8
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
A NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOME
Founded 1831
Published evenings except Snndsy by
THE TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO.
Telegraph Bnlldlar. Federal Sgaare
EL J. STACK POLB
President and Editor-in-Chief
R- OYSTER, Business Manager
GITS. M. STEIXMETZ, Managing Editor
JL. R. MICHENER, Circulation Manager
Execative Board
4, P. McCULLOUGH.
BO YD M. OGLESBT,
F. R. OYSTER,
GC& M. STEIXMETZ.
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Sintered at the Post Office In Harris
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MONDAY, APRIL 7, 1919.
Hay 1 reach
That purest heaven; he to other souls
The cup of strength in some great
agony;
Enkindle generous ardor; feed pure
love;
Beget the smiles that have io
cruelty—
Be the sweet presence of a good dif
fused,
And in diffusion ever more intense.
—Anon.
CITY' IMPROVEMENTS
CITY COMMISSIONER LYNCH,
as head of the Department of
Streets and Public Improve-1
ments, has just issued an interest- 1
ing little pamphlet showing the 1
highways and ward lines of the city.
This booklet will serve a useful pur
pose in giving important informa
tion regarding the highways, their
names and locations.
City Engineer Cowden is respon
sible for the compilation, and one
of the conspicuous features is the \
ward and precinct map arrange
ment.
Harrisburg people cannot know
too much about their own city, and |
when tho Telegraph suggested a |
year or two ago a series of autorao-1
bile tours for the purpose of learn
ing what had been going on in the
city for a period of years, it did so
for the purpose of awakening our
people to a realisation of the pro
gressive development of the com
munity in which we are all inter
ested.
During the war many improve
ment projects were sidetracked
owing to the high cost of materials
and labor, but now that we are
resuming the normal in our munici
pal life, it is reasonable to expect
that there will be much activity in
the completion of the improvemeent
undertakings which have been so
long under consideration. City So
licitor Fox is losing no time in
bringing to a focus the final pro
ceedings in the Hardscrahble mat
ter and the City Council has taken
final action In the various ordi
nances affecting the city's co-opera
tion with the Commonwealth in the
development of the Capitol Park
area.
Altogether, there is a spirit of
co-operation among officials and
citizens generally in developing the
important phases of our city's essen-
Hal growth. While we are passing
t through a period of readjustment as
a result of the war, there is, not
withstanding, a general appreciation
of the local conditions which Justify
the undertaking of the projects
neld in suspension during hostilities,
nils public work means employ
ment for hundreds of men, and
from this standpoint must be re
garded as of vital importance to
the welfare of the community.
Employment means contentment,
and every effort must be made to
provide work for those who hon-
BStly desire to keep busy.
It is not too early to inquire as to
the revival of the Harrlsbtrrg Navy
Ibis year. While the war was on the
Kipona and other river sports were
postponed, but with the coming of
Mace we have no doubt the organiza
tion responsible for the carnival will
get busy.
THE GOLF COURSE
IF ANOTHER site for the landing
of the "Victory Loan dirigible
airship can be fonnd, which
would seem easily possible, the Res
irvolr park golf links should not
be need.
No doubt the committee entered
Into the arrangements thoughtless
tt the care and expense that have
seen lavished on the Reservoir links
to bring them up to their present
. i .. _ . J
MONDAY EVENING.
high standard. If the airship lands
on them, with the crowds that will
flock to see the arrival, that part
of the course will be ruined for
the year, for the grass planting is
not yet in shape to stand trampling
and the rain-soaked turf would be
crushed into thousands of holes.
These links belong to the public.
Xo charge is made for them. They
are kept up at public expense and
the money spent upon them should
not be thrown away. It will not do
to offer to repair damage, for dam
age done a grass lawn at this sea
son cannot be repaired short of next
spring.
OUT BY JUNE
AMERICAN troops in the Arch
angel district are in no great
danger and are expected to
be out of Russia in June, according
to the statements of "War Depart
ment officials.
They ought never to have gone
into Russia as they did. What was
needed at the time was strong inter
vention with thousands of troops to
back up demands of America for
a free representative government in
Russia or no intervention whatso
ever.
The few hundred men we have
thrown into the Archangel district
have been battling constantly against
terrible odds. They not only have
made no impression upon the great
masses of Bolsheviki in their path,
but their inability to make headway
against superior armies have irre
parably injured the prestige of
America in Bolshevik circles.
TOO EARLY
Enthusiastic business men
at the N. W. Ayer dinner in
Philadelphia, Friday night,
hailed William Howard Taft as
the next occupant of the White
House. They were premature.
It is not now apparent who will
be the candidate of the Repub
lican party for the presidency
next year. It is too early now to
venture a guess as to the result of
the national convention. But it is
true that Taft has been growing in
the public estimation ever since he
was defeated in the three-cornered
fight in 1912. He is a bigger man
to-day in every way than when he
was President.
Perhaps his friends may decide to
push him forward next time. Cer
tainly, they would be justified if the
peace league is to be an issue, for
Mr. Taft was the originator of the
idea and he preached it long before
President Wilson had begun to think
of such an organization. And it will
be generally agreed, at least among
Republicans, that Mr. Taft's ideas
on the subject are much more lucid
and practical than those of the,
President.
It might be pointed out that Taft's
defeat would be an indication of
weakness, but Grover Cleveland was
beaten in a much less strenuous fight
than the three-cornered contest
which resulted in the first election
of President Wilson and was after
ward a successful candidate for the
office and made a wonderful record
himself as a wise and far-seeing
statesman. Stranger things have
happened than the re-election of
Taft, but the time is scarcely ripe
for seriously discussing candidates. |
SENSIBLE VETOES
Governor william c.
SPROUL is to be commended
for establishing two lines of
veto activity divorce laws and
measures tending to increase finan
cial burdens on counties. He has
shown tendencies to be vigorous in
his use of the veto power and his
comments are interesting.
Some years ago the State passed
back to the counties the cost of
primary elections and the trend of
legislation for a long time has been
to add to expenses of administration
of county affairs. It is now planned
to return half of the personal prop
erty tax to the State, giving to the
counties, which enjoy it all at pres
ent, the benefit of the State system
of stiffening up returns of owner
ship, which worked well when ad
ministered by the Auditors General
of recent years. Other bills are
pending which would call for rigid
attention to details of county ex
penditures. The Governor is right
when he submits that the cost of
elections, for instance, should not be
put up and that service on election
boards should be a matter of patri
otic duty instead of a chance to get
money out of a county treasury'.
There is no field wherein lawyers
who specialize in divorce have been
busier irf recent years than in the
Legislature. Every session bills to
provide for particular cases have
appeared and while some have been
meritorious there have been many,
particularly in the last half dozen
years, which should never, have
reached the Governor. In the dozen
or so bills vetoed this year, two have
been efforts to complicate the di
vorce laws still further.
MAKE WHEELS GO ROUND
WITHOUT discussing the cause
or causes of the failure of the
Peace Conference to come to a
conclusion in Paris, It Is obvious that
until a satisfactory settlement shall
have been reached there will be
more or less unrest and uncertainty
here In America.
Most Americans feel that peace
should have been declared long ago
and because no agreement has been
reached there is an Indefinable un
rest which extends to the individual
and prevents the resumption of
normal activities.
In short, the Paris conference Is
the main spring of the world at the
present time and until the machin
ery is properly adjusted the wheels
of Industry and commerce and indi
vidual activity in every direction
I will not go roun#-
in.
TiKKCulcanui
By the Bx-Conuuittecmaii |
People who follow politics are'
| awaiting with considerable interest |
j the effect of Governor Sproul's an
nouncement that after study of the
anthracite situation he is convinced
that if miners' wages are to be
maintained and the trade prevented
from demoralization the advance in j
prices is justified, but at the same
time railroad rates must be revised
and put back under State control |
and something done to get local
dealers to realize their duty to the
public. The Governor's decision
seems to have been a shock to many
people and to the coal companies
as well. The sharp criticism of !
Feneral railroad rates met with gen-1
eral approval as did the demand for
local distributors, coal dealers and
those who handle the part of the
business coming into direct contact
with the consumer to revise their
charges.
The Philadelphia Inquirer gives [
space to warm commendation of the 1
Governor from Thomas Kennedy, |
president of the United Mine Work- i
ers of the Seventh District at Hazle
ton. "The statement of Governor ;
Sproul," he said, "shows a broad
and intelligent understanding of the i
anthracite situation. I am more
than pleased when he says that we
are all anxious that the present |
wage scale in the anthracite be,
maintained. That, coming from the
Chief Executive of the State, will, in
my opinion, silence those who had j
hoped to reduce wages and will do ,
much to stabilize the anthracite in- ]
dustry."
—The North American in its fi
nancial page says that the increase
will affect seventy per cent of op
erations and indicates that there will
be activity in production, while It
gives spape to a statement from
Pottsville which says that "constant
increases in prices is a menace" to
the industry. The Anthrncite Con
sumers' League, a Schuylkill con
cern, criticises the Governor's find
ing. The Philadelphia Press prints
ail editorial calling for defeat of the
North bill taxing all coal as some
thing which would injure the con
sumer. The North bill is not being
taken seriously just now.
—The action of Westmoreland
county judges in making that county
"dry" was much discussed among
legislators and "wets" made little
effort to conceal their disgust. The
"drys" were correspondingly jubil
ant. This week will be an important
one in regard to liquor legislation in
the House and a few more jabs like
that at Greensburg will add to the
dismay of the "wets."
—lt was an odd coincidence that
E. B. Hardenbergh and P. Gray
Meek, rivals for election as Auditor
General more than fifteen years ago
and colleagues in the State Senate,
should die within a month or so
of each other. The Wayne county
auditor general was a close person
al friend of the Senator from Belle
fonte and while he was no match
for Senator Meek when he started
to say things about the Republican
party he used to lose no opportunity
to point out to Meek where he could
have made them sharper.
—Opinions appear to differ
whether there will be much inter
ference with the legislative program
because of the absence of the Gov
ernor. At the Capitol plans have
been made to advance legislation
and send it to the Governor in bales
the day before he gets home. Be
lief the close of the session on
May 15 has not been abandoned by
some well posted men in the general
assembly. The Philadelphia Press
looks for the next month to be one
of the most active and interesting
in legislation as it relates to State
politics.
—Attorney General William I.
SchalTer is to speak as representa
tive of the Governor at the Reading
functions on Wednesday. Mr.
Schaffer has been much compli
mented throughout the State for his
activity in attacking Government
post-Bellum control of intra-State
business and his prompt demand
that telephone and telegraph rates
be charged as authorized by the
Public Service Commission.
—Death of Judge W. W. Carr, a
Democrat, has made the Philadel
phia Record and various Democrats
eager to establish a precedent that
the successor of a Democratic judge
should be a Democrat. The Gover
nor will have to appoint and he
will be kept dodging Democratic
applicants and their friends. Just
why a party whose representation in
a general assemblv of 257 has
shrunk to 29. should be heard from
is hard for some legislators to un
derstand, especially in view of the
federal service in this State.
-—The Philadelphia Press savs
that if Judge Eugene C. Bonniwe'll,
whom it mentions as a possible ap
pointee. should be named It would
be a slap at Attorney General A.
Mitchell Palmer, which is probably
why some Democrats of Record
leanings would like to see him hon
ored. There is also talk of City
Chairman Edgar W. Lank, Joseph
P. McCullen, one of the ablest law
yers in Philadelphia, and Frank B.
Bracken.
LABOR NOTES
Thirty trades are represented In
our shipbuilding plants.
Berlin, Germany, has 1,000,000 mu
nition workers.
Toronto, Canada, telephone girls
secured a sll weekly minimum wage.
Some London, England taxi drivers
were earning $45 a week.
An American federation of manu
facturers is being planned.
Cleveland is said to be short 12,000
men for war work.
Barbers at Lardar, Ontario, have
received an increase in pay.
Cranberry pickers in Massachusetts
are earning sls a day.
Toronto, Canada, ship carpenters
are 100 per cent, organized.
Northampton, Mass., finds the com
munity market plan a money saver.
When the war began the Krupp Gun
Works were the largest of their kind
in the world, employing96,ooo people.
Over 400 printers are idle in Dub
lin, Ireland, in consequence of a lock
out in the book and job printing
houses.
Miners from the Pennsylvania an
thracite fields are to be used to re
i open the coal mines in the lens,
France, district.
H-VRRISBDRG 9SSMIB TELEGRAPH
WHEN A FELLER NEEDS A FRIEND .... BY BRICGS
Where the American Sawed-off
Shotgun Stopt the Hun
(From the Literary Digest.)
THE sawed-off repeating shotgun,
loaded with buckshot, which
was pictured and described in
our pages a few weeks ago, appeared
in the critical fighting around
Chateau-Thierry, and more than
won its right to be considered a real
American addition to the horrors of
war—at least from the German
standpoint. The gun worked to
such good effect that, to quote Cap
tain J. H. Hoskins, who used one,
"the Kaiser would have won him
self a war on June 6 had he only
pressed his advantage, and had it
not been for those shotguns." Cap
tain Hoskins was in commartd of a
company of engineers ,n those ter
rific days; but. Nad as the Ameri
cans needed engineers, they needed
combat troops worse, so the rap-,
tain's company was thrown in to
assist the marines. By the time I
the company, reduced from 246 men
to 72, was ordered to fall back to a
trench where the shotguns awaited
them, the Germans seemed to be
having things much their own way:
in that section of the battlefront. :
In a recent issue of the Nashville
(Tenn.) Banner, Captain Hoskins
tells the story of the turn of the:
battle:
"On June C, though we were en- j
gineers, we got orders to go into the!
fighting in support of the marines in
Belleau Woods as combat troops. |
We hiked twenty-seven miles in nine (
hours without stopping to eat. We j
got into the scrap between two regi- j
ments of marines and fought!
against overwhelming odds, our op-1
ponents being the Prussian Guards.:
The 256 men in our company had J
been reduced to seventy-two and
And the Cat Came Back
[From an Army Report.]
Statement of Sophie GuiUame —I
had a beautiful cat which I loved
very much. It was very beautiful.
I needed it. It was filled with mice
and rats. Besides that he was my
companion. >, I loved him very much,
because he was very beautiful.
An American soldier said in that
house Theveny that they had eaten
a cat on Christmas day. I had not
seen him for fifteen days. He never
stayed out more than a week before.
I, therefore ask for an indemnity of
Fes 20.00 for my cat. It was a beau
tiful beast. „
(Signed) SOPHIE GILLAME,
Place du Marche.
From: C. 0., 29th Military Police
Company.
To: Commanding General, 29th
Division.
Subject: Alleged eating of cat.
I. January 7, 1919, Mme Guil
lame reported that American sol
diers had killed and eaten her cat
for their Christmas dinner.
11. Upon investigation the follow
ing facts were ascertained:
(a) Cat missing January 7.
(b) Statement of Mme. Guillame
attached.
(c) Statement of Mme. Lucy
Theveny and her mother that Mme.
Guillame was "queer" and that they
advised paving n'o attention to her.
(d) Gendarme officially reported
this morning, (January 14, 1919)
that the cat came back.
111. In view of above, case has
been closed. (Signed)
CAPTAIN, Military Police Com
pany.
Man Formerly in Our Town
There was a man in our town.
And he was wondrous wise.
He jumped into a "Covenant,"
And scratched out both his eyes.
And when he saw his eyes were out
With all his might and main.
He jumped into drastic modifica
tions and changes in his pro
posed league of Nations, im
pelled thereto by the indignant
protests of the Senate, and
American public,
And scratched them in again.
With apologies to Mother Goose,
(feorge W. Hills, in the New York
I Sua
ammunition was nearly exhausted
when orders came to fall back to
the first line of trenches nearby.
When we rolled into these we
fought with those automatic shot
guns stacked up in bunches of
eight, with extra ones lying on the
first parapet in the rear wall of the
trenches and plenty of she'ls handy.
Each gun had a shell in the cham
ber and five in the magazine. Each
shell was loaded with twelve big
buckshot and twenty-eight grains of
ixillistite powder. It neaily kicked
us down every time we fired, but we
didn't mind that when we saw the
execution done to the Germans. The
way those squirt ei-hunting Amer
icans used the weapons was thor
oughly effective. Our colonel had
ordered that no one should fire un
til he gave the command, and it
looked to me that he waited until
they were almost on top of us. But
when the word came tnosa guns
opened up in earnest. The Germans
were advancing very confidently, for
they knew we were in desperate
straits. That shotgun volley was
new to them. They were advancing
well bunched, and every time a gun
fired three or four Grmar.s would
go down. The m. re the urprise
gripped them, the closer iliev would
huddle, and the deadlier was the
fire. When thev could stand it no
longer they began to fall back,
bunched in closer than ever, with
corresponding destruction from the
guns. Not a German reached our
lines after we began using these
si.o:tuns, and I'll to'l the world that
on Juno 6 the Kaiser bad won him
self a war ha.l he only pressed the
advantage and had it not been for
those shotguns."
Enemies of Peace
How can we expect peace—
Whep there are men and women
in the world and they fall in love?
When motor car tires are made of
rubber and there is glass in the
road ?
When telephone operators refuse
to talk English?
When it costs $2 to put on the
old nosebag in a decent restaurant?
When Congress insists upon send
ing out garden seeds that will not
come up?
When strike-on-the-box matches
refuse to strike?
When the kids leave tin trains of
cars for the old man to stumble
over?
When the women are all trying
to win 10-cent bridge prizes?
When the butcher weighs his
hand in with the steak?
When married couples will insist
upon picking the wallpaper to
gether?
When everybody has relatives?
—From the Pittsburgh Post.
KITCHENER'S LAST DAYS
Several pages of "The Grand Fleet
1914-16" (Doran), by Admiral Vis
count Jellicoe, are occupied with an
account of Lord Kitchener's clos
ing hours on the Iron Duke. The
question has sometimes been asked,
"Could not Viscount Jellicoe have
advised the Hampshire to wait till
the weather improved?" The Ad
miral tells us that Lord Kitchener
would never have consented to de
lay. "He impressed me strongly
with the Idea that he was working
to a time-table, and that he felt that
he had not a day to lose. He men
tioned three weeks as the limit of
his absence, and I expressed aston
ishment at the program which he
had planned to carry out during that
period. He was most anxious not to
lose a moment on the sea trip, and
asked me more than once what I
thought was the shortest time In
which the passage could be made."
It was on June 5, 1916, that
Kitchener reached Scapa enroute to
Archangel. He confessed at lunch
eon that the strain of the last two
years had been very great, and he
felt that he could not have gone on
without this break, which he heart
ily welcomed. He was impatient tp
be gone, and bis heart was already
In Russia.
' | EDITORIAL COMMENT ~
It is hard *o tell whethei a Ger
! man government has been set up or
| framed up.—Brooklyn Eagle.
Too many bathtubs, safety razors
\ and cukes of soup in this country to
! Make possible a big crop of red an
| archv. —L'tica Observer.
Former Kaiser Bill wants to go to
a warmer climate. For once we feel
i like accomodating him. —Wash-
,l ingtou Pest.
What we need is a law that will
' make an unjust strike impossible
and a ;uot strike unnecessary.—
; Greenville <S. C.) Piedmont.
Considerable astuteness was
i shown by James Monroe in limiting
his much-discust doctrine strictly to
one point.—Washington Star.
The government claims that it has
| decreased train-robbery; there bo
: those who insist that every train
ride is a robbery now.—Venango
: Herald
I
A CHECK TO BCRLESON
; [From Pittsburgh Gazette-Times.]
j Judge Kunkel, in his opinion de
: nying the right of the Postmaster
'] General to change telephone rates
1 i in Pennsylvania without the approv
j al of the State Public Service Com
! mission, discriminates sharply be
'jtween the Government's general
j war powers and the authority which
|it arbitrarily claims in the present
i instance. In the end we probably
j shall have a judicial decision defin
| ing as right or wrong the high
i handed proceeding of the Govern
' ment in seizing the telegraph and
j telephone companies as and when
.lit did. For the present Judge Kun
kel contents himself, however, with
deciding in effect that there being
no emergency the Federal Govern
ment has no power to set aside State
j authorities. That is sensible, at
1 least. And it brings into relief the
.effects of President Wilson's action
entirely apart from the motives
I which may have promoted it. They
i do not commend themselves to the
general public.
! To win the war the people were
{ willing that the Government resort
jto any expedient. But they object
decidedly to the war emergency be
ing used as a cloak for setting up
conditions of State socialism to the
public detriment and in violation of
private rights. As in the case of
the railroads, so with the wire com
munication companies; seizure by
the Government was followed by a
course the procedure the end of
which would have been inevitable
public ownership. More than that,
the course followed tended to de
stroy the power of the States over
what is distinctly their own con
cerns. The restraining action of
Judge Kunkel in Pennsylvania and
of Judges in other States puts it
spuarely up to the Federal admin
istration to prove its right to sub
stitute centralization of control for
the rights of the States to exercise
authority in purely State affairs.
These cases should be pushed to
conclusion as rapidly as possible. Tt
will be a poor reward for sacrifices
made In the war if the people shall
find they have lost rights of which
they should not be deprived. If it
is possible to destroy State rights
as the Postmaster General nnd some
others seek to do, the sooner the
fact is known the better, for then
the sooner the people can take
steps for their protection.
IN APRIL
A morning of gold and green
And a path to the top of the hill
Music and scent and sheen.
Color and flame and thrill.
Sap In the veins of the tree.
Twitter and bud and birth,
Hope in the heart of the bee.
And Love in the whole of the
earth,
Sleep In the eyes of the sky,
And a hush In the hearts of the
stream:
Slumberous fields that lie
Burdened with beauty and dream.
Silence and shadowy light.
And a graceful crescent curled;
Peace on the lips of the night,
And God in the width of the
world.
—Perrln Holmes Lowrey in Con
temporary. Versa
*~" APRIL 7, 1919.
"Then Like U Out West"
l Bailey Millard, onetime editor of
a New York magazine, now on the
stuff of the San Francisco Bulletin,
reveals some of the secrets of the
trade in the following.]
The New York magazine editor al
ways carries in his mind ihe picture
of a Western reader. At u gathering
of editors about the evening board,
1 always would lieur soma of them
say: "Well, 1 am running such or
such a series because thai s the kind
of stuff they like out west." It was
a regular saying among lhe manu
script readers in our office: "They
like it out west."
By out West they meant the Mid
dle West, for even Pittsburgh was
west to them.
It used to make mo smile, for I
was from a long way farther west
than the region they had in mind.
But I had lived in the Middle West,
I too, and this ready sizing up of the
| literary requirements of the readers
| residing in the neighborhood of the
| Great Lakes or the Mississippi River
| always seemed a hit of editorial
| cock soreness that was as inapt as
| it was amusing.
A certain widely known novelist
I wrote a very long and very prurient
j serial story. The manuscript was
! sent in for my consideration. I
[did not read it. In fact, I never
; read it until after its publication,
jßy my direction tlie manuscript of
the novel was read by three readers,
| or.e of (hem a lady. All these read-
I crs declared that it was so salacious
;us to he absolutely unprintable. The
j two men were very outspoken in
their denunciation of the story, and
i the lady blushed a deep red when
[ she handed In her report. All agreed
| that the reading public would not
stand for the story. So, without
reading it myself, 1 had the manii-
I script returned to the author. That
was in 1905.
| Would you believe it?—the story
was published in 1916—eleven
j afterward —by the proprietor of our
magazine on the recommendation of
my successor, and the public not
only stood for it, but ate it up and
wanted more. But they could get
no more from that particular author,
for he was dead..
Now what had happened to make
this story more acceptable to the
magazine reading public In 1916
than in 1905? It was very simple,
j Any oldtinie editor will tell you
i that the gradual decadence of taste
lon the part of the great mass of
magazine renders, due to the gradual
I feeding into them of rotten sex
Islories, has not only made readers
j less easily shocked, but also actually
eager to embrace these fleshpots.
J What slia'l T say of this literature
and the prevailing demand for and
consumption of it? What shall any
jone say? One word covers it all —
it is a debauch.
I The New York magazine editors
| are responsible for this condition.
But if you were to ask one of them
: to-day why he befouls his pages with
J Ihe prurient stuff he would say with
a knowing smite. "Oh, they like it
out West!"
INSISTS ON NIGHTS
[From the Philadelphia Inquirer.]
Judge ICunkel's decision that the
United States has no right to decide
on inter-State telephone rates is in
line with that of a Kansas court,
which is now in the Supreme Court
of (he United States and is to be
argued in October. Until then tho
decisions in the various States will
be respected. It is presumed that
the same would apply to railway and
telegraph rates, and it is likely that
the Supreme Court will hand down
a "leading decision," unless by that
time the matter has settled itself,
which is not likely.
Judge Kunkel is careful in his de
cision to draw a sharp line between
the Presidential "war powers" and
those which have "no relation to
war." It can hardy be claimed
that at present the local telephone
charges have any relation to the mil
itary situation and it is even hard
to believe that seizing the lines in
the first place was of any value to
anyone. It seems to have been sole
ly the idea of Mr. Burleson, who did
not act until the war was practlcilly
over, and it is believed that his sole
idea was simply to start a movement
in favor of national ownership and
operation. It is certain that there
is little sentiment in favor of this
idea at present and there is no
reason in the world why the lines
should not be returned at once.
Pennsylvania has a jealous regard
for its justly reserved rights. It is
hard to understand why the admin
istration .should care to interfere In
domestic matters which really do not
concern it in the least. We have a
commission erected for the very pur
pose of maintaining just rates for
all public utilities, and until its de
cisions are shown to be unjust, we
shall abide by them. It is curious
that the political party which has
always claimed as its chief stock in
trade the restriction of nationalism
has now. officially, at least, become
nothing less than a Prussianizing
Party which recognizes no red lines
whatever on the map.
The Shadow at the Door
[From the Philadelphia Inquirer.]
Ah, distinctly we remember the
eleventh of November,
When each separate army mem
ber fired Its last shot of the war.
Eagerly wo scanned the morrow:
prayerfully we sought to bor
row
Hone that all the load of sorrow
that humanity then bore
Would be lifted: that the Confer
ence to meet and talk it o'er
Would end war forevermore.
But that' Conference, not flitting,
still is sitting, still is sitting
In the classic shades of Paris,
where it talks—then .talks
some more;
And its talk has the seeming of
most visionary scheming.
While the world wakes from its
dreaming: finds a shadow at its
door.
And it fears that war's dread shad
ow that grows blacker at Its
door
Will be lifted nevermore.
—HOWABD MARKLE HOKE.
Meat Prices
"Why has not the price of meat
decreased since the signing of the
armistice?" asks Mr. Consumer and
his wife.
"Because livestock costs more,"
is the answer of Armour and Com
pany.
Cattle for the month of February
cost the meat packing company
$12.40 a hundred. This was 23.38
per cent higher than for the same
month a year ago and 72.70 per
cent higher than in February, 1914.
Hogs during February averaged
$17.18, an increase of 4.14 per cent
over the corresponding month a year
ago and an advance of 102.36 per
cent over the figures for 1914.
Sheep were only .78 per cent high,
er than in February 1918, but the
percentage of increase for the five
year period was 130.75.
Etontng (Wjat
Analysis of reports received at the
State Department of Agriculture
from various sections of Pennsyl
vania, following the low temperature
of several days ago, fall to show any
serious damage done by frost or cold.
Reports of harm to fruit trees in
several sections of apple and peach
raising counties were found to have
been much exaggerated when inves
tigated. Practically all of the dam
age was done to trees in low lying
places which did not contain many
trees. J. A. Sanders, the State's
zoologist, who followed up many of
the reports, said that the fact that
buds were not far advanced and that
no cold rain came with the drop in
temperature, prevented harm. Men
in charge of a number of large or
chards in the southern counties, re
ported no damage done and in the
northern counties trees were not far
enough advanced for any injury.
The Slale has opened its work in
the lower anthracite field for the
eradication of the potato wart dis
ease and Federal experts will work
with the Slate men. Mr. Sanders
has taken personal charge of this
work and by the aid of a strict
quarantine, it is believed that the
danger can be checked. At the
same time steps are betng taken to
guard the State against importation
of motli posts by strict inspection of
nursery stock at both ends of the
State. This is being carried on with
co-operation from other States.
State officials have every hope of
being able to secure the designation
of the new Pennsylvania National
Guard as the 28th Division, the
number it bore in the war. It Is
expected that the National Guard
will occupy tho same position in
the line of defense as they did un
der the national defense act passed
before the war and as the Keystone
organizations will constitute a divi
sion, official steps will be made to
obtain the historic number. The
frame work for rc-organizatlon of
the Guard has been worked out
and in a few months after return
of the men from France, the first
steps will be taken.
• • ♦
It's odd the way people forget they
own valuable things when the emer
gency, or novelty, has passed. The
other day, in looking up the prop
erty of one of the organizations
formed in the city during the war.
there were discovered in lockers
clothing and equipment worth many
dollars, which had been forgotten by
the men who used it. All of it was
serviceable and could be adapted to
any use, but once tho occasion for
active purposes was passed, the men
who had spent good money for it,
forgot all about it. In this case hats,
shirts, shoes and other property was
found overlooked and stowed away
for moths to attack. And with de
mands for clothing for Belgians be
ing made every day in the newspa
pers and by the Red Cross.
• • •
Just exactly why people will throw
glass into a street or a roadway is
hard to understand, but when they
chuck tumblers, vials and other
things of like nature into a paved
roadway it becomes a subject for
inquiry. Yet this happens every day,
according to the street sweepers,
who say that notwithstanding dan
ger which may come to automobile
tires, they are constantly finding
glass where It has been thought
lessly thrown. On some of the prin
cipal residential streets, those most
traveled by automobiles, scarcely a
day goes by without glass being
picked up. One sweeper found parts
of three bottles in a block and an
other what looked like the wreck
of a thermos or similar bottle. An
other told of finding a pile of tacks,
evidently the remnants of a box
wheh had fallen out of a pocket,
torn apart to see what it contained
and then dropped in bulk. This
same man told of finding a wire
puzzle with five points sticking in an
automobile tire.
• •
The war may be well over, but
the work of the State draft head
quarters goes right on and every
week there are inquiries from peo
ple wanting information about men
drafted. Some of these inquiries in
dicate that nothing has been heard
of men since they left with their
contingents and draft headquarters
is supposed to have some supernatur
al means of keeping track of the
soldiers. Unfortunately, the records
here end with the camp destination
and inquiries have to be sent on to
the army authorities, who are over
whelmed with such inquiries.
• • •
The second anniversary of the en
trance of the United States into the
war passed without notice in the
city on Saturday and if anything, it
was much like the day when the
country officially opened hos
tilities. On that day there was
a buckling of belts and prepar
ation of mind for a hard fight. Sat
urday people, when reminded of the
anniversary, said that Uncle Sam
had a big problem at home and that
he should get his fighters home to
help readjust things. Even at the
Capitol and the Federal offices no
reference was made to the day.
WELL KNOWN PEOPLE
—Adjutant General Frank P.
Beary, who is in Washington to dis
cuss the return of the Keystone men,
is celebrating a quarter of a century
of connection with militia affairs.
—Dr. Newell Dwight Hilles, well
known here as a lecturer, aroused
ire of Philadelphia school teachers
at a meeting by a criticism of the
president.
—H. C. McEldowney, Pittsburgh
banker, is head of the loan com
mittee for Allegheny county.
—Councilman Eugene Tropp, of
Scranton, well known to many here,
is seriously ill.
—Herbert A. Gibbons, Philadel
phia newspaperman, has slarted a
movement to rebuild the home of
John Calvin, leveled by combard
ment of Noyon.
—Major Norman F. Brown. Pitts
burgh officer home from France,
says that Americans along the Rhine
want to be returned.
DO YOU KNOW ~
—That Harrisburg men have been
helping in the Improvement or
French highways?
HISTORIC HARRISBURG
—Early roads into Harrisburg
followed Indian trails very closely.
"Nobody Home"
"Why didn't you send your man
to mend my electric doorbell, as
you promised?"
"He did go, madam; but as he
rang three times and got no answer
he concluded that there was nobody
home.' —Boston Transcript