18
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
<1 NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOME
Founded 1831
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E. J. STACK POLE
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T. R. OYSTER. Business Manager
QUS. M. STEINMETZ, Managing Editor
A. R. MICHENER, Circulation Manager
Bxeeetlve Beard
3. P. McCULLOUGH,
BOYD M. OGLESBY,
F, R. OYSTER,
GUS. M. STEINMETZ.
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FRIDAr, APRIL 11, 1919
So much ice miss,
If lore is weak; so much we gain,
If love is strong; God thinks no pain
Too sharp or lasting to ordain
To teach us this.
—Helen Hunt Jackson.
THE SUMMER CAMP
THE Y. M. C. A. management
should not hesitate in planning j
extensively for its summer
camp for boys. The opportunity is
ripe for excellent service in this re
spect. The association camp last
year, conducted somewhat in the
•way of an experiment under more
or less unfavorable circumstances,
was a great success and every boy
who attended came home the better
for the experience.
The committee In charge does
well to consider the selection of a
permanent site, but great care
must be exercised In this, for a very
great deal depends upon the place
in which the camp is located. The
enterprise will cost considerable
money in any event, but the people
of the city will support It liberally
if it is shown that the site is suit
able and the expenditure Is in the
nature of a permanent investment.
Every manly boy likes the out
doors and the Y. M. C. A. camp, as
conducted last year, affords an ideal
means of gratifying this longing un
der conditions that will send him
back home a healthier, happier, bet
ter lad. Not only does the associa
tion need a camp site, but it ought
to have a cabin somewhere in the
mountains near Harrisburg, within
hiking distance of a car line, where
parties of boys could go to spend
week-ends during the fall and win
ter seasons. It is to be hoped the
committee will make this a part of
the program.
"What is Rotary?" asked a Har
risburg man yesterday. We don't
know. But we know what a Rotary
Club is and we know what a good
Kotarian is, and so we are ready to
say that whatever Rotary is, was or
is likely to become, is good for the
community, good for the country and
good for the world at large. When
ever the people of the world under
stand each other as the members of
Rotary clubs understand each other,
then wo shall have small need for a
League of Nations, for the only con
tests likely to develop will be little
scraps over where the next confer
ence shall be held or who shall be the
next International president.
DOWN WITH DICTATORS!
FORMER SENATOR JOSEPH W.
BAILEY, while he Insists that
he did not read himself out of
the Democratic party in his recent
speech at Newark, renews his at
tacks on the present day leaders of
that party in a way that leaves
nothing to be desired on the part
of Republicans. "For several years,"
says Mr. Bailey, "our leaders have
been pandering to Populists, Social
ists and political nondescripts, until
they have now adopted almost
everything which the old Populist
party advocated and many of the
things which the Socialist party has
advocated." ,
The result of the election of last
November demonstrated the truth of
Senator Bailey's statement. Thor
oughly disgusted with the trend of
Democracy, as taught by the men
who assume to speak for it at the
present time, self-respecting and
conservative Democrats are leaving
the Wilson party and giving their
allegiance to the party of patriotism
that still recognizes the Constitution
as an instrument that insures the
continuance of our prosperity as a
Nation, if its principles are adhered
to. The drift of sentiment away
trom Wilson, reflected in the last
flections, is continuing, stimulated
from day to duy as reports from
Paris tell of the un-American sur
renders ho is making In order to
bring success to his League of Na-
FRIDAY TVENTNG, HARRISBURG tWftt TELEGRAPH APRIL' 11, 1919.
tions. "When November of next year
is reached and the people have an
other opportunity to express their
views on national affairs, there will
be such an overwhelming anti-Wil
son vote rolled up as will seal, for
years to come, the fate of the party
that he has brought to ruin. It will
make no difference whether Wilson
himself is the candidate or whether
we have a man of his choosing, the
people will recognize the brand and
repudiate it with emphasis.
"How can any man who believes
in the principles of the Democratic
party vote for such men?" asks Sen
ator Bailey. The answer is that he'
cannot. And it follows that such
men will vote for the candidate who
will do the most to draw the country
away from the political heresies
that have dominated its policies for
the past six years and restore the
principles of representative govern
ment that have given the United
States the commanding position that
she now holds among the world
powers. That candidate will bo the
nominee of the Republicans, who
will represent in his own person
and in the party whose standard he
bears, a record of Achievement, of
strict adherence to the mandates of
the Constitution and of constant ef
fort to upbuild and protect Ameri
can industries that will be an irre
sistible lodestone to those voters who
still maintain a pride of country.
Our old friend. Dr. Pazet, former
Ambassador from Peru, improves with
the years. H.'j address in Harrisburg
yesten?y orought wonderral response
'front those who desire nothing more
earnestly than that our neighbors to
the South of us shall understand that
all we desire of them is their sincere
friendship. His defense of the Mon
roe Doctrine voices the sentiments of
thousands upon thousands of Ameri
cans, who believe that there should
be permitted no Asiatic nor European
interference with the smaller nations
of South and Central America. The
nations of these two great continents
should stand together for the peace
of the world, even though they have
to fight for it, and the closer they
stand the less likelihood there will
be of the necessity for a fight.
„
WHAT THEY LEARNED
WHAT the housing committee
saw at Yorkship Village,
near Camden, Wednesday,
cannot be picked up bodily
and incorporated in the build
ing program to be adopted for Har
risburg, but it afforded a fine lesson
in careful and systematic planning
to meet the needs of the people.
Even though it may be admitted
that some mistakes have been made,
the truth is apparent that the plan
ners know what they are talking
about, when they say in their pros
pectus that while "Yorkship Village
is not a model town, it is a group of
comfortable well planned homes."
The difference between Yorkship Vil
lage and the average town is that
Yorkship being built during the war
by the Government, was built so as
to afford comfortable homes in
healthful surroundings for the ship
workers, who were needed to man
the rapidly growing plant of the
New York Shipbuilding Corporation,
with whom the Government had
placed large rush orders for large
sized ships.
Without any real program, nearly
all towns grow little by little and
haphazard. One man builds a hotel
and another builds nearby a group
of stores. Cottages spring up here
and there and surround the busi
ness center. Business pushes in and
surrounds the nearby cottages cut
ting off their light and destroying
their privacy. Real estate specula
tors appear and build the greatest
number of houses possible on the
smallest piece of ground. Real es
tate values jump and thereupon
your poorly paid worker either has
to take crowded unsanitary quarters
or go far from the center where
prices remain more reasonable. Such
a town has no real plan for develop
ment, but like Topsy "It just grows"
until suddenly it comes to realize
that it is a full grown town and
then calls in experts to try and cure
the many deformities which have de
veloped in its haphazard growth.
It is not so with Yorkship Village.
There, thanks to the foresight of
those interested in its creation, ex
perts were called in before the build
ings were started and the whole plan
of the town, its streets, its homes,
its houses, its churches, its clubs,
hotels, public buildings and play
grounds were all thought out ahead
and planned for, so that the many
ills that the average town experi
ences have been avoided.
That is what impressed the hous
ing committee most —the need for
much thought, and care and discus
sion in the formulation of a pro
gram for Harrisburg. Nothing but
the best will content those who are
back of the movement here, and if
we can show the world some new
things, why all the better. Harris
burg has done that before and the
the project indicates that while they
may take their time to the solu
tion of the problem the result will
be eminently satisfactory.
"The Kaiser is as wise as a serpent
and as harmless as a dove," says a
western exchange. Our idea is that
he is as wise as a dove and as
harmless as a serpent.
It looks as though France means
to place a first mortgage on Germany,
which is better than having to take
German bonds.
"What shall we do with our tanks?"
asks a despairing Englishman. Ask
any American prohibitionist, friend;
just Cfck him.
"League has appendix to treaty,"
says a news dispatch. Ah. ha, now
we know what's the matter —appen-
dicitis. _____ 1
foUtict Ck
By the Kx - Committee man
The first real adverse criticism of
the legislative recess seems to have
come, oddly enough, from a staunch
Republican newspaper. The Phila
delphia Record and Pittsburgh Post,
Democratic standard bearers, have
been more or less indignant about
the recess being taken, but as the
Democratic members were conspicu
ous in voting to adjourn and not a
one chirped in protest their com
ments are more or less discounted.
The Inquirer's editorial opinion
on the subject has been much dis
cussed about the Capitol, especially
in view of the fact that the popular
impression is that hopes to get the
controversy over the Philadelphia
charter bills in better shape had
some to do with the recess being
authorized. It is an open secret
that one of the reasons why some of
the up-State men voted for the re
cess was that they wanted to give a
chance for a settlement of the Quak
er City row and thus insure some
tranquillity for the rest of the sit
ting. Others voiced objection to the
recess in private and when asked to
raise the banner of revolt discovered
that they had much to do at home.
The Inquirer says: "The Legisla
ture of Pennsylvania, we are sorry
to say, is a loafer. Always it could
do its work, with steady application,
in six weeks. Always it fritters away
nearly six months of time. It is
frittering now. And to aid the frit
tering process. It has adjourned for
a considerable holiday, just as if
three and one-half months had. not
been devoted mostly to holidays.
Don't the legislators ever get tired
of doing nothing?"
—The Philadelphia Record says:
"Luzerne county will elect four
judges within the next two years.
The term of Judge John M. Garman
expires this year, and his successor
must be elected in November. In
1921 the terms of Judges Freas,
Strauss and O'Boyle will expire. It
is believed that Judge Garman will
have at least two opponents in the
coming fall campaign, while more
than a half a dozen lawyers are
doing a little quiet work in the way
of preparing for the contests that
will be staged in 1921, when three
places on the bench are to be filled."
—All administration bills will be
ready for presentation to the Legis
lature when it reassembles. There
are only a few and they are mostly
relative to the Department of Public
Grounds and Buildings, but they will
be prepared, according to statements
at the Governor's office to-day. It
also became known that a number
of attaches of various departments,
who had been seeking increases of
pay, had been informed that the
proposed bill to create a State Sal
ary Board was designed to fit cases
where men were working on salaries
established years ago and since re
garded as inadequate. This will he
the death knell of a number of bills
to raise pay.
—Men back of the bill to recon
stitute the State Board of Agricul
ture and give it a share in the man
agement of the Department of Agri
culture. have been told that the bill
will not be passed. Instead, as soon
as the Legislature reconvenes, the
Jones bill reorganizing the Depart
ment of Agriculture will be taken
up and passed finally.
—The Philadelphia Public Ledger,
in an editorial on picking mayors
does not want Senator Vare or any
other leader to do it. It says: The
sooner this community gets rid of
the notion that divisions of opinion
or party affiliations along the lines
of national politics have any possi
ble relation to the business problems
of a great city, the sooner will it
attain that ideal of good municipal
government which is the ambition
of all good citizens, however they
may group themselves on questions
of national policy.
Congressman J. Hampton
Moore had a notable dinner in Phil
adelphia the other day when he en
tertained the men who had been en
gaged with him in newspaper work
twenty-five years ago. Some of
those in attendance were Colonel
George Xox McCain, Peter Bolger,
Peter J. Iloban and others who used
to grace legislative sessions.
—The Pittsburgh Gazette-Times
has just handed out this wallop:
Secretary Baker's tribute to the
newspapers for public service per
torruea in publishing the casualty
lists in deserved. We say it with
modesty. But don't forget that if
Mr. Baker had had his way the lists
given out by the War Department
would have been not worth printing.
—Chester has occupied its new
city hall. Harrisburg has made a
start, thanks to the Governor, and
the Smith bill will provide a way.
—Renewed efforts are being made
at Pittsburgh to show the boroughs
the advantage of annexation to the
city.
LABOR NOTES
Women organizers of the State
Federation of Labor and the Local
Labor Council in Seattle, Wash., have
issued an appeal to workingwomen to
3oin the trade union movement.
A 10 per cent, increase in wages
and a 44-hour week are being asked
by garment workers in Chicago.
The constitution of the Provincial
Federation of Labor in Nova Scotia
declares for a 36-hour week for all
workers.
The Moving Picture Operators' Un
ion in Omaha, Neb., has established
a six-hour day and raised wages from
50 cents to 70 cents an hour. Six
years ago these workers, then un
ganized, were being paid from 20 to
25 cents an hour.
There is little opposition on the
part of employers to the demand of
horseshoers in Cincinnati for an
eight-hour day.
Steam and Marine Fitters' Union in
Seattle, Wash., have purchased at a
cost of $12,000 a grocery store and
will operate it on the co-operative
plan.
Colored restaurant employes in
Fort. Worth, Texas, are being organ
ized.
Trade unionists in Boise, Idaho,
have voted to assess themselves $1
for the purpose of organising the men
and women workers in all branches
of industry.
The Governor General of Algeria is
studying the question of extending
to the colony the measures adopted
in France to increase the allowances
of government employes temporarily
on account of the high cost of living.
Having learned that the Australian
government is compensating contrac
tors on tlie cancellation of the con
struction of wooden ships, the Ship
wrights' Union are claiming that they
also are entitled to compensation.
SOMEBODY IS ALWAYS TAKING THE JOY OUT OF UFE Byßrigg $
/ Mew you Boys \ . ■ N
/ Go M AMD ENJOf f ] TOO CAM T _
YOUR CIGARS /" "N ( TRY OME o? \ MA*C M? N /
I VAIHH.6 I HSLP / \ I Tm£.S£ fRAIsjK \ MAD JIM- I \ / I
THE FARMERETTES AGAIN
In accordance with the program
laid out by the Council of National
Defense, urging educational institu
tions to recruit the "man power" of
the Nation for the raising of food
stuffs, the Margaret Morrison Divi
sion of the Carnegie Institute of
Technology, have gone a step far
ther and are recruiting the girl pow
er for this purpose. The girl "far
merettes" recruited are not drawn
from the student body, but are com
posed of girls employed in nearby
offices, stores and factories.
In enlisting in the "farmerettes,"
the girls are given not only an op
portunity of "doing their bit" in the
production of foodstuffs so sorely
needed, but are afforded the chance
of a summer vacation that will ben
efit them physically and financially
as well.
Before leaving for the summer
camp, the girls have been formed
into classes in which they will re
ceive instruction in the domestic
sciences such as cooking, sewing and
millinery and also in dramatics and
a thorough course in physical train
ing and athletics. A part of the
physical training consists of esthetic
and folk dancing. These classes will
meet three evenings a week at the
Margaret Morrison Division between
the hours of 7:30 and 9:30.
In May and June an advance
guard of workers will go to the
summer camp to do the planting.
On July first, the first vacation par
ty of girls will leave for Camp
Louise Carnegie, situated at Glen
cairn, thirty miles above Pittsburgh
on the shores of the beautiful Alle
gheny river. In camp the girls will
live in the huge old Mansion House.
This building has about twenty-five
rooms and big porches and is full
of the nooks and cranies so dear to
the feminine heart. All the rooms
are open to the sunshine and the
breezes that sweep up the Allegheny.
Here the real work of the summer
will be taken up and the girls will
not only raise crops, but the crops
will be the direct means of raising
strong healthy girls. Under the lead
ership of Miss Grace Brogan, the
"farmerettes" will be taught to plant,
till the ground and harvest the crops.
The physical training the girls will
receive in camp will not consist
simply of the work they do in the
fields, but under the leadership of
Miss Helene Burckhalter they will
be put through a daily course of
athletic training. "Hiking" will be
on the program and the girls will
be taught to follow in the foot steps
of their mothers, who thought noth
ing of walking a mile or two, long
before the advent of the street car
and the automobile.
However, it will not he all
and no play, for the "farmerettes"
will have their regular time for
wholesome recreation and may swim,
boat, dance, swing in the hammocks
ton the spacious porches or play
tennis if they so desire.
WE STILL ARE CRIPPLES
How many of us realize we are
cripples? We have the usual quota
of legs and arms, fingers and toes,
but we're cripples just the same.
Samuel Hopkins Adams made tho
discovery while studying reconstruc
tion of maimed soldiers at Walter
Reed General Hospital. Washington.
Describing the incident in the May
number of the Red Cross Magazine,
he writes:
" 'I supose you regard yourself as
a whole man,' demanded one of the
vocational therapy experts.
"Looking myself hastily over to
make sure that I had not lost any
thing In the surgical ward, I replied
that I could count the usual number
of arms, legs and other appurten
ances.
" 'All right,' said the expert, 'but
you're sort of a cripple at that.
You're atrophied."
" 'lf I am, I've never discovered
it,' T assured him.
" 'Of course not. People never do
until they're shown. You haven't got
anything like the full use of more
than four fingers and two thumbs out
of a total of ten. The normal man—
the man who believes himself nor
mal, I mean—never has. Can you
light a safety match with one hand ?'
"He handed me the box and the
match. After the second abortive at
tempt the match fell on the floor and
the box fell on the match.
" 'That's elementary, that stunt,'
remarked the instructor. 'Our one
arms can do that before they get out
of bed. You see, your two smaller
fingers are really cripples. Now we
teach our fellows to do the/work
with those fingers that you have to
another hand for. There's the whole
physical principle of our training in
its simplest form—substitution.' "
THE PASSING OF THE
RAILROAD SHANTY-MAN
[Front the Literary Digest.]
MONG the picturesque person
f\ alitics, now being swept away
by the onward progress of civ
lization, is the railroad switch-ten
der who sat at the shanty by the
right of way and became a sort of
unofficial purveyor of more or less
authentic information and the hero
of many a railroad yarn. As a
writer in the Little Rock Arkansas
Gazette notes, Government operation
of the roads, combined with the ex
tension of the interlocking system,
has slated the "gossipy tenant" for
retirement. In the old days when
ixnpoctant news flew through the
yards and passed from crew to crew,
it was generally "shanty dope," and
was traced to "shanty No. 1," "shan
ty No. 2," or "shanty No. 3," as the
case might be. The writer in The
Gazette reminds us that,
"The shanties came into being
with the first railroad that was built,
and were intended to protect the
switch-tenders from the rains and
other severities of the weather. In
cold seasons the tenuer always had
a cheerful fire, and, being naturally
fond of company, he welcomed tho
trainmen who slipped In' to warm
themselves. The shanty jobs, through
the working of some unwritten law,
were invariably given to old or de
crepit trainmen. Operatives who
lost a leg or an arm or sustained
other disabling injuries were given
such assignments on their return to
service. Many a railroad escaped
damage suits by exercising diplo
matic skill in the distribution of the
shanty jobs. w
"Before automatic switches were
brought to their state of efficiency,
the shanty and the shanty-man were
as much a necessity as the yard
master or the yarde'erk. In the
shanty-man's own estimate he was
more essential than the president of
the road, and he usually did not
hesitate to express this opinion, as
he has from time immemorial been
a person of privilege. When he
hnd important information to send
through the yards he never reserved
It for any one. He let the first man
along know all about it. knowing
that there would be no delay in its
transmission to the others on tho
plant."
Every railroad terminal, we are
told, hap its stock of anecdotes con
cerning tho shanty. A story is told
of "how a shanty-man played the
role of hero and saved the passen
gers In the waiting-rooms at the
old Union Station at Twelfth and
Poplar Streets, St. Louis, from the
fury of a pack of wild beasts." The
tale runs thus:
"It was back in 1886 or 18S7.
that this catastrophe was averted
through the forethought and sprint
ing qualities of the shanty-man. A
circus train was being switched
through the yards, and had pro
gressed as far as Fourteenth Street,
when a derailment overturned a
string of cars loaded with caged
lions, tigers and other types of the
jungle. Several of these cages were
wrecked: many of the animals
crawled out and started down the
tracks in the direction of the sta
tion.
"The man of the shanty saw the
menagerie first, and, having a good
start on the thoroughly frightened
heasts. proceeded to smash all pre
vious records of sprinting achieve
ment scored in any railroad yard
extant and he succeeded. He reached
the waiting rooms far in advance of
the onrushing animals, and had
enough breath left to shriek an
alarm. The people waiting for trains
crowded in the rooms and the doors
were quickly secured. Some of the
animals ran up a stairway in the
station building leading to the of
fices of the station company and
created a panic among the clerks,
some of whom jumped from the
second-story windows out on Pop
lar Street, while others sought safe
ty behind desks and chairs and in
closets. Some of the animals suc
ceeded in reaching the street, where
they were shot by the police. The
few that managed to get to the of
fices were taken alive by attaches
of the circus."
Many of the old-lime feuds be
tween train-crews were traced to
the shanties. A story would get a
start and brcod trouble. It might
have been originated in a spirit of
jest, "but the point of humor was
not always discovered in time to
head off a fist-fight or two." But
picturesque and interesting as the
shanty-man was, he was a relic of
the old, informal, rough-and-ready
era in American,railroading and is
passing with other "archaic insti
tutions." As we read:
"The new order of operation calls
for well-appointed towers with an
abundance of room for all the dis
patchers and lever-men, and there
is room for a whole crew to 'warm
up' at a time. A man in a tower
now can control switches a long
way ahead on either side of his
tower, and he has only to pull a
little lever or touch a button to
accomplish that result. It isn't nec
essary to go out in the weather and
throw a heavy device that used to
to severely tax the operator. Elec
tric current and magnets perform
the same service with a minimum
of effort. The veterans, who are
being relieved of their shanties, are
going to crossings that are not pro
vided with gates, where they bid
fair to spend the balance of their
railroad days. As these stations take
thorn out of the active yard centers,
their capacity to gather and distri
bute the 'dope* will be severely im
paired, and it is hardy to be ex
pected that the trainmen will longer
view their disclosures with awe."
BOOKS AND MAGAZINES
Francis Bowes Sayre, whose book,
"Experiments in International Adminis
tration," has just been published by the
Harpers gives a curious, if comparative
ly unimportant, instance of international
co-operation. In an agreement signed
at Tangier, May 31, 1863, between Mo
rocco and the leading European coun
tries and the United States, it was to be
instituted at Cape Spartel, Morocco.
"Under this treaty," says Mr. Sayre, "the
lighthouse ar.d land upon which it stands
are to remain under the sovereignty of
the Sultan, whose flag alone shall be
hoisted on the lighthouse tower; but Its
'superior direction and administration'
is turned over to the representatives of
the contracting Powers, which agree to
£liare equally the annual expenses for
its maintenance. The lighthouse is to be
protected by a Moorish guard, and all
the contracting states agree to respect
its neutrality. There is thus set up an
International establishment, supervised
by representatives of all signatory states.
These shall make regulations for the di
rection and management of the light
house which cannot be changed without
the consent of all. The interational ar
rangement still remains In successful
operation."
•'Experiments In International Ad
ministration" is a complete study of
previous attempts at League of Nations
in the past, what they have accomplish
ed and why they have either succeeded
or failed.
Prudence Bardish. in her recently
published book, "Mother Love In
Action," is a firm believer that if
mothers would exchange stories with
their children and write them down
for future reference, they would find
themselves in possession of a most en
tertaining collection of literature. "One
mother I know," she says, "had a
charming little Christmas story that
her son told her when he was only
seven years old. She wrote it down.
Now he Is a leading magazine writer
and one of his best-known stories is
that Christmas story that he told his
mother when he was seven years old."
In "Mother Love In Action," a Harper
book, the author has tried to solve the
manifold problems constituting the
mother's job and to encourage a deeper
Bense of the importance of the task
that lies at the door of a mother who
has the responsibility of little children
on her shoulders.
American merchants who are exand
ing or Initiating business with French
Spanish and Italian speaking countries
will find an aid of incalculable value
in a slender little book of forty nar
row pages which E. P. Dutton and com
pany are publishing this week entitled
"Exchange Tables for Converting Dol
lars into Francs and Francs into Dol
lars." As the same currency prevails
In Switzerland, In Spain under the name
of Peseta and ia Italy under that of
Lire, exporters and importers doing
business or preparing to do business
with any of those countries will find
that these conversion tables will not
only save much time but will also avoid
the possibility of error. The old tables
of this sort which were In use before
the war are inadequate now as they
cover only rates of exchange from 5.15
to 5.25. These new tables cover the
conversion of francs into dollarß and of
dollars into francs, at rates ranging
ail the way from 5.00 to 5.80 and there
fore are useful not only now while the
rates are abnormally low but will be
equally useful during the entire transi
tory period and also after rates become
normal again. The tables have been
compiled by Ernest Levy, of Paris.
In the
Realm of Nature
Timely Articles oil Subjects
Pertaining to Natural History
Furnished by the
Harrisburg Natural History
Society.
Now that the cold March winds
are a thing of the past, the wild
flowers arc rapidly increasing in
I number. A walk through WildwooJ
Par! - , or along the Conodoguiner.
creek, or about the mountains a'.
Hockvillc, is a rare treat for the
lover of wild flowers. In the moun
tains the trailing arbutus is now to
be found in abundance. Those who
know the flower only as it is sold
m the markets, tied with wet, dirty
string into tight bunches, can have
little idea of the joy of finding tiic
pink blossoms freshly opened among
the dead leaves, or growing in broad
patches among the moss and pine
needies. In the same locality will
be found that first harbinger of
spring the hepatica. It has now dis
carded its worn-out fdilago in favor
of a fiesli set of leaves, some of the
flowers- are purple, others white, oc
casionally a cluster will be found
with a fragrance resembling that of
sweet violets. A walk through Wild
wood Park will be a revelation to
one not familiar with this mo3t
beautiful of our parks. In shady lo
cations will bo found the beauti
ful white flowers of the bloodroot,
some are quite large with from
seven to ten petals, others smaller
with as many as twenty petals. They
must be seen in their native haunts
however to be appreciated as the
petals soon fall off after being
plucked. The root is reddish and is
filled with a blood-like juice, as is
also tlic stem. As the fluid stains
whatever it touches—hence .Is
va'i o to the Indians as a war paint
01:0 should be careful in plucking
the flowers. There also will be found
the spring beauties, a delicate flower
with leaves resembling blades of
grass, the flowers have live petals,
are light pink or white, with pink
linos, converging near the base. A
little: further on, large patches of
dog's tooth violets will be found. Of
source they are not a violet at ail
as they belong to the lily family.
Many persons prefer the name of
adder's tongue, which is more ap
| propriate, the flower bearing some
1 resemblance to a snake's head, while
the spotted leaves bring to mind Jts
skin. There, too, will be found the
goller. corydalis, dainty little yellow
sucks resembling the bleeding heart;
! the yellow cinquefoil, looking like
gold dollars scattered over the
ground; and the toothwort or crin
kleruot, which takes its name from
its root which is crinkled with tooth
like appendages. These are some
times eaten and taste much iike
wo.er cress. The flowers are pale
pink or white in loose clusters. On
the hillsides will be found the saxi
frage, the rock cress and last but
net least, the white hearts some
times called Dutchman's breeches.
These are usually found in shady
lota lions where there is rich leaf
m6ld. the flowers are white tipped
with yellow and resemble the fa
miliar bleeding heart the leaves are
finely dissected and lace-like.
THE FRONT—AT LAST
[By Major William S. Manning.]
Now I am free to do, and give, and
puy.
Not stinting one for other debts I
owe.
My debts were these; To smile with
friendly show.
On all about, too close for other
play;
To say to all the nothings X could say.
And miss the silence which my
friends would know;
To heed the clock that ticked to
and fro
To ill-done tasks, long-drawn, di
luting day.
But now I am come to a wide, free,
space
Of easy breath, where my straight
road doth lie;
And all my debts are funded in this
place
To one debt, tho the figures
mount the sky.
My debts are one, my foe before my
face—
I shall not mind the paying when
I die.
Something New in Concrete
Certainly people would laugh at
the suggestion of a concrete air
plane now, just as tlicy would have
laughed at the proposition to build
a concrete ocean-going vessel fifty
years ago.—From the Boston Tran
script.
Stoning flMjat
Something seems to have affected
the mulberry trees about Harris
burg and in the absence of a better
cause, people familiar with these
trees say that it is the weather. And
the strangest part about it is that
trees which survived last winter's
severity have been the most affected
There are a number of
"weeping" mulberry trees,' a fancy ,
creation, about Ilarrisburg and while k
several in private yards have been
killed this year the inulberrys in
Capitol park have been able to sur
vive. The trees have been carefully
inspected and no disease or inse"
seems to have ruined them, but
ar as dead as door nails. On tb>
other hand, the State's mulberry tree,
right outside of the State Museum,
is thriving and has just been pruned
and lixed up for summer so that
i it can vie with the orange trees out
side the windows of Dr. Thomas
Lynch Montgomery, the State libra
rian. The cause for the deaths of
the other trees is being looked up.
The magnolia trees about the city,
which aro in bloom, are attracting
much attention, but there .are a num
ber of such trees which show the
effects of the cold spell some days
ago. The ntild winter has caused
the magolias to bloom earlier than
usual in many cases and the flowers
are not as delicately shaded in many
cases as formerly, while the outside
leaves aro dark brown.
• * •
The Senate of Pennsylvania has
been officially asked by American
soldiers in English camps to inter
est itself in the return of soldiers
who are married. Several letters
have been received by senators and
officers asking that some action be
taken. The letters are mostly from
men who claim that they are mar
ried and that their families arc suf
fering inconvenience as a result of
their retention in the service. One
man wrote that his pay is only $52
per month and that his family ex
penses run about SSS. Another who
addressed "The senators of Penn
sylvania" said frankly that "I want
to get home just as soon as I can."
Another asked that the newspapers
of the State be interested.
* • *
According to reports coming to the
State Capitol, anthracite coal pro
duction has been speeded up in a
number of the hard coal mines in
the last week and big shipments will
soon be on the way is opinion of
men here. The mines in the lower
anthracite field will increase their
output it is predicted.
• • •
Pennsylvania fishermen who have
been too eager to open the trout
season ahead of time have fallen
into the hands of State Policemen,
game and tish wardens by the dozen
the last fortnight. The mild'weather
and the fact that many streams
stocked with trout in the last few
years show numerous fish have been
too much for some lovers of fly
casting and they have disregarded
the fact that the season opens on
April 15 and gone after the trout.
In addition to arrests for fishing
ahead of the time the law allows
some men have been arrested for
having over 25 fish, the legal limit.
• • *
Dr. J. T. Uothrock, who is being
honored in such an unusual manner
by the State's official forestry or
ganization which he helped to create,
is "the grand old man of forestry
in Pennsylvania" as he has been
styled by some of the leading con
servationists of the country. The
doctor is eighty now and has had
a notable career. He was born in
McVeytown and educated at Harvard
and the University of Pennsylvania,
went to war, became a doctor, turned
to botany, served with the Govern
ment geological survey, held a chair
at State College, gave up a fine prae-
I tice at Wilkes-Barre to engage in
natural history research, explored
Canada and western States, went
through unknown Pennsylvania and
has preached its beauties and pos
sobilities and dangers. He has en
joyed life, but says once in a while
that he has had some hardships
"good to reflect upon."
"" • * *
The opening of the tadpole season
has developed a new industry out
on the Hill. There are some young
sters in that section who have been
visiting Bellevue Park and gathering
lin the "tads" and showing them in
tin cans. There is a large crop this
year and the small reptiles have a
great attraction. The traffic is in
marbles and tadpoles. A fine large
tadpole is sure to command a
"glassy", while ordinary run of the
pond will bring only a "commie."
• • *
Up-town kids have the turtle
hunting fad. They have been scour
ing the runs and the river banks and
have numerous small turtles. One
pair of boys used a parental garage
as an aquarium and the father
found two water turtles in the floor
of his car when he started out for
a ride. Another family discovered
a minute water turtle in the gold
fish bowl.
] WELL KNOWN PEOPLE
—W. U. Barr has been elected
head of the Rotary club of Reading.
—George W. Sturmer, the veteran
Pennsylvania railroad man, was here
a few days ago on safety work.
—C. Oscar Beasley, here on Phila
delphia transit matter, has had
more cases of that kind here than
any other lawyer.
—Dr. W. E. Hughes, prominent
Philadelphia physician, has returned
from a trip to Cuba.
—Joseph P. McCullen, mentioned
for judge in Philadelphia, has taken
a prominent part in Democratic
State politics for years.
—Manager A. F. Kaul, of Dan
caster. who has served fifty years,
is being sent congratulations from
Harrisburg friends.
—George E. Datesman, director of
works in Philadelphia, may bo made
the engineer in charge of Fairmount
Park.
—Judge John M. Patterson, of
Philadelphia, originated the idea of
the Victory parade for his city and
Is serving on a committee to ar
range it.
| DO YOU KNOW ~~
—That Harrisburg used to be
one of the cut nail making cen
ters?
HISTORIC HARRISBURG
—The first industry here after
ferrying and trading was wagon and
boat repairs.
REVISED
There was a duffer In our club
And he was wondrous wise;
He'd slive or hook into a trap
Amid the worst of lies.
But when he saw what he had done.
Without the slightest strain.
He merely picked the pellet up
And threw it out again v
—Gran Hand Rio*, ,