12
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
A NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOME
Founded ISSI
Published evenings except Sunday by
THE TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO.
Telegraph Building, Federal Square
E. J. STACKPOLE
President and Editor-in-Chief
F. R. OYSTER, Business Manager
GUS. M. STEINMETZ, Managing Editor
A. R. MICHEN'ER, Circulation Manager
Executive Hoard
J. P. McCULLOUGH,
BOYD M. OGLESBY,
F, R. OYSTER,
fIUS. M. STEINMETZ.
Members of the Associated Press— The
Associated Press is exclusively en
titled to the use for republication
of all 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.
A Member American
Fj Newspaper Pub-
I Associa-
Bur'eau of Circu
lation and Penn
yl\Ninla^Associa-
Eastern office
Story. Brool. r &
Avenue Building.
Western oUice,
Gas'
I Chicago, 111.
Entered at the Post Office in Harris
burg. Fa., as second class matter.
By carrier, ten cents a
week; by mail, $3.00 a
year in advance.
TCCESDAY, APRIL 8. 1919
Occupation is the scythe of time.—
Napoleon 1.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
THERE are increasing signs of
the approach of a presidential
election year. The other day a
party of business men in Philadel
phia hailed William Howard Taft as
the "next occupant of the White
House" and yesterday the New Y'ork
Sun printed a letter from Ducktown,
Tenn., telling of the organization of
a General Leonard Wood Republican
club in that town, "for the purpose
of electing Major General Wood
president of the United States." To
be sure, Ducktown is not a metropo
lis and what Ducktown thinks on
the subject may be at wide variance
with what the nation-at-large thinks,
but this "voice crying in the wilder
ness" has a tone that gives one pause
for thought.
Newspaper cartoonists like to
make fun of the daily gatherings in
the village grocery, where the future
of nations is settled every evening be
fore the shutters go up at 9 o'clock,
but the man in search of public
sentiment gathers his evidence in
just such places. In grocery stores,
cigar stores, barber shops—where
ever men gather and voice their
ideas on matters pertaining to gov
ernmental afTairs, there is a people's
forum, and it is from just such hum
ble discussions that sentiment is de
veloped and public opinion formu
lated.
Ducktown is one of thousands of
villages where men's minds are
turning now toward the presidential
contest, and we opine that if Duck
town can muster 350 members for
a Gentral Wood Republican club
there is considerable feeling for that
distinguished soldier throughout the
country.
Make no mistake about it, if you
want to sound out public sentiment
go into the places of common resort
where the ordinary run of American
citizens discuss the issues and thresh
out their differences. There is more
truth than humor in the old joke
about settling the fate of the country
around the cannon stove of the cross
roads store.
COURT-MARTIAL REVISION
SECRETARY OF WAR BAKER
has at last reached the conclu
sion that there really might
have been some injustice done in
the sentencing of soldiers convicted
of minor offenses by court martial.
This admission is widely at variance
with the secretary's broad denial
at the outset that such conditions
existed. Indeed, Mr. Baker insisted
that there was no truth whatsoever
in the charges and knew of no ex
cuse for criticism, he added. This
is a weakness the secretary has ex
hibited on more than one occasion.
All's well with his department until
it is proved otherwise, appears to
be the motto on which he acts and
he thereby opens himself and the
administration to public hostility
that might be avoided if he frankly
admitted faults and promised their
correction. Americans have no pa
tience with the public official who
poses as being infallible.
HURLEY ADOPTS PLAN
CHAIRMAN HURLEY, of the
Shipping Board, speaking be
fore the National Marine Lea
gue in New York, has outlined
the plan that he will sup
port for the future operation of our
war fleet of merchant ships. While
Mr. Hurley's experience in the ship
ping world is limited to the two
years he has been connected with
the Federal Board, he has long been
a practical business man and has
the good sense to take the advice
of experts who have devoted their
lives to the operation of ships. A
comparison of the plan now pvit for
ward by Chairman Hurley shows a
strong resemblance to the policy for
the future of our merchant marine
■worked out some weeks ago by Mr.
Kosseter, Director of Operations of
TUESDAY EVENING,
the Emergency Fleet Corporation,
and formerly manager of the Paci
lle Mail.
Mr. Hurley announces that he is
flatly opposed to Government own
ership and operation. He is also
against Government ownership and
private operation, and looks with
disfavor upon ownership by a single
private corporation with the Gov
ernment guaranteeing a certain re
turn on the stock. Mr. Hurley's
scheme contemplates the sale of
Government ships to private parties
who wish to operate in the foreign
trade, on the basis of twenty-five
per cent, cash, the balance payable
in annual installments over a period
of about ten years, interest thereon
to be charged by the Government
at 5 per cent. One-fifth of this
interest he would have set aside by
the Government to constitute a
"merchant marine development
fund."
Each purchaser should be obliged
to take out a Federal charter, which
should limit the amount of stock to
he issued, prevent its sale to an alien
and provide that one member of
the board of directors shall be
named by the Government. It is
recognized that a number of routes
that probably would be established
under the new system, while nec
essary lo the future development
of American commerce, would not at
first yield operating profits. Where
[the Government sold a ship for op
eration on such a route it would
be necessary for the Government to
support the new line until its trade
increased sufficiently to pay its own
way. Such assistance would be ex
tended from the merchant marine
development fund, under the super
vision of the Government directors,
who would meet periodically in
Washington for the purpose. It
would be in no sense a payment
from the Treasury, but an advance
from the guarantee fund furnished
by the steamship companies them
selves. When such ships become
established on their new routes and
earn a profit, the financial assistance
they have received from the Gov
ernment will be repaid from a por
tion of those profits.
To one who has been in touch
with our merchant marine situation,
it is evident that the plan repre
sents the consensus of the best
thought and experience of the ship
ping experts connected with the
Federal Board. The fact that Mr.
Hurley's name is attached to the
scheme does not mean that he origi
nated it.' although the fact that he
is supporting such a broad and com
prehensive policy entitles him to
great credit. Of course, the success
of the whole matter depends upon
the passage of necessary legislation
by Congress. Although the recently
adjourned Democratic Congress fail
ed utterly to frame legislation for
the future administration of our
huge merchant marine fleet, the Re
publicans have announced their in
tention of dealing with that prob
lem at the earliest possible moment
after they have organized the new
Congress and taken control of the
legislation of the country for the
next two years. The plan given
publicity by Mr. Hurley may well
be taken as the basis for future dis
cussion, and, with improvements
that the debate may bring out, be
adopted as our future maritime
policy.
LET THE COURTS DECIDE
THE Countjy Commissioners, hav
ing employed an expert to re
assess the coal lands in Dauphin
county and that expert having placed
the assessments at a figure which the
coal companies say is too high, it
remains apparently to thresh the
matter out to a proper conclusion
in the courts.
The case is one for expert testi
mony. Neither the County Commis
sioners nor any assessor is possessed
of technical knowledge sufficient to
pass judgment intelligently upon
the claims of the coal company en
gineers of their own knowledge.
Experts must be called also in de
fense of the contentions of the en
gineer who placed the assessments.
The mere word of the coal com
panies that the assessment is too
high cannot be taken, any more
than can the unsupported word of
any other taxpayer as to how much
his own particular property should
be taxed.
There is a strong belief in the
public mind that the coal proper
ties are under-assessed >and no mat
ter what they have to say about it,
an assessed valuation should be de
cided Upon, which the commissioners
regard as fair, and if the companies
then object the place for relief is
the courts.
A WIDER FIELD
COLONEL HENRY WATTER
SON no doubt will regret his
retirement as editor emeritus
of the Louisville Courier-Journal.
One cannot sever a connection of
more than a half century and not
feci a pang of sorrow in the part
ing. Colonel Watterson does not be
lieve in President Wilson's League
of Peace plans; the new owners of
the Courier-Journal do; so there
was nothing for the old warrior to
do but advance his colors, which
he has done, for by cutting loose from
the Courier-Journal, which owes aH
its prominence among the newspa
pers of the Nation to Watterson's
trenchant pen, the Colonel has
widened his field of operations and
the Nation as a whole will receive
the benefit of his writings. How
ever one may differ with Colonel
Watterson politically, one must rec
ognize his patriotism, admire his
courage and admit the sanity of his
judgment. What the Courier-Jour
nal loses the country-at-large gains.
Colonel Watterson is not the sort
of editor who permits his opinions
to be regulated by the vote of a
board of directors.
"7 > tK)toijCtraKta
By the Ex-Committeeman
The legislature of Pennsylvania
last right voted without discussion
to take a recess next week. The
resolution adopted called for ad
journment of the Senate to-day and
the. House to-morrow until Easter
Monday, April 21.
Senator William E. Crow pre
sented the resolution in the Senate
after consultation with colleagues
and it was udopted without discus
sion. This was about 9:30 and at
that time resentment against the
pie 11 was smouldering. At 11:20
the lesolution was laid before the
llouso and action was rapid.
Speaker Spangler put the motion;
Representative J. E: Phillips de
manded to be heard, the speaker
• lid not hear him; the House voted,
w'.ili some few "noes"; some one
yelled for "division"; the speaker
declared the motion carried and it
wo.• all over.
Much grumbling was heard, but
the opponents of the plan were
c-i jght napping and the lawmakers
-vill take a vacation. Meanwhile
the daily expense of the Legislature
will go on and there is considerable
criticism heard. The Governor's of
fice last night declared the Governs
was nut taking any hand in the mat
ter either one way or tne other.
—Governor William C. Sproul's
idea of simplifying the quarantine
inspection at Philadedlphia by a sin
gle inspection which it is desired to
facilitate the passenger lines which
it is expected will be established out
of Philadelphia will take form in
the next week. Certain propositions
are understood to have been sub
mitted to the Attorney General
whereby the State Department of
Health will look after these matters
and act in co-operation with the
United States government. One plan
is for State and Federal inspectors
to board incoming vessels at the
same time and thus do away w T ith
the delays due to two inspections,
each at a separate place. Confer
ences on the subject will be held
during the week.
—There have been recesses in
years gone by in the Legislature,
but they were never very popular
except among the city members.
Ol'ten they have been objects of con
siderable attack because of the ex
pense involved in keeping the men
paid by the day on the job. The
belief is that this session could
have been closed up May 15 with
out difficulty and without a recess.
—ln times past recesses were oft
en taken in February when some of
the leaders desired to go South, to
Florida, or Georgia, or some more
congenial clime and took advan
tage of the visits in the sunny states
to make up a legislative program.
The visiting to the South became
popular after Senator Quay estab.
lislied his Florida home and some
Senators seldom lost an excuse to
go away in winter. The Democrats
at first used to make capital out of
the pilgrimages and tell about the
poor rural members who had to
stay in snow-covered Pennsylvania,
but when a couple of wealthy Dem
ocrats were turned up at southern
resorts during the recess, they had
so criticised, things took on a dif
ferent color and there was not so
much said.
—The greatest objection that is
made to the recess now is because
it will make the session longer than
the middle of May.
Governor Sproul has arranged to
take care of only very urgent mat
ters that may arise during his stay
at Hot Springs. Otherwise he is to
be left alone to recover.
—George B. Wolf was elected
county chairman and treasurer and
Frank Gilmore, secretary at the an
nual meeting of the Democratic
standing committee of Lycoming
county, at WilMamsport on Satur
day. Resolutions endorsing Presi
dent Wilson were adopted. C. Ed
mund Gilmore, the retiring county
chairman, announced his candidacy
for the office of district attorney.
—President Judge Jeremiah N.
Keller, of Mifflintown, who presides
over the Forty-first Judicial district,
including Perry and Juniata coun
ties, will be a candidate to succeed
himself. He was appointed to the
bench in 1917, on the death of Pres
ident Judge William N. Seibert.. J.
M. Barnett, the New Bloomficld
lawyer, who was a candidate against
Judge Seibert, is also an aspirant.
—The Scranton Republican says:
"Governor Sproul's message on the
anthracite situation indicates that
the trend of coal .prices will be up
ward for the next few months, and
he advises that 'every one who can
do so should lay in coal now." In
one way or another, the Governor
says, the anthracite industry fur
nishes employment and sustenance
to almost one-fourth of 'our indus
trial population in Pennsylvania,'
while the State consumes only one
eighth of the product, the bulk of it
going to other parts of the coun
try."
The Wild Yeasts of the Air
[Front the Philadelphia Inquirer.]
Deciding that a beverage contain
ing as much as 1.4 per cent alco
hol is to be regarded as intoxicating,
the Judge Advocate General of the
army apparently deals a blow at
the sale even of many so-called
"soft drinks" in the forbidden areas
about military posts. Few of these
are wholly free from alcohol, and
in many cases the alcoholic content
may develop after manufacture.
Thus nature hereself is in the con
spiracy against a bone-dry State.
Ilow serious that menace is may
be gathered from the Judge Advo
cate General's explanation of the
fashion of her working. Speaking
of the "near beers" he says 'that
unless great pains be taken, not only
to sterilize the product, but to keep
it sterile, "alcohol will be formed
by the fermentation set up by the
wild yeasts which are found every
where in the air."
The wild yeasts! What new and
unexpected perils science is contin
ually discovering! Perhaps the verse
about the child who feared the flow
ers because they were wild may yet
have a very real application. If
there are wild yeasts in the air, ter
rible ravaging creatures lying in wait
for the souls of men and leading
them, without their will or their
knowledge, to the evils of strong
drink, where shall safety he found?
Would anybody recognize a wild
yeast if he saw it? Can the Judge
Advocate General himself lRy his
hand upon his heart and declare
that he has even seen one?
It becomes plainer and plainer
every day that before the Uplift has
accomplished its perfeet work these
revelations of the total depravity of
inanimate objects will have become
fairly appalling.
The Word "Magnet"
The word "magnet" is derived
from the name' of the city of Mog
ncsia, in Asia Minor, where the
properties of loadstone are said to
I have been discovered Chicago
I Tribune.
BJLRJUSBURG TELEGKAJPH
AIN'T IT A GRAND AND GLORIOUS FEEUfPT ..... ... ... .... By BRIGGS
NAJH6-N4 VOU LIV/ 6. IM A. 'AMD Wi A FAM.LY YOJ^^Y^
."fLftT* where The nexT To Yo ° WHt} Drying rou CRAzy
Partitions are all A Daughter That plays .
Too Th.N FIM66R {.xeroses on thc
//C Sio"S B GR-R-rano wd
YOU'LL a,™* /J//, GLOR-R-RIOUSFeeUN) ?
HAVE TO NOUE ''/// FRANCE— PIANO
TO AMD
TWO YEARS OF WAR I
[From the New York Times.]
Two years ago to-day (April 6),at|
3.12 in the morning, the House of |
Representatives, following the Sen
ate's lead, resolved in favor of war |
with Germany, and a formal declar
ation was issued in the afternoon.
It was the first time in all its history,
if we except the little Barbary war
of more than a hundred years ago,
in which the United States ever vot
ed to send armed forces into the old
world to redress a grievance or
avenge an insult. Germany scoffed
loudly. She was sure that we could j
never get our men across in any ,
number to affect the result of the
war. In fact, the common German
idea was that we intended to make
war on Japan and were merely mak
ing a pretense of mobilization until
we could carry out our rjal and
hidden purpose. For months after
ward whenever our soldiers landed,
the Germans were told that only a
few medical officers and hospital
units had got across or ever could.
The doom of Germany was written i
large, but the Germans could not
believe it and did not see it.
Now, two years from that mo- I
mentous day when the haughty Ira- j
perial mind was beset with the no
tion that the United States would i
not fight, that we could send no sub
stantial reinforcements to the armies
of the Allies, the great, ahd it may i
be the decisive, part of America, in j
the overthrow of Germany, in bring- |
ing the war to an end, has been j
written by the pen of history. The !
nations that were arrayed against |
Germany are fashioning at Paris j
the bonds which will keep Germany
at peace with the world. They have i
taken away her navy, they have j
decreed her disarmament, they have
restored Alsace and Lorraine to
and in mercy that precedes repent
ance they are supplying to her peo- |
pie food long withheld by the block
ade. Her Kaiser is a fugitive, her
military party and her general staff
are scattered, her old arrogant spirit
is broken, she has been brought to
terms, and to the autocracy she so
long endured there has succeeded
a nondescript Government of Social
ists that is unable to maintain even
domestic tranquility. These two
years have been crowded with events
unsurpassed in weight and moment
by any recorded in the chronicles of
any similar period in the world's
history.
The Quick and the Dead
[By Laurence Housman.]
Evening rose from a bed of rain,
And out of the West day dawned
again;
With outstretched finge.s of falling
light
She touched the tree-tops and made
them bright;
And under the leaves, a-spark with,
dew,
The cry of the blackbird sparkled
too;
And every hillock, and glade, and
tree
Was filled with the makings of
melody,
As the dying light streamed miles
along
Through murmur of water, and leaf,
and song.
Then out of the East, in a paling
mist.
The dead-faced moon came up to
be kissed;
Slow and solemn we watched her
rise,
A face of wonder with cavernous
eyes,
There life is changeless and time
without worth,
There nbthing dies or Is brought to
birth:
Her day is done, she is filled with
dearth.
Old she looks to the young green
earth,
Old as the foam of a frozen shore.
Old —for nothing can age her more!
O young green earth, go down into
night.
Rejoice in thy youth till its days
are o'er!
Time speeds, life spends: therein is
delight,
Till youth and the years can age
no more.
Bill Hohenzollern
The versatility of William Hohen
zollern when ho was German Emp
orer often amazed and amused the
world. But apparently it was never
fully appreciated, or perhaps was
never fully disclosed, until he went
Into exile. His latest elaborate out
put from Amerongen certain'v re
veals htm as many, more different
kinds of liar and poltroon than the
world ever knew that any one man
could be. —Harvey's Weekly.
State Press on Kunkel Opinion
Schaffer's Victory For Slate
[Philadelphia Bulletin]
The decision by which Judge Kun
kel has continued the preliminary in
junction in favor of the t'ommon
wealth against the Bell Telephone
Company, or rather, in effect and
substance, against the Postmaster-
General of the United States us ad
ministrator of the company's serv
ice, is one of the most important
judicial opinions that has been de
livered for many years on the rela
tions of Pennsylvania as a State to
the National Government.
The suit has yet to be decided on
final hearing, but the principles
which Judge Kunkel' has affirmed
seem virtually to reach already the
essential questions which are in
volved in this unusually significant
case.
The full text of the opinion shows
thai it is based on broader ground
than appeared to be given in tie
first report of it, and that the rights
of this State, as challenged by the
authorities at Washington, are al
together likely to be vindicated fully
in the further proceedings before
the court.
J.idge Kunkel holds that Congress
could not confer powers upon the
President which arc not related to
the actual conduct and prosecution
of the war, and that therefore the
acts of the Postmaster-General in
raising rates were illegal, not being
connected with a war purpose or
with military necessities of the Na
tion.
A proper disposition has also been
made of the specious, and rather
mischievous, contention that the
court's injunction against the ad
vance in the telephone rates could
not be made effective because it
was argued, the President of the
United States cannot be enjoined.
Judge Kunkel insists that even if
the President, because of his office,
may not be subject to injunction,
there is no reason why those who
assist him in questionable or illegal
acts should not be prevented from
doing so if they are amenable to the
piocesses of the court. When they
changed the tolls of the Belli Tele
phone Company in Pennsylvania in
entire indifference to the authority
of our Public Service Commission in
' such matters, they were violating
the rights of this State. Judge Kun
kel clearly calls a halt on what we
may call a gross usurpation of the
authority of Pennsylvania when he
says that
"The conclusion follows that
neither the President nor the
Postmaster-General was acting
officially in changing the rates
and tolls, but they acted beyond
the scope of their powers. In
such case they are open to in
terference and prevention so far
as lies in the power of the
State courts, especially in the
present case where their act
amounts to a disregard of the
Commonwealth's laws and is
an attempt to do that which
the defendant company itself
could not do."
It is due to William L. Schaffer,
the new Attorney-General of Penn
sylvania. that the issue in question
was promptly raised as soon as he
recognized the irregularity and the
wrong. His cogent, as well as lucid,
reasoning has resulted in a signal
victory for' the Commonwealth.
Not only are the public relieved of
the unexpected and unnecessary
charges which Burleson attempted
to' enforce in the telephone service,
but an undue assertion of Federal
power over this State has been
checked and repulsed. If the prin
ciples which Judge Kunkel has af
firmed shall enter into his final
judgment on the facts of the case,
as it would seem almost certain that
EDITORIAL COMMENT
"No beer, no work," will' probably
subside into near-beer and near
work. — Boston Herald.
Another result of international
anuty will be the final recognition of
the consumer as a person having
equal rights with others. —Chicago
Daily News.
Among the chief troubles of a
proud father in some of those South
Sea Islands these days is trying to
figure out whether the new heir
ought to be christened Woodrow or
George.—Manila Bulletin.
By changing the abbreviation of
California to Calif, to avoid chances
for mistake, a suggestion may be
accepted to change Miss to Mrs. so
that Mississippi may be wholly dif
ferentiated from Missouri.—Lowell
Courier-Citizen.
Commissioner Roper calls on all
honest citizens to lasso all tax-dodg
ers. Then we'll all be ropers.—
Lowell Curier-Citizen,
they will, a long and salutary step
will have been taken in defending
legitimate State rights us against an
arbitrary and pernicious national
ism in a time of peace.
The Line on War Power
[From The Pittsburgh Dispatch.]
The text of Judge Kunkcl's de
cision in the case of the Common
wealth versus the telephone com
pany to restrain the application of
Postmaster General Burleson's rates
without the approval of the State
Pubiic Service Commission shows it
to be of much deeper significance
than the brief telegraphic sum
maries indicate. It raises sharply
the extent and limitations of the
President's war powers and denies
his authority to fix rates for private
telephone users as having no rela
tion whatever to the war use of
the wire systems.
The question, the Dauphin county
jurist says, is whether the President
and the Postmaster General are em
powered to use and opeiate the sys
tem for any other purpose than war
purposes. He holds it is self-evi
dent the system may be used for war
purposes without changing the rates
to the public approved by the. Pub
lic Serr'oe Commission since the
Government might use it under nec
essity to the exclusion of the public
altogether. In short, that the Gov
ernment's war use of the wires was
in no wise dependent upon the rates
paid by private users and that the
Burleson rate increase was without
legal authority.
Point is given to this construction
by the language of the act of Con
gress, which explicity provided
"nothing in this act shall lie con
strued to amend, repeal, impair or
affect existing laws or powers of
the States in relation to taxation or
the lawful police regulations of the
States except wherein such laws,
powers or regulations may affect the
transmission of Government com
munication or the issue of slock or
bonds by such system." This reser
vation of power to the State Public
Service Commission over rates is
the basis for the suit.
The war powers of the President,
the court holds, do not mean that
after he has taken property he is
the sole judge of the purposes for
which he may use it. Whether that
use is for war or other purposes, is
a judicial question. The Congress
ional resolution shows that, in the,
opinion of Congress, there existed
no military necessity for changing
the rates. The example is cited that
if the President had taken posses
sion, under his war powers, of a
citizen's residence and used it by
renting it to another for purpose of
revenue it could not be held to be a
war purpose. And if he thus ex
ceeded his constitutional powers,
"and he may not, because of his
office, be subjected to injunction or
the process of the courts for so do
ing, there is no reason why those
who assist him and are within the
jurisdiction of the courts should not
!be prevented so far as they are
[ amenable to judicial process."
This opinion, it will be seen, goes
I to the root of much of the Govern
mental intervention in business un-
I der the guise of war necessity. It
raises, for the first time, the direct
issue of distinguishing between pure
ly war purposes and others having
no direct relation to the prosecution
of the war. If it is sustained it will
revolutionize the whole war time
policy of the administration and
establish a definite l'mltation on the
I use of official power.
BOOKS AND MAGAZINES
A dozen naval yarns published by
the Scrlbners under the title "Anchors
Awefgli," have been pronounced by
no less an authority than Secretary
Daniels, to be classic interpretations
of navy life—and they are by a wo
man, at that! Harriet Welles" life as
the wife of a Rear-Admiral in our
fleet" to all corners of the globe,
navy, following "the fleet" to all
corners of the globe, has brought
the human side of our great fleet
very close to her, and these stories
of executive officer, ship chaplain,
able seaman, and last, but not least,
the brave wives whose lives are a
never-ending series of all-too-brief
honeymoons, have, according to Sec
retary Daniels, "a glow and tender
pathos which have permitted other
than navy eyes to look upon the
lights and shadows of a service which
has of late come into new apprecia
tion by the American people.".
APRIL 8, 1919
THE BATTLE OE JUTLAND
Compared with the force com- |
mantled by. Admiral Jellicoe in the i
North Sea, the forces commanded |
by Alexander, or Caesar, or Napol- j
eon, or Nelson were puny, and even |
those of TOKO and Rojesvensky were j
unimportant. Compared with this
force the agKregate land forces of |
both the Allies and the Teutons were '
inconsiderable.
The total offensive power of one
salvo from one of Jellicoe's battle- j
ships was greater than that of a ;
half million muskets.
The aggregate artillery power of j
the twenty-four modern battleships 1
that Admiral Jellicoe had in his |
main column at the battle of Jutland,
was greater than that of 10,000,000 1
infantry soldiers'—and he moved
these battleships at a speed of nearly I
twenty miles an hour.
No other person ever commanded
a force comparable in power with
the force commanded by Admiral
Jellicoe.
The force under Admiral Jellicoe
in the North Sea was the concentra- i
tion of at least 90 per cent, of the
naval defensive power of the Brit
ish Empire. It was opposed to the
German High Sea Eleet, possessing
an offensive power which while in
ferior, was not greatly so. It was
not so much inferior as to render
impossible the defeat of the British
fleet, by reason of superior strategy
or tactics on the German side, or
of accident, or of all combined, es
pecially since the defensive armor of
the Germans was the better.
If the battle of Jutland had been
a decisive victory for either side the
victory in the war would have gone
to the side that was the victor in
the battle.
OUR SOLDIER DEAD
[By Annette Kohn.]
"In Flanders ticlds, where poppies
blow,"
In France where beauteous roses
grow.
There let them rest—forever sleep,
While .we eternal vigil keep
With our heart's love—with our
soul's pray'r,
For all our Fallen "Over There."
The earth is sacred where they fell—
Forever on it lies the spell
Of hero deeds in Freedom's cause,
.And men unborn shall come and
pause
I To say a prayer, or bow the head.
So leave these graves to hold their
dead.
Let not our sighing nor our tears
Fall on them through the coming
years.
Who on the land, on sea, in air,
With dauntless courage everywhere.
Their homes and country glorilled—
Stood to their arms, and smiling
died.
Great France will leave no need
nor room
That we place flowers on their tomb
And proudly o'er their resting-place,
Will float forever in its grace,
i O'er cross and star, and symbol tag,
| Their own beloved country's Flag.
j The morning sun will gild with light,
[The stars keep holy watch at night,
| The winter spread soft pall of snow,
The summer flowers about them
grow.
The sweet birds sing their spring
time call.
| God's love and mercy guard them aH.
! Charges Loss to Ludendorff
Loss of the war was charged by
a former Krupp expert to two grave
mistakes by Ludendorff, described
as the "brains of the German Army,"
in his failure, first, to estimate the
, wonderful possibilities of the Ameri
can troop transport, and second, his
I false assumption tha£ Marshal
Foch's reserve army had ceased to
I exist in June, 1918.
Ludendorff, he said, gambled with
I the existence of Germany. He was
I like a jockey in a long race who
I forced his horse far ahead of the
| rest of the field and who, toward the
end, when the others began to gain
I with their carefully reserved
! strength, used "whip and spurs in
' a desperate effort to win, virtually
! killed his mount, and yet lost after
j all."
Nehemiah's Trip to Wall
Then went I up in the night by
the brook, and viewed the wall, and
turned back, and entered by the gate
of the valley, and so returned. And
the rulers knew not whither I went,
or what 1 did. Then said I unto
them, ye see the distress that we are
in, how Jerusalem lieth wugtc.—
N'ehemiah 11, 15 and 16.
Stoning (Eljat
Few more interesting "close-up"
talks on the experiences of men
from Harrisburg in the great wai
have been given than by Captain
John T. Bretz, who commanded
Company D, when it left Harrisburg f
for Camp Hancock, at the gathering
of members of the Harrisburg Re
serves, Militiamen and Veterans ol
Foreign Wars at the courthouse Sat
|urday night. The captain left out a
lot he might have told in which h
figured, but modestly mentioned him
self only twice, once when he admit
ted that he had insisted on rations
for his men and the other time when
he remarked that he had been giver
chaige of "a hard boiled" railroad
unit at Bordeaux and found that ha
had to inoculate discipline. The cap
tain's recital was simple and direct
and was heard with closest attention
by the men fortunate enough to at
tend the meeting. He told just how
men from York, Chambersburg, Car
lisle and Harrisburg endured theii
first shelling and among those whc
heard him tell that story was Cap
tain Henry M. Stine, who recruited
the Chambersburg company, but had
to s-elinquish command becausn
army surgeons turned him down. It
was a dramatic moment, when hf
told how the company commanded
by the Harrisburg man, lost men bj
shell fire and how they had to strug
gle through gas filled trenches. Cap
tain Bretz's talk was the first he had
given and he possesses a style ot
simple, direct narrative that goes
right home.
The plan for a big welcome to the
returning soldiers has met with the
greatest support from officers and
men who have returned from over
seas. letters from officers on the
other side also commend the plan.
"We can't' have it as big as that
Fourth of July celebration, but we
are going to make it the same kind
of a real affair," said William Jen
nings.
Congressman J. Hampton Moore,
the greatest authority on inland
waterways in the United States, is
sincerely and enthusiastically of the
belief that money can be procured
from Congress for the deepening of
the Susquehanna River if the peo
ple of the Susquehanna Valley are
energetic and persistent enough.
He is likewise of the opinion that
the project can be developed more
cheaply and will be successful from
a business standpoint. He believes
the amount saved in coal freight
rates in one year would almost
pay for the whole improvement and
he proves easily that the Susque
hanna, a navigable stream, would
carry much more freight than the
Ohio River. The West and the
South, he says, have gotten almost
all the river improvement money
because they went after it. He
thinks the time very favorable now
for the launching of the enterprise
for the reason that the War Depart
ment engineers in charge of the sur
vey have recently returned from
France where a part of their work
was the survey of French water v
courses and are much interested in
doing the same for this country that
• has been done for Europe.
"Your boys are giving the best
years of their lives and many of
them poured out their lives for the
up-building of the Maine, the Seine,
the Rhine —none of them to com
pare with your own beautiful river
either in size or beauty. Are you
going to let feeble efforts or lack
of interest on your part hold back
the development of this really great
stream, when your lads are doing
so much for the development of
i deeper waterways in Europe? I
| think not."
• •
I Speaking of Columbia —that is the
birthplace of Frank B. Musser, pres
ident of the Harrisburg Railways
Company, and John S. Musser, pres
ident of the Dauphin Electrical Sup
plies Company. Being enthusiastic
Rotarians they went down to attend
the deeper Susquehanna conference
held in their old home town a few
days ago. The Harrisburg party,
twenty-eight in number, was met by
a band and members of the Mer
chants' and Manufacturers' Associa
tion. The Columbia people, being
very hospitable and desirous of hon
oring a son of the old town who
had gone away and made good,
chose John Musser to be chief mar
shall of the parade and put him out
in front of the band.
"That's always the way," grum
bled his brother Frank from a hum
ble place in the rear ranks. "John
always gets the honors and 1 get.
all the knocks. Now I used to play
cornet in this very band and they
might have made me chief marshal,
me being a former member of the
band."
"May be," observed Preston Crow
ell, who was standing near, "may
he. Frank, that's the reason they
didn't ask you."
• •
If you want to get a rise out of
Frank Cousylman, manager for
Doutrich & Company, just ask him
how you get to Columbia byway of
the Spooktown road. Frank was
horn in Marietta and modestly ad
mitted to friends with whom he was
motoring to Columbia the other eve
ning that he could find his way to
that town with his eyes tied shut.
"Well" asked "Jim" McCullough,
who was driving, "that being the
case, may be you'll give us some
light on how to get to Columbia
quickly and comfortably?"
Frank said he'd be glad to do it
and advised that they "go byway
of the Spooktown road."
They followed his directions and
got lost.
Finally in Columbia they explain
ed their lateness at a meeting by
telling their hosts that they "got
lost on the Spooktown road."
And ever since all the folks who
have cars in Columbia have been
out hunting a highway known .as
the Spooktown road. A reward has
been offered the finder.
| WELL KNOWN PEOPLE
—Dr. Leo S. Rowe. Assistant Sec
retary of the Treasury, who is speak
ing cn the League of Nations," used
to be a professor in the University of
Pennsylvania.
—Mayor H. L. Trout ts head of
Lancaster's committee in charge of
the welcome home for soldiers.
—C. F. S. Willow, York city en
gineer, says that people in his city
have turned to building garages
rather than houses.
| DO YOU KNOW
—That Harrisburg stool was
used for material to manufac
ture army trucks?
HISTORIC HARRISBURG
French traders one time tried to
buy the historic ford here from In
dians, but they refused to sell.