8 HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH 4 KEVPBPA.PER FOR THE HOME Founded 1831 Published evenings except Sunday by THE TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO. Telegraph Building, Federal Sgaare E. J. STACK POLE President and Editor-in-Chief F. R. OYSTER, Business Manager GUS. M. STEINMETZ, Managing Editor A. R. MICHENER, Circulation Manager Execatlre Beard i. P. SfcCULLOb'GH. BOYD M. OGLESBY, F. R. OYSTER, GUS. M. STEINMETZ. Members of the Associated Press—The Associated Press is exclusively en titled to the use for republication of all newa dispatches credited to It or not otherwise credited in this faper and also the local news pub ished herein. All rights of republication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. A Member American Newspaper Pub- Avenue Building, - Chicago, 111! S Entered at the Post Office in Harris burg, Pa., as second class matter. . . By carrier, ten cents a CHHKiSSv® week ;by mail. JJ.OO a ' "Rigs year in advance. MONDAY, APRIL 11, 1919 Kind words produce their oirn image in men's souls, and a beautiful image it is. — Pascal. CAN IT BE TRUE? BRING your beau to church,"! urges the Rev. Clayton Albert Smucker. pastor of Stephens' Memorial Methodist Church. Good advice, to be sure, but is it necessary? We hope not. Why, Doctor, dear, back in our day and* generation of young manhood.which is not so far in the past that our' memory fails to recall very distinct- j ly its palpitating experiences, you , couldn't keep us away from church j when the dear girl who now presides ; over our domestic destinies was j among those present. Always on such occasions we swelled the con gregation by one —and if we could spend the whole evening by her side in the family pew, why the preach er's vision of future heavenly bliss held no attractions for us —we knew it could be but a poor imita tion of that which we for the mo ment were enjoying. Why did we go? Well, there were two reasons. One was the witchery of her own charming presence and again there was the fear of "that other fellow." Oh, Doctor, dear, if you are looking for a sermon sub ject, you will find it in that wretched kill-joy, the other fellow. Preach a sermon on the virtue of letting the other fellow's girl alone and you j will make a staunch friend of every young man in Harrisburg who boasts "steady company," but you may not make much ,of a hit with the girls. Come to think of it, though, that "other fellow" did serve a useful purpose occasionally, when a iate dinner or other untoward circum-1 stances drove us to the necessity of meeting her after services for that' delightful but all-too-brief jour ney to her parental domicile. The chap who invented the saying; "The longest way around is the nearest way home," must have based it on after-church walks with his girl. Well, at such times, we restrained a desire to . loaf around outside until the sermon was over, because we knew front painful experience that the villain aforementioned would be lurking about and it behooved us to be inside and well to the fore if we were to make sure of the favor and company of the lady in question. And so we got a reputation for church attendance that otherwise might not have been the case, and so did many other young gallants we knew. It was never necessary to urge the girls to bring their beaus to church in those days. The trouble most of them had was keeping free of 'em for an evening to give some other young chap a chance, and if human nature has changed so much in a generation, we don't wonder folks are alarmed for the future of civilization. Are you sure you aren't barking up an empty tree, Doctor? Commissioner Lynch Is showing a lot of energy In the resurfacing and re pairing of the highways of the city. May we not hope that the Department of Parks, will manifest a like zeal in looking after the shade trees of Harris burg which have been so long neglected. Meanwhile those tree stumps along Walnut street In front of the Federal building should be displaced by thriving young trees. AN IMPORTANT PLACE NO appointment that Governor Sproul will make will be of more importance or have a sreater effect on the future life of Pennsylvania people than that of State Superintendent of Public In struction. Doubtless, it is for that reason that the Governor is pro reeding with great deliberation in his selection of a man. The whole lystem of education in Pennsylvania needs revision, not because it is bad ts it stands, but because it is an tiquated and does not measure up lo the requirements of the recon itruction period. Whoever is chosen MONDAY EVENING, will have a difficult and arduous task on his hands. Much progress has been made since the State Board of Education came into being, but by the very nature of the situation brought about by what amounted in more or less degree to> dual responsibility, the activities of the Board have been to a large extent limited. We have come to a period in the school history of the State where the need is urgent for a big, unbiased, energetic, devoted man to head our Department of Education. ' He must come to his duties unprejudiced, keenly alive to the diversity of opin ion with respect to the relative im portance of this or that method or branch of school work and desirous solely of evolving a system for Penn sylvania, not only abreast with those of other progressive Commonwealths, I but in advance of them. | Much of the misunderstanding re i garding the doings at the Paris Peace j Conference is the result of the failure Ito make good the promise that there j should be publicity of the most pitiless j character. President Wilson gave his ; countrymen to understand that there j would be no secret pow-wowing in the (settlement of the world war. but there | has been nothing else from the begin ning of the negotiations. And because | of the concealment of the moves behind the screen, there has been much misin formation that has had a tendency to upset the public mind everywhere, per haps the most satisfying thing that has come out of the atmosphere of rumor and uncertainty recently has been the statement that "Germany must pay up to the last farthing of her power." Nothing less will satisfy the American i people. FOR A MODEL CITY COLONEL EDWARD MARTIN'S effort to make Harrisburg a model city from the standpoint of health and sanitation will meet with the hearty support and cord'ai co-operation 'of every loyal Harris burg man and woman. The State Health Department has done a great work in Pennsylvania, but it is cap able of doing much more, and Colonel Martin at the very outset of •his administration clearly indicates i that he has the vision, energy and | ability to carry out the work so well begun by the late Dr. Dixon, and to [improve its service and add much to its scope and usefuiness. Harrisburg should grasp at the opportunity afforded by the Commis sioner's offer. Both the city and the State have much to gain by the ex periment. Harrisburg has consider able that may be improved, but it was not because this city is a "hor- j rible example," we ihfajt! Colonel Martin chose it from among all the municipalities of the State j for purposes of demonstration. His j proposal is in full accord with the I policies of Governor Sprou! with re- : spect to the Capital City, its develop ment and its future. Recognizing! the desire of a great majority of our j people to help themselves to the ex-j tent of their resources and ability,. the Governor has wisely decided to : give whatever may be required in • addition to make of Harrisburg a city of which all Pennsylvania may be' proud and which shall be an ex- { ample for all such as aspire to the! best that modern life affords in liv ing conditions, civic development and beauty. Thousands of people come to Har risburg even - week to visit the seat of government, and Colonel Martin has wisely sensed the importance of sending them home impressed with what they have seen here and carry ing with them lessons in public health and sanitation that will ren der fertile the ground of other cities for the seed the Health Department desires to sow. Properly conducted, a campaign such as the Commissioner contem plates can be of vast good to both city and State. He will find the people here ready and willing to assist to the limit. The conference at which* preliminary plans are to be discussed should be largely attended, and doubtless will be. MAKE THEM WELCOME ALL the returning soldiers should be given the most cor dial welcome home, and the great reception which is being plan j ned here for the Fourth of July, ought to be kept constantly in mind I by our people, to the end that the demonstration may be worthy the men who have rallied to the colors and acquitted themselves with great honor. • So far as possible there ought to be union of effort in this homecom ing reception and parade, but the uniting of the forces of the home folks need not interfere in any way with proper receptions of consid erable units which may arrive from time to time before the Fougth of July. *PottttC4 ot By the Ex-Committeemiiji Reports presented at the meeting of the Executive Committee of the Palmer Democratic State machine at Philadelphia a few days ago, are said to have been the most dis couraging to reach the banded Dem ocratic factional bosses since the day after the May primary when Judge Eugene C. Bonniwell was shown to have upset their nomina tion for Governor. The meeting was called for last Friday for a series of confidential chats about the situation of the Democratic machine in Pennsylvania. which has been creaking and jingling in every joint since last summer. The only official announcement was that some "gumshoe" men were to be started out through the State after the Victory Loan Campaign to see what ails the Palmer faction. The truth is that the demoraliza tion of the so-called reorganization forces of the Pennsylvania Democ racy, begun when its leaders grab bed the places and the limelight and forced every one to listen to praises of themselves, was hastened by the Bonniwell raid and brought close to rout by the rising popular senti ment against the national adminis tration. The situation was found so. bad when the bosses met Friday in Philadelphia, that not even an attempt was made to advertise the Butler-Westmoreland Congressional election and it was decided that every Congressional district was to be visited as soon as possible. The Palmer people want to con trol the delegation from Pennsyl vania to the Democratic national convention of 1920. Hence the nerv ousness. j —ln opinion of some people who • have been studying the legislative situation, the recess will not be such I a bad thing for the General Assem j bly after all. It is admitted by some that it has been "loafing," as the Philadelphia Inquirer says, but at the same time much of the loss of time has been due to the lack of a comprehensive program. There was an excellent list of ideas, but the bills were not ready when many ex pected they would be and situations developing during the session as a result of finances and general condi tions have also complicated mat ters. While these are being ironed out for consideration of the Gover nor when he returns from his rest, some agreements may also be reach ed on those biennial disturbers, Philadelphia bills. —lt is not believed that much time will be lost after the Legisla ture reconvenes. A number of hear ings arc scheduled, but they will be over before May I and the appro priation bills can be made ready for action in less than a fortnight from to-day. When the lawmakers come back they will either have their work cut out for them or there will be such uncertainty that the session will be wound up in short order. —The Philadelphia Press in an article by Odell Hauser rakes the House for its way of doing business and after saying that the charter revisionists are busy discussing their bills remarks; "So. all told, the coming week's recess may be used with profit both by the leaders and by the members. On their return the sessions will be very busy. It would be a good thing, therefore, if the sloppiness in procedure which, .the Senate is not altogether guilt less of, either, could be corrected." | —The Ohio Legislature has de cided to start a recess on April 17 and return to Columbus on May 5 to finish up. New Jersey closed without a recess. —The Philadelphia Inquirer calls attention to the fact that returned soldiers are smashing some plans in various counties. It mentions that Victor A. Daniel will run for re corder in Lehigh and B. J. Mover for county treasurer in Snyder. The politics in the latter county will be real strenuous. —The Philadelphia Public Ledger says: "All talk of 'ripper' legisla tion in connection with the Phila delphia charter revision bill was dis counted yesterday when it was learned that the Woodward bill will be pushed by the Penrose forces in the Legislature substantially in the shape in which it was introduced. There will be minor amendments to the bill, amendments designed to iron out minor defects in the meas ure: but despite persistent reports of 'ripper' amendments, which the Penrose men declare were set afloat for the purpose of befogging the is sue of charter revision, it was defi nitely said yesterday that no such amendments are proposed. The Pen rose leaders have virtually completed their legislative program. Senator Penrose undoubtedly will go to Har risburg when the Legislature recon venes to take charge of the fight on the Woodward bill and the Brady bills." Nations Scramble For Arctic Spitzbergen for centuries was a poor relation of civilized countries, [none of them thinking it worth claiming, but the discovery of im mense deposits of coal has caused Germany. Great Britain, Russia and Scandinavia to scramble for owner ship. The Peace Conference or the [League of Natons will have to ad just the claims. An American firm had begun in 1914 to develop the field. But Spitz bergen is no man's land and has no law. So no man was bound to re spect the holdings or doings of any other man. An international tribun al met before the war to adjust the situation, but the war ended its work. Germany and Russia, though neither had any rights in Spitzber gen. divided control of it in the treaty of Brest-Lltovsk. and England sent a naval expedition. Denmark and Sweden asserted tentative claims and Norway alleged that it had discover ed the Arctic archipelago in 1200 and ought to own it. Teace brought the Spitzbergen controversy to light again. The Paris conference probably will settle the I matter once for all. —From the Spo kane Spokesman-Review. Slate Aid as Right, Not Favor State aid for private and semi-pri vate charities, as it has been given in Pennsylvania for many years, has been apportioned without system and often with but small relation to the real merits of the institutions re ceiving State money. We have in theory a system of supervision, but the Legislature is not bound 1o fol low the recommendations of its ap pointed advisers in the Board of Public Charities, and the appropria tons habitual'y go by favor or tradi tion. Tainted by the suspicion of log-rolling, worthy institutons are unjustly discredited, others get an undue share of the public dole, and the aggregate actually allotted is often greater than the sums avail able. —Philadelphia Public Ledger.] FIARRISBURG HFRJDFE) TELEGRAPH WHEN A FELLER NEEDS A FRIEND .... BY BRIGGS / VJSLI. UELL J ///V I (■?; VI .*, |1 COLO-S>AI I WHEN YOUR FATHER TAKES YOU TO THE . C*RCUS AMD JUST AS YOU GET TO THE ENTRANCE AND YOU HEAP THE BAND PLAYINJG FOR THE GRAND OPENING VAGRANT FATHER MEETS AN OLD TLN\E FRIEND Where Germany's Chance Lies [Charles Downer Hazen in the Atlantic Monthly.] The one outstanding landmark in contemporary Russia is that set up Oh iUirch 3. 1918—the treaty of Brcst-Litovsk. That treaty has never been recognized by nny of the vic torious Allies; nevertheless, it dogs them night and day in the time of triumph, embittering peace, if not preventing it, darkening counsel, and putting a strain upon friendship. The treaty of Brest-Litovsk may be repudiated by the conferences of Paris; it may be dead as far as Ger many, its chief author, is concerned; but it is far from being a negligible factor in the history of the present. On the contrary, it, and the things it represents and embodies in its fell phrases, are bound to exercise a profound and disturbing influence upon the future. By that treaty Russia renounced an enormous territory, more than twice the size of the German Empire, and a population nearly as large as that of Germany, 63 million people. Germany may not get what she ex pected and intended to get from hav-, ing imposed these monstrous terms upon a defeated and demoralized foe, but she will at least have the satisfaction of knowing that the | might of her blows, aided by the ductility of Russian "reformers," who, having renounced the patriot ism as a bourgeois and capitalistic quality, found it not difficult to re nounce an imperial territory, have profoundly transformed Russia as a factor in international affairs. Of course, out of this vast domain, a domain stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Germany intended to create a number of small states which might receive German made kings, or which, at any rate, would be German satellites, parts of the German political, military and econ omic system. She will be forced to let go the political and military con trol for the time being; but unless the conference of Paris can invent safeguards more promising than any yet suggested against economic pen etration. Germany may confidently look forward to a vast extension of her influence in all Eastern Europe. The barrier offered by a string of small states and a reduced and weakened Russia will constitute a less serious abstacle to German econ omic ambitions and German intrigue than was offered by the Russia of 1914, and particularly because these eastern neighbors, less developed than Germany, and devastated as she has not been, will be strongly tempt ed to look to her for the things which they need, and which she can furnish more cheaply and easily than other nations, because of geographi cal proximity. Whatever amputations may be made in Germany herself, in Alsace- Lorraine. Schleswig. the Polish Pro vinces, the one ineluctable fact that will remain will be this: Germany, with approximately 70 million in habitants, will have as neighbors on the east and south, numerous small states, several of them new and of uncertain viability. Formerly she had two great states as neighbors— Russia and Austria-Hungary. Both of these states have been broken into fragments. Germany has not been. Her potential role in Eastern Central Europe has been improved as a result of the war. Woman Earns Easter Bonnet Tf Mrs. M, J. Porter should pay $32 for a spring hat it will be no body's business but her own, as she came by the money unexpectedly re cently, and it is all hers. She noticed an old wolf around a tree stump, and when she investigated she found eight young wolves. She killed them all, and as the bounty on wolves was $4 a head, rfhe came out ahead. —[From the Leon Reporter.] A BREEDER OF SLUMS. [From the Literary Digest.] AX intimate relation that we are in danger of ignoring is point i ed out between a five-cent fare J and a decent life. Xo one denies that ' there is "a natural right of every | man to live decently, and in an en ] vironment that has some element of i attractiveness, even actual beauty." i While stating this claim, Mr. Ralph Adams Cram points out that sinco 1 the last decade of the eighteenth ! century down to the outbreak of j the war. living conditions, at least i for workmen, have been growing steadily worse. Sporadic improve- I ments notwithstanding, industrial . cities furnish "slums that in their | ugliness and their disease-breeding iand vice-breeding conditions were as bad as any recorded in history." Mr. [Cram, who is a well-known archi tect and is chairman of the Boston City Planning Board, dwells in Re [construction (Xew York) on the re | lation between high street-car fares .) and city slums in a way to arrest ' attention: i "We confront the necessity of j building a new world on the ruins of one that has fallen, not without [ some signs of discredit. We have t the free choice of building up a 1 new era of real civilization or of re verting to another peiiod of Dark ' Ages. On the choice we make de ; pends the future of the world for j t.he next five hundred years. What jis our choice? Are we going to i yie'd to the reactionary, status quo '.influences now showing themselves; [are we going to submit to the Bol shevik anarchy that, whatever its ' pretensions, can have issue only in | barbarism equal to, if profoundly I different from, the barbarism of the [nineteenth century; or are we going ,to learn the lesson of the war. [scrapping our old superstitions and | our old methods as we scrap the HIS LETTER j Beyond the steel and the fire Gleams the old desire, j War has not taken wonder away. ! More poignant where its lightings play ; The appeal of beauty's lonely cry! II shall go dreaming till 1 die. ; I see wind burnished coin bright towns, And roads that shine across the downs; j A dusk of forest and a line I Of light that silvers the design | Always the shadowed and the bright, A halo for the blackest night! [—lslands where I have never been; 'The rainbow toppling down the green j Of tilted seas that rake a ship; i The molten lava streams that slip From fiery crater rims and fill The dark with rose and daffodil; Lakes mountain hid and spiritual; The undiscovered waterfall Like a white feather through the trees. The undiscovered bird in these Singing, always alone, alone, The lovely voice of the unknown— This is Romance chameleon clad That called me when I was a lad, That calls me now to follow well [Through blighted Picardy to hell. Through hell to some elusive bliss I Of new adventure after this; jTo follow without asking why! I So you will know, if I must die [Upon this last and strangest quest, It did not differ from the rest In simple wonder dark and bright, A halo for the blackest night: And freedom like the unknown bird Was a wild voice I had not heard, | Was a pure voice I fought to hear! [These words to you. my very dear. Beyond the steel and the fire Gleams the old desire. v —Grace Hazard Conkling in the At lantic Monthly slums which are one manifestation thereof? "One question immediately arises with regard to this second consider ation, and that is transportation. To make decentralization possible, transportation must be quick, regu lar, reliable and cheap. As a matter of fact, it comes in the end to the question of a five-cent fare. In Bos ton and many other localities we are confronted with a situation which works absolutely against this funda mental necessity of decentralization. The situation in Boston at the pres ent moment is one which is working in the opposite direction through a progressive increase in fares on steam and electric railways. We be gan at five cents and remained there for many years. We then went on to seven cents, have recently ad vanced to eight cents, and there is now a veiled threat that before long the minimum fare will be ten cents. "I believe that every one inter ested in the question of decent hous ing and in building up decent citi zenship. should set his face against this scheme of doubling the fares or our street railway service. In sanc tioning this increase in rates. Bos ton places itself absolutely out of line with the most progressive com munities in Europe. In England, France, Belgium, and I think Ger many. the tendency has been and is now in the other direction—that is, toward reducing fares instead of in creasing them. In Brussels, for ex ample, I am told that many work ing people live twenty miles outside the city because they can obtain sea son tickets enabling them to come in to their work in the morning and go out at night on certain specified trains, the total cost per week being | twenty cents, or less than two cents per trip." 1 The Dusk of the Immortals Along the silent gallery And up the empty floors Dim figures move from desk to desk, And vanish through the doors. And phantoms in the buckled shoes And queues of long ago Touch heads in confidential groups Or hurry to and fro. Xo busy pages pass in haste, Xo gavel sharply raps, Xo oratory shakes the dome With verbal thunderclaps. Xo bills are molded into laws Or eloquently spurned, Xo long debates are lost or won, For Congress has adjburned. But after it disbands, th& great. Who wrought with heart and hand The fabric of our liberty Through storm and stress to stand, Washington, Adams, and Monroe, With all their glorious train Of patriots, return to walk The halls of State again. Dike shadows in the dusk beneath The famed rotunda vast. They come, a mighty company, Immortals from the past, / To see if Freedom's bodyguard Has kept these latter years The high and holy covenant She signed with blood and tears. —MINNA IRVING, in the New i York Times. When the Foolish Take Root I have seen the foolish take root; but suddenly I cursed his habitation. His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them, i—Job v, 3 and t. r APRIL" 14, 1919. FEDERAL DICTATION [From the Philadelphia Inquirer] ! Has the Commonwealth of Penn sylvania the right and the power to regulate Its own domestic affairs and to enact and administer its own laws, or must it submit to the dicta tion and control of the Federal auth orities? That is the question which has now been clearly and inescapably raised in connection with the case of the Commonwealth of Pennsyl vania ex rel. William I. Sohaffer, Attorney General, plaintiff, vs. The Bell Telephone Company of Penn sylvania. defendant. As The Inquirer recently explain ed. the Attorney General in this case filed a bill in equity praying for an injunction to restrain the de fendant company from charging, for the use of its lines within the State, rates different from those ap proved by the Public Service Com mission. A preliminary injunction was granted, and on a motion for its continuance an answer was entered by the defendant company in which it disclaimed responsibility upon the ground that it was acting under the direction and orders of the Post muster General. Was that a good defense? The County Court of Dauphin county, before which the equity proceedings were instituted, adjudged not. After listening to Attorney General Schaffer's learned and convincing argument, that tribunal decided that in issuing the orders upon which the defendant company rested its excul patory plea, the Postmaster General had exceeded his lawful authority. It found that he had not been em powered to pursue the course he did by the Congressional resolution under which he acted, and it also held that his procedure could not be justified upon the ground the President, in the exercise of his war power, had sanctioned the steps which had been taken, and that the Presidential discretion in the prem ises'was not subject to a judicial review. The court found that whether in any particular case the President possessed the power which he assumed to use was a question of : fact determinable form the purposes of the use. In these circumstanfces, as Post master General Burleson could not claim intangibility as an official for an act which, being unwarranted, was done as an individual, the pre liminary injunction was continued until final hearing, and the sound ness of the principle upon which the petition filed by the Attorney Gen eral was based having thus been recognized, notice was served by liim on all the other telegraph and tele phone companies in the State to continue the rates fixed by the Pub lic Commission and to disregard those which Mr. Burleson had'eom manded them to adopt, lmmedately counsel for the Postmaster General went into court and applied to Judge Dickinson for an order re straining Attorney General Sohaf fer, the Public Service Commission, and its individual members from In terfering with Mr. Burleson's opera tion of the telephone and telegraph companies of this State upon the ground that lie is acting as Presi dent Wilson's representative. Judge Dickinson may well have I hesitated, as he is reported to have done, about complying with this ap plication, not only because it had been made without notice to At torney General Schaffer, and there 'foro without giving him any oppor tunity to resist it, but on account or the larger issues involved; but, how ever reluctantly, the restraining orders asked for were granted, with the result that the decree of the | Dauphin County Court has been in i directly repudiated and that thou ! sands "of dollars will be collected I from the public in excess of what is rightfully due. It is a pity that such a conflict las this should have arisen, but now it will have to be fought out. and I Attorney General Schaffer may be I trusted "to make the strongest pos i sible defense of Pennsylvania s rights. SEEDS | [George F. Burba in the Columbus Dispatch.] If we knew something about seeds, i and the germ of life therein, we I would know a great deal more about Nature than we de. For the truth is nobody seeme to know anything I about seeds, except that they contain j a germ of life that reproduces the kind of plant the seeds grew upon. I Under the microscope the germs all look alike —that of the big oak tree, that of the tender trailing vine. There is no way of knowing one germ of life from another except by the overcoat it wears. The cocoanut is the seed of the cocoa tree and the grain of corn is the seed of the plant we call corn. But the germ life in the cocoanut is a very small affair, as is the germ in the grain of corn. The "over coat" is the kernel of corn, as is the big rough thing we call the co coanut, and both seem intended only to protect the germ and furnish food for it when it sprouts. Some seed ure so small they can ' hardly be seen. But, however small I they may be, each has within it the j spark of life that reproduces a plant I exactly like the one it grew upon. | Seeds behave themselves in dif- I ferent ways. That is to say, there ! are some seeds whose germs will ! remain alive indefinitely, unless the seed Is planted in the soil, and others whose germs die within a year if the seed is not planted. Then there are seeds that come up only the second year after they are matured. This is the case with the cockle burr—a sticky sort of seed that fastens itself into your clothing as you tramp through the fields. There are two germs of cockle burr. One of them comes up the spring following the sum mer it ripens; the other germ lies in the ground for still another year, coming up the second spring. Thus if you were to prevent any cockle burrs from growing this summer— I if there were not a single cockle burr come to maturity this year—next year the germs that prefer to lie in the earth two years would spring up and we should have a fine crop of cockle burrs. LABOR NOTES A British dyestuff concern has been organized for the purpose of controll ing the. business heretofore held by German firms. The output from the coal mines in Great Britain during 1918 amounted to over 227,987,000 tons. Nearly 28 per cent, of the factory workers In India are employed in cot ton and spinning and weaving mills. Cereal mill workers in Cincinnati are being organized by the Interna tional Union of United Brewery, Cer eal and Soft Drink Workers. Representatives of the Federation of British Industries, of the National Alliance of Employers and Emploved. and of labor generally, met in London recently to consider the scheme out lined in the recent reports for the Motfsing committee relating to the in formation of Public Utility Societies as a partial means of solution of the housing problem after war. The fed eration delegates represented over 16,000 firms, while the trade union representatives stood for a member ship of a million and a half. , lEbenittg (Eljal Officials of the State Library, who have been making: studies of the legislative enactments of the last century and a half in Pennsylvania, to-day, called attention to the fact that Susquehanna river fishermen, who have been making some vigor- * ous protests aguinst the State fish code provisions in regard to seines, fish baskets and the like, were doing the same thing just one hundred years ago. The legislative records and the newspaper accounts of pro ceedings which were proportionately greater than those given in newspa pers nowadays, show numerous memorials and protests from the Susquehanna fishermen. The Oracle of Dauphin, published in this city, in its issue of almost 100 years ago to the day, voices protests of fisher men against an amendment to the fish laws. This amendment, which was upproved on March 26, 181!), was aimed to put a stop to the wholesale fishing in the Susquehanna because it provides a penalty of $25, "in addition to those now provided by law," for any person who should use or aid in use of a net or seine in the Susquehanna, between the i Maryland line and the forks of the river at Northumberland, between April 1 and June 15. The river con tained many shad and other fish which have since disappeared and the arguments used against the act of 1891 were much like those insist ed upon by the State authorities in their effort to prevent use of dip nets and seines before fisheries com mittees of the Legislature this month. * • • State Highway Department offi cials are looking forward to an early start on some of the main highway ■ contracts and from reports coming here, several of the big contracting firms have commenced assembling equipment, material and labor on a scale which indicates that they re gard Pennsylvania business pretty highly and that the building will be done on heavy construction scale. The advent of these big firms is be ing hailed here not only because of the chance of lower prices through their use of superior facilities, but that the small bidder, sometimes backed by only a bonding company and who has made considerable trouble for the State construction program in years gone by, will be eliminated. • • • The Pennsylvania Slate Compen sation Board has laid down the rule that compensation cannot be grant ed in cases where men inhale fumes, unless it is expressly shown that death or injury was #irectly due to i such occurrences. In a series of j decisions hunded down this year, the j Board has declined to accept state ments that men employed in explo ! sive and other factories, men died I from pneumonia caused by the j fumes. In several claims it was as iserted that fumes from TNT caused j pneumonia and in others that bron- I chilis, superinduced by inhalation of | the fumes, resulted in lobar pneu | monia. The Board has declined to I accept any such claims unless actu lally proved that death was directly due to fumes doing violence to the (Physical structure of the body. • • It is probable that the Pemisyl | vania Legislature will enact a reso lution providing for an investigation into health insurance and abandon the proposed Industrial accidents commissions for investigation of such matters. A study of the health insurance and old age pension prop ositions, especially in industrial com jmunities, was begun under action in j 191< and it is now planned to con j tinue the old age pension inquiry | along certain lines and to make the health insurance investigation one of wide extent. The reports would be called for in the session of 1921. | when the proposed constitutional re [ vision commission would also report. The ground is taken that conditions now are of such a character that enactment of laws to create certain systems or make changes would be inadvisable, as they might have to be changed in a few years. • • j Thousands of voung peach, apple land other fruit trees will commence j bearing in countries in the lower | tier of counties in Pennsylvania this year, as a result of the extensive | orchard extension plans launched a jfew years ago. In the Adams-Vork i Franklin district alone, thousands of | apple trees will begin bearing this year, while In Cumberland county j there will be a great increase in the I peach production. Reports coming j here also indicate a considerable in crease mi the bearing trees in or chards set out in Western Pennsyl j vania counties, notably the south western, while northeastern counties will have a number of bearing trees, although not so numerous as the southern counties. While the Adams county district has increased its trees more than any other, the western counties have been planting orchards generally and will be big producers in a few years. Governor William C. Sproul is extensively interested in orchards in the Susquehanna valley, which were set out some years ago. 1 WELL KNOWN PEOPLE —Philip W. Blake, Allentown Commerce Chamber secretary, says a new station is coming for that city. —T. Ellsworth Davies, the Scran ton coal land expert, has been en gaged in Northumberland county to get the values revised. —Charles L. Huston, Coatesville manufacturer, lias been chosen a commissioner to the Presbyterian General Assembly. | DO YOU KNOW —That Harrl.sburg has been im proving its churches faster than any city of its size in the State the last ten years? HISTORIC HARRISBURG. —Just 100 years ago advertising for the organization of the Union Canal Company, formed here, was begun. Now, When It Flowereth Now. when it flowereth. And when the banks and fields Are greener every day, And sweet is each bird's breath, In the tree where he builds Singing after his way— Spring conjc to us with, hasty step and brief. Everywhere in leaf, And everywhere makes people laugh and play. Rinaldo d'Aquino (Thirteenth Century; tr. from the Italian by D. G. Kosscltij.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers