Harrisburg telegraph. (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, March 03, 1919, Page 8, Image 8

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    8
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
A NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOME
Founded 18S1
Published evenings except Sunday by
THE TELEGRAPH PRINTING B CO.
Telegraph Building, Federal Square
E. J. STACKPOLE
President and Editor-in-Chief
P. R. OYSTER, Business Manager
GUS. M. STEINMETZ, Managing Editor
A. R. MICHENER, Circulation Manager
Executive Board
J. P. McCULLOUGH,
BOYD M. OGLESBY,
F, R. OYSTER,
GUS. M. STEINMETZ.
Members of the Associated Press—The
Associated Press is exclusively en
titled to the use for republication
of ail news dispatches credited to
it or not otherwise credited in this
paper and also the local news pub
lished herein.
All rights of republication of special
dispatches herein are also reserved.
I Member American
Newspaper Pub-
Associa-
Bureau of Circu
lation and Penn
sylvania
Eastern office.
Story, Brooks &
Finley, Fifth
Avenue Building,
New York 'City;
Western office,
Story. Brooks &
Finley, People's
Gas Building,
I Chicago, 111.
Entered at the Post Office in Harris
burg, Pa., as second class matter.
By carrier, ten cents a
week; by mail, $3.00 a
year in advance.
Talent shapes itself fa stillness;
character in the tumult of the world.
—-Goethe.
MONDAY, MARCH 3. 1919
A LOSS TO THE STATE
DEATH of Public Service Com
missioner Harold B. McClure
while walking along the streets
of his home town of Lewisburg on
Saturday evening means loss not
only to his colleagues of an ener
getic and companionable co-worker
in the handling of great problems,
but to the whole State. Fitness of
Judge McClure for the office he
held was generally recognized and
from the day he was selected by
Dr. Brumbaugh last summer there
was never any question but that he
would be retained on the tribunal
which is to-day so important to the
people of the Commonwealth at
large.
Although not long a commissioner
Judge McClure made a splendid
record. Judicial service and tem
perament made him almost an ideal
member of the board, while his
wide knowledge of the law and abil
ity to apply it to the questions aris
ing in public utility affairs were
distinct assets of the State. His de
cisions, that just handed down in a
Crcsson case being a fair example,
were forceful, clear and compre
hensive. ,
The untimely demise of this well
liked, well-learned and well-bal
anced commissioner will be la
mented, indeed.
JOB FOR EVERY SOLDIER
HARRISBURG has done so, ad
mirably in every patriotic en
deavor that no appeal need be
made in behalf of the returning sol
diers. All that is necessary is to call
attention to the facts and allow the
people to do the rest.
When our boys rallied to the col
ors in large numbers, the city was
more than proud of its record and
sent our fighters away with the as
surance that when they came back
there would be positions awaiting
them. They are now coming back
and we must fulfill that promise to
the letter. Every employer, so far
as the Telegraph has any knowledge,
is doing his utmost to give a former
employe who was in his service his
old position or one equally as good.
This ought to be the attitude of
every corporation or individual, and
we trust there will be no failure
anywhere in this respect. It would
be a lasting disgrace to fail in any
way to provide employment for those
who have served their country and
their community in the war. They
went forth willingly and with a high
appreciation of the chararcter of tho
appeal; it is up to us who remained
behind the lines to see to it that not
one of these men is without a Job
when he is ready to resume his civic
activities.
Employers who cannot reinstate
their men who wertt into the service
should get into touch with the State
Employment Bureau, with a view to
providing a place for any man who
cannot return to the old position.
Judge Robert B. McCormick has
caused the local judiciary of Philadel
phia to sit up and take notice. As a
country judge, he has vindicated the
majesty of the law in such a manner
as to cause the crooks and thugs of
a metropolis to take to the woods. All
of which shows that where the law is
properly administered the criminal
element is quick to take notice. Judge
McCormick returned to his home in
Clinton county on Saturday with the
consciousness of having performed a
great public service in his drastic ac
tion regarding the housebreakers and
thugs who appeared before him during
hia temporary service in the Philadel
phia courts.
GIVE IT A PLACE
FRANK B M'CLAIN is nothing
If not practical, and having
stepped from the chair of
JAeutenant Governor into the place
of chairman of the State Welfare
Commission he in in position to
carry into force and effect the poli
cies which are being shaped for the
MONDAY EVENING,
asstm.lation of the alien population
of Pennsylvania and the education
of the children of these aliens to
the vital importance of American
institutions to their welfare.
For years the Telegraph has
urged more attention to the Ameri
canization idea, and it is happy to
note the rapidly spreading propa
ganda in behalf of the children of
those who have come to us and who
want to make America their perma
nent abiding place.
Mr. McClain is in hearty accord
with Governor Sproul in this mat
ter, and the Legislature will doubt
less formulate and enact such leg
islation as may be necessary to give
the movement in Pennsylvania a
substantial status in the educational
program. It is understood that a
bill providing for definite activities
along this line will be introduced
this week, and there ought to be
unanimous consent in its immediate
consideration to the end that our
alien peoples who are anxious to
take their proper places in the life
of the State may have full oppor
tunty to do so under the most fa
vorable conditions.
Here in Harrisburg we have been
watching the effort to train alien
children in our public schools, and
the satisfactory results have great
ly encouraged those who are Inter
ested in a proper solution of immi
gration problems. These foreign
born children are bright, responsive
and anxious to learn. They are also
patriotic, as was demonstrated in
the various liberty loan and other
war drives of the last year, in which
they participated with great enthusi
asm.
So we wish Mr. McClain and all
associated with him well in their
great undertaking. They will have
the support and co-operation of
every intelligent citizen who has any
appreciation of the importance of
making the American melting pot a
real melting pot that will produce
something more than scum and trou
ble. With the earnest co-operation
of the school authorities of the
Commonwealth, there should be tre
mendous headway in the .Americani
zation of the alien school population
during the next year. This move
ment can be made a great sifting
process through which the chaff can
be removed from the wheat and
eliminated as a menace to law and
order and to the peace and comfort
and prosperity of all our people.
A WORKING COMMITTEE
PRESIDENT REINOEHL has ex
ercised excellent judgment and
discrimination in his selection of
a committee of the Chamber of Com
merce which will co-operate with the
City and County Commissioners in
planning for the proposed joint
structure to be used by the city and
county. Charles E. Covert, the chair
man, will have the enthusiastic co
operation of several citizens of high
character, who have demonstrated
their civic interest in many import
ant public undertakings.
There is nothing now before the
community attracting more general
attention than the proposed concen
tration of the city and county of
ficials under one roof. The public
has suffered long enough from the
slip-shod and scattered administra
tion of affairs of the city and county,
and now that all conditions warrant
going ahead it is a favorable omen
that the Chamber of Commerce is
bringing to the aid of the official
bodies the support of men of char
acter and vision who will give to the
undertaking their best thought and
effort.
There is no time to be lost in the
preliminaries and it may be expect-,
ed that the committee will promptly
enter upon a study of the problem,
which includes suggestion of a site,
the discussion of architecture and
all the other questions involved in
the big project. Ilarrisburg is swing
ing into its stride for the new era of
development and proposes to keep
step with the Commonwealth in
every important way.
With the introduction of a bill into
the Legislature removing the legal
difficulties in the way of a joint
proposition the first important step
has been taken, and while this is
pending the committee of the Cham
ber of Commerce and the officials
will have opportunity to consider the
incidental features to which allusion
has been made.
BUY THE LAND OUTRIGHT
IT IS hoped that the Legislature
will enact promptly the bill pre
sented by Representative Bow
man, of Cumberland county, au
thorizing the State Game Commission
to buy land for establishment of
game preserves. This State has a
unique system for propagation and
protection of game, which is going
to be vastly useful and enjoyable,
too, before many years and the State
authorities want the right to have a
game preserve in every county. We
have one in Dauphin; Perry and
other counties have them, but there
are other sections which lack them
and where there .are many hunters.
The plan is to allow the Commis
sioner to buy lunds for game pre
serves, but not to exceed $50,000 a
year, the money to come out of pro
ceeds of hunters' licenses. It might
just as well be made SIOO,OOO a year.
The hunters are paying their money
liberally and everything connected
with game commission work is met
out of their dollars.
Now, with the State having the
money, the time has come to buy the
land outright. If only surface rights
can be secured, let it be, but buy the
land. The State ought not to have
to lease ground, care for it, stock
it and then turn it back at the end
of twenty years with a fine growth
of timber and a menagerie of native
fauna. Pennsylvania sportsmen are
entitled to. own theii own game pre-
serves and as they are putting up
the money there should be no delay
about giving the necessary authority.
fMUes U j
By the Ex-Committeeman jj
Now that the confirmation of A.
Mitchell Pa'.mer as Attorney Gen
eral is assured it is expected that
he will resign ns the Pennsylvania
member of the Democratic National
Committee and the trouble will
start. Palmer and his pals have
I slated Joe Guffey, whom they tried
| to run for Governor, as the suc
cessor of the Monroe chieftain and
the Bonniwell faction, which claims
to bo dominant, will likely contest.
1 Newspapers generally expect a re
newal of the brawl over control of
the jangling wreck known hereto
fore as the Pennsylvania Democracy.
The Philadelphia Press says of
the outlook: "The passing of Pal
mer inevitably brings up the ques
tion of what is to become of the
Democratic party hero. At the pres
ent moment it is pretty hopelessly
demoralized. There were so few
members of the Legislature identi
fied with the organization element
that they did not even go through
the form of caucusing to choose a
party candidate for the Speakership
of the present House and have not
j since created any decent semblance
of united party action in the Legis
lature. The Democrats are so in
active as to bo dropped from con
sideration entirely. Will they allow
this condition to continue until
peace is declared and domestic is
sues are taken up again in prepara
tion for the Presidential campaign
of 3 920, or will there be an effort
to revive interest at once through
the question of Palmer's successor?
If the reorganizers do not see about
answering the question pretty soon,
perhaps the old-line men will ans
wer it for them. Judge Bonniwell
might, for instance, have aspira
tions."
—Some of the newspapers per
sist in regarding Attorney General
A. Mitchell Palmer as an uncertain
quantity In high office, although
admitting he has political talents
of a high order. The Philadelphia
Inquirer remarks: "A. Mitchell Pal
mer has been named for Attorney
General of the United States bv
President Wilson. Mr. Palmer is a
Democrat of Pennsylvania. He is
a Democratic politician. He is not
the leader of the Democratic Party
in Pennsylvania, but of a faction of
it. That faction is the Wilson fac
tion. Mr. Palmer is a close friend
of Mr. Wilson. We do not know
that any further corqment upon the
nomination is needed —except this:
Mr. Palmer's abilities as a Demo
cratic Politician are known. His
fitness to conduct the law depart
ment of the government is subject
to the test of experiment."
—The Pittsburgh Gazette-Times is
very much on the watch tower as re
gards second class city legislation.
It says editorially: "The vicious
scheme to alter the councilmanlc
system of cities of the second class
appears to be doomed at Ilarrisburg.
The Sqranton Representative who
wished to abandon election of coun
cilmen at large has met with oppo
sition that has caused him to lose
interest in the scheme. At least so
it is reported. But the report itself
may be but a trick to quiet feeling
in Pittsburgh which was aroused by
the original proposition. The Legis
lature will be in session for many
weeks. There is plenty of time in
which to revive the plan to cheat
Pittsburgh out of the benefits of the
Council of Nine."
James H. Lambert calls the con
stitution of Pennsylvania an iron
bound affair in a signed article in
the Philadelphia Press. He calls
attention to the fact that neither
Legislature nor people have any
thing to say about changing it ex
cept by long and tedious process.
He strikes at one of the weak spots
in his conclusion when he says:
"There are some who favor a re
vision of the Constitution for no
other reason than that they want
to incorporate still further restric
tive provisions. Any revision, now
or at any time, which does not
leave the Legislature free to meet
changing and new conditions in the
affairs of the State and its people,
and which does not permit munici
palities to exercise and fully enjoy
the privilege of home rule, will be
a failure."
—Ex-Slate Senator Owen B. Jen-'
kins, of Philadelphia, has been
named by Sheriff Harry C. Ransley
to the vacancy of solicitor in his
office, caused by the resignation of
Samuel M. Clement, Jr., recently
appointed a Public Service Commis
sioner by Governor William C.
Sproul. The post carries with it an
annual salary of $3,000. Mr. Jen
kins has been solicitor to the Regis
tration Commissioners. He was de
feated for the nomination for Sena
tor in the Sixth district at last Sep
tember's primary, to succeed him
self, Dr. George Woodward winning
the nomination and later being
chosen at the November election.
—Philadelphia reformers won a
victory when the Superior Court dis
missed the appeal of the Board of
Registration Commissioners from
the decision of Philadelphia Court
No. 4, which last May ordered the
commissioners to restore to the vot
ing list nearly one thousand names.
These names had been summarily
dropped without proper notice to
the electors affected and without
giving them sufficient opportunity
to appear and certify to their quali
fications.
—A boom has been started at
Reading for Representative Norton
as a candidate for mayor.
—Philadelphia people are discuss
ing the speed with which Judge R.
I?. McCormick. of Lock Haven, sent
holdup artists and burglars to jail
while sitting in criminal courts in
that city. The Philadelphia Bulle
tin commends him, while the Public
Ledger gives prominence to an in
terview with Judge C. Y. Auden
reid, who objects to "railroading."
The other newspapers seem to agree
with the Clinton judge.
—lt seems to be a race between
Senator Knox and Congressman
Morin as to who gels over the Pitts
burgh post office bill first.
A Bod Error
"We had to stop our little girl
answering the front door calls"
"Why?"
"The other day. when Ensign
Jones came to call on our eldest
daughter, he was dressed In his
white uniform, and when the little
one opened the door and saw hint
she immediately called upstairs: 'Ma,
how much breud do you want to
day?" " —From the Detroit Frco
Press: • •• ■
HXRIUBBDRa iCKII TELEGKXFa
WHEN A FELLER NEEDS A FRIEND
To Use Tractors
[From the New York Sun]
The prestige of the American far
mer for producing six times as much
foodstuff as the European farmer,
although the European farmer he
fore the war produced from two to
four times as much an acre as the
American, bids fair to be matched
by the tiller of the soil overseas
through the introduction o' Ameri
can built farm implements, accord
ing to Prof. William A. Boring, Co
lumbia University and treasurer of
the, American Academy at Kome
who has Just returned from a trip
to Rome.
While the European farmer en
gaged in intensive cultivation and
was thus able to produce more food
to the acre than the American far
mer, the latter tilled more acres
with the aid of machinery and thus
achieved results in food production
that made him equal to six Euro
pean farmers, Professor Boring ex
plained. No things seem to be
changing in Europe especially in
Italy and portions of France, where
the governments of these two coun
tries and the Red Cross have intro
duced farm tractors and other ma
chinery made in America.
"While there used to be smtill
units under cultivation, one now sees
furroughs a mile long," Mr. Boring '
said. "Particularly is this true in i
the battle areas, where all boundary
murks between farms have been ob
literated. X was educated in France
when I was a youngster and know
both the French and Italians well
and my recent trip through these
countries was a revelation.
The battle scarred portions of
these countries are now in a low
state of fertility, because virtually
all humus, or fertile top layer of
soil, has been plowed ' under to a
depth of several feet by the explo
sion of shells. It will take "Some
time to bring this land back to a
high state of fertility. But by the
time this is accomplished it is very
likely that modem farm machinery
will have become a regular insti
tution among the agriculturists of|
these countries.
"Other sections than those !n the'
battle areas have been cultivated
with machinery for several years,
under the pressure of the war for
greater food production, and it is a
safe assumption that these people
will not go back to their former
ways of farming, but that the use
of machinery will extend to all
countries and the food production a
man 'may be greatly increased."
LABOR NOTES
Nearly 3,000 vessols were built
in home yards between April 6, 1917,
the date of the declaration of war by
the United States, and November 11
last, the date of the armstice.
In Ohio the Federal Employment
Service found jobs for 1700 men re
leased from an aeroplane plant at
Dayton and 11,000 men released
from nitrate plants of Cincinnati and
Toledo.
A majority of the country's rail
roads have signilied their intention
of restoring to employes who en
tered military and naval service the
seniority rights which they sacri
ficed when they left the road's em
ployment.
Women doing the same work as
men shall receive the same wages,
with such proportionate increases as
the men are receiving in the same in
dustry, according to a recent ruling
of the War Labor Board.
The Mayors of the principal cities
of the country have been asked by
the War Labor Policies Board to
start as many public works projects
as possible, so as to provide work
for the men being released from war
industries.
Shipbuilding is slowing down in
Norway for the lack of plates and
angles. Negotiations ure proceed
with Sweden for about 4,000 tons for
completing some ships now , on the
I ways.
Yanks and French Wives
Nurse Writes 100,000 Americans Have Married Abroad; Admits Site's
Jealous, But Says She Doesn't Blame Men
American soldiers may be home
sick—most of them are—but they're
not showing any lack of appreciation
of French femininty. for all that, if
a letter from an American Navy
nurse, who confesses she is just a
wee bit jealous, may be taken as au
thority.
This nurse, who writes to a rela
tive in New York, confirms the story
carried on the cables that thousands
of marriages between Yankee boys
and French girls have already taken I
place "somewhere in France," and
utters the gloomy prediction that
there will be more of them before all
the soldiers copie home.
She admits she is jealous, does
this nurse, after her year and a half
in France, but she praises her rival
as a woman, as a housekeeper, home
maker and mother and as, a tighter.
Here is her letter in part:
French Women Delightful i
"You seem rather incredulous I
about so many of our American boys j
having married French women. Why,
I wonder? I dort't see any reason
why they should not. The French
woman is a delightful creature. Even
we American and English nurses
can see that, much us we should
like at times to see otherwise, for
we're still human and still feminine,
and it goes rather hard with us to
see some of the finest of our sol
dier lads marrying pretty little
Alines, Maries and Ninettes.
"We think we could find better
mates for them, aqd some of us
think that a few could be found
without even going outside of
France. But still they're being cap
tivated —we call it 'captured' when
we talk among ourselves—by the
French women. Louise told me lust
night that she had it on positive
THEY TALKED U. S.
In a letter received in Cincinnati
by a former resident of this city who
served in the German army, a new
light is thrown upon the events
which led to the breaking down of
the morale of the Huns so that they
speedily succumbed, once they were
convinced that America reully was
in the war with all its strength.
This writer asserts that had he
even dreamed that the United States
ever would enter the struggle, he
would not have left this country to
join the German forces back in
191 1.
After entering the German army,
he saw how differently the German
of the middle and lower classes was
regarded in that country compared
to the manner in which these same
elements were regarded In America.
H? also was brought to a realiza
tion of tho many advantages Amer
ica had over Germany and other
countries: and with the pride every
observating man of the United States
has in tho strength, the institution
j and the accomplishments, he was
| not at all backward in expressing
| himself :n the advantages of the
j United States and in predicting what
I this country could and would do if
i drawn into the struggle,
j "1 wus but one of tens of thou
| sands who came from America early
iin the war to tight for Germany
! who spread this sort of propaganda,"
! lie writes, "and when America did
I come into the light so wholeheartedly
: our unwitting talk of several years
j had its effect in breaking down
I speedily the morale of the natives
once they were satisfied that Amcr-
I lea was In the field to win."
\ Which would indicute that it wus
f n't so lad for America and the
world at large that some former
! Germans returned to their orlglnul
j allegiance early in the war.
Into the Wilderness
' In the third month, when the
children of Israel were gone forth
[ out of the land of Egypt, the same
I day came they into the wilderness
lof Sinai.—Exodus xix, 1.
authority that about one hundred
thousand American soldiers and
sailors had married French women
over here!
"Still I don't blame the boys. These
girls are really almost irresistible,
and they understand the art of
flirtation better when they are born
than the average American woman
understands it after her fourth di
vorce. They know how to dress, too,
to bring out the very littlest as well
as the greatest of their charms. And
they know how to talk to our sol- 1
diers with their eyes and hands and
shoulders better than we Americans
can talk to them in their own
United States. They speak a uni
versal language—the language of
appeal—and they never fail to make
themselves understood.
She's All French, Too
"Besides all this more or less
superficial charm, the French wo
man is truly a woman. They make
wonderful wives anil mothers. I've
been here long enough to see that.
They make even better wives and
mothers than they make sweet
hearts. They're wonderful house
keepers, although, except among
the upper classes, they do run to
too much furniture in their parlors
and too much garlic in their kitchen
to suit my plain tastes. But how
they do understand food conserva
tion and economy! Mr. Hoover
could learn quite a few lessons front '
them if he cares to study them.
"And on top of all this feminity,
they arc fighters. They are the
bravest women, as a class, I believe
I have ever known, and the most
consistently patriotic.
"So, why shouldn't our boys love
them, and marry them? Anyway,
whether they should or should not,
they're doing it."
The League in Action
( From the Kansas City Times)
There was a League to Enforce
Peace in action all of last year,
made up of the most powerful na
tions in the world, acting under the
coercion of a great common Pur
pose. A simple question came be
fore this league: Shall we intervene
to enforce peace in Russia?
Three members of tho league.
Japan, England and France,, were
[convinced of the need of armed in
tervention. The United States was
not. For weeks and months noth
[ ing was done. Finally this govern
ment gave a reluctant consent. A
small force was sent into Siberia.
Another small force was sent into
Northern Russia.
The advocates of intervention in
sisted that quick action by a force
strong enough to overcome opposi
tion was the only sort that would
[ do any good. But intervention, when
lit finally came, was tardy, and ln
i effective. Apparently it hasaccom
| pllshed nothing. Already Americans
j are restive over sending their sons
to fight in a cause which is ob
scurely understood.
Russia, disorganized as it is. hasn't
been persuaded by (his brand of
[intervention, while Hie various gov
ernments seem to feel that public
opinion will not stand lor a real war
I against the Bolshevikl.
; What has happened in Russia is
an example of what may be expect
|ed from a League of Nations, as
.now proposed, inndo up of nations
[.with diverse interests and standards.
I unable to agree as to methods and
! more or less suspicious of each
I other's motives.
The world litis given no Indication
] that it Is ready yet to be run by a
concert of the powers under the
j elahoratp plan formulated in Paris.
Apropos de Rien
| It is not fair to visit all
, The blame on Evo for Adam's fall:
; The most Eve did was to display
i Contributory neglige.
I ' —Front "The Laughing Willow"
I (Doran), by Oliver Herforo-
MARCH 3, lyiV.
Col. Wilson
(From the Philadelphia Bulletin)
THE death of Colonel —although
many of his friends could not
quite promote him from his
earlier and familiar title of Major
—William Bender Wilson at Holmes
burg removes one of the Philadel
phlans whose active lives were
passed chiefly in the services of the
Pennsylvania Railroad. He was
among the employes that belonged
in particular to a coterie who in
their younger days were cotemporary
with Thomas A. Scott, and who re
garded that masterful executive as
the greatest railroad man of his
time. Colonel Scott was known to
hold Wilson in warm admiration for
his trustworthy and energetic ser
vice as a telegraph operator and
manager at Harrisburg and at Wash
ington in the Civil War qjid en
trusted him with ihany important
duties on critical occasions. One of
the best accounts of telegraphers and
telegraphy In the Civil War came
from Colonel Wilson's pen years ago
and was written in the earnest spirit
of a staunchly loyal supporter of the
Union cause. At a later time he
wrote an authorized history of the
Pennsylvania Railroad in two vol
umes, up to the period when Frank
Thomson was the President of tne
Company, and this work is the best
record of the facts as to the origin,
development and progress of the
great railroad in the first half cen
tury of its existence. He had come
to be one of the very few of the sur
vivors of the Pennsylvania Railroad
as it was before the Civil War, and
probably no one, at least in this part
of Pennsylvania, knew more about
it as it was when it was still an
example of "government ownership
in this Commonwealth in the old
svstem of railroads and canals.
PENN.
Big Work Ahead
[Pittsburgh Gazette-Times J
The energv with which Governor
Sproul and State Highway Commis
sioner Sadler are proceeding with
the Pennsylvania good roads pro
gram should be an inspiration to all
political divisions of the Common
wealth, to corporations and indivi
duals to speed the resumption of
constructive work of all kinds. Road
building in Pennsylvania is not go
ing to be an orgy of extravagance
simply because the people have
authorized a bond issue of $50,000,-
000 lor the work. That is empha
sized by the careful manner in
which the bill providing for the sale
of bonds has been drawn and the
close estimating which is being done
as to what can be completed within
a given time. Road building is to
be pushed with vigor for the public
benefit. Petitioners in behalf of pri
vate interests or merely sectional in
terests are receiving* no encourage
ment at Harrisburg. That is good.
But the chief point about the steady
progress which is being made on the
highways program is that through it
industry in Pennsylvania is to be
given a decided impetus.
Thousands of men will be em
ployed on the roads, and thousands
more will be kept busy getting out
tlie tools and machinery and ma
terials which are essential to road
building. That means activity in a
great many lines of endeavor. It
means that now is the time for
manufacturers and other business
men to prepare for an increase of
demand for their products. It
should mean building construction
throughout the State. That which
will be required when business gets
back to normal and goes ahead of
it should not be postponed. If it is
there may be shortage of labor and
materials when new structures are
urgently needed. Doubts as to the
future of business may be hard to
overcome in the absence of positive
indications of a revival of industry.
Is not the State's preparations for
entering on road making on a large
scale positive enough to warrant
others in getting ready to share in
tlie coming prosperity and helping
it along by doing their own work
now ?
NEW FARM PROFESSION
(from the York Dispatch)
i.abor is the great problem on the
farm at the present time. War condi
tions and abnormal wages in the var
ious lines of industry have demoral
ized farm help to such an extent that
it is exceedingly difficult to get as
sistance requisite to carry on opera
tions. In this stale of chaos, the
1 federal board for vocational educa
tion has hit on what seems to be a
solution, and has created a brand
new profession—that of "farm me
chanic," and it is figured that any
farm of more than 100 cultivated
acres can very well afford to have a
man of this sort.
The men being qualified for this
work are disabled soldiers who before
injury were farm boys. With this
background of agricultural knowledge i
these men are being taught to operate
modern tractors which do the work of
many teams and men. They arc be
ing taught operation, care and up
keep of motor trucks and other gas
engines. They are being given a gen
eral course in looking after all mach
inery used on modern farms, and in
dications are that the supply of these
specially trained men will not begin
to equal the demand. Farm hands
who before the war could not hope
to make more than $25 or S3O a
month as laborers can by becoming
proficient as farm mechanics, qualify
for positions paying from SIOO to
$125 per month with steady employ
ment the year nround.
It is an exceedingly interesting de
velopment of our national rural life
brought about by forces of necessity,
and is but another illustration of the
well known fact that the emergency
is usually met in one form or another.
Send Them Rack!
[Philadelphia Record]
The "grandmother of the revolu
tion"* was heckled during her
speech in Boston by admirers of
Lenine, Trotzky and Uadck, and she
was rude enough to ask the heck
lers why, if *hcy cured about Rus
sia, they did not go back there. It
bait been said that 25,000 Russians
who have lived In America have re
turned—to hold offices under the
Soviets. NProbably the hecklers
would return if offices with inter
esting salaries were offered* to them.
In the absence of such provision for
their maintenance they prefer to
live In the United States, denounce
it as worse than Russia under the
Czars, and applaud the bloodthirsty,
confiscatory and incompetent rulers
of a large part of the country they
arc glad to have escaped from, who
announce officially that they have
not sentenced to death more than 13,-
"00 persons, and under whose rule
starvation Is exterminating the pop
ulation of Petrograd and Moscow.
"1 have suffered all my life for Rus
sla," exclaimed Madame Breshkov
skayn. "Havo any of you suffered
for Russialt is safe to say that
.they have not, and they do not In
tend to.
Ibpning (ttljal
Philadelphia is just now bumpfcnfl
against another of tho old grants of
land which turn up occasionally to
plague municipalities and which ara
giving concern to officials of our own
city who wish to have the State Capi
tol and the county unite in building
a structure which will be in harmony,
with the Commonwealth's plans for *
adornment of Capitol Park to make
it the civic center of Pennsylvania,
In the State's lhetropolis some citi
zen has arisen to challenge tho
tracks of the trolley company as
running counter to a grant by Wil
liam Penn in his provision for a
sc.uare in his cky plan. Although
the point might be raised that thero
are dangerous possibilities in set
ting aside provisions governing
donations of land for public use
there is little question but that some
authority exists whereby the inter
est of the people would be best
served by disregarding the terms of
the grant. Harrisburg's river front
has been improved in a way to at
tract the admiration of every visitor
as the result of the grant of a sec- .
tion of the shore of the Susquehanna
by John Harris for public pur
poses and it is an honor to his
memory and to that of William
Maclay, the man who walked the
river bank every evening until he
died and who insisted it be reserved
for park purposes. But the donation
of the court house and jail plot by
the founder of the city works just
the other way. The property is too
small and the adjoining ground held
at too high a figure to make pur
chase advisable. The State looks to
the city to match its civici center ac
tivities. The county is in quarters
which it has outgrown and is obli
gated as much as the city to co
operate with the Commonwealth.
The situation here and in Philadel
phia have some parallels which it
would seem good business and pub
lic policy to clear up.
"People who are rejoicing In hear
ing the notes of the song sparrow
and who want to join with the
youngsters in 'tag' and tops should
not forget the 'flareback' of the
Taft inauguration just ten years
from tomorrow," remarked a man
at the Capitol to-day. "1 tried to
go to Washington and' I remember
• • •
Somebody the other day called
Ira B. Ulsh and David J. Bechtold,
the two Dauphin county repfesenta
tives in the legislature, "the legis
lative twins." They were sitting to
gether at the Chamber of Commerce
reception to the legislature at the
time, and both admitted that they
"trained together." "We are col
leagues in fact as well as in name,"
said Mr. Ulsh, who is as popular in
the upper end of the county as
Bechtold is in the lower end. In
deed both men have friends in all
parts of the county. They have
voted together on every big meas
ure that has come before the pres
ent session of the legislature and
have been on the right side of the
fence on all important bills. They
are well liked on the Hill and con
sidered among the solid, reliable
members of the House. Both are ar
dent admirers of Governor Sproul
and strong supporters of his legis- u
lative program.
• • •
Among the boys who will come
back with the 79th division in June
is Bion C. Welker, formerly city edi
tor of the Harrisburg Telegraph,
who is a corporal in the 311 th field
artillery. Corporal Welker trained
at Camp Meade, received instruction
at a special school for gunnery ex
perts in France and was well up to
ward the German line when the war
came to an end. Since that time he
has been with the army of occupa
tion. He will rejoin the Telegraph
staff upon his return from the army.
* * *
That deer which furnished the
subject for the hunt in South Harris
burg is back in the Lykens valley
preserve. The deer was turned loose
in the hills beyond the almshouse
some time ago because there were
members of the same family in that
section. It became tired of the coun
try and headed for the bright lights
of the city. The game authorities
sent him back to his immediate kin
in the upper end preserve. The other
interesting part about it is that the
man who organized the hunt and
caught the deer has asked the State
to pay for the clothing which was
damaged in the excitement. The
State authorities did not want the
deer caught, it may be said, in fact,
they preferred to have the animal
let alone or chased back to the
woods instead of being the leading
actor in a Wild West scene.
| WELL KNOWN PEOPLE
—Robert Glendinning, Philadel
phia banker, who became active in
aviation before the war, is home
again with a colonel's title.
—Judge H. W. Whitehead, of
Williamsport a member of the Sus
quehanna navigation committee, is a
student of central Pennsylvania his
tory.
.—Thomas A. Wood, Philadelphia
advertising man, is one of the com
mittee to pass on Victory Loan pos
ters.
—J. S. Gardner, who made the
suggestion lor peace gardens, is
a State College professor.
— J. IJ. McFate, the new head of
the New Castle Rotary Club, plans
on active campaign for Boy Scouts
in this city.
1 DO YOU KNOW
—That Harrisburg iron pro
ducts were used in Italian war
vessels?
HISTORIC HARRISBURG
—The first State Capitol was
started late in 1819.
"Daylight" Law in Danger
(From the New York Herald.)
By a rider attached to the agricul
tural appropriation bill which has
just passed the house and is now be
fore the Senate the "daylight sav
ing" law would be repealed.
It will be remembered that there
was considerable difficulty in hav
ing the law passed last year. It has
worked very well, but it is now pro
posed to repeal it in this casual and
irregular way.
The Merchants' Association is ap
pealing to Senators Calder and
Wadswortli and all representatives
from this State to save it. William
Fellowes Morgan, the president of
the association, suvs It promotes
the welfare of employes by releas
ing them from work ht an earlier
hour during the summer season, giv
ing them more time for recreation.
It also benefits employers, en
abling the operation of factories and
business establishments with a ma
terial saving in the cost of lighting.
The nnsoclallon says it is the sense
of the business community that the
law should be retained, but prompt
action is necessary to save It,