12
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
d. NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOME
Founded 1831
Published evenings except Sunday by
THE TELEGRAPH FHIXTIKG CO.
Telegraph Building, federal Square
E. J. STACKPOLE
e President and Editor-in-Chief
F. R. OYSTER, Business Manager
GUS. M. STEI.NI.IETZ, Managing Editor
A. R. MICHENER, Circulation Manager
Executive Board
1. P. McCULLOUGH,
BOYD M. OGLESBY,
F. R. OYSTER,
GUS. M. STEINMETZ.
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v. Associated Press is exclusively en
' titled to the use for republication
of all news dispatches credited to
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< 1 — "
THURSDAY. APRIL 17, 1919
TVJien the outer eye grows dim,
Turns the inner eye to him,
Who makes darkness light,
Fairer visions you may sec,
Live in nobler company,
And in larger liberty.
Than the men of sight.
—John Oxenham,
INDIFFERENT
THE TELEGRAPH has made an
earnest effort to arouse inter
est in the shade tree need of
this city, but we admit failure in
securing from the City Council any
definite action in the matter of a
commission which would have the
planting and treatment of shade
trees along our streets as its princi
pal business.
Action should have been taken
long ago to protect the trees which
are rapidly disappearing through ne
glect and indifference, hut it is not
yet too late to adopt practical meas
ures for their preservation. Time
was when the overhead wire cor
, porations deliberately interfered in
this matter for selfish reasons, but
we doubt whether this influence is
responsible for the failure of the
municipal authorities to create a
Shade Tree Commission under the
law passed by the Legislature a few
years ago.
It seems more a matter of delib
erate indifference.
Alien enemies interned at different
places in the United States for the
period of the war are now being
turned loose. It would seem that
some definite policy should have been
edeptod regarding' these anti-Ameri
cans and thevr future residence in
the United States. Uncle Sam has
been entirely' too patient with a class
of undesirables who have no sympathy
with out institutions and who con
stantly breed dissatisfaction among
the aliens who are influenced by their
antagonistic attitude toward our
Governmi nt.
OF INTEREST TO LABOR
OFFICIAL figures of imports and'
exports for the eight months
ended February, 1919, show a
gain in imports of manufactures for
further use in manufacturing and
manufactures ready for consump
tion of $126,000,000 over the corre
sponding eight months ended Febru
ary, 1918, and a loss in exports of
these same groups of $226,000,000,
or a total loss byway of increased
purchases from abroad, and decrease
sales to foreign countries of $352,-
000,000, or at the rate of $44,000,000
monthly. These losses are with re
spect to goods on which the great
est amount of labor is expended, and
they are symptomatic of a disease
whose ravages will spread from now
on unless steps are taken to effect a
cure. The disease is free trade and
the cure is protection.
The aggregate value of imports of
these two groups during the 1919
period was $720,000,000, compared
with $594,000,000 during the 1918
period; of exports, $2,132,000,000 for
the 1919, compared with $2,358,000,-
000 for the 1918 peilod. Imports
of these two groups for the single
month of February totaled nearly
$75,000,000 in 1919, compared with
$66,000,000 in 1918. And the Eu
ropean embargoes on exports are not
all off yet, nor has the drive on
our free market commenced in ear
nest, as it will as soon as peace is
proclaimed.
From Japan alone our imports for
the 1919 period—eight months—to
taled almost $200,000,000, or twice
what they came to during the fu!l
before the war in Europe broke
out; front. Australia and New Zea
land came $71,000,000 worth of
goods, or. $20,000,000 more than for
1913; (,'hina sold us $64,000,000
worth of goods in these eight months,
compared with $41,000,000 for the
Cull year 1913; and our imports from
Canada totaled $330,000,000, com
THURSDAY EVENING,
pared with $142,000,000 for the full
year 1913. Some of this increase
was due to higher prices, most of it
to larger bulk. There is nothing to
moderate this competition at the
present time, but everything to en
courage it, and a free trade Presi
dent trying to persuade this country
to accept a League of Nations cove
nant which would have the bulge
on our future tariff policies.
The Republicans know full well.
the time to prepare for this com
petition was years ago, but now that
they control the legislative branch
they are going ahead to prepare.
Investigations are being made by
theni, even out of Congressional ses
sion, and the results of those inves
tigations will amply justify the re
vision of the tariff on a basis of
wholly adequate protection to all
American industries.
Australia has appropriated $2,500,-
000 for the construction of public
work in order to take care of unem
ployed returning soldiers. This is
pending the completion of a larger
scheme to provide work for the home
coming Anzacs along more permanent
lines. Pennsylvania is properly tak
ing similar action in its road-builu- \
ing progiam and its other projects of
public work.
WHO DESERTED?
A FEW Democratic newspapers
continue to criticise former
Senator Bailey of "deserting
the Democratic party" in his recent
condemnation of the President and
his policies. But this is scarcely in
accord with the facts. If there has
been any party desertion it has been
the President who has been guilty. |
Whatever we may think of Bailey, i
personally, there will be very gen
eral agreement with him when he 1
says:
The President lias proscribed the
real Democrats of tnis country, and
excludes them from all conferences
Willi aim, Uiougii he lakes into his
closest confidence semi-tiecialisls
and socialists, with a lew honor
able exceptions, every man hoiuilig
an important political ofiice untler
tnis Administration utilizes every
opportunity to discreuu all men
WHO autiere nrnuy to the lunua
mentais ot a representative ueinoe
racy: they stigmatize every man
wlio believes in a failblttl observ
ance ol tile Constitution as a re
actionary,' and tney denounce those
who deiend tiie right of private
property as 'subservient lo me in
terests.' llow, then, can any man
who believes in the principles of the
Democratic parly vote tor suvh
men'.' They reject Democratic
principles, and apply, in the eon
duct ot our Government, principles
which Democrats always nave op
posed. if you and 1 help to elect
such men to oltice, we have no right
to complain at the manner m which
they administer our public alTaiis.
Further, Mr. Wilson has declined
the advice and aid which big men |
of all parties would have given him |
gladly in the recent crisis. He per
sistently luts clioscn small men for ;
difficult places. He has wrecked
his party machinery whenever he
could raise himself a trifle on the
wreckage. He has tried to run the
Government —if not the world upon
hir own personal theories, supported
only by men of little known ability
or who have their own axes to grind.
His greatest weakness is his persist
ent purpose in trying vainly to play
a lone hand against the world —re-
gardless of party obligations or the
opinions of his countrymen. He has
never acted in any great cntergeno
until forced into it by overwhelming
public sentiment, against which he
has set his fat J until
any other course than acquiescence
was impossible, and immediately he
has solemnly claimed credit for his
action as the mature judgment of
ripened consideration.. The President
has done big things—great things—
but a careful analysis of all the cir
cumstances loading up to almost
every instance of the kind affords
proof positive that in those decisions
which have redounded most to his
credit at the moment he reversed
his former thought and convictions
completely and did what thinking
men of all political faiths had been
long urging him to do. But in every
case it has been Mr. Wilson first
and party second, or not at all.
When he has been unable to bend
the Democrats at Washington to his
will he has quarreled with them
personally and tried to ruin them
politically.
It is little wonder that Senator
Bailey has revolted. In doing that,
he did only what thousands of other
Democrats did last November —re-
pudiate the Wilson policies by going
over to the Republican fold.
The rumor from Washington is that
fhcre may be some cabinet changes,
and if so its a cinch the best men
will walk the plank.
CLEAX-UP WEEK
MAYOR KEISTER has given
proper expression to the senti
ment of every progressive
Harrisburger in his proclamation for
the approaching clean-up week.
There may be a resident here and
there who cares nothing about the
cleanliness of the city as a whole,
but it is reasonable to assume that
most Harrisburgers are proud of the
reputation of the city as a clean
and wholesome place in which to
live.
During the war there was a little
let-down in the regulations regard
ing the throwing of debris In the
street, but this period is over and
the municipal authorities are prop
erly directing their attention to over
coming the indifference of the care
less individual. In a recent bulletin,
the American Civic Association prop
erly declares that-annual clean-ups
will not save the day, but the yearly
example of good housekeeping should
have its influence upon those who
are disposed to forget their obliga
tion to the community at large.
Dirty streets and unkempt private
premises react upon the people and
any neglect of the ordinary precau
tions is bound to influence the com
munity adversely.
foCttcc* ck
"PtKKOlfttffUtUL
By the Ej-foiumltteemnn
Important plans in relation to the
Penrose fight for Philadelphia legis
lation were agreed upon yesterday
between Senator Penrose and various
leaders of the Philadelphia and State
organization, according to ait appar
eutlvauthoritative article in the Phil
adelphia Press, in the first place. Sen
ator Penrose assured his adherents
he would be in Harrisburg next Mon
day night when the Assembly con
venes after its week's recess. Up to
this time it had not been known
just when he would go. Arrange
ments have been made to reserve
rooms for him at the Penn-Harris.
He may come to Harrisburg on Sun
day, so as to be ready for business
on Monday.
It has already been said that the
Penrose plan was to rush the Wood
ward charter revision bills through
the Senate and get them into the
House for the final battle.
—This principle has been extend
ed. It was agreed yesterday that the
Brady hills, which have been myster
iously hanging on the second read
ing calendar in the House for weeks
without action, are to he transform
ed into Senate hills. On Monday night
they will he introduced into the Sen
ate. It is not known who will be
Uieir sponsor, though the logic of the
Situation would call for either Sen
ator Daix or Senator Woodward, as
Philadelphia members allied with the
Penrose side, the choice probably to
be Senator Daix.
. —As soon as the bills aro introduced
I they will he referred to the Pommit
jtee 011 Elections. Senator Oatlin was
I the chairman of this committee.
| (twins to his death, Senator William
jE. Crow. State chairman, becomes
the ranking member. These bills, the
most important of which rips out the
present registration commissioners,
will he quickly reported out of the
committee and sent through the Sen
ate to receive their final shampoo in
the House.
—All the Philadelphia legislation
.will he handled in the House by
Floor Leader William T. Ramsey, of
Delaware coutity, and Representative
William J. Brady, of Philadelphia.
—The items of the introduction of
the Brady hills is the most startling
of yesterday's developments. Another
one of importance is that the begin
ning of the Penrose fight will be
made with the Daix bills on the
Philadelphia District Attorney's of
fice. One of these hills provides for
fourteen Instead of the present ten
assistant district attorneys, and the
other gives the District Attorney
fourteen detectives.
—These It?Us grew out of the Fifth
ward troubles and were introduced
at the Instance of District Attorney
Rotan. Senator Vare has announced
his opposition to the bills and has
demanded a public hearing on them.
—The publie hearing will be held on
Tuesday morning of next week. Im
mediately thereafter the bills will be
reported out favorably by the Com
mittee on Appropriations, which has
them in charge, and they will then
take their place on the third reading
calendar. They will come up for final
passage on Wednesday and the Pen
rose peop'e say they have the votes
to pass them in the Senate.
—No more striking instance of
the tendency to concentrate legisla
tive activity into on day instead of
the old plan of distributing the work
over three days is to be found than
in the program for next Tuesday.
The two branches of the Legisla
ture have been meeting on Monday
nights, working until nearly mid
night, having two sessions and nu
merous hearings the next day, the
Senate adjourning for the week
along about 6 o'clock and the
House quitting before noon next day.
Only a few hearings have been held
Wednesdays.
—Next Tuesday will propably be
one of the busiest days of the whole
session. In addition to two sessions
in each of the two branches, there
there will be a series of big hearings
and a conference, the latter on the
suggested amendments to the work
men's compensation law. The hear
ings will include Senate committee
sessions on the Department of Con
servation bill, the bill to allow the
Public Service Commission to en
tertain certain appeals by corpora
tions, which is opposed by cities and
boroughs; the mine cave bill and the
assessors bill, while on the House
side there will be a general hearing
on military training bills and on
several pieces of minor legislation,
but there will also be meetings of
committees in charge of municipal
legislation, liquor regulation and
educational bills.
—lt is anticipated that a date for
[closing presentation of bills in the
House will be set and some discus
sion about a date" for final adjourn
ment is probable.
—John T. Painter, appointed
postmaster at Greensburg to suc
ceed John 11. Mcllveon, who has
been acting postmaster for the past
three months, is said by newspapers
to have no political alliances. He
has been employed at the Greens
burg postofhee for the past thirty
years. For several years he has
been assistant postmaster. John M.
Zimmerman, the first Democratic
postmaster during President Wil
son's first administration, resigned
before his term expired. Squire J.
Truxal, of Greensburg, was then
made acting postmaster, but ho re
fused to accept the appointment.
Mr. Mcllveen succeeded Squire Trux
al, but did not want the place. Mr.
Painter is thoroughly conversant
with his work. He started to work
for the Government when the free
delivery system was first installed
in Greensburg.
KISSES AXD BEARDS
It is so easy to understand what
the Americans say, because they talk
so loud—it is not the same loudness
as of the French, and one day I have
laughed to hear in a 'bus how two
girls of the Y. M. C. A. have talked.
There was one who was not at all
pretty, except to be young, who has
regarded a French gentleman who
wore his beard long. "Look," she
said, "what a horrible heard. Imag
ine to be kissted by anyone like that."
Then they have both laughed.
The other one has said then: "I
suppose his grandfather wore his
beard long, so he does the same,"
and the first one has replied: "Yes,
it is always like that. What was
good enough for your grandfather in
France is good enough for you."
I was not to hear them
speak so, because,' you know, they
were very ignorant. For me, I do
not think that they have known very
much the emotion of to be kissed,
or they would have understood that
it is not whether or not one has a
beard that makes the difference.—
From the London Bystander's Paris
.Letter. .
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
OH, MAN! By BRIGGS
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V CL*RS - ONJE RI6H Y / % VM.CL RO,M VOUR. > \ B^JJST^/WBLU
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BOOKS AND MAGAZINES
"The City of Comrades,, is the title
of a novel of Basil King to be published
immediately by the Harpers. Mr. King
here tells the story of a down-and-outer
who pulled himself together and found
his soul. The scene is laid in one of the
most curious spots in America. The wise
and the foolish live here, the high-born
and the low, each for all and all for
each, helping one another along. The
down-and-outer is an architect, he drinks
and the rest is easy to guess. At the
beginning of the story he leaves a note,
beautifully lettered as only an architect
could letter it. for a girl whom he has
never seen. It was meant as a leering
joke, but "The City of Comrades" goes
on to tell how this sordid jest became a
command in the hand of Fate.
The great number of Snaith en
thusiasts will be delighted to know
that D. Appleton and Company are
publishing this week the entertain
ing Englishman's new novel, "The
Undefeated." It is said that the new
story is of life in a small town dur
ing war days and the havoc it plays
in the life of a man and a woman.
In the end they are regenerated
through their experiences.
James Morgan's Theodore Roose
velt: "The Boy and the Man" (Mac
Millan Company), has just appeared
in a new edition with new chapters
completing the story of Roosevelt's
life.
Mr. Morgan's airri throughout this
book has been to present a life of
action by portraying the varied dra
matic scenes in the career of a man
who had the enthusiasm of a boy
and whose energy and faith illus
trated before the world the spirit of
Young America.
The new chapters are entitled From
White House to Jungle, and The Bull
Moose and the Last Years.
The volume is nicely illustrated.
"His Wife's Job" is the title of
Grace Sartwell Mason's new novel,
which the Appletons are publishing
on April 18. It is said to be about
a frivolous young woman whose hus
band goes to war and who has an
unusual experience earning her own
living.
AN ILL-TIMED MYSTERY
[From the Phila. Kvening Ledger.]
It is perfectly obvious that the
keynote of the coming Victory Loan
campaign should be joyous. The
shadow of appalling tragedy hung
over the previous bond-selling en
terprise. There was little evidence,
even last fall, that the financial suc
cess of the loan would mean an im
mediate end of the slaughter.
But the curse is lifted now and
the money which the Government
wants is to pay for the triumph
of the right which has achieved.
Vigor—plenty of it —should char
acterize the campaign. It should,
however, be cheerful energy, lusty
and good-humored.
Outside such a category fall the
lurid posters bearing the ominous in
scription, "Beware Poison Gas", and
followed by a cryptic interrogation
point. The loan committee confesses
to knowing the precise meaning of
these placards, which have appeared
not only on walls and fences but
actually on the boarded-up windows
of some private houses.
Residents of the Rittenhouse
Square district had a little shock
when they saw these flaming signs
yesterday. The mental specter of
Bolshevism appeared. But even
though that spirit can in this in
stance be laid, the posters are not
eye-gladdening.
Advertising that is alarming miss
es fire. The display of these threat
ening posters was not a good idea.
Ingenuity should delight, not dis
quiet, those to whom the appeal is
made.
Ninety-First Division
National Army of
Maska, Washington.
Oregon, California,
Idaho, Nevada, Mon
tana, Wyoming ant
U t a Divisional
headquarters arrived
In France July 12,
19 18. Activities:
Argonne-Meuse sec
tor, near Vauquies, September 20 to
October 3 (Argonne-Meuse offensive,
September 26 to October 3); west of
Escaut river, Belgium, October 30 to
November 4; east of Escaut river.
Belgium, Novetpber 10 and 11.
Prisoners captured: 12 officers,
2,400 enlisted men. Guns captured:
33 pieces of artillery, 471 machine
guns. Total advance on front line,
3 4 kilometers.
Insignia: Green fir tree. The 91st
is known as the West Divi
sion." Design emblematic of the
I far West. 1
First Yankee Division in the Argonne
THE IST Division was transferred
in the second phase of the
Argonne Battle, front Cam
eron's sth Corps to Liggett's Ist
Corps. It was given the place of
honor in the general attack of Oc
tober 4, and a place of honor in the
Argonne battle was bound to be
costly though glorious. It was to
drive a wedge into the German lines
by moving up and down the slopes
and over the crest of the thickly
wooded hills on the east bank of
the Aire.
Since my return home I have been
asked if Belleau Wood was our most
brilliant action. One answer: "Bril
liant in what respect? In battle
efficiency? In courage?" For at
the front we thought of divisions
only in terms of efficiency. At home
you thought of them in terms of
sentiment, pride, and affection and
of a great faith. I should place in
even higher esteem than Belleau
Wood the drive of the Ist and 2d
Divisions toward Soissons in July
and possibly still higher that <
which the Ist was now to make.
We had a dozen Belleau Woods in
the Argonne.
The Ist was a regular division, the
pioneer of our divisions in France,
the longest trained: but it was not
regular in the old sense, being bet
ter than regular to my mind, as
we have understood the word regu
lar in the past. Many of its young
officers were out of the training
camps, and the men who had filled
the gaps in the ranks had come from
volunteers or the draft in all parts
of the country. It was amazing how
soon that divisional machine made
a recruit a veteran.
"Buddy, you now belong to the
Ist, and in the Ist we ." Thus
the ni' 'iyte soon learned the ways
of the t.
I think that possibly when the
Ist Division went into the Argonne
Battle it was the most efficient
American division thst ever wore
shoo leather: if it were not, then
perhaps the 2d was —as all men of
the 2d will agree. We were all
thrilled when the Ist took the place
of the 35th and advanced over the
THE LOCUSTS
A great deal of misinformation
and much superstition clings to the
appearance of the so-called 17-year
locust. While there is a great deal
to excite wonder about this unique
insect, the mystery which surround
ed its sudden appearance two or
three times in a lifetime has been
fully explained. If people will b.ut
remember what they have observed
or read, there should not be a re
vival of the old-time fear which pos
sessed the people in past ages when
the hosts suddenly arose from the
ground. First, locusts are not
poisonous, and will not "sting" peo
ple or animals. They do puncture
the tender twigs of trees for the
purpose of inserting their eggs, caus
ing ihe end of the twig to die.
Second, they will not devour crops,
as do grasshoppers, nor injure grow
ing fruit. Third, their appearance
is not a prophecy of anything, ex
cept that they will not be seen
again for seventeen years, or thir
teen in the case of one brood. —Penn-
sylvania Farmer.
LABOR NOTES
Compared with the work hours of
the same trades in the United
States, the hours of German me
chanics are from 10 to 34 per cent,
higher.
Pennsylvania miners are seeking
an agreement by which all the col
lieries will operate a certain num
ber of days each week so as to in
sure equal employment.
Williamsport, Pa., is to soon have
a new Labor Temple which will
house all the trade unions in that
locality.
The Central Paper Box Manufac
turers' Association is making a stub
born fight against the eight-hour
law for women workers now before
the Pennsylvania Legislature.
The Spanish Cabinet has granted
an eight-hour working day to the
building trades throughout Spain.
It has also approved a bill to insure
workers against unemployment.
Hundreds of mechanical and elec
trical engineers In New York city
are going to unionize their profes
sion. -
ground where the 35th had fought!
| desperately. The dead of the 35th
i were in groups in the Exermont raj
vine. When the men of the Ist saw
! them they knew how good it was!
j to be veterans under exacting, com- i
i petent direction; for veterans do not'
j bunch under the enemy's lire. This 1
; is giving the enemy a target.
I And Summerall was in command!'
He had led the Ist in the drive to-!
ward Soissons. He is a leader com- 1
I pounded of all kinds of fighting
. qualities, a crusader and a calculat
i ing tactician, who, some say, can be
! gentle as the sweetest natured chap-|
j lain, while other say that he is
i nothing but brimstone and ruthless
j determination. The Ist, with Sum
i merall in command! We knew it'
| would "go through! It had always!
gone though. This was the part
cast for the Ist in the A.,E. F.
"As per schedule," the brief di-J
visional report begins the account]
of this operation-—a report which!
is the coldest prose I have ever read j
for as hot a piece of work as I have]
ever seen. 1 am not sure that among 1
his other names the general might j
not be called "Per Schedule" Sum-!
j merall.
Four new German divisions were
identified on the lst's front on the!
] first day's attack. Constantly, un-1
I daunted by casualties, the division
| kept plowing ahead, blasting the
j enemy's counter attacks before lie
could bring enough troops to bear,
( keeping the initiative in its own
! hands.
! When the Ist came out, its losses
| were more than 9.000 in killed and
j wounded. Half of its infantry was
I out of action. It had paid the price,
I but it was the price of a vital suc
| cess. If in future years you should
j ever ride down the valley of the
j Aire, as you look up at those hills
] which command nil the valley and
j the gap of Grand Pre, you may con
elude that not only the Ist, but the
I other divisions which fought through
their machine gun nests and under
brush were capable of deeds \iich
I make Lookout Mountain appear
| somewhat less of a battle by com
■ parison than some of us think that
1 it was.
A. P. Men in the War
[From the A. P. Traffic Bulletin.]
Some of them got to see real fight
ing. Those who did not, as one of
them aptly puts it in rhyme, "Simply
did as they were told." The rhyrn
ster is H. W. Peckinpaugh, who con
cludes a letter detailing his war ex
periences with this: "I'm glad to
have had even a small part in it,
albeit 1 must write' to the home
folks:
"Darling, here's your soldier bold
Silver stripes instead of gold
Shine upon his sleeve to-day
'Cause he did not sail away.
"But, my darling, don't you bleat,
For he did not get cold feet,
Simply did as he was told,
Silver stripes instead of gold!"
Peckinpaugh almost got there.
After waiting six months lie finally
secured transfer into the 424 th Tele
graph Railroad Battalion which was
ordered for overseas. After being
completely outfitted the "flu" epi
demic caused a further delay. The
battalion was on board the transport
at Hoboken headed for Brest when
the armistice put a period to his
martial career. He is now located
at Mitchell, S. D.
In Defense of Policemen
The policemen is a general sized
man, with large feet and an extra
large nerve. With no weapons save
an abbreviated club and a high ex
plosive vocabulary, he is expected to
control crowds of infuriated citizens,
chase murderers into dark alleys
and bring them out in recognizable
form, or capture gangs of desperate
yeggmen without losing his hat or
tearing his uniform. His duties re
quire him either to walk thirty or
forty miles a day, or to stand on
one spot for hours at a time; so his
feet have a better excuse for being
large than have most feet. Police
men are always ready to help child
ren remember where they live, as
sist ladles to cross the street, punch
masculine flirts on the nose and ac
cept the position of leading ma t in
any riot, no matter how large or
boisterous. Consequently they
should not' be critized too severely
when they sneak into a convenient
garage for a nap and a cigar.—
.Kenneth L>, Roberta In Judge.
APRIL' 17, 1919.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR j
TEACHER PROTES TS
To the Editor of the Telegraph :
I was sorry to see the enclosed
article "860,000 teachers declared
unlit. Cleveland, Ohio —"At least
half the teachers in the I'nited States
are not tit to teach. We ought to
get rid of 330,000 of them," declared
D. B. Waldo, president of the West
ern State Normal School, Kalama
zoo, Michigan, last night before more
than 4,000 delegates to the North
eastern Ohio Teachers' Association
in convention here." in your issue
of Saturday evening, April 12. Such
an unqualified statement as this may
create wrong impressions and hurt
us in our campaign for State aid to
increase teachers' salaries.
1 am sure that Mr. Waldo did not
slop with this bare fact. It may be
true that 330,000 teachers in ' the
United States are not tit to teach
and that we ought to get rid of them.
If you had given the reason for
this sad condition of affairs, it could
have been used as an asset in favor
of giving teachers salaries high
enough to attract and bold the right
kind of people in the teaching busi
ness.
Educational standards had to be
lowered to keep the schools of the
United States open during the past
year, and it is to maintain the stan
dards we have fought so hard to win
that we are asking the Legislature
to pass the Woodruff bill. Can you
wonder that many persons unfit for
the work are now teaching school
when 20,000 of the 43,000 teachers
in Pennsylvania alone make less than
$(100 a year.
I know that your paper has al
ways been in sympathy with our
cause, and I have many times thank
ed you in the name of the teachers
of Harrisburg for your splendid arti
cles in our behalf. I am sure that
the article in Saturday evening's
paper was not published with any
intention to hurt us. Nevertheless,
1 was sorry to see such an unquali
fied statement go before the public.
Sincerely yoqrs,
ELIZABETH S. BAKER,
Pres. Harrisburg Teachers' League.
The Chapel on the Spree
[From the Red Cross Bulletin.]
On the right bank of the river
bpree, bti kilometers from Frank
fort. It is not hard to locate this
former prison camp, just outside the
?. i Tllc a PP''oach is not
uninviting. There are some fine old
trees and a well-made road, over
which peasant carts jog in the early
daylight. Over the entrance to the
prison grounds there is an orna
mental urched gate, fashioned oddly
out of birch trees. "Kriegsgefange
ncnlager," we read about the arch_
wat prison camp." The gateway
we ure told, was built by Russian
prisoners, many hundreds of whom
passed through its portals to suffer
starvation and ill usage at the hands
of their captors.
It is still enough now. There are
no pacing guards, with long bayo
nets, beating their arms to keep
warm, no slinking figures shivering
across the prison campus, no cruard
ed ranks of laborers, forced into the
service of the enemy, passing
through the little gate.
The little chapel just inside the
prison enclosure is quietest of all It
has a friendly look. There is a group
of sparrows, those feathered cosmo
polites, twittering on the doorsill,
holding heated arguments over an
edible morsel in the snow. They scat
ter frantically at the approach of
human footsteps, carrying their dis
cussion and the crust to the tree
tops. There is a familiar symbol
still faintly red, above the doorway
a cross snow-powdered, "Built bv the
American Red Cross—l9ls."
There is an uncomfortable feel
ing in our throat as wc push open
the door, which has been forcod
slightly ajar by the inquisitive river
wind.
For a moment the long pews seem
to be tenanted again by bowed
figures, Russian, Italian, Frenchman
Briton and Yank, their heads bowed
in their hands, asking! patience, forti
tude and ultimate deliverance from
the hands of their foe.
On the deserted pulpit lies a book
with an inscription inside its front
cover: "The gift of the American Red
Cross—l9ls." It is a well-thumbed
book and many of its passages are
marked. We close it quietly without
disturbing the faded purple ribbon
that runs through its pages. Quietly,
too, for we do not want to make
any noise in here, somehow, we puss
out again into the snowy campus,
pink in the sunset. Our eyes turn
as if in a parting salute to the little
plate above the door.
Truly the Red Cross went all the
way
Ebetttttg (Eljalf
Every now and then some story |
about old Harrisburg comes around.
and mukes you sit up and think;
what it would be like, if it occurred i
in our day, especially if the scene
of the incident happened to be In]
the meadows which spread out where I
the river front and Market Square
now exist, or in the vicinity of the
bramble covered knoll which is the,
official seat of government of the
second State in the Union. It is
somp stretch of imagination to go
back to the times when Indians
camped in sulky mood out near tho<
spring which is the vicinity of Thir
teenth and Walnut streets of to-day
declined to go to the home of John
Harris to meet the Lieutenant Gov
ernor of the Penns or to imagine
how the wife of John Harris blew out
the candles on the supper table
one night after an Indian had taken
a pot shot at the family of the Set
tler of Pennsylvania's capital be-1
cause the aborigine was sore at an
English officer who happened to be
visiting her. One would hardly!
think of George Whitefleld, the fa
mous colonial preacher, holding
forth to settlers for miles around
under shade of trees on the banks
of the Susquehanna near Paxton
creek and the people being so fas
cinated by him that they left their
I fields unplowed and John' Harris had
I to literally order them to go home
land work. These incidents were all
back before the French and Indian
War and well authenticated. Rut
here is one which just came to light
in some old family correspondence.
It seems that in early days the idea
of John Harris, the founder of the
town, and William Maclay that the,
knoll should eventually be the seat
of the Capitol of Pennsylvania was
something well known. They spent
years and years working up senti
i ment in favor of a capital on the
| banks of the Susquehanna and long
I before Harris laid out the town and
Began selling lots in 1785 he had
marked off what was voted the capi
tal. Meanwhile the ground around
the knoll was used for various pub
lic purposes and a school was es
tablished at what is now the corner
of Third and Walnut streets on the
Capitol park side.
Just got this corner in your head
the way it is now. One part is Capi
tol •park, the commencement of the
famous "boardwalk" to the State
House trodden by generations of
statesmen, politicians and the near
grades of both, a bit soon to form
part of a "circle." On the other cor
ner the towering Penn-Harris Hotel:
on another the Federal building and
on another a line of stores and an
other hotel. About 1790 a school
house had heen built at this corner
and the children of the town were
there educated on small payments
by their parents to the schoolmaster.
The man in charge was either with
out nerve or not a good shot because
he made a number of complaints
about the loneliness of the site and
of the annoyance from animals *
from the knoll which is now Capi
tol Hill. Finally, according to old
letters, there was great excitement
in the town and the men got their
guns and hustled up to the school
because, a couple of bears had come
down from the aforesaid knoll and
the schoolmaster bad sent the
youngsters home and was barricaed
in the school house against the ani
mals. There must have been a grand
old time in infant Harrisburg that
day. The center of the town was
down around Front and Mulberry
and after all the rivermen, traders,
wagon repairers and other men had
rounded up their youngsters and
made sure they were all safe they
went after those bears from Capitol
Hill and ran them hack to the Blue
Hidge. Probably the Penn-Harris
corner was the rendezvous.
That this incident occurred there
is little doubt. There was a suc
cession of school houses at that
corner. As late as 1792 wild buf
falo, presumably some of the herds
which survived in the glens of upper
Perry and Snyder counties, were
found mixed up with the cattle of
Harrisburg people turned out to
browse in "Maclay's swamp" which
might be located as between North
and South streets along the river.
Peter Snyder, an old Harrisburger,
wrote how his brother and himself
shot bear on the outskirts of the
young city and in 1797 had a bat
tle royal to down one big hear raider
which had been chased out to
"llanna's Woods," which would make
Sixteenth and Berryhill streets the
final scene of one of the most ex
citing hunting episodes in a long
time.
From all accounts, and something
is constantly being found in old
newspapers to show the trend of
things, the early Harrisburgcrs were
rather slow in getting around to
Market Square as the town center.
The river front had an attraction
that persisted, probably because it
was the place where the beats dis
charged their cargoes and was one
of the landing stages of the ferry
which was then sending over the
Susquehanna that tide of immigra
tion that was to make many of the
cortimonwealths of the Southwest.
The Harris warehouse, most of the
taverns and the numerous wagon
repair shops which abounded were
all close to the river and the square
was traverscd by a couple of creeks
and in time of rains was so often
overflowed that people sent unkind
messagesg to John Harris asking
whether he would furnish boats or
dukeboards to facilitate travel about
his town. The square was a fine
place for skating in winter and some
of the early newspapers refer to
dahgers of untended bonfires being
built in the civic center. And then,
too, there bobs up every now and
then seme thing about a race course
along the river front and that shoot
ing matches would be held on the
river bank. * So it is not hard to
see that Harris had his own troubles
getting people to buy lots "up-town"
and that a schoolhouse so isolated
as Third and Walnut streets might
verv well be visited by fears from
Capitol Hill thickets.
WELL KNOWN PEOPLE
————————j ,i
—Mayor E. S. Hugentugler, of
York, has designated May 5 as the
start of "clean up week."
—The Rev. Dr. J. P. Warner,
prominent northeastern Pennsylvania I
Methodist clergyman, wilt take a j
trip to California after forty-eight '
years of service.
DO YOU KNOW ]
—Hint Hnrrlshurg postal business
tins shown rapid strides in tlic last
year?
HISTORIC HARRISBURG
—Recruits were raised here for St.
Clair's army, Including some marka-fj
men.