14 IMRISBURG TELEGRAPH A XHWSEXEER yon THE HOME Vo'inie J 1 SSI FiiPlislieU evening), except Sunday by Till'. TKLBUItAPH FHINTINU 00. li'lCKtnpk llulltiliiß. Federal Square E. J. STACKPOLB President and Editor-inrChief F R. UVS flOlt. Ilumness Manager GUS. M. STEINMETS4, Managing hditor A. It. MICHE.NEK. Circulation Mancger Executive Board J. P. McCUI.LOUGH. BOYD M. OGELSBY, R "-g^^teinmetz. Member of the Associated Press —The Associated Press is exclustvely en titled to i he use for re P".^ u r^ tlo .° nil news dispatches credited to It or 110! otherwise credited in this paper und also the local news published All rights of republication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. A Member American 4 Newspaper Pub |B| t e r n^ Avenue BullcPng| Chicago! 'ill- Entered at the Post Office 'n**?"' 8 " burg, Pa., us second class matter. By carrier, ten cent; 11 week; by mall. IS.O® a year in advance. All fulfillment of harmless happi ness is progress. —R. W. Chambers. FRIDAY, JANVAUY 17, 1918 THE GIVING OF SELF ONE distinct result of local wel fare activities during the war has been recognition of the service that is rendered rather than the mere contribution of money. Under former conditions there was a proneness to regard money dona tions as discharge of personal obli gation, but the activity of many men and women in tendering personal service throughout the war has given all these a different viewpoint and worthy welfare organizations are certain to be the beneficiaries of this new attitude. Selfishness lias been largely up rooted through the personal touch of the individual. It was compara tively easy to write a check or make a contribution without both ering about personal service, but the co-operation that resulted in every direction during the progress of hostilities changed the old order to such an extent that men and women are now disposed to give of themselves as well as contribute of their means. When there is personal interest in welfare work there is bound to be wider sympathy and more substan tial results than under conditions which place such welfare activities upon a purely financial basis. Har risburg has been most active in many directions for many months and it is the hope of all who have an interest in the city's proper de velopment that the sincere and ear nest co-operation of the war will not cease with the declaration of peace. The taxing power at Washington is being exerted in so many different directions that it becomes a question whether the big club in the hands of Kitchin and his associates is being used for other purposes than the rais ing of revenue. GATHERING WAR DATA UNDER the direction of the local Committee of the Council of National Defense blanks have been placed at certain indicated places for obtaining the data that is necessary for the compiling of an authoritative and accurate history of Pennsylvania in the great war. This information must come from every home where a soldier or sailor entered the national service. In this way only can the state authorities hope io obtain the matter which is so vital in the preparation of an au thoritative and important work of this character. Now is the time to get this information and in the gath ering of the data the officials sliotnd have the enthusiastic co-operation of all who can aid in this work. Germany has brought upon herself tlie whirlwind of international dis trust and she can hardly complain when stiff armistice terms are impos ed by the Allies. Every move made by it during the war and since has aroused doubt concerning the good faith of the Berlin government. Add ed to all this are the stories of bar barities and cruelties perpetrated in France and Belgium which were con tinued even on the retreat of the liuns. TELL THE STORY - IT is to be hoped that the call of Major William G. Murdoch, the State's draft executive, for the officers and members of the local draft boards to write the history of the operation of the selective service in their homo districts, will meet with a hearty response from the men who made the draft so successful in the populous counties of central Pennsylvania. As Major Murdock says In ano'her column of this issue what is written to-day about tho manner in which tho youth of this patriotic Commonwealth respondod to I lie call find the way the people supported the draft boards will be of Hie utmost valuo In years to FRIDAY EVENING. come, From what wo know by word of mouth of the raising of the armies in the Civil War and of the way the d|aft operated it was interesting, but wo ahull never know the full story because no attempt was made to put the story into narrative form. What the War Deportment has asked Major Murdock to secure In Pennsylvania is a "living story" -of the operation of the draft. It is a great opportunity for the men at the head of the draft to tell how the young men came from mine and mill, office and farm in response to the calls, how few sought to evade the summons, how each community took a pride in the number of men, how the veterans and the business men and the bands turned out to say farewell to the contingents as they left for camp. The men who made the draft help beat the Hun can write it. Thus far two of Harrisburg's dis tricts and the district appeal board have filed their chronicles. It is to be trusted that the other boards will not be lacking in this last call to duty, which will rebound to the ever lasting credit or patriotic Pennsyl vania. It develops from a police report that a drinking bout in front of a' pool room was the cause of a young man being beaten and left uncon scious on a snow-covered sidewalk. And yet there are those who still believe prohibition of the liquor traf fic Is an invasion of "personal lib erty." The best answer of the peo ple of the United States to that argu ment is the ratification of constitu tional prohibition throughout the country. A GREAT EXAMPLE THE UNITED STATES, ever a pioneer in the family of na tions, has set the world another great example by becoming the first of the powers to forbid the manu facture and sale of intoxicating liquor. It is a long step forward to ward the betterment of living con ditions and in the direction of law, order and health which we have taken. A decade will be required to prove how great are the blessings of total abstinence, but both the pub lic at large and legitimate business especially will feel immediately upon the closing of the saloon the stimu lus of hundreds of millions of dol lars turned into beneficial lines of trade. The brewers and the distillers who are preparing to carry their fight against prohibition to the Supreme Court are throwing good money after bad. For years liquor interests have been corrupting Legislatures and trying to elect "liquor judges" in order to protect their business from the ever growing indignation of an aroused public. They have hooked up the grog shop with the brothel and the gambling place. The corner saloon has come to be a place into which men slink shamefacedly and from which they come with the knowledge that to be seen emerging from such a place is not good either for their business of their' fe&ncfing in the community. Employers look upon drinking men with disfavor. Bankers fear to extend credit to the man of intemperate habits. Industry and business no longer have any place for the drinker and as the easiest way to prevent drinking is to take away the temptation to drink, the doom of the liquor traffic has been sealed. Those who will spend their money in an effort to upset the will of the people, should know before they start that their efforts will be hopeless. The United States govern ment i. upon the. will of the majority and an overwhelming ma jority desire prohibition. Therefore, whether the liquor .trade likes it or not, prohibition is going td come. Nobody is taking the Supreme Court appeal very seriously except the lawyers who are engaged in the pleasant pastime of extracting fat fees from the pockets of the fast ex piring John Barleycorn. "Hardscrabble" is moving toward its ultimate end through the processes of the courts and the necessary pro cedure of the city administration. City Solicitor Fox confidently expects that the final move will be taken within the next few months. CONSERVATION IT is to be hoped that the sports men of Central Pennsylvania counties, which are so naturally adapted for good hunting, will co operate with the State Game Com mission's officers in the plan to con serve wild life this winter and to help replenish the game In the wood lands and in the fields. The State authorities have invited the sports men and wild life lovers to locate the quail and other game birds and either trap them or place food so that the fowls will not perish. Last winter's terrible cold and prolonged snow almost wiped out the quail and rabbits in some districts of the lower Susquehanna valley and it is the aim of the State authorities to utilize some of the money paid in hunters' licenses to preserve the birds. Not only sportsmen but fatmers have been called upon to help in this conservation because "Bob White" is one of the greatest insect destroyers and has a liking for po tato bugs which should make every farmer and truck gardener swear by him. The State will pay for the grain to be fed to the birds and re quire reports on how they are get ting along. In addition the State hardens in tend to help thin out the crows, which have preyed upon the game birds and destroyed their nests dur ing the severe winter. The general plan is for co-operation of everyone interested In wild life, farmers in cluded, to preserve the birds that are useful and which furnish good sport In the fall. ' •' , *lfstUxC4- VK j nXa By the Ex-Commlttecman | —Senator Edwin H. Vare has been slated by the Republican state or ganization for reappointment to his old position as chairman of the Committee on Municipal Affairs, to which the Phiadelphia charter revi sion bill will be referred after It reaches tho Senate. Despite the fact that the Penrose men who control the organization will favor charter J revision, and the Vare organization will probably be found lined up against it, it has been decided -that there will be no attempt to divert the bill from Senator Vare's com mittee. This designation of Senator Vare was the most important development of yesterday's session of the state leaders, who are meeting in Phila delphia to frame the destinies of the I coming session. Its significance, how ever, is principally negative. Since Senator Vare held this ehiir manslilp In previous session, his re appointment this year is more or less a matter of course. It would only have been worthy of particular note had the Penrose men decided to turn him down this year, in which case an immediate fight would have been precipitated. Moreover, since the personnel of the committee is not made known, there is nothing to show that Senator Vare will have a majority of the committee on char tor revision. —The leaders, it is said on good authority, have entirely finished the work of assigning members of the Senate to committees. They have not progressed as far with this as the House, nor have they decided on all the Senate chairmanships. The following new ones were announced in addition to Senator Vare's: Miles R. N'ason, of Erie, Fisheries; Edward E. Jones, Susquehanna, Agriculture. —ln addition to these, several House chairmanships have been de cided upon, including the most im portant of all. appropriations, which will go to William J. McCaig, of Allegheny, as generally expected. Maris M. Hollingsworth, of Chester, will be chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, and Sigmund Gans, of Philadelphia, will be chairman of Health and Sanitation. "There is considerable interest In the Committee on Law and Order of each chamber," says the Philadel phia Press commenting on the meet ing of leaders, "where the resolution to ratify the national prohibition amendment will go. The leaders have not definitely decided upon the makeup of either committee. It is generally thought that the Senate committee will be wet. "The House committee, on the other hand, will probably have a preponderance of dry members. Speaker Spangler is taking particular interest in this committee and will make it his business to see that its personnel suits Governor-elect Sproul. On account of the latter's platform stand for prohibition, and particularly because he was largely Instrumental in naming k dry Speak er in the person of Spangler, it js generally conceded that the House committee should be dry. The drys and wets have each submitted a list of proposed members. Speaker Spangler will probably confer with some leader of the wets as to thetr representation on the committee and will then get the final O. K. of Sen ator Sproul before he makes the selection. ••William C. Wagner, of Allegheny, who headed this committee last ses sion, will in all probability have to retire, as its chairman, as'he is a pronounced 'wet.' In discussing the chairmanship, some of the organisa tion men said they would not ob ject to the dry leader, John W. Vick erman, of Allegheny, being chair man. His name has been put for ward as the candidates of the 'drys' for the post. However, a more likely name is that of George W. Williams, of Tioga, prominently mentioned for Speaker." Senator Sproul hopes the amend ment will pass in Pennsylvania and believes it will. "It's the greatest disciplinary movement a people ever inflicted upon itself," said he yester day. "But you can bet I'm for pass ing- it in Pennsylvania. We saw it coming. It'll be easier than ever to pass it now. The' 'wet' opposition won't amount to anything. As a mat ter of fact, opposition would be foolish." —Big business of the country was warned to keep in close touch with public affairs and to render honest and efficient administration of pub lic trusts in order to give the best answer to social unrest by Governor elect William C. Sproul, addressing one of the most distinguished gath erings of men prominent in political and business life that has ever graced any annual meeting of the Clover Club at Philadelphia. "You men of big business will And it to your interest to keep in touch with the affairs of state, be cause the day of great private enter prise, I fear, has passed. I don't mean government ownership; but I do mean that high taxes and the difficulty of finance will retard pri vate undertakings. The great minds of the country may well devote their wisdom and skill to public affairs," said Senator Sproul. "There has been much complaint of the service given by railroads, telegraph and telephone companies and the post office. We will try not to be careless. We will cajl our best men to our service and try to set the pace; we will try to give the best answer possible to unrest and uneasiness by a good administra tion." "It is a great thing to be picked out of the crowd and set in such a high place. I am not carried away by delusions, though no man appre ciates more than I the responsibil ity of being Governor of Pennsyl vania. I have wanted to be Governor of Pennsylvania for a long time, and I told men who suggested it to me that when I had my affairs In shape I would consent; because I always appreciated the honor of being the Governor of the greatest Common wealth in the union. "When you realize the part Penn sylvania plays in the affairs of. the country and the world, you will be gin to realize the responsibility of the office. "I have seen Governors "go into the office proud. And I have seen them loavc It saddened, because they realized they hadn't fully grasped their opportunities. They were not altogether to blame, because our sys tem requires an executive officer to decide grave questions without the guidance of the law. "The Governor must confer and deny favors and he is always the tar get of criticism or abuse or worse. We have the habit of blaming the man in sight fdr anything'and every HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH | WONDER WHAT A NINE MONTHS' OLD BABY THINKS ABOUT -:- -.•- .... Bj, BR/CCS j §\ . s ) / ¥ — I ce u (M M -pp I ( j - ._ . /* .r ft ' J I 6 A cO M I I , M MORE I I Hum GIG, I ni,vfi,viT To / I ne - .Tner /- AMD MY i<S ( ( HAS <3owe - wen / D " \ THAT MJCH Simce / sister.' AND MY V THEASS owe U>AY f COMIMO. IMTO T h .S / BROTMCR UJHATS I \ ■£ GET IT- - / \ / VAJORuD - - IF Tou thing. The man who stands alone cannot pass-the-buck. "I have chosen the best men that I knew to aid me. And I shall try to cbntinue that course. I will listen to the politicians because they are in touch with and they feel'the pulse of the people. "If you were not politicians I would ask you to take an immediate interest in the affairs of state." Many Newspaper Mergers (From the Fourth Estate) The year 1918 was marked in the newspaper world by the death or consolidation of 1,954 papers, while but 776 new enterprises were start ed, according to the American Newspaper Annual and Directory for 1919, published by N. W. Ayer & Son, advance sheets of which are recently off the press. The directory shows that more than a third of the German lan guage publications have dropped out. The marked trend toward consoli- I dation, which had been current for several years past, was hastened by wartime conditions. Publishers in ' many cities ure finding it more prof itable to merge their equipment, t*- duce operating expenses, and pub lish one strong paper than to con tinue competition in territory which will not support more than one good publication. Several of the larger cities have seen great changes in the news paper field, metropolitan dailies of high standing and individual reputa tion being consolidated or changing | ownership. The summary shows a total of 2,- I 562 dailies in present existence, as! against 2,604 a year ago, or a de crease of - 42 dailies. It is in the I weeklies, however, that the greatest! changes came. At the present time | 15,735 are published. Last year's report showed 16,599 in existence, the decrease being 864. All other publications, from tri-weeklies to ; quarterlies, showed decreases, vary ing from one, in the case of quarter lies. to 180 monthlies. The aggregate circulation of evening papers in the United States and Canada is 21,600,000; morning papers. 12,763,00; Sunday papers, 17,233,000. Practical View of League [From the Kansas City Times.] Practicality was one of Theodore Roosevelt's dominant traits. He never would commit himself to the impossible. What he did commit himself to he felt bound to carry out. Thus, when the United States had to intervene in Cuba under his administration, European newspa pers assumed it would never get out. Roosevelt said the word had been; given and of course this government would withdraw when order had i been restored. When he told the German ambassador that Dewey was prepared to resist with force the seizure of Venezuelan soil by the kaiser's fleet, Berlin receded be cause the kaiser knew Roosevelt would make good. It is this practical quality that makes especially noteworthy his ilnal contribution to The Star on the League of Nations. A league limited as he would have it limited, not un dertaking too much, with well de fined spheres of influence, might be productive, as he pointed out, of "real and lasting international good." To undertake more than we could possibly expect to fulfill would be to invite failure and disaster. Colonel Harvey Sez, Sez He Replying to an appeal for food, made by two of the worst of the Hunnish ravishers of Belgium, Mr. Herbert Hoover sententlously re marks: "Tell them to go to Hell!" The more we think of it, the more we regret that Mr. Hoover was not made one of our peace commis sioners. • "Entangling alliances!" writes former Judge E. Henry Lacombe. "Flypaper surely has nothing on this." "Our remaining task," Mr. Creel added, "is to bring the new Balkan States' into quick contact with Am erican thought and purpose, .The whole world is acquainted with'the ideas of President Wilson and the American democracy, but wo have no opportunity, owing to war con ditions, to disseminate American opinion into these new countries. When that work Is done I am through." So the great expedition will not have been in valnt Bingen on the Rhine By LIEUTENANT GRANTLAND RICE, Third Army, American Expeditionary Forces WHEN I was a tow-head kid across an ancient spell, And had to do as I was bid or catch all bnllyel; I still recall with maudlin curse the day I had to rise And kick in with some foolish verse with terror in my eyes; "Beneath the Spreading Chestnut Tree" —"The Ride of Paul Revere" — "Upon a Stern and Rock-bound Coast" —and others just as sere; But from the list which stands accurst, where nightmares still entwine, The one that I recited first was "Bingen on the Rhine." Aeh Gott! The morning I arose upon the schoolhouse stand, With pallid cheek and shaking toes and tremors of the hand; My heart went up to meet my mouth, my bulging eyes grew dim, My tongue was drier han a drouth along Sahara's rim; "A soldier of the legion lay"—and then, with starting tears, I stopped without a word to say, for I forgot Algiers. And that's why heart and soul still burn and cold chills soak the spine Each tiifle my morbid thoughts return to •Bingen on the Rhine. And now against the Hun's abode with steady tramp along, The old Third Army hits the road, two hundred thousand stronfc; As dim dawns from the eastward creep the vanguards down the plain, They hold their sector of the sweep that started from Lorraine. I don't know yet where Bingen stands upon the bally map, Nor yet which Allied army lands upon its waiting lap; But while for war and all its hell I can't say that I pine, I'd like to drop at least one shell in Bingen on the Rhine. Pointer For Pennsylvania (From the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin) Governor Edge, of New Jersey, in his message for the Legislature, de clares that the greatest public work in that state is the state highway system, and he calls for the most vigorous kind of action in develop ing it in a thorough, first-class fashion. The Governor further expresses the opinion that this highly impor tant task will provide employment for thousands of men who are now returning from military service; and it is altogether.llkely that the exper ience of many of them during the past year or more will particularly fit them for the work of road con struction. It is to be expected that the in coming Governor of Pennsylvania will be not less practical and em phatic in the statement of his high way policy, inasmuch us he has long been the foremost leader, in this state, of the principle of introducing all over it the best modern highways attainable. What Governor Edge recommends as to New Jersey's returning sol- [ diers will npply In a much greater degree to Pennsylvania's; and from out of the rank and file of our mili tary forces Governor Sproul and Highway Commissioner Saddler will probably form an unusually intelli gent and energetic organization of road-builders. Pennsylvania must not only equal the best road-making that New Jer sey now has,' or will have, but she should so rival it as to go it one the better. London Death Foreshadowed A very pleasant period of Mrs. Wilcox's life was the time when she traveled extensively with her hus band, Robert Wilcox, often meeting celebrities and being entertained by them. She says: "One year we happened to be in Port Antonio when Jack London ar rived there on his wedding trip with his second wife, delightful Charmian—his real mate destined for him since the beginning of time. In Jamaica I had looked at Jack London's palm; and I had told him that he must conserve his vitality, and not give such, complete refn to his love of adventure, or he would not live fifteen years. He lived elev en, I believe, after that."—From "The Worlds and I," autobiography of Ella Wheeler Wilcox (George H. Doran Company.) The Future Life Death has bee?i busy reaping the greatest harvest in history. Ten mil . lion souls have passed on into eter ' nlty. The evangelical world has been called to a renewed consider ation of the future life from the Christian standpoint. .To meet a widespread and Insistent demand', the George H. Doran Company has recently issued the following im portant discussion of the subject, "Immortality and the Future," by Prof. H. R. Mackintosh, D. D.; "If a Man Die," by the Rev. J. D. Jones; "The Hope of Our Calling," by Rob ert Law. It ha- scheduled for early I publication one of the most notable I contributions to the subject In Sir, W, Robertson Nlcoll's "Reunion In I Eternity." • I Roosevelt's Last Words (From Col. Harvey's Weekly) To millions, as we have said. It will seem an irreparable calamity that he should be taken away just at this time, when the nation and, indeed, the world, seem so greatly to be in need of him. Yet it would' be a poor tribute to him to intimate that his work had not been so well and so completely done as to en dure In triumph his departure. We believe that it will endure. The people will not forget his words and his example. He roused them, and they will not fall asleep. His last i words, uttered with no thought that i they were to be his last, will live in j millions of hearts and minds as vitally as though his vibrant tones were still repeating them: "There can lie no divided alle giance here. Any man who says he i is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag. We have room for but one language here and that is the English language. And wo have room for but one soul loyalty, and that is loyalty to'the American peo ple." With the poet of Flanders' fields, his spirit may well cry to those who |so fong and so passionately loved his leadership. To you from falling hands we throw Tho torch; be yours to hold it high. In his own farewell words, public ly uttered only a few hours before his death, he said: "There must be no sagging back in the fight for Americanism merely because the war is over." We respond, with all reverence, with all possible sense of loss, but with all the indomitable resolution which he so superbly per sonified: There must be no sagging back in the fight for Americanism, not even because Theodore Roose velt is dead. LABOR NOTES Skilled workers In Germany are being paid extraordinarily high wages. The United Mine Workers of America now have a total member ship of 383,901. Several toy manufacturers In Can ada have been compelled to go out of business. Osaka, Japan, has nearlyy 16,000 factories, employing over 92,000 men and 96,000 women. A new cabinet has been formed in Warsaw, >n which the labor and Socialist elements predominate. A ministry of health is being de manded from Parliament by the working women In Great Britain. Over 6,000 men are temporarily Idle In Buffalo due to the cancella tion of aeroplane contracts. Reading (Pa.) trolley men have received five voluntary Increases In pay during the past year. Machine workers in Rouen, France, have been granted wage increases amounting to from 60 to 116 per cent. Portugal mines less coal than any other European nation, the annual output being only about 20,000 tona. JANUARY 17, 1919. Marrying Soldiers (Prom the Easton Free Press) i The government is taking noticft of the fact that many women ar| trying to entrap the returning diers into hasty and ill-considcret marriages. The motive in man' cases is declared to be merely a dt sire to profit by the soldier's tnsiv) ance money. In others it is men infatuation with anything in ur form. That may not be blam worthy but it ipdicates a silly and 11 trained girl. She should have sote one looking after her. LicengtS authorities in many centers whro soldiers gather have been given a questionalre covering pcuts./ They will endeavor to dissuadepol? diers from too great matrimpial haste. 1 The soldiers will find themslves the center of unlimited admir-tlon when they get home. The fllow who didn't go will be a dead cje in society. It will be a sight see the girls cluster around the laki. These boys will come pretty near having their pick if they vvSh to marry. It will be hard for sme of them to keep their heads froi/ being turned. It will be such a relief 'or the boys to get back and resufe ordi nary social life, thiit any w/olesome American girl will look awfully good to them. But they /ave seen more of life than when tli/y left the good old town of Home'i'le- Not many will care to hitcf up with vampires and insurant seekers. They realize also that ilhey have their way to make irt the world. They have probably some worldly prudence. /• They will find rightJn old Home ville Just the right find of home making girls that t/ey ought to have. Chance acquaintances, they may make on the w/y, may be very charming, but not sb likely to be a sure dependence. Some one from the old borne town.'from the setting and environment iey were always used to, will usqilly be more de pendable. Schwab Praifes Newspapers An eloquent /ribute to the power and usefulness Of the press was giv en by Charles Jv. Schwab during the course of proceedings at a luncheon to the heads cf the Emergency Fleet Corporation *t Philadelphia. Expressing his appreciation of the co-operation'of the press of the country and the newspaper support tot his efforts while director-general of the Emergency Fleet Corpora tion, Mr. Schwab said: "I wish to express my sincere ap preciation to the press of Philadel phia and to the press of the entire country for its splendid co-opera tin. The spontaneity of this co operation was for me an inspiration which ever served to lighten the great tasks that confronted fne dur lr.g my service as director-general. Newspapers throughout the country worked in concert to give the proper impetus to the shipbuilding .pro gram—their work was constructive and American to the core. At all times the newspaper workers, from tne managing editor to the reporter, displayed an Intense, patriotic desire tD aid in making the work of the Emergency Fleet Corporation a suc cess. ' "The splendid work of the news papers is reflected in the shipyards, where hundreds of thousands of em ployes are turning out our ships. The newspapers did a lion's share in the work of keeping up the morale of the shipbuilders, and for this I am grateful more than words can ex press. I am proud of the press of tny country—proud of the work that thousands of individual newspaper men everywhere did to mold public opinion in favor of the shipbuilding program." Become War Workers The three January novels which will appear with the.Houghton Mif flin Company imprint are written by men of widely diverse talents and interests. Yet, because the world is still under the shadow of war time conditions, these three authors are devoting themselves to one pur pose at widely separated points of the globe. Leland Hail, author of "Sinister House," formerly a pro fessor of the theory of music, is now in Paris engaged in Red Cross work; Charles D. Stewart, author of "Buck," is in the middle west mak ing enlightening investigations of war-time conditions; Samuel Hop kins Adams, author of "Common Cause," is engaged in war work in Washington. War has made sol diers into authors; but it has done something perhaps more startling in making so many authors into prac tical war-workers. Eamuuj (SUjat Discussion of pluns for reorgunlzu lion of Pennsylvania's Nationa Guard now that the war,is virtual!; over and it is proposed to get til men who were In tho army to re ent;r the Slate service calls to mln that Just one hundred, years ago 1 Hartisburg a similar discussion wa under way as a result of the conelu stun of the War of 1812, which ha ofHelully ended some four years be fore, but whose effects were still fel It-is,interesting to note that tho jout nals x>f the Legislature and liles c old lfiU'risburg newspapers t ref | time and HiWin to the importance I universal mifiK'T training for Pent sylvanians. th® memoria presented to tb ind cate that the sirit\£f 177ti whit made Pennsylsnia nifces Keystot State, and wlioi soil saW importoj battles was abiud In land met than ever as to result the ccf elusion of thetecond P British kingddt, and thatmits sp did not intenilo be caught Kairft is very apparat that Pennsyßvanpa felt keenly tit unprepared sßitunpn which confroted the countiSy V~ n the War of 112 began. This c ?? 1" tion was reiarkably by William H. 'ift in a speeth lißmA"® at GcttysbuS in IDO'J if the monumnt to the tdgulars fell in thaigreat struggle on Key stone Stattground. A small regu lur army, ell armed, prepared and drilled, sui Mr. Taft, could have in vaded Cauda in lfl2 at the very start andended war in a Jew tnonths. In a coiAersation here a few year later r. Taft said the War of 112 affor/cd remarkable op portunit-'s for i prepared nation, and expessed lib well-known views on merbeing interested in national defense A ontury /<go the discussion of militi- measures was a big theme in the cinual sessions of the Legisla ture in Hattrisburg, and it was to find express/on a few years later in the enactment of a State law creat ingdozens if regiments on territorial lins. Vir/ually every man was in cltded in these regiments, a plan wtich survives in the solemn making IP of the "military roll" under the ntspices of the county commission .rs in each county and tho poriodi :al publication of statistics showing men "capable of bearing arms." Just how long tho majority of these freemen could stand up before an army medical otlieer or the mbdical member of a local draft board to-day is a matter of conjecture. But tho plan was an excellent one, from all accounts that have come down to us, and the men were summoned to an annual muster day. Knowledge of firearms was general in those days, and while there may have been some Incongruities in the matter of rilles ifnd a lack of uniformity in dress there were plenty of steady hands and good eyes. Dauphin county had |d>een noted as a fighting community I from the days of the French and Indian war, and had been one. of the early communities in Pennsylvania to send a company of men to Wash ington at Cambridge, men who left their bones from Quebde to York town, and in the War of 1812 it hac sent a regiment to help expel the British from Maryland. Hence, it it not surprising to find that its terri tory included no less than three regi ments. Customs of "muster day" liavc ionic down to us In many a story ant legend, and the assembling of the Harrlsburg "enrolled militia" mus have been some oeeusion. It is to be noted that "muster day" was sonu time in May, always close to the tirst and the militia generally met at i tavern. Newspapers of the sprjng o 1819 refer to calk* for meetings o men interested in militia "before th May training." An advertisemen was shown a few days ago to som men Interested in military mattor here, and it tells its own story of th way Harrisburg militiamen attendei to business in thoso far-off times This advertisement appeared in on of Harrisburg's four weekly newspa pers in April, 1820. It is dated th twenty-fourth and summons the an cestors of the City Grays in thl fashion: HARRISRURG GUARDS Parade in full uniform (summer between the markethouses on Mon day, the Ist day of May, next, at o'clock P. M. Roll will bo called pre cisely at half past-1 o'clock P. M. By order, JOHN M. FORSTER, Orderly Sergeant. The next year tho First compani Union Infantry, was added to th military establishment in Harris burg. Every year thereafter ta militiamen were summoned to mis ter day, generally in Market Square but more often at Nagle's tavern o some other place of entcrtainnun The notices are particular as to th time that the roll was to be caliee and along about 1829 tho udvertise ments began to announce that ap peals would be held immediitel after the meeting. This has a fathe familiar sound to us of this day whe we have just gone through tho op eration of the draft and wo ea Imagine the Captains Harm and Bai ley of the Pennsylvania Militia. < ninety years ago scowling at som citizen who wanted to be exertpte from military service. From al tr ditions, it was not pleasant fr th man who wanted to get off tie Hi for service, and a man who mad claim for exemption or "drfcrre classification" probably endured a 1< of "joshing" like that which lsed t fall upon irregular attendant: at tt drills of the Harrisburg Retries i the summer evenings of IMF who the home defense organization star ed its training on the island In 1829 there were the H.-rrisbut Grays, the Pennsylvania Guirds, nn the Dauphin cavalry, Join C. M< Alister, cuptain. The Gray: and tl Guards had a series of captain among tliem'Finley and Amor, was the custom for the odcrly se geaivts to sign tho calls ftf tho ME muster and the Fourth o' July pi rades, and among the "top se geunts" whose names appear b tween 1828 and 1833 are f. Duck, I Dyne, A. Keefer, Edmuid W. Rol erts, D. N. L. lteutter aid other Each muster day was announced a legal advertisement. Tho cavaL used to parade to a point, genbral a public house, some Ave or s miles from Harrisburg. In 1830 the Harrisiurg Rlflent* were organized at a meeting in in courthouse at which he destineso the organization wee confided t Joshua D. Elder, M.iV. Jenks, lob ert Harris, Jr., Joh Orth, John I and S. S. Rutherfod. Other com panles were forme from tlpe t time, and the nam* have a smtlar lty with those wh'h were brne b militia companlesjrlor to IfOO, an in the years up t the ouUreak c the civil war. Tie has always bee an active milltay community, an the history of th last few years ha simply been rie*ttng tlat of d cades ago.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers