6
HARRISBIIRc TELEGRAPH
4. NEWSPAPER FOR THE HONE
Founded ISSI
Published evenings except Bunday by
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E. J. STACKPOLE
Preside* t and Editor-in-Chief
T. R. OYSTER, Business Manager
GCS M. 6TEIXMETZ. Managing Editor
A R. MICHENER, Circulation Manager
Executive Board
J. P. McCULLOUGH.
BOYD M. OGELSBY,
F. R. OYSTER,
GUS. M. STEIXMETZ. !
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MONDAY. AFGrST 12, 19IS
= !
Possession is nine points of the i
la if * self-possession is ten. — AXON.
HOW THE BOYS BENEFIT
REPORTS coming from the army
cantonments where the young (
men being called up for service j
are that almost every man who can
show the results of military training •
is getting promotions. There are in
stances known where young fellows j
who had drilled in cadet corps and]
boys' brigades and remembered what!
they had been taught were made;
"nw-coms," while men who had ex-'
perience in the drills of home de-,
fense organizations speedily rose to
be sergeants. Almost every man ]
who drilled with the Harrisburg Re- !
serves last summer and winter and!
went into the service is holding a
commission or is a sergeant or cor
poral. Men who served in the Re
serve Militia or the old National
Guard have been snapped up. while
those who were in the Regular Army
get choice assignments.
All this is because thera is a
dearth of men with military experi- j
ence in this country' now to drill the
men coming in. The great majority;
of youths responding to the call to:
the colors are raw. Many of them
have never been away from home
and In addition to the realization
that they have been sent to a place
where highly specialized work is
taught they are generally badly rat
tled. It Is the serious side of mili
tary service that affects them. And
this is aU'the more reason why the
young men, and the older men, too, 1
of draft age, should have some ]
knowledge of what to do.
The members of the upper end
draft district, officially Dauphin Lo- i
cal Draft Board No. 3. with head- j
quarters at Elizabethville, with a live
committee of instruction, is setting a
pace for the whole county and It is
regrettable that Harrisburg boards!
have not progressed as well. This
upper end board named its commit- j
tee of Instruction, called its boys to
gether and had talks for them within
a few days after the army authori-. j
ties urged that it be done and Sat-!
urday for the second time they had,
their boys drilled. The example of!
Elizabethville board and its alert
members and committeemen ought l
to commend Itself to every other!
board, not only in Dauphin, but ad- j
joining counties. Steelton board has}
organized as have some here, butj
Elizabethville has been working its
organization for over ten days.
If the Kaiser keeps on he may be 1
able to eat his Thanksgiving dinner
in Berlin—if it so happens there is
any food left in Germany.
That Lloyd George talk is Just the
kind to get the German "goat." Let's
have more of it.
THE USES OF ADVERSITY
RESTRICTIONS upon the use of 1
meats having been raised.'
doubtless there will be a re
sumption of meat consumption upon!
an enlargsd scale. But many of us :
have learned that we can get along'
with much less meat than we for-!
merly thought possible—if we!
thought at all about It—and feel the!
better for our abstinence. We are
beginning to understand that a re
stricted diet need not be an un
wholesome diet and our education in
the U6e of substitutes promises to be
physically beneficial as well as pa
triotically necessary.
Our next initiation into the mys
teries of conservation bids fair to be
in the nature of revision of view as
to what is necessary in the way of
clothing. Next year if a man insists
on all-wool garb his only means of
gratification will be the O, D. uni
form with which your Uncle Sam
uel bedecks his gallant sons who
fare forth to do battle with the Hun.
"Buy now" is not advertising adv:ce.
Within a few months the govern
ment will be telling you what you
may and may not buy", and you will
be wearing cut your old clothes or
maeJtiy complying. But who shall
MONDAY EVENING,
say we shall be the less happy or
comfortable for that?
"Sweet are the uses of adversity."
The way the Americans are beating
the Huns Indicates that the Pennsyl
vania German boys over there have
their "Dutch up."
BENJAMIN F. MEYERS
THE death of Benjamin F. j
Meyers takes from Harrisburg]
a figure whose shadow, evenj
after years of retirement, was cast
large upon the life and activities of
the community. Mr. Meyers was a
journalist of the old school; schol
arly, picturesque of phrase and. fig
ure, independent of thought to a j
marked degree, fearless and vigor-1
ous of expression. Prominent in the.
business life of the city and a leader j
of the Democratic party of State-,
wide power, it is for his newspaper j
work that he will be best remem
bered. During his editorship, the Pa
triot and old Star-Independent
reached a circulation and influence
equal to that of any of the interior
newspapers of the State.
Throughout his active newspaper
career in Harrisburg, the success of
no public movement was fully as
sured without the support of his able
and fearless pen, and many were the]
Democratic campaigns that {Would
have fallen flat but for the stinging j
lash of his editorial urgings. Sar-j
casm, railery, bitterness of speech. [
all were his and he knew how to use!
them to the utmost, but beneath all j
lay a kindly heart and a spirit ever:
ready to servo a fellow in distress!
or to champion a worthy cause.
Benjamin F. Meyers left such a
mark upon Harrisburg as few men
have made or will make. Thou
sands of people were guided by his
editorial opinion and even those who 1
differed with him politically or on!
other matters of public moment, re
spected him and admired the staunch
courage and the love of fair play that
were his chief characteristics. His j
death will cause nothing but regret
on the part of those who knew him.
And to think how funny talk of an
ice famine sounded last spring.
WHY NOT COME IN ?
PENBROOK wants Harrisburg to
supply it with water, and Su- |
perintendent Hassler says it is 1
physically possible to do so.
The way for Penbrook to go about j
meeting this desire is to apply for i
admission to Harrisburg as a part of /
the city. Annexation is the answer. I
The people of this city would wel- j
come the people of their smaller j
neighbor to the east and would glad- !
ly extend to it the advantages of j
water, sewers, fire protection, police
patrol, etc., which the people of the j
recently annexed territory to the '
north and east now enjoy.
But it will be the concensus of j
opinion that we cannot as a city af- i
ford to sell our water at prevailing j
rates to any residents outside the j
city, except as a means of relief in
grave emergency. Harrisburg tax
payers have spent millions of dol
lars on their water and filtration sys
tems. The water rates do not cover
interest on these investments. The
amount charged the property owner
for water is intended to meet run
ning expenses, sinking fund and in
terest on floating debt. Whatever
surplus remains goes into improve
ments. Harrisburg has cheap water
now because its people for many
years' have been taxing themselves'
in one form or another to pay for
their water plant To sell water at
cost to a neighboring community
would be both unfair and unbusi
; nesslike.
But Harrisburg wants Penbrook
to have good water and plenty of it.
Beyond doubt if Penbrook is willing
to become a part of Harrisburg the
way will not be difficult. Eventual
ly all the suburbs must qome into
the city and those which come in
early will receive most benefit.
Come right in, Penbrook, the water's
fine.
PATRIOTIC CAMP HILL
C'AMP HILL is doubly active in
war work. Since long before
the war started it has had tn
enterprising and a hard-working
branch of the Emergency Aid and
now it is to have a Red Cross Aux
iliary. The Emergency Aid has ,ent
thousands of dollars' worth of sur
gical dressings to Europe and has
provided large quantities of knit
goods for West Shore soldiers in ihe
training camps and abroad. And
now that a Red Cross Auxiliary is
to be established, the patriotic lit
tle community may be depended
upon to double its beneficent exer
tions.
Waiter! Waiter! A steak, medium,
with potatoes.
SPEED UP
POSTMASTER SITES announces
the good news that Dauphin
county the past week surpassed
Philadelphia in the sale of War Sav
ings Stamps per capita. But we have
no reason to become "chesty" over
that. We are still far enough be
hind in this line of war endeavor to
cause us to blush for shame.
The quota of the county for the
year is $3,000,000 and we are still
beneath the $700,000 mark; $2,300,-
000 to go and less than five months
in which to do it.
If we are to do ourhare and go
"over the top" in this movement as
we have in all others, we must begin
to buy War Stamps in three times
the amounts we have been putting
into them and keep it up until the
end of the year.
If we don't do that Dauphin coun
ty will be classed among those that
have failed to do their part.
General Haig is demonstrating that
if the British were licked last spring
they didn't know ist
ToUtict Lk
K^lcdKin
By the Fx - Committeeman
Representations that if registra
tion day under the new draft law is
fixed for September 5 it will fall upon
the first day for personal registra
tion of voters in all cities of Penn
sylvania has been made to the office
of Provost Marshal General E. H.
Crowder, In Washington, and people
here are awaiting more definite in
formation. While September 5 has
not been fixed it has been indicated
as the day in messages from the War
Department and men active in poli
tics are in a quandary about it.
There will be three registration
days this fall, all cities having the
same day, and as it is proposed to
utilize the experienced men on elec
tion boards, reigistrars and others
familiar with people of their re
spective districts the collision in
dates would make trouble. The other
registration days are September 17
and October 5. and as this is a
gubernatorial year and many changes
in residence have been made by men
because of war Industry the regis
trars will have much to do.
The developments in the case of
district appeal board No. 2. in Phila
delphia. whose removal has been
recommended, are being watched
with interest here, but none of the
state or draft officials will discuss
the matter.
—Philadelphia newspapers are
printing articles which indicate *hat
some people have an idea that Wil
liam H. Ball, private secretary to
Governor Brumbaugh, has been in
some way responsible for the con
tinuance of the board in office. The
Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday gave
considerable attention to this angle
of the situation and the North Amer
ican to-day in a signed article by
Einar Barfod says in part: "Full
responsibility for keeping district
appeal board No. 2 in office and
shielding it against the consequences
of its serious "neglect and failure,"
punishable with imprisonment un
der the selective service law, now
has been placed with Governor
Brumbaugh and his secretary, W. H.
Ball. It Is now charged that Walter
Willard. cliairman*"-of-district appeal
board No. 2, is private counsel for
W. H. Ball, secretary to Governor
Brumbaugh, and that Secretary Ball
has not only been instrumental in
keeping the Governor from agreeing
to the demand of the federal author
ities for the dismissal of the district
board, but that Secretary Ball even
has usurped considerable draft set
vice authority which in no way be
longs to the office of secretary to the
Governor. Secretary Ball, accord
ing to letters given out by Secretary
John P. Dwyer. of the Overbrook
draft board, pot only has shown a
remarkable tendency to procrasti
nate and thereby obstruct a fair and
honest administration of the selec
tive draft service law. but even has
gone so far as on at least one occa
sion to sit in judgment on charges
as if he were the high and supreme
draft official of the state."
—Lycoming county is lining up
for the' Republican ticket early. On
Sattirday at Williamsport the County
Republican Committee held its an
nual meeting and elected Albert E.
Wilkinson county chairman. William
K. Bastian, vice-chairman: Harry
Dingier, treasurer, and Lee Berry,
secretary. Emerson Collins, Deputy
Attorney General, made a rousing
speech, advocating and forecasting
the election by a tremendous major
ity of Senator William C. Sproul for
Governor, together with the whole
Republican ticket down to the last
man. Mr. Wilkinson, who is state
highway superintendent for the dis
trict, succeeds George P. Stryker.
—Scranton has turned to soldiers
for her officials. Colonel E. H. Rip
ple. newly-appointed Director of
Public Safety, has assumed his du
ties with the announcement that
every fireman and policeman in the
city will be required to comply to
the letter with the rules of the de
partment. The former commander
of the Thirteenth Regiment suc
ceeds Arthur Davis, whose sudden
resignation is still the talk of the
town. Colonel Ripple says he is
planning no shakeup among any of
the fire or police officials, but that he
will insist on hearty co-operation.
—An Altoona dispatch to the Phil
adelphia Inquirer says: "Blair coun
ty is preparing to give at the next
election one of the greatest majori
ties for Senator Sproul and the whole
Republican ticket that was ever re
corded in its history. Chairman Wil
liam H. Orr and his fellow members
of the county committee are already
at work and from the splendid re
ports being received by them from
every precinct it is safely predicted
that the Republican ticket will sweep
the county by at least 4.000 major
ity. These figures sent by Chairman
Orr recently to Secretary W. Harry
Baker, of the Republican State
Committee, are based from all ac
counts not only on the popularity of
the candidates on the ticket, includ
ing Senator Sproul for Governor,
who has a large personal following
here, but also upon the harmony ex
isting within the party."
—The Insider, writing in the Phil
adelphia Press, says: "After all, W.
Harry Baker, of Harrisburg. known
to the public as the Secretary of the
Senate and to those in touch with
politics as the man who makes the
wheels go round in the state organi
zation, is not to be snatched out of
the state and drafted by National
Chairman Will H. Hays as an aid in
the national campaign. Dispatches
were printed in the papers last week
saying that Baker was to go to New
York to help Hays. While this in
formation was given out in perfect
good faith by the organization,
events have since shaped up differ
ently. The proposition was a great
compliment to Baker, however."
—Bar associations in six coun
ties in northeastern Pennsylvania
have indorsed the candidacy of
Charles B. Lenehan, of Wilkes-
Barre, for a place on the Supreme
Court bench of the state. Luzerne
was the first in line. Republicans
and Democrats joining hands to in
dorse the Lenehan candidacy, inas
much as one Democrat will be elect
ed to office. Lackawanna followed,
with Susquehanna. Wayne, Wyoming
and Sullivan next in line. A Wilkes-
Barre dispatch says: "Indications
are that Columbia. Montour and
Bradford will get on the Lenehan
bandwagon, giving the Wllkes-Barre
man the backing of practically the
northeast section. Lenehan is pre
paring for a state tour. He plans to
cover the greater portion of the
state. He will make his own appeal
directly to the voters wherever pos
sible."
The Song of the Dime
Tinkle, tinkle, little dime.
Come into this bank of mine.
Every cent you leave by chance
Helps to purchase food for France.
—Khaki Komedy, by Sergf. MaJ-
Edward D. Rose (Howell Publishing
Co.)
HARRISBURG lljSSfc TELEGRAPH
WHEN A FELLER NEEDS A FRIEND BY BRIGGS
Be friendly! Give him a lift by joining the Glve-Em-a-Lift Club. No charge.. Call at the Telegraph
office and get your card. free.
"Whence Cometh My Help" !
[From the Pittsburgh Chronicle- j
Telegraph.]
Though often in sore distress, thej
faith of David never wavered, and it j
must have been in an hour of trial
when he said: "I will lift up mine
eyes unto the hills, from whence;
cometh my help. My help cometh
from the Lord, which made heaven |
and earth."-
As it was with David, so it has
been with numberless thousands who ;
for days and nights have been pass- \
ing through an ordeal of heat. From!
homes where anxious parents have:
watched over little sufferers prayers,
have gone up for relief from the su-j
perheated atmosphere that was en
dangering the lives of loved ones.
From the alleys and congested dis
tricts, sorely tried by the abnormal
conditions, young and old alike have
sent up pleas for alleviation of their
miseries. From the toilers in the
mills, in the highways and byways
and on the farms, there have gone
forth supplications for relief lest:
they perish. From the gardens, the
orchards and the cattle ranges there
have come prayers for help in the
time of great need.
Meanwhile, as the sufferers prayed,
the heat waxed worse and wonse, and
to many it seemed that relief would
be withheld until too late. But io!
in the middle of the night a storm
arose, lightning purified the air, life
giving breezes swept through the
slums, through the mills and out
over the country, and rains quenched
the thirst of the cattle and put new
life into the withering fields.
The prayers of all had been ans
wered.
Now that the nation is passing
through a terrible ordeal of fire and
blood it is well to remember the
words of David". "I will lift up mine
eyes unto the hills, from whence
cometh my help. My help cometh
from the Lord, which made heaven
and earth."
And in God's own time the prav
ers of those who suffer because of
the fiery trial of the war will be ans
wered.
Men Without a Country
Every leniency has been shown
our conscientious objectors. There
has been a prolonged and careful ex
amination of each individual case by
a court especially appointed for its
broad and humane outlook. Now
this court recommends a Jail sen
tence ranging from ten to fifteen
years for the two or three hundred
objectors who have rejected non
combatant service. We hope that
this report will be approved and the
objectors sentenced accordingly. Im
prisonment is. if anything, too mild
and honorable a sentence for the
grave offense committed. The man
without a country escapes cheaply
with a fifteen-year imprisonment.—
From the New Tork Tribune.
LABOR NOTES
Oregon State Industrial Welfare
Commission has Increased the mini
mum wage of women employed in
Industry.
In 1911 Boston leather handlers
were paid 112 a week. Through or
ganization their pay is now 923 a
week.
Laborers in the employ of the
Ewebridge (Ireland! District Council
have demanded higher wages.
Warren S. Stone has been re-elected
chief of the Brotherhood of Engin
eers in triennial conference at Cleve
land.
Women Sre to be trained and or
ganized for household duties in Eng
land. and under present arrange
ments a wage scale or $7.50 for a
48-hour week has been determined
upon. From the district centers
skilled "domestic orderies" are to be
i supplied to households for a desired
number o*. .hours each day.
Newspapers and the War
[From the Fourth Estate] I
The newspapers are not seeking
any particular credit, says the Birm
ingham News, for what they have
done, are doing and expect to con
tinue to do to help win this war.
They have very ably and very fully
press-agented the actions of others,
most of whom deserved the praise.
They have told the public repeat
edly what this or that man, this or
1 that organization had done, but a3 a
rule they have kept pretty qu,et
about what they themselves hive
i been doing along patriotic lines.
'• Most of them have told the puo
l-.c trequently about the patriotism of
their employes. Many of them carrv
service flags at the mastheads oi
their editorial pages. Nearly ail of
of them have boasted about how
much their employes had given to
Bed Cross and Y. M. C. A. and how
many Liberty Bonds they had
bought.
\ But, alter all, that showed nothing
except that the atmosphere around
tbe ortice was right, encouraging em
ployes to do their part.
This editorial is written wi'.h the
I idea of taking off the mask of mod
: city lor ;he moment for the nows-
I papers of the United States.
Without *.no splendid, unfaltering,
self-sacrificing co-operatiou r.f the
newspapers /of this county, the war
could not have been prosecuted six
months.
Without the unstinted gift of the
kind of publicity that untold mil
lions could not have bought, not a
Liberty Bond issue could have been
floated; not a hundred thousand re
cruits could have been mustered;
How Germany Treats Negroes
[From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
It is true, as stated by a writer
iin the letter column, that the ne
groes have good cause to fight
against world domination by Ger
many. History has shown that in
Africa Germany has treated the na
tives worse than any other govern
ment which has that conti
nent.
Belgian individual cruelties in the
Congo caused indignation in Bel
gium and compelled the Belgian gov
ernment to investigate and put a
stop to them. But in Germany's
treatment of the natives, extermi
nation of whole tribes was the pol
icy and this policy was not onjy ex
cused but exalted as right by Ger
man publicists.
In the case of the Hereros, in
Southwest Africa, General von
Trotha issued this proclamation:
"The Hereros must now quit the soil.
If they refuse, I shall force them
with the gun. Every Hererp, with or
without a weapon, with or without
cattle, found in German territory I
will have shot. I shall not look after
the women and children, but will
drive them back to their own people
or shoot them."
The German pastor, Schowalter,
wrote in 1907 that as a result of
this policy about fifteen thousand
Hereros died of hunger on the
desert. Almost the entire Herero
tribe was destroyed. And Dr. Rohr
, back, imperial commissioner for
Southwest Africa, reported that "the
question is solved. The Hereros have
lost their land, but that cannot be
regarded as tragic, owing to the
splendid fertility of the land, which
is now fiscal."
That is to say, it paid. This is the
German test.
Old J. C. Aby Brutalized
Now that Field Marshal von Eich-]
horn, German commander of!
Ukraine, has been assassinated at
Kiev, we hope in a short time to
hear that some bouquets with bombs
in them have been thrown at Lenine
and Trotzky-—From the New Or
leans States,
the draft, in itself a revolutionary
proceeding for a democracy, could
not have been instituted; food could
not have been conserved; coal could
not have been saved —none of the
thousand and one things that ulti
mately will spell victory could have
been achieved.
It has been patriotism, pure and
undefiled, that has been the chief
motive power in this co-operation.
The newspapers could have printed
every line of real news about the
war and still have left the country
cold to these great enterprises.
Increased advertising has come to
the newspapers, some one will say,
perhaps, in connection with great
patriotic campaigns. And yet there
is not a newspaper in this country
that has not given a hundred times
more patriotic publicity than it has
been paid for.
There is not a newspaper in this
country whose gross receipts from
patriotic advertising will amount to
one-fourth of its increased burden of
expense purely on account of our
participation in the war.
The newspapers ask no credit,
want none. They have done only
their duty. They expect no laurel
wreaths, they want none. They ex
pect no special consideration from
the government; they have had none,
they want none.
The newspapers will go along,
pursuing the same general course,
hoping, fighting, praying, working
for victory, giving a liberal share
of the only commodity they have to
sell —space—giving their all, their
very existence, if need be, to win
this war.
TRADE BRIEFS
Estimates place the 1918 wheat crop
of western Greece at 3,360,000 bushels,
an increase of 20 per cent, over the
size of last year's yield. Favorable
weather conditions have also bene
fited the corn and barley crops.
Cigaret making machinery is in
demand in Bolivia.
Good quality tomato seed is needed
in the Mazatlan, Mexico, consular dis
trict. Seedsmen who are interested
in this market should communicate
with Consul W. E. Chapman, who may
be addressed Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mex
ico.
An agency Tor the sale of offlce
supplies is wanted by a Spanish con
cern.
Machinery for making saddle and
slipper felts is in demand in Aus
tralia.
Needlework transfer-designs for
pillow tops and literature relating
to the arts and crafts are wanted in
New South tt'ales, Australia. The
Bureau of Foreign and Domestic
Commerce will supply detailed in
formtion about these needs.
Consul Thomas D. 'Edwards sug
gests that farmers in northern New
York and New England could find
markets for their surplus scrub tim
ber in tbe Cornwall, Ontario, consular
district. Firewood /old at 312 to 315
a cord in that section last winter and
prices will be higher this year. Wood
may be sent into Canada free of duty
except the war tax of 7V4 per cent,
of the cost.
There is a market in New Zealand
for office supplies, particularly type
writers, furniture and labor saving
devices.
The British government will buy
from sheep producers in New Zealand
their entire wool clip for this and
following seasons until one year after
the war. Payment will be made at
prices fixed by official valuers and all
shipping expenses will be borne by
the British government.
Popular Kind of Liberty
"Freedom to do what they ought
not do," remarked the man on the
car, "is the only kind of liberty that
appeals to some fellowa"— From the
Toledo Blade,
if AUGUST 12, 1918 L 1
PENNIES
[From the New York TribuneJ
It is easy to be heroic in large
matters. Only trifles can torment the
spirit. Of all the ills that inflation
and a depreciated currency have
brought upon us, we are often
tempted to say that the nuisance of
having to find an extra penny or two
pennies for all the things that used
to cost a nokel, or the botheration of
receiving three or four pennies out
of a dime, is the most trying. We
may resignedly if not cheerfully pay
J9 for a pair of boots that three years
ago cost $5; S3O to S4O for a suit
of clothes that eighteen months ago
cost S2O; t:o cents a pound for a
porterhouse steak, and so on through
all the list.
But there is something in the hig
gle-haggle of the six-cent imposition
that stirs the inner depths. And yet
there seems no escape from its very
wide extension. It is all very well to
talk about the watered stock of our
street railways and other corpora
tions; but if they are not even earn
ing current expenses and are headed
straight for bankruptcy, it is not a
question of surplus stocks or bonds.
It is a question as to whether wo
shall have cars in which to-ride. The
plain fact is that operating expenses,
like food and clothing and all the
rest, have risen from 50 to 100 per
cent, in two or three years. This
mfuns that even if there was a
handsome proiit in a nickel fare be
fore there is in many instances noth
ing left now at all. ,
There seems hardly any escape
from the nuisance of the pennies un
less we discard our nickels and dimes
and go back to "York shillings" and
half-shillings, or agree on a straight
rate of a dime for everything that
formerly cost a nickel. This we
might call the standardization of in
flation. The only alternative we can
see is to fix not merely the price
but the quantity of everything that
every human being consumes, the
number of ctgarcts each one shall I
smoke, the number of times ner
week he or she may go to * movie
or Coney Island, and the color, form
and size of everything we wear, eat
or drink. The latter is the socialistic
ideal.
SPROUL
[Philadelphia Public Ledger!
With all this talk about Senator
Sproul, there will be some who will
want to know some of the details of
his life history. He was born in
Lancaster county, Frank McClain's
home, on September 16, 1870. The
Senator is president of the Chester
Daily Times, chairman o' the Penn
Seaboard Steel Corporation, presi
dent of the Chester Shipping Com
pany, the Ohio Valley Electric Rail
way, the Lackawanna and Wyoming
Valley Railway and the General Re
fractories Company; he is also direc
tor in several banks and other busi
ness enterprises. He is a trustee of
Swarthmore College, a director of
the Pennsylvania Training School
For Feeble-Minded Children and
chairman of the Pennsylvania His
torical Commission. He was first
elected to the State Senate in 1596.
Of course, his political activities
have been varied as business endea
vors.
A short time ago, when it began
to appear that the Sproul boom was
to develop serious proportions, tne
situation was discussed with A. Mit
chell Palmer, Democratic national
committeeman and reorganization
and Wilson leader of Pennsylvania.
When they were in Swarthmore Col
lege, Palmer and Sproul were room
mates. So it was lightly suggested to
Mr. Palmer that, in view of these
circumstances, he might be tempted
not to work so hard as he might tor
the Democratic nominee for Gover
nor against Sproul. Mr. Palmer
laughed heartily and said:
"When we were at Swarthmore, I
used to lick him regularly."
Often Senator Sproul and Mr.
Palmer are seen together in social
assemblies.
1 OUR DAILY LAUGH
YOUNG PHILOSOPHIC.
"D'ye know, I think teacher c'n
see behind her."
"Well, she said her eyes was go
ng back on her."
AT THE AFTERNOON TEA.
The Commission Man Some
fancy stock here, eh?
Tho Packer—Reminds me of the
ipeclalty market: Tongues active!
Brains weak!
FAMILY REPARTEE.
He—You haven't a thought above
l new fall hat.
She—And you haven't a thought
rorth mentioning under your old
me.
CUTTING UP.
Freight Auditor —"Were you in on
t when our directors cut the melon?
Cashier —No. But I cut some Cg
ir when they put the payroU
, |
lamtfiuj (Eljat I
==============^=============^
Few men in Harrisburg were more
called upon to give advice or whoso
opinion on personal matters was
more sought for a long period of
years than the late Benjamin F.
Meyers, who died yesterday at his
home upon the River Front Ri3tng
because of brains from the position
of a country editor to be a com
manding figure in the journalism of
the second state in the Union and a
power in political matters, Mr. Mey
ers was visited by many a man who
now occupies an assured position in ;
j not only this but other communitica
In the more than two score years
over which his work was spread in
Harrisburg he attracted attention
by the vigor of his writing and men
who are now on the biggest newspa
pers in the land and serving world
wide news-gathering organizations
were amog his pupils or those who
had gone to him to guide them. Mr.,
Meyers used to say that so many
people came to him for advice bo
cause he was human. Certain it is
that every editorial sanctum which
this veteran of the quill, and it was
a very sharp one, too, occupied in
his extended career in Harrisburg,
was visited' by more newspapermen,
would-be newspapermen, failures as
newspapermen and come-back news
papermen than any other. It dem
onstrated his place in his profession.
The whole city knew a master wrote
"snap shots" in the old Star-Inde
pendent and men about the Patriot
office in the by-gone days would rush
to get the first papers off the old flat
bed press to read who was "getting
it" from the "old man" as the ir-
I reverent called him or "Mr. Meyers,"
as the rest designated him. For
years Harrisburg "sat up" at the
breakfast table over the Patriot edi.
torials from Mr. Meyers' pen and
when he merged the Star and tho
Independent and entered tho even
ing field it was a treat to read his
column. When any article seemed
to stand out from the rest of the old
Fourth street sheet it was generally
one from the pen of the chief end
the whole town enjoyed it.
• • •
It was after he had gone to tho
South Third street building, tho old
"State Printing Office," as so many
call it yet, that Mr. Meyers became
I much sought after by budding jour
nalists. And his advice to them was
the same. "Now you go home and
read: read all the history and good
writing that you can get," he would
say. And then he wc"ld add, "They
don't print so many I jks nowadays
that you need to disregard the old
masters." He urged reading of his
tory and good books and there are
many in newspaper offices away from
the Susquehanna who are thankful
that he did. Mr. Meyers was fond
of sprinkling his writings with Latin.
Greek or French quotations and no
one was ever able to pick him up
| a jot. He knew them, read them in
leisure hours, enjoyed them and used
to throw them in here and there for
the rest of us to puzzle over. But
they were always carrying their mes
sage. Similarly, use of quotations
from the English classics, so little
employed in these days, was a char- <4
acteristic of Mr. Meyers. And who
will forget those phrases, "Now stick
[ a pin right there" and others with
i which he would emphasize a point.
* * *
In his own office Mr. Meyers was
, a kindly critic of the writings of his
i staff, although it must be confessed
| most of the men he admonished
I promptly forgot and trusted that
"the next time" they made a break
j the "old man" would be too busy to
! notice. Once in a while he would
j storm into the local room with some
I particularly violent use of bad Eng
j lish or employment of an Idiom
j marked with a big black cross and
i inquire of the luckless writer
I whether grammar had ever been
taught him. Alderman George D.
j Herbert, who was managing editor
under him for years, used to occa
sionally be presented with a copy of
the paper with the bad form, gram
matical breaks and crass mistakes
carefully marked. "Boss" Herbert
generally felt worse than tho cul
prits and when Mr. Meyers had gone
he would hide the paper. But some
times even he had to call over tho
offending scribbler. The late 'Wil
liam Rodearmel, dean of correspond
ents; the late George M. Wanbaugh,
long a brilliant figure himself in
state newspaper work and men now
living worked under Mr. Meyers at
different times and often expressed
wonder that he did not throw them
out of the office for what they wrote.
But that was not his way. If ho
was too busy to mark up tho whole
paper he would put a ring around
some glaring break, thunder his
wrath about the office in general and
then as gently as a mother tell tho
man who wrote it where it was
wrong. When he praised the wholo
staff perked right up. Service under
Mr. Meyers was like going to school
for many a reporter because he used
to say that, after all, he was ono
himself, only a little older, who had
read more.
• • •
When anyone spoke in Harrisburg
of "Mr. Meyers" everyone knew that
it was Hon. B. B. Meyers. His long
career as party leader, newspaper
man and businessman in this com
munity brought him into contact
with people of every class and all
you had to do was to mention "Mr.
Meyers" and people knew who was
meant. Tho old men among the
folks active in politics knew him by
the abbreviation of his first name,
but to the people of Harrisburg he
was "Mr. Meyers." And in the state
at large the name of Mr. Meyers was
associated with Harrisburg journal
ism so long and so brightly that for
a quarter of a century reference to
newspaper activities here invariably
brought mention of the scholarly
writer who passed a"way yesterdiy.
It comes to few men to be as closely
identified with a city and its life to
be spoken of almost in the same
breath. Yet, in newspaper work and
Democratic affairs that was Mr. Mey
ers' good fortune for many years.
1 WELL KNOWN PEOPLE f
—Senator William E. Crow, who
is improving after a recent severe
operation, will go to the mountains
when able to be removed. He has
had letters and telegrams from men
all over the country congratulating
him on his recovery.
—State Fire Marshal G. Chal Port
is recovering from a recent illness at
his cottage along the Raystown
branch of the Juniata.
DO YOU KNOW
—That Harrisburg is making
leather goods for the United
States Army as well as many
other tilings?
HISTORIC HARRISBURG
Heavy shipments of corn and
wheat used to be made to Harris
burg for storage in houses along tho
River Front a century ago. Much
it came down the river' on arks.