours of la
bor are limited to eight a day and
48 a week.
Batting Gttpt
Few men In Harriaburg ar<
blessed with more evenness of tem
per than Rosa A. Hlekok, the fuel
boss of Dauphin county, and It is
a very fortunate thing that he was
selected, because there are many
angles to the coal problem In this
community which, bluntly speakln?,
would tend to make a man mad.
f r '. I ? lcltok has been running the
fuel situation here for several weeks
and observation of him under the
stress of the acute condition of the
last four or five days shows the
same old disposition to get results
without hurting feelings or using a
brass band, but to get the result*,
nevertheless. Mr. Hlekok has a
temper which he runs and which
does not run him, which circum
stance comes in handy when he gets
the 312 th telephone call for a rul
ing on the fuel order. Considering
the fact that his services are vol
untary and that Uncle Sam does not
even give him a telephone, hlB cheer
ful assumption of the Job is worth
something to the general public. Mr.
Hickok's administration of the coal
situation and his enforcement of the
Garfield order have been almost
along military lines, so to speak.
He has made his friends stand
around and the dodgers come across.
From what has been learned he has
punctured more hard luck empty
bin stories than a novelist could
think up in a week and the irate,
the cranky, the liars and the needy
will probably be able to get the same
result when they compare notes
when it is all over. Mr. Hickok
served in the Army and in City
Council, but what he Is gojng through
Just now must make those previous
experiences seem rather tame.
• • •
There .were a lot of peopl* in
clined to consider the first of the
Monday holidays a real blue Mon
day to-day as they rubbed shaveless
chins. The average man goes clean
faced theso days and those who ■%
can't ahave themselves make a late
Saturday shave last over Sunday.
Hence they are ready for the minis
trations of the barber Monday morn
ings. The advent of the smooth face
has Increased business, say the bar
bers, who add that far fewer peo
ple shave themselves than is gen
erally known. Judging from to
day's sights and scenes, the bar
bers are correct. It's a safe bet
that barber shops will be on the ex
empted list before the fuel order
runs many weeks. A man can shine
his own shoes, but when It comes
down to shaving faces with trenches
cut in them or hlrsuto entangle
ments forty-eight hours old are elo
quent of general inability to use a
razor.
All the same, the talk that one
hears In the trolley cars and in
places people gather is mighty
creditable to Harrisburg. There
have been disturbances of life, in
dustry, business and affairs which
we can not enumerate as the result
of the drastic fuel order, but the dis
position is to first get out of the
affected class and then, if it is not
possible, to make the best of It.
The average Harrisburg man seems
to like to "beef," as we say in this
country, but he is always ready to
laugh at the other fellow when he
starts to growl. One of the staunch
est examples of going along that one
could ask was given last night in a
Steelton car when a man with a
good old Pennsylvania German ac
cent rolled out a young fellow who
was basting everyone because of the
way the fuel order had hit him. He
said that he was getting colder ev- jk
ery day. "Veil, save de hot air you t
be wasting here," was the Pennsyl
vania German's recipe. In another
instance a businessman tore the at
mosphere with protests and denunci
ations and a wearied friend asked,
"What are you goring to do about it.
anyway?" The answer he got was
typical: "The only damned thing
left —go along."
"You can have one satisfaction in
the weather we are having, tough as
it may seem," says L. H. Dennis,
chief of the agricultural education
work, "and that is that the snows
are protecting the ground. It is
something to know that the intense
cold Is being warded oft by snow,
even if we do suffer."
Some of the people who have to
celebrate Monday holidays until the
people running- the railroads can
move the loaded cars of coal stand
ing on the sidings might put in the
time profitably by visiting the Btat
Capitol or the State Museum. There
are between eight and nine people
in every ten in Harrlsburg and Steel
ton and the girdle of boroughs round
about who have very little knowl
edge of the beauties or the art works
or the interesting things In the two
buildings on the Hill. And about
three In every ten have never been
in the building, in opinion of an ob
server. They are always Intending
to go through the buildings. The
Capitol and Museum are open and
there is more to be learned about
Pennsylvania than in any other place
In the whole state except Philadel
phia.
WaL KNOWN PEOPLE ]
—G. Howard Bright, Reading d
fuel administrator, seized coal for
Reading mills and sold It to people-
It wns soft coal and they did not
know how to use It properly.
—Witmer Lightner, the Pennsyl
vania student, is making a study of
the Sicilian people.
—Governor Brumbaugh Is to make
the address to Luzerne county Slov
aks at Wilkes-Barre this week.
—The Rev. M. J. Canolo has been
appointed chaplain of the Home De
fense organization at Altoona~
—Alba Johnson, the head of the
Baldwin Locomotive Works, says
Russia's first disasters came because
the nation was shy of engines.
DO YOU KNOW
—That the other cities of the
state are watching to see how
Harrlsburg works ont Its sew
age disposal problem?
HISTORIC HARRISBCHG
This city was a repair point for
locomotives and cars of all kinds in
Civil War days.
WOOD SONG
I heard a wood thrush In the dusk
Twirl three notes and make a
star—
My heart that walked with bitter
ness
'Came back from very far.
Three shining notes were all he had,
And yet they made a starry call —
I caught life back against my breast
And kissed it, scars and all. 1
—By Sara Teasdale. m
They're Plainly Luxuries
Among other things we feel WP
could do without Just now are the
new Arctic Islands discovered by Mr.
Stefansson. —Kansas City Times.