6 HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH A NEWSPAPER POR THE HOME Founded 1831 > Published evenings except Sunday by THE TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO. Telegraph, Building, Federal Square E. J. STACKPOLB President and Editor-in-Chief F. R. OYSTER, Business Manager- OCS M. STEINMETZ. Managing Editor.. A. R. MICHENER, Circulation Manager? Executive Board J. P. McCULLOUOH. BOYD M. OGELSBY, F. R. OYSTER, QUa M. STEINMETZ. Member of the Associated Press—The Associated Press is exclusively en titled to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited tx> it or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of republication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. A Member American vj Newspaper Pub liS|nTTTgCT llshers' Assocla iPsEiintffil Bureau of Circu it SEE s*lr latlon and Penn- Jk aylwmia Associ -1 iiC9 CS tiSl W Eastern office, ffl csShi'kl h jHHyS Bgsj UH Avenue Building Chicago, Entered at the Post Office In Harris burg. Pa, as second class matter. By carrier, ten cents a week; by mail. 15.00 ; a year in advance. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 1918 A good many people are waiting for their ships to come in, when the fact is the ships were never launch ed,—ANON. PUNISH THEM ROBERT T, SMALL, writing from Washington to the Phila delphia Public Ledger, strikes a popular chord when he asserts ♦ rut great German peaco drive of the coming fall and winter is to be met, in America at least, by an implacable sentiment that the men of Berlin and Vienna responsible for the war and all Its Hunnlsh cruelty shall pay the supreme penalty for their unspeakable crimes against humanity." The thought Is not new, and It has been gaining In force recently. Never before, however, has It been put In concreto fcrm by a newspaper of the Ledger's circulation and Influence. Mr. Small'i presentation of the sub ject is forceful and timely. There Is no longer any doubt about the will of the American people regarding the final settlement with BUI of Potsdam and his gang. All Ameri can soffiiers overseas and their back ers at home are determined that the punishment of the Prussian blood hounds shall fit their crime Any false peace or "negotiated" settle ment on the basis of territory or In demnities will not satisfy the Ameri can people. They are going to fight this thing through to a finish that will mean tho wiping out of the men who are responsible for having pre cipitated upon the world this welter of blood snd suffering. No surren der at the Rhine will do. The fight ing men of the allied nations ore going to avenge their comrades on the soil of Germany and the Kaiser and his obsessed minions may as well -understand this now as later. Prussian militarists may declare in their usual bombastic style that they will "defend the Fatherland" to the last man so long as they have breath, but If we re to Judge from the way they have been racing toward the Rhine In France their boastings are for home consumption only. There may be here and there an American so soft-hearted and weak-| kneed that he is willing to make peace with this bloodthirsty and in human crew on any terms, but he roust be extremely lonesome in the average American community. When Harrisburg men of family and those elsewhere whose brothers have already made the supreme sacrifice In France join with their wives in asking release from exemption in or der that they may go overseas to avenge their brethren, the pacifist must understand that there is to be no trifling with the American peo ple. Our day of hesitation and watch ful waiting and procrastination is past. We mean to kill this beast on his own dttnghill and our leaders at Washington would do well to cor rectly interpret the thought and pur post of the people. Let us not de ceive ourselves for one moment. We are fighting an enemy that knows no pity, is without honor and out side the pale of civilization. Mr. Hlndenburg might spend his evenings working out a few new lines. BONNIWELL MAKES ISSUE JUDGE E. C. BONNIWELL, the Democratic candidate for Gov ernor is now of the opinion that a new third party dedicated to booze would promote his gubernatoriaj aspirations. He appears to think that such a move is absolutely es sential and that the placing in the field of an entirely wet ticket with himself at the head will meet the expectations of many independent voters. This is a further challenge to the Republicans of Pennsylvania. {Sena tor Sproul and many Republican candidates have declared without equivocation or evasion of any sort in favor of the proposed prohibition WEDNESDAY EVENING, amendment Bonnlwell nbw Insists 1 that those who wish the support of the liquor Interests Bhall line up with him on a ticket of his own selection. Under the circumstances, the Re publican candidates who still choose to assume a neutral or nonoommlttal attltudo on this question have no course left save an open declaration In favor of the prohibition amond mont or acceptance of Bonnlwell'e decree. They must decide upou which eldo they 'bhoose to make tho fight. Anti-liquor sontlment Is sweep ing onward not only In Pennsyl vania, but throughout the country. Bonnlwell will lose the votes of thou sands of Democrats who do not favor booso and ho now hopes to win to his support those Republicans who still favor Jafcn Barleycorn. Let the Issue be Joined that Penn sylvania may determine at the No vember election whether this ques tion shall further annoy and perplex our people. Candidates for the Legislature should consider well the temper of the voters this year. Wo are pass ing through an unprecedented period In tho history and life of the nation. Men who are usually subject to parti san thought and purpose are likely this year to give party second place when It stands In the way of a pa triotic principle or falls In its proper attitude toward the winning of the war. Dr. Bernhard Durnburg is one of those Germans who is thinking more of the future of the Kaiser's deluded subjects than of the present. He is strong for a league of nations to pro vide a pool of raw materials "out of which ail countries shall be supplied according to their needs." When set tlement day comes Germany will be entitled to the crumbs that fall from the table of the Allies, perhaps, and nothing more. Germany has invited the punishment that is in store for her. NEW YORK'S EXPERIENCE THOSE who are doubtful as to the wisdom of borrowing ex tensively for the creation of a vast system of Improved highways in Pennsylvania would profit by a perusal of a recent article by Con troller Travis, of New York State, on "Financing New York Highways." Mr. Travis goes at length Into the history of road building in the Em pire State and his story of the many mistakes and costly experiments that preceded the Inauguration of thg present effective system of con struction and repair is highly inter esting to the good roads advocate— as who is not in these days of au tomobile travel? But of particular Import is his account of the bond system in New York and how it has been worked out. Says he: Perhaps the most significant act on the State's part in aiding the good roads movement, how ever. arose in connection with the method of financing its share. Up to 1905 it had been the State's practice to pay for these improvements out of the annual receipts of the treasury. But the fallacy of including such expendi tures soon became apparent, and after that time New York decid ed upon the policy of providing the necessary moneys by the cre ation of a State debt. * It was pointed out that this outlay is for tho benefit of the people of the State and in no sense to be considered an ordinary expendi ture. It was, therefore, eminent ly proper that these costs should be distributed over a long period of years. Briefly described, the issuance of these securities proved to be a device whereby this Common wealth was enabled to spread over a series of years payments exceeding already over $120,000,- 000, which amount would other wise have to be met out of cur rent taxes. In substance, such is the scheme whereby New York has been enabled to practically rebuild its highways, a practice Justifiable because these improve ments will be inherited by com ing generations, and it is only Just and reasonable, therefore, to ask them to share the burden of expense. The benefits derived from the State's construction, maintenance and repair of our public high ways seems to be of a more far reaching character than was ap preciated even twenty years ago. and to-day these advantages are so diffused as to render taxation levied for this purpose seemingly most equitable and Just. The question has often been raised however, not only as to the fair system of taxation devised for raising the necessary funds for this work, but also as to its eco nomical and effective use by our administrative officials. In all Industries or undertakings call ing for the introduction of ex tensive plans and heavy expendi tures change of method in man agement is bound to happen, al though such alternative has aft erward proved to have been un wise and extravagant. To manage successfully such a stupendous public work as the improvement of our highways necessitated the devising of com prehensive plans requiring a term of years for its fulfillment Moreover, intricate financial prob lems have been involved even so far in its successful completion. But public utilities, such as our good roads, affect so intimately the life of ewry one in the com munity that their proper con struction and maintenance are of vital importance. These are the findings of an ex pert in finance—not a practical road builder. They are the conclusions of an experienced financier after years of study. They ought to be convincing to those who are doubt ful as to the wisdom of creating a public debt in Pennsylvania for the purpose of highway construc tion. What has proved beneficial to the farmers and people in gen eral of New York State should be no less so to those of this Common wealth. "War will end tn year," says Sena tor Lewis, and here's hoping he is a better forecaster in this than he has been politically. GIVE YOUR RUBBER RUBBER that has outlived its usefulness in personal, domes tic or industrial service is of no good where it lies stored. It merely clutters up the prem ises and occupies room needed for other things. But in the hands of the Red Cross it seives a double purpose. In the first place, there is the money derived by the Red Cross from the sale of the rubber, and in the sacond a great oiientitjv of rub ber that would have been burned or thrown away is brought back Into the hands of the manufacturer to be turned Into countless thousands of useful articles that otherwise, due to the scarolty of shipping In war times, would have to be left unmade, for lack of raw material. Look up your old rubber and turn it over to tho Red Croea during the campaign now being arranged. otitic* in, By the Ex-Committeeman Scores of blank petitions for can didates for state, congressional and legislative offices to be filled In No vember were secured at the Depart ment of the Secretary of the Com monwealth to-day by friends of Judge Eugene C. Bonnlwell, the Democratic candidate for governor, who Is about to launch a third party. The man obtaining the papers re fused to make any statement as to w hat nam a would be chosen or who would be put on the third ticket. The Capitol has received numerous mes sages from men who are candidates asking what is going to be done by the Bonnlwell people, but no one here seems to have any informa tion. People at Democratic headquarters are preparing for a big gathering of Democrats when the state commit tee meets here next Wednesday and it is probablo that almost every Dem ocrat of any prominence aligned with the reorganization faction will be here. Whether Judge Bonnlwell will be here no one can say, but hotel reservations are said to have been made by some of his friends. —While the Philadelphia Record announces that candidates for vari ous congressional and legislative nominations are flocking to the Bon nlwell banner and that "representa tive Democrats" are pledging sup port to the Judge, the other Phila delphia newspapers do not pay much attention to the new venture. The Philadelphia Press calls it "a catch all" and says that while it will like ly be defeated "there is a certain shrewdess in his plans. The In quirer says: "All candidates for Con gress as well as the State Senate and House of Representatives, have been sent notices by the manager of Judge Eugene C. Bonntwell's campaign for Governor, requesting them to be in Harrisburg on Friday at noon when tho title of the new 'third' party will be pre-empted. James J. Breen, who managed the Bonnlwell primary campaign and who is now in charge of the new headquarters, warned all nominees that in order to safeguard their own interest, so far as getting on the ticket is concerned, it is ab solutely necessary for them to be at the State Capitol when the title is pre-empted." —Dr. E. J. Fithian, Prohibition candidate for Governor, has entered upon his campaign. A notable re ception was given him, according to the Mercer county Herald, in Grove City last week. The Herald says. "The reception given the doctor, as we have said, was on his departure for a tour of the state in a car that has been built by him at a cost of $5,- 000, a palatial affair, having a com plement of sleeping quarters for six people, hot and cold running water, a kitchenette with electric cookers and electrically lighted throughout. The car is painted pure white, a fit ting emblem of the party. It is 26 feet long and 7 feet wide." It is ex pected that the car will visit Harris burg before the campaign is over. —The New Jersey plan of sending two commissioners, a Republican and a Democrat, abroad to take the votes of the Jerseymen for the November election, announced yesterday at Trenton, will not apply to Pennsyl vania, according to officials at the Stat Capitol. The Pennsylvania law requires that men must vote on election day and also provides for a secret ballot. Nothing has been ar ranged regarding the Pennsylvania soldiers' voting but it is stated here that the War Department orders on the subject do not provide for send ing commissioners such as the Penn sylvania law calls for. The belief here is that there may be one or two commissioners sent to France, but that they will simply gather votes which will be taken under military supervision, but that commissioners will be sent to cantonments . —Senator William C. Sproul's speech in Lehigh county is meeting with general editorial approval all over Pennsylvania and- attract ing attention from newspapers in other states. The only big newspa pers which does not like it is tho Philadelphia Record, who editor ially, curiously enough, gets reprint ed in the mourning organ of the Democratic national chairman. —Uniontown will be the mecca of Pennsylvania Republicans on Satur day, as was Lc-high county last Sat urday. Senator Sproul and Senator Beidleman, who speak in Chester to day, will be at Lebanon to-morrow and at York on Thursday. Senator Penrose will leave Washington Fri day and go to Uniontown. The two state candidates will be joined there Fridav by Auditor General Snyder and go to the Fayette county capi tal. —Considerable Interest In the Lackawanna county primary election accusations was aroused here to-day by announcement at Scranton that warrants had been issued tor the arrest of W. W. Jones, of Olyphant, Representative from the Fifth legis lative district, charged with con spiracy. Arthur Williams, foreman in a printing plant owned by Jones, faces a similar charge, it being maintained they printed illegal bal lots that are said to have been is sued in two precincts at the May primaries. Both men waived a hear ing before Justice Cummins, of Oly phant, bail being furnished. Jones and Williams were mentioned in the minority report of the Grand Jury filed last week as being the printers who turned out alleged spurious bal lots. Warrants for election officers tn five districts have also been issued. —Rises of salary that average nine dollars a month for each man were granted yesterday at Wilkes-Barre to members of the depleted police fbrce of the city with a promise of addi tional increase January 1, when tax budgets are rearranged. For the first time in the history of the city there are no applications for police Jobs and a shortage of fifteen officers has left many sections improperly pro tected. It is announced that Michael Brown will be made chief of detec tives to succeed Adam Hergert, dis charged for inefficiency after the graft scandal charged by the Cham ber of Commerce. Solomon Sought Wisdom Now, O Lord God, let thy promise unto David my father be established. Give me now wisdom and knowt —ll Chronicles 1. 8 and 10. J *TARRISBURG TELEGRAPH SOMEBODY IS ALWAYS TAKING THE JOY OUT OF LIFE By Briggs _ . \l ■ " Th6 <=**") r~SAV 1/LEAue e a IT To"°ME E £ 6 T A TO 1 / "fco -rLt I > s So ** rY // M.wD DO W 6 . SCARCE'. T H 6 ™ CUT;TH6 GRASS- ( , T N,V-I AN,D UN,K^ MPT " IT MVSELF- ( PLACE IS <3OIMFC,/L M U F |VE TRIED AWD \\ SEI" J 1 CAW T I | RATHER TO RACK AWO /\ I EWER* VAJ ..Twifeb- TMff laUM/ V G6T A NIAnJ J ooJoy FU3SIMS I RUIM- / \ y T>F>BAPFV/YY J — UIASM IT^ / / AROUWO A \ —.—A FTCT VNI) MBAM~TJT\ /'WHY-Y'LF PVWPLIU THE MAIO'\ f " <o\ "T\ vwu HAJ L|FT 0 \ / IO) |)- r-J .THE HELP APOO/OO THE AP House-. TAVe CAPE N IxT SH- WILL \* • '/ KAISER.,' OP THeiCHILORSw _/ < WA . S * V y ~ Y ™' SPROUL'S KEYNOTE [From the Philadelphia Press.] Senator Sproul's opening speech in Lehigh county on Saturday put the campaign in Pennsylvania on a high plane, and forcibly and cor rectly stated the loyal and patriotic services of the Republican party In the war. All that was said had the enthusiastic endorsement of one of the largest gatherings of citizens recently brought together in that Democratic county. It is a grievous disappointment to schemtng Democratic politicians that their campaign plans for the year to put the Republican party in a false position respecting the war and impeach its loyalty have dismally and deservedly failed. No party in any condition of the country ever rendered stronger support to the Government than the Republican party has rendered in Congress and out, in its press and by all its peo ple. The first purpose with all is to win the war, and to strengthen the Government in every way to that end. Not only did Senator Sproul con clusively demonstrate this in his ad-i dress, but at the time he was speak- j ing an impressive demonstration of the fact was given in the House of Representatives at Washington where the man-power bill was under con sideration. An attempt was made to amend the measure and destroy one of the administration's import ant provisions. The effort was de feated and the administration provi sion saved by the votes of a majority of Republican members, while a ma jority of Democrats recorded them selves ag:alnst the administration. To this significant fact is added another equally significant, that the floor management of the bill was in the hands of a Republican member. It would be an unfortunate situa tion for the President himself, and seriously impair the effectiveness of the administration's war work if Democratic politicians could succeed in their unpatriotic purpose to make a campaign issue of the war. The President himself must realize this. In spite of his own ever-active parti sanship, some of the more important war work is being done by Repub licans. All are ready for service; all are quick to respond to every de mand. The majority of Republicans in Congress are a more reliable sup port of Administration war measures than a majority of Democrats. As Senator Sproul made clear, nothing will better unite the senti ment of the country In a common ef fort and strengthen the administra tion in popular confidence than a Re publican majority in the next Con gress. It is the duty of Pennsylvania to contribute all that is possible to that end. A Righteous Judgment [From the Chester (Pa.) Times.] "The man who brought this ca tastrophe on the world should be strung up by the neck." This is not the verdict of any rabid Kaiser-hater. It is the opin ion of the Kaiser himself, given to an American to whom ha was accus tomed to talk freely. It need not be inferred that the words were spoken in an unwonted moment of contrition. The Kaiser was not confessing his guilt and in viting punishment for his- own great crime. He was flatlyv denying his responsibility. "That man." he con tinued instantly, "Is not I, as the world seems to think." This strange utterance was made apropos of nothing whatever. It wa splainly the impulsive outburst of a guilty conscience, shrinking from the world's accusation. We heed not concern ourselves un duly with the problem of Hohenzol lern psychology. Suffice it to say that the Kaiser has pronounced a righteous judgment, which all his clamorous denials and tricky subter fuges cannot evade. The Allies should take liim at his word. Noth ing less will fully expiate the crime and cure the evil of criminal autoc racy. LABOR NOTES Colored laborers at Orange, Texas, have a union with 500 members. The Waldorf Hotel. New York, now has a corps of girl "bellboys." Brotherhood of Carpenter* have 4,500 members in the Provirtce of On tario, Canada. International Fire Fighters now has 79 locals and a membership of 7,084. Street railway men of Toledo, Ohio, have received' an increase of six cents an hour. Marine and ship painters at To ronto. Canada, have organized. BEFORE CANTIGNY [JAMES HOPPER, IN COLLIER S WEEKLY] THE sunken way obliqued to the right, but I followed it a few hundred feet—and suddenly I was near the top of the rise, with a young officer before me, silhouetted high against the first rosiness of dawn. I ran to him. Before us a plateau spread, sloping away the slightest bit; in the faint light I sould see wheat fields waving to the slight cool ■ ind, and meadows red with poppies. I said to him: "Which way is Cantigny?" "Cantigny?" ho answered. "Why, there it is, right in front of you!" He pointed across the plateau—and at the end of the long gentle slope Cantigny lay, pretty as a stage seUing among its trees, just visible in the bluish morning mist. But a trench was at my feet; bay onets stuck out of it; it was full of men—of our boys! They filled It, packed shoulder to shoulder, and many of them slept, standing, held up between their comrades and the close walls their foreheads resting against the parapet. "Who are these men?" I asked. "Machine gun men." the officer answered. But a little ahead was another trench, also full of men. "Who are these?" I asked. "The —nth Infantry." he answered. By Jove! I was in the front lines— standing above the front lines! "A little before 4.45 we all came' out >of our burrows to watch the i bombardment, which was to begin at that time We faced the west, curiously and a little anxious. The batteries were back there, four or five kilometers. I knew where some were, through long familiarity; oth ers I had stumbled on in my wan-1 TWO SHOWMEN [New York Times] Artemus Ward would have called Representative Albert Johnson, of' Washington "an amoosin' little j cuss." In the debate on the Draft; Amendment bill Mr. Johnson intro-1 duced a side-splitting force to il- j lustrate his argument that youths of IS should never be sent into battle. He had no difficulty in finding two undersized, undermuscled, under-! weight pages, and he rie-ged them i out with pack and musket. One, 5 feet 6 inches in height, was so spare as to weigh 102 pounds; the other had attained 4 feet 2 inches. Tak ing up a position In the aisle the Washington Representative point ed to his exhibits and said; Standing beside me are two eigh teen-year-old pages, employed by the House of Representatives. They are part of the manpower of the United States, (audible snickers) but I sub mit that they are hardly fit for life in the trenches. They were not, nor would meagre and stunted men of 30, or of any other age, be serviceable in the trenches. Mr. Johnson had not thought of that. His exhibits only touched the risibilities of the House, not its tear ducts. Hardly had the blushing pages retired than Repre sentative John Q. Tilson. of Con neticut, who must have an intelli gence department of his own, pro duced four strapping marines of 18 in full uniform, with the observa tion that "there are boys of that age who arc strong and powerful soldiers." He brought down the House, and Johnson, of Washington, was covered with confusion. WHEAT BREAD FOR A. E.F. The American Army in France is getting good soft bread, made from pure wheat flour. There are several reasons why it is not advisable to carry out Ihe wheatsavlng substi tute rule in bread baking overseas. Field bakers must work swiftly, and cannot afford to experiment with new flour mixtures. Every effort is made by the Subsistence Division of the Quartermaster Corps to give these bakers the best material pos sible, and to make the baking pro cess simple and standard. Our troops in the United Btates have been getting the prescribed amount of substitutes in their bread, and it has proved satisfactory. Here, bak ers are definitely located and can easily work out mixtures that will produce good bread. The daily ra tion for soldiers of the A. E. F. Is eighteen ounces of wheat flour for soft bread. This has proved to be more than enough, and a reduction to sixteen ounces per day is now under consideration. The army sup ply of flour at this time is 100 per cent, abundant at every place along the line, from the mills to the battle lines in France. Every requirement' for flour, both for domestic and over seas consumption, is bains mat. dering of the past week—new bat teries, everywhere, which had sprouted overnight, like mushrooms in pretty woods, in hollows, along roadsides, in village streets, camou flaged. They were, of course, alto gether invisible to us now;* it was the western horizon we searched. And promptly at the appointed klme came the first shot—from the west, a silken, tearing, whistling sound, which seemed to travel a long time, then passed overhead, and turned to a hard and abrupt explosion on the plateau above and behind us. An other followed, another, twenty, thirty—the air was soon filled with a great whistling clamor, though the work held still, in some indefinable but clear manner, a character of re serve and observant precision, of something formidable in leash. At the same time, as if a curtain had been raised, the morning came to its full light—a perfect morning, a light blue sky dappled here and there with very delicate white clouds —and again from the west, but from the high depths of it, the planes came winging. The slanting light gave them a waferlike thinness; you looked it one, then suddenly knew there were three; looked at three and suddenly knew there were nine —there v. ere squadrons of them. They came, broadwinged and lei surely; some had bright pennons hung out; they gave to the morning an extraordinary festive air: it was as if we wore at the beginning of a great holiday. We looked at each other and smiled; we half expected to hear bells begin to ring. SLACKERS? The heart of Mc. McAdoo was in the right place when he called all who sell their Liberty Bonds slack ers. But his tongue missed accuracy by a go bit. It is true (hat no American should sell his Liberty Bonds if he can pos sibly avoid doing so. He should think twice and dig deep into his re sources before adopting this last re sort. But there are cases of neces sity where an American is perfectly justified in turning over his bonds and need have no sensation of guilt from doing so. Any number of us overbid our hands in the first flush of enthusiam for a Liberty Loan. This may have been indiscreet, but these oversubscriptions, from the in dividual's viewpoint, were well meant and should certainly entail no recriminations as a consequence. In some cases there was nothing for a bondholder to do except convert his bond into cash when the pinch came and he found it impossible to be as patriotic as he hoped. The country needs all the strain ing to save and invest that its men, women and children are capable of. The risk of this slacker talk is that in future loans Americans will hold back and not subscribe to their limit for fear of incurring somebody's curse if they should fail of their hopes and be compelled to sell out. The situation calls for sense and clear statement, not Indiscriminate name-calling, we suggest. Mr. Roosevelt's Prize Money [Philadelphia Public Ledger.] Mr. Roosevelt's distribution of the Nobel Peace Prize money, which Congress recently returned to him, is characteristic. He realizes how small, comparatively speaking, the total sum Is if measured by the ne cessities of the time; and so he se lects, not one or two war activities for remembrance, but a very inclu sive list, with the view of appreciat ing and encouraging all. The Red Cross, the Y. M. C. A., the Salvation Army, the Knights of Columbus, and the Jewish Welfare Board ar6| among the more obvious of these.; But Mr. Roosevelt's sympathies have so wide a range that he does not for-! get the needs of Belgium, Serbia.' Rumania. Armenia, the victims of I Oerman cruelty in France, the Rus sians, the Czecho-Slovaks, and a large number of more or less per sonal entertainprises in which war workers are engaged. More welcome to these, in a sense, than the money will be the evidence that the former President of the United States is an ardent upholder of the causes they represent. NOT ESSENTIAL When a "wet" state ratifies the prohibition amendment you have the drinkers' testimony that alcoholic beverages are not essential.—Pitts burgh Gazette Times. 'ATTUGST 28, 19TX Alas! and Alack! [Col. Harvey's War Weekly] The telegraph and telephone serv ice of the United States has long been a legitimate source of national pride. It was unmatched anywhere in the world. Of this admirable effi ciency the company of which Mr. Mackay was the head was typical. That fine plant has now passed out of the control of those who built up the splendind organization from the very beginning and developed it to a degree of perfection in operation which, like that of the Bell Tele phone Company, was about as near perfection as anything in the way of a public utility well could be. From the experienced and capable hands its management has been turn ed over to Mr. Burleson. What Mr. Burleson will do with it, alas, we know not. What he has done to the mail service, alas, we do know. Mr. Mackay, in a very modest way, pleads for the continuance in employment of those who havo made the Postal what it is. In terms even more mod est and self-obliterating, he offers his own services and his inestimably valuable administrative experience quite free of compensation to the government. But it seems we are to have the inestimably valueless serv ices and experience of Mr. Burleson instead. And what applies to the Postal in the matter of this threat ened Burlesonian blight applies, of course, to the Western Union and to the superb Bell Telephone organiza tion. What particular form of hash Mr. Burleson will make of it all, if he maintains the high standard of wrecking efficiency he has establish ed in the handling of the mails, must remain matter for gloomy specula tion. LAUGH \ *UTOS IJ RUNNING. You told me *4(3? | you guaranteed nl this car for one what's the mat ter? It's still Jk(£') holding togeth- iTF^ CANNED STUFF. Living in the t city seems so j are so high thai about the onlj 11] way one can ex /% Ist is artificially, DISREGARD- fß^ r 3J ING THE OLD the stable door j after the horse A was stolen ? Ijf - Ail Certainly; he ' * wanted to keep the automobile \ SATISFIED. A Does Brown yjA owe you any y Not any more than I'm willing FSm to pay for the - - privilege of not being bothered lEirotmg (Sijat Making: the Susquehanna naviga ble, which no less an authority than Major \V. B. Gray says is feasible, is a theme which has been given seri ous and e/en official attention in this community since about 1790. John Harris' l'erry enterprise macla Harrisburg n transportation center because he developed the ford that the Indians had used for centuries and when the place began its stride immediately after the Revolution and people began to stream west ward, river navigation boomed. Wheat was brought here on craft known as arks from as far west a3 Huntingdon county and the first an thracite coal was floated down the Susquehanna on flatboats. As early as 1788, three years after John Har ris the younger laid out the site of the future capital of the state, in con- Junction with his son-in-law, Wll liam Maclay, the first United States Senator, an agitation for removing of obstructions from the Susque hanna began, and, according to our pioneer newspaper, the Oracle of Dauphin, in 1795 meetings were held in this city to discuss the plan, the people of Pennsylvania and Maryland having named commis sioners, while companies and asso ciations were formed to develop the great natural waterway. On the twelfth day of August, 1795, men met hero from Lancaster, York, Dauphin, Northumberland, Cumber, land. Mifflin, Huntingdon and other counties in this state, and Cecil and Harford in Maryland, and arranged to get the money for the work. Dau phin county's commissioners were John Kean, later a senator; Archi bald McAllister, of the famous Fori Hunter family: Martin Weaver, John Murray and James McCreight, while Stacy Potts, who seems to have been a sort of Donald McCormick or W. L. Gorgas—or, in other words, treasurer of most movements—was elected treasurer. In the last half-dozen years refer, ence has been made tn this column to the successive movements to re move the obstructions, most ol which appear to have blown up ho cause of lack of means to blow up the rocks. It is interesting to note that in 1823 the business of trans portation had grown so rapidly thai the demand for making the Susque hanna something more useful than a water supply and stretch of wonder ful scenery caused a revival. It wai short-lived because the canals wert being built and the era of the rail roads which were later to put tht canals and waterways out of busi ness, much to their own officials' re gret to-day, was beginning. In thai year the Legislature named commis sioners to study improvement of th Susquehanna from Northumberland to tidewater. Coal, lumber, wheal and other things were being handled in boars and the rocks were just ai numerous and as annoyingly placed as to-day. The commission spenl about $25,000 and got some bac rocks out of the channel below Co lumbia, but that is as far as the pro ject got. The stream was paralleled by canals and later by railroads anc intermittent movements to blast t channel havo come and gone. Tin major's declaration may have th effect of attracting attention to t matter which many have felt It feasible and which in these days o high explosives may uccomplist something, even if it does make oui coal cheaper and bring York counts watermelons and Lancaster gardei products to our doors without tht employment of the iron horse. Tin river, it is held, can generate f.ht power to tow the boats along thi banks. After the war, Pennsylvania will know a lot more about thi strength of explosives and can adapi them to commerce instead of war. Just as an Illustration of what car he done, all one needs to do is tc sit on the "steps" and watch th< freedom of the coal-dredging flee' since the dam was constructed Conoy street, or to cudgel meniorj back to ths days when the "Yan kees" brought the rafts down th< river and tied up at the bank clos< to the mills in the First and Second wards. Shallow-draft boats can d< much now. Suppose Ave feet wer< to be added for 100 to 150 feet wide A little imagination and fulfilment of that promise of Major Gray t.c come back to superintend the job may do something yet. • • • Attorney General Francis Shunk Brown, who, incidentally, has a farm of some 325 acres on the Elk river in the most fertile part of Maryland, tells a good story about himself. Mr. Brown likes to be a farmer as well as he likes to be a lawyer, and when he gets on the farm he farms. He wears old clothes, an old hat, and jumps fences and rides the hay wagon. The other day a couple of dapper city people came to the farm to look it over as it is noted for its appearance. The Attorney General was about in his oldest of old clothes. "Is this Mr. Brown's farm?" was asked. "Yes, it is," said Mr. Brown. "They tell me Mr. Brown farms. I'd just love to see him," said the woman. "Well, you're looking at him," quoth Mr. Brown. "Oh. my," said the scandalized woman, "do you look like that up at Harrisburg?" • • • One of Superintendent George A. Shreiner's patent spraying machines for sprinkling the Capitol Park de veloped an unexpected range yes terday. In these days of shortage of labor the superintendent got some clockwork arrangements that send hose streams about the lawns and flower beds on certain circuits. They go up and down and roundabout. Yesterday one slipped a cog and opened water-firing on acme women feeding squirrels in the park. But a squad of youngsters came along soon after and thoroughly enjoyed the fun. WELL KNOWN PEOPLE —William H. Clark, appointed receiver for a couple of big Phila delphia hotels, is a banker and ac tive in Philadelphia affairs. —General J. Mcl. Carter, in com mand of tho Lafayette Division, is arranging for a big celebration of Lafayette Day next week. —General Raymond Brlggs, re cently advanced, is a Norristown man. —The Rev. W. H. Shaw, of Lans ford, has become a chaplain in tho Army. DO YOU KNOW —That Harrisburg is furnish ing men for some of the hlglily spccialized branches of overseas war service? HISTORIC HARRISBURG —This city wae designed to be a transportation center. It was of wagons and cpnals and is of rail roads, and may be of water-borne
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