10
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
' A NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOME
Founded 18S1
Published evenings except Sunday by
THE TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO.
Telegraph Building, Federal Sqaare
E. J. STACKPOLE
President and Editor-in-Chief
F. R. OYSTER, Business Manager
GUS. M. STEINMETZ. Managing Editor
A. R. MICHENER, Circulation Manager
Executive Board
I. P. McCULLOUGH,
BOYD M. OGLESBY,
F. R. OYSTER,
GUS. M. STEINMETZ.
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titled to the use for republication
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MONDAY, JUNK 9, 1019
The way to make the best of any
situation is to make it better.—Cope.
ONLY TEMPORARY
MAYOR KEISTER need not dis
turb himself greatly concern
ing new quarters for the
Mayor's office and the police station.
It is definitely decided that a city
halj is to be erected and the tem
porary offices will not be Used longer
than two years at the most. Little
money should be expended. A cen
trally located, commodious building
of almost any type will suffice.
Governor Sproul has ample cause
for weariness over the Philadelphia
charter controversy. His abundant
good nature has been seriously tried
und his patience must be near the
breaking point. His courtesy has
doubtless been construed as some
thing else by those who are fighting
over the proposed revision of the
fundamental instrument that guides
the destinies of the Quaker City, but
we apprehend the Governor can wield
a big stick if necessary and one ought
to be handy on his desk.
WHAT IS YOUR PLAN?
v s "I came'to Harrisburg as a poor
boy and whatever measure o'f
success I have had in life is large- 1
ly due to my faith in this city
and in its future. It is my pur
pose to create something of a
constructive nature as my own
monument. I feel that every suc
cessful man and woman owes the
community in which their success
has been achieved something sub
stantial in the way of grateful
appreciation. I prefer to build
my own memorial."
THIS statment was made to a
Telegraph representative a day
or two ago by one of the most
aggressive and successful of Harris
burg businessmen. He was deeply in
earnest as he discussed the future of
the city and its possibilities and his
eyes were tilled with a vision of his
own ideals as he briefly sketched
some immediate plans for large
building expenditures.
Again we are constrained to sug
gest the importance of a Harrlsburg
Foundation which would put into
concrete form the philanthropy of
those citizens who do not feel able
during their own life-time to con
tribute of their means for the wel
fare of the whole community. Such
a Foundation- as has been discussed
from time to time in these columns
would make possible, through men
of affairs acting as trustees, the
proper investment of bequests for
the public good. Many persons
who have accumulated considerable
estates do not feel that they can
risk working capital for public en
terprises during business activities,
but these have an- appreciation of
their stewardship and a sense of
public obligation. Could they know
that what they leave for the public
would be properly handled by com
petent and able men through a
Foundation they would doubtless
welcome the opportunity to make an
accounting of their stewardship after
death, if not before.
We believe that millions of dol
lars might have been made available
in Harrisburg during the last genera
tion for public welfare projects had
t,here been some plan in operation
as the Telegraph has urged from
time to time, but it is not too late
to organize such a Foundation, under
supervision of the Dauphin county
courts, with definite plans fol- the
future investment of such funds as
may have been bequeathed by gen
erous citizens living or dead.
This proposition is of vital inter
est to every man, woman and child
in the city and the Telegraph is glad
lo open its columns to such discus
sion of tho matter us would tend to
educate the people to tho practical
character of the Foundation pluns.
There are many tilings still needed
for Harrisburg and for the comfort
and happiness of our people. All
these cannot bo provided from the
municipal purse. They must be
made possible by private contribu
tion- and tho time Is hero to make
elTectlvo tho generous Impulses of
hundreds of our pcoplo who should
have opportunity for the exercise of
,-ood intentions.
' It doesn't follow that bequests to
tsuch a Foundation as is proposed
MONDAY EVENING,
should be simply the large amounts
of very wealthy people. Even the
working man, who is often most
benefited by public philanthropy,
could ar.'d should have a share in
these public enterprises for the good
of all. One of the most Imposing
of the public archways in Denver
was made possible by the civic in
terest and enterprise of a hard-work
ing machanic, who thus erected for
himself an enduring memorial and
set an example for all other arti
sans in the Rock Mountain metrop
olis . It would be easy to print a
list of the many desirable things
which Harrisburg ought to have at
the present time, but this list could
be prepared by each citizen for him
self and every one would probably
contain the most valuable pointers
for trustees of the proposed Founda
tion.
Notwithstanding the President's
utter lack of frankness in the matter
of the peace treaty so far as his own
countrymen are concerned there are
those of his apologists who continue
to prate of partisan criticism of his
acts. No head of the American Re
public was ever so sacred in his per
son and attributes as to escape pub
lic discussion of his conduct.
TYRONE NOT ALONE
P' EOPLE" residing along the Ty
rone division of the Pennsyl
! vpnia railroad, having been
laccustdmed under private control of
J the railroads to modern steel pass
lenger coaches, naturally resent hav
' ing the Federal Railroad Adminis
. tration replace these with antiquated
( wooden cars that are not only un
; comfortable, but dangerous. They
are going to appeal to the Public
Service Commission, but it will do
no good.
Tyrone folks are justified in com
plaining. Wooden cars of ancient
design are death-traps. Their place
is the scrap-heap. The Pennsy had
replaced them with steel coaches al
most entirely when the Government
took over the roads. Now, however,
the Federal administration is hunt
ing up what are left and returning
them to service. This is regrettable,
but not surprising. Every step of
Government administration in rail
road operation has been buckward.
Service has become an obsolete word
in railroad circles and fares have
gone out of sight. The public is
regarded merely as a sort of neces
sary evil that would be ignored al
together were it not for the cash in
volved. Tyrone's relief will come
when the roads are returned to their
owners, not before.
It is understood that an important
meeting of the Board of Public
Grounds and Buildings will be held
this week to consider further the
Capitol Park extension plans and
I may we hope that at this meeting the
State officials will press the button
which will set in motion the dual
activities of the Commonwealth and
the city insofar as they relate to the
widening of Third and Walnut
streets and the immediate changes in
the old section of the park. Now is
1 the time for public work to go ahead
and it ought not to be necessary to
further delay that portion of the
undertaking which the city authori
ties are ready to assume.
THE ROSE SHOW
THE enthusiasts who made pos
sible the city's second annual
rose show, which closed Sat
urday, deserve a vote of thanks. They
are pioneers in a good cause.
Within a few years, it is to l>e
hoped, Harrisburg's rose show will
be an event of State-wide importance.
There is no reason why it should not
be. Comparatively few people know
it, but Harrlsburg is the home of a
number of very unusual rose gardens
and some of them contain roses so
rare that they have not yet reached
the stage where they have been
raised in sufficient numbers to per
mit them to be marketed.
But the rose show is not alone for
the man or woman who grows roses
by the thousands. It takes in every
thing from the big display down to
the single rose, and there are many
bushes in Harrisburg outside the
large gardens that boast blooms of
prize-winning qualities.
President Wilson, who invented
open covenants, is accused in Paris
advices of responsibility for a pro
posed compromise with the German
bluffers on indemnities. Is Count
von Bernstorff still potential in the
four-flushing peace game of the Hun
or what's the answer?
THE CHORUS
PRESIDENT WILSON changes
his mind and does not want a
big navy and Daniels follows
suit. Wilson changes his mind and
declares for restoration of railroads
and wires to private operation, and
Vice-President Marshall and Burle
son change with him. Wilson
changes his mind and suggests that
dyes and chemicals be protected
from German competition, and
immediately the Tariff Commission
changes, and Willie Redfield begins
to dig up statistics to support his
change of mind.
The ducks follow the drake.
When ltd quacks, they quack. And
they would change right back again
if he gave the word.
But the Republican party has con
sistently stood for an adequate
navy, for private control of rail
roads and wires and for protection
to all domestic industries.
Now, which is the better, the
stauncher, the more steadfast party
to support?
City Electrician Diehl wears a
broad smile these days and with rea
son. He has consistently stuck to the
policy of eliminating the big poles
and overhead wires which have ob
structed many streets and while
Walnut street and the Capitol Park
zone are still marked by the tower
ing poles that have obstructed the
downtown highways for years the
underground cables are ready for in
stallation and the elimination of the
poles is near at hand. Praise be!
"Potitles IK
Bjr the Ex-Commlttccman
Differences over the provisions of
the Philadelphia charter bill are not
going to interfere with the close of
the legislative session according to
influential members of the General
Assembly who realize that there will
be enough to answer for without pro
longing the biennial meeting. The
disposition at the Capitol to-day is
to get rid of the Philadelphia bills
this week and give attention to the
greater problems of compensation
code amendment, woman suffrage
umendment ratification, revenue
raising bills, appropriations, prohi
bition enforcement act, departmental
reorganization and similar bills, cold
storage and other legislative matters
affecting the whole sixty-seven coun
ties.
Ways will be formed to cut short
any attempts to monopolize the
House by the Philadelphia bills. The
general impression is that the bills,
especially the charter bill is in dan
ger. If passed without amendment
it faces executive displeasure. If
amended it means a conference com
mittee with all the perils of such
course in closing days of a session,
especially a session already unduly
prolonged. No matter what is done
this week interesting lights are
ahead.
—For a rather minor matter, com
pensation has assumed proportions
that are attracting attention every
where except in Philadelphia and
which may have wide political ef
fects. The administration and some
of the men closest to the Governor
and Attorney General in daily life
occupy diametrically opposing posi
tions on the form of amendments
and neither shows any sign of giving
way. The tight will be in the Senate
just as it was six years ago.
—Questions involved in the pro
posed study of the Constitution are
commencing to receive serious atten
tion from editors now that Governor
Sproul has signed the bill for ap
pointment of the commission of
twen-ty-five to revise the organic law
of the State. The Philadelphia
Evening Bulletin says: "The Gov
ernor has no simple task in the se
lection of twenty-tjwe commissioners
who shall be representative of the
various sections and interests of the
State and competent for the work of
shaping the fundamental law of the
State, but the appointments which
he has made to the principal offices
of his administration, with few ex
ceptions, indicate a standard of pub
lic service, and a capacity for apply
ing it as a test in selection, which
augurs well for a commission that
will deserve and receive public con
lider/ce and co-operation."
—The Philadelphia Press says re
garding the charter muddle: "The
charter revisers, having revised the
charter, naturally object to having
their revision revised—that is they
dislike to have a revision more than
once a day. And they are just the
kind of people to know about what
they want, as well as what they don't
want, and stick to it."
—Mayor E. H. Febert, of Reading,
will not he a candidate for re-elec
tion.
—Senator Penrose and Captain?
Victor Heintz, of Cincinnati, a vet
eran of the American Expeditionary
Force and a former United States
Congressman from Ohio, will speak
in Williamsport on? Flag Day, June
14, in connection with the public
ceremony of Williamsport Lodge of
Elks.
—Delaware county Republican
and Democratic leaders were given
a jolt when Jesse D. Pierson, William
A. Powel and Thomas F. Feeley,
County Commissioners, ar.-nounced
their intention of trying to smash old
traditions at the coming primary
and seek re-election for a third term.
Pierson and Powel are Republicans.
Feeley represents the minority party.
Powel ami Feeley are residents of
this city, while Pierson comes from
th county districts.
Heretofore, since "Little Dela
ware" was acclaimed a county in
Pennsylvania, there has been an "un
written" law against County Com
missioners holding a third term.
—Plans to give Attorney General
A. Mitchell Palmer a big dinner at
Scranton on June 23 are not arousing
much State-wide enthusiasm. It is
generally recognized that Mr. Pal
mer is a sure-enough presidential
candidate with no earthly chance of
carrying his own State but very defi
nite ideas of controlling the delegate
from his home Commonwealth.
Scranton, which is near his home
district, is as good a place as an-y
to launch ambitions. A Reading
dispatch hits a jarring note on the
Democratic situation, saying: "Rerks
County Democrats do not look with
favor on the movement to boom At
torney General Palmer as a candi
date for thb Democratic nomir.-a
tion for President. This is the sub
stance of interviews with many of
the leaders. The local Democrats
resent Palmer's action in the Gover
norship tight of Judge Eugene Bon
niwell, of Philadelphia, last year.
The Berks Democrats also oppose
Palmer because of his prohibition
leanings. They say that an-y strong
man could defeat him for National
Committee from Pennsylvania."
Col. George Nex McCain, the noted
newspaper correspondent and lec
turer. will write a series of special
articles on the close of the Legisla
ture for the Philadelphia Evening
Ledger ar.-d is back in Harrisburg
for the work. The Colonel retired
some years ago, but like the old war
rior that he is, could not resist tho
"bance to do a little more work.
Col. McCain came to Harrisburg for
the first time in 1873 when he was
a boy and paid his own fare. In
1885 he came to report the Legisla
ture for the Philadelphia Press and
remained in active service on legis
lative and political writing for twen
ty years when- he retired and began
the series of lectures which made
him noted. It happened that Col.
McCain's travels took him largely
through the near East, the very
countries which have been so much
in the limelight during the war and
especially now. Many recall with
pleasure his lectures on Egypt, Con
stantinople, Ragusa, Tivoll, Fiume
and other places that one reads of
in the newspapers every day.
—Senator James M. Campbell, of
Mercer, is reported to be in a hos
pital at Mercer where he underwent
an operation for appendicitis. He
may not be here for tho remainder
of tho session. The Senator is one
of the most promlner.-t and influen
tial members of the upper house.
—Much sympathy was manifested
among legislators and State officials
for Joseph N. Maokrell, the Pitts
burgh newspaper correspondent, be
cause of the death of his son.
HAJIRISBtmo TPT tv-.nnw
WHEN A FELLER NEEDS A FRIEND BY BRIGGS
BE AM ASSOCIATE
MEMBER OP THE
NATIOMAL COUNCIL I
BOY SCOUTS IGOFP
AMERICA- I
"Darius Green and
His Flying Machine"
Trowbridge, Who Convulsed tlie Nation With Ills Stroy of the Yankee
Lad and His Homemade Wings in 1870, Hived to See the Modem Air
plane Soar Above His Head and Died Only Three Years Before the
Flight Across the Atlantie.
WHO doesn't remember the
thrilling adventures of "Da
rius Green and His Flying
Machine?" It was just forty-nine
years ago that John Townsend Trow
bridge made the nation laugh with
his humorous account of the antics
of Darius Green. For
Darius was clearly of the opinion
That the air is also mare's domin
ion,
And that, with paddle or fin or
pinion
We soon or late shall navigate
The azure as now we sail the sea.
Sufficiently fantastic, that wild
dream, back there in 1870, to bring
a smile to anyone's lips. But its
author lived to gasp in amazement
as he watched Grahame-White soar
about a little Held treat- Boston, borne
up by wings not so very different
from those on which Darius essayed
his ill-fated venture. That was in
1910. Then came the war, and the
poet read of the wings of Darius
carrying their young pilots over the
enemy lines. He died just three
years too soon to cheer, with the
rest of the nation, the success of the
little group of his fellow country
men who hew across the Atlantic—
men who reasoned as did Darius:
"The birds can fly, an' why can't I?
Must we give in," says he with a
grin,
"That the bluebird an' phoebe
Are smarter 'n wo be?
Jest fold our hands an' see the
swaller
An' blackbird ar' catbird beat us all
holler?
Does the little chatterin', sassy wrer.-,
No bigger'n my thumb know more
than men?
Jest show me that!
Ur prove 't the bat
Uez more bruins than's in my hat,
An' I'll back down, an' not till then!"
A Boyhood Ambition
On that day back in 1910, as he
watched the pioneer birdman grace
fully sail about over his head, Mr.
Trowbridge confessed that in his
poem he had embodied an ambition
of his own boyhood, and a desire that
was close to the hearts of many of
his little Yankee friends. Some of
them, like Darius, had stolen away
from their brothers and sisters and
playmates,
And in the loft above the shed
Himself he locks with thimble and
thread
Ar.-d wax and hammer and buckles
and screws.
And all such things as geniuses use —
Two bats for patterns, curious fel
lows!
A charcoal pot and a pair of bel
lows,
Some wire and several old umbrel
las!
A piece of harness, and straps and
strings:
And a big, strong box,
In which he locks
These and a hur.-dred other Ihir.gs.
Darius had a hard time escaping
the prying eyes of his brothers,
"Reuben- and Burke, and Nathan
and Jotham and Solomon," but, by
Ailing most of the cracks of his
workroom with rags, and applying
water from a dipper with deadly
aim whenever an eye appeared at
one of the innumerable knot holes
Iti the wall, he maintained hi 3 secret,
and
Day after day
He stitched and tinkered and ham
mered nway,
Till at last 'twas done—
The greatest invention under the
sun*
"An' now," says Darius, "Hooray for
some fun!"
And then came the day for the
great trial:
"Twas the Fourth of July,
And the weather was dry,
Ar.*d not a cloud was in all the sky,
Save a few light fleeces, which here
and there.
Half mist, half air,
Like foam on the ocean went float
ing by.
Just as lovely a morning as ever
was seen
For a nice little trip in a flying
machine.
The Brothers Ixx>kcd On
Just such a morning as the thou
sands of Dariuses in the world to
day like to trundle out the old "bus"
from the hangar, give 'et* the gun,
and zoom up for a little game of
hide and seek among the fleecy puff
balls. But Darius had other cares-
There were his brothers to consider,
and he dreaded their ridicule as does
the Hun an Allied peace. To free
himself from their watchful eyes,
he pretended to have a cold and a
toothache, and remained in bed
while they started out for the "show"
all togged out in* their Sunday
1 clothes. But soon
He crept from his bed;
And, seeing the others were gone,
he said,
"I'm gettin' over the cold in my
head,"
And away he sped.
To open the wonderful box in tho
shed.
But the canny brothers were not
to he shaken. They had gone hut
a little way on* the road to town,
when they turned hack, and, creep
ing into tho dusty barn they awaited
developments. They weren't long in
coming, for,
As knights of old put on their
mail—
♦ • * ♦ •
Then sallied forth to overwhelm
The dragons and pagans that
plagued tlj,e realm—
So this modern knight
Prepared for flight,
Put on his wings and strapped them
tight;
Jointed and jaunty, strong and light,
Buckled them fast to shoulder and
hip;
Ten feet they measured from tip to
. tip!
Reuben, with his head thrust
stealthily out of the door, reported
the progress of events to his snick
ering brothers:
"Hush!" Reuben said,
He's up in the shed!
He's opened the winder—l see his
head!
He stretches it out an' pokes it
about,
Lookin' to see 'f the coast is clear,
'An nobody near;
Guess he don'o who's hid in here!
He's riggin' a spring board over the
sill!
Stop laffln' Solomon! Burke, keep
still!
He's a-c.limbin' now—of all tho
things!
What's he got on? I van, it's wings!
An' that 'tother thing? I vum it's
a tail!
An' there he sets like a hawk on a
trail!"
••• • -
"Now he stretches his wings, like a
monstrous hat;
Peeks over his shoulder, this way
and that,
Fur t' see 'f th's anyone passir.*' by;
But the's on'y a calf and a goslin'
nigh.
They turn up at him a wonderin
eye,
To sec —the dragon! He's goin' to
fly!"
But fate wasn't as friendly to Da
rius as she has been to his modern
prototype, for,
As a demon is hurled by an* angel's
spear,
Heels over head, to his proper
sphere—.
Heels over heifd, and head over
heels.
Dizzily down the abyss he wheels—
So fell Darius. Upon his crown,
fn the midst of the barnyard he
came down
In a wonderful whirl of tangled
strings.
Broken braces and broken strings,
j Broker.* tail and broken wings,
Shooting stars and various things;
Barnyard litter of straw and chaff.
And much that wasn't so sweet, by
half;
Away with a bellow fled the calf,
And what was that? Did the gosling
laugh ?
'Tis a merry roar from the old barn
door.
And he hears the voice of Jotham
crying,
"Say, Darius; how do you like
flyin'?"
Slowly, ruefully, where he lay,
Darius just turned and looked that
way,
And he star.*ched his sorrowful nose
with his cuff,
"Wail, I like flyin' well enough."
He said, "but the' ain't sich a thun
derin' sight
j O' fun in't when ye come to light."
I just have room for the moral here;
And this is the moral—stick to your
sphere.
Or if you insist, as you have the
right,
On spreading your wings for a loftier
flight,
i The moral is, take care how you
light.
Such was the tale of Darius Green,
over which Americans had many a
laugh. It was reprinted shortly be
fore Grahr.me-White exhibition of
1910, at which time Mr. Trowbridge
remarked, "I never dreamed when I
wrote that poem that such a thing
as a flying machine was even a pos
sibility in my lifetime." It is doubt
ful if even then he dreamed of the
extent to which the flying machine
would be developed ir.* the next de
cade, for nine years ago, had any
one seriously suggested a trans-At
lantic flight, he would have received
somewhat the same reception from
the world as Darius received from
his brothers.
You're a Railroader
[Nation's Business]
In the beginning America faced
the spar.-ning of a continent with
the prairie schooner.
Then, with a holy discontent, we
sot our energies to fashion a new
vehicle; and there was born —the
railroad.
One of the great epics of Industry
writes itself about the story of how
our Hills and our Harrimans match
ed their genius against timo and
space—and won.
Their achievements have become
a commonplace but their vision and
resourcefulness opened up new
avenues for the nation's commerce.
They made the railroad the hand
maiden of Industry.
To-day every manager of a great
business enterprise has an* Interest
in the natin's transportation great
er even than the shareholder's. To
get his goods to market and to get
his raw materials to hand—both
ways he is a shipper.
The service you get, the rate you
pay, on both counts the railroad
situation concerns you importantly;
it touches vitally a, department of
your business.
The railroad problem, like the
poor, is always with us. But never
has it been more acute than now.
AII are agreed upon tho necessity
of a new order for the railroads;
but what is it going to.be?: What
are the eggs going to look like un- j
scrambled? 1
JUNE 9, 1919.
Foreign Radicalism's Menace
[Prom the Kansas City Times.]
Ever since the revelations. fur
nished by the Seattle strike, of the
obnoxious activities of undesirable
foreigners in this country the Gov
ernment has been to considerable I
trouble rounding up and deporting 1
these elements of our population, 1
Now we are being treated to another
manifestation of radicalism of a dis- (
tinctly foreign form, that of bomb 1
throwing, never indigenous to this 1
soil, and the Government must ■
again go on the hunt to root out i
the perpetrators, and again thin 1
dawn by deportation or other process
of disposal the accumulations with 1
which our immigration laws cumber 1
our population. 1
It seems apparent, after a pretty
thorough trial of this process, that 1
we are beginning to do our unwind
ing at the wrong end of the skein.
We allow these undesirables to come
in, bringing with them their Euro
pean luggage of anarchism, class
prejudice and ignorance—unlearned
in our language or institutions—and
to colonize in our cities by nation
ality. trade or community ol[ ideas.
They are gregarious. They do not
mingle except with their own kind.
They absorb nothing of America,
have no conception of its govern
ment or institutions as being in any
way different from those they left
at home and against which their early
prejudices were formed, and con
tinue here the agitation and inter
change of violent ideas that were
their weapons against oppression in
their native lands. Naturally they
are the violent element in every dis
turbance. In every industrial strike
they see a social revolution. Murder,
ljot and destruction of property uro
the only weapons they know the use
of and anarchy their sole political
idea.
If America is to be preserved from
the bombing, sabotage and class war
fare that constitute the program of
these European offscourings it will
not be by h,lated hunting down and
deporting of them after their crimes
have been committed. It must be
by the rigid exclusion of them from
our shores. Our immigration laws
must be revised and strengthened
against the .menace. They should
set up standards by which it would
be possible to know whether an im
migrant who applies for admission
has the qualities to make an Ameri
can or whether he comes as an'
enemy of democracy's institutions.
It is encouraging to know that
American labor recognizes the ne
cessity of putting up the bars in
this way. While Secretary Morrison
of the American Federation was giv
ing out a statement in Washington
demanding immigration restrictions,
the Brotherhood of Boiler Makers and
Iron Shipbuilders of America in
Kansas City was sending out a let
ter to the 175,000 members in the
United States and Canada warning
them against the T. W. W. effort to
combine trades unions into a single
superunion for revolutionary pur
poses. This, too, is a plan of Euro
pean origin, a reflection of the in
ternationalism which unrestricted
immigration has brought here to re
peat, if possible, the history of its
blighting march abroad.
These evidences of a transplanted
radicalism in America and of its
origin and purpose are before Con
gress and the country and call for
action.
War Toll, 550,000 Houses
[From the New York Sun.]
The ten most destructive confla
grations of earth—the great fire of
London in 1666, the Chicago fire of
1872, and others —swept away or
ruined buildings to the number of
about 81,500. To these must be
added the loss in San FYancisco in
1906 which might bring the total
up to one hundred thousand build
ings.
Yet in Northern France 550,000
buildings of various kinds—religious, I
municipal stores, shops factories and
homes—have been demolished or
practically ruined by the Huns. Some
of these were destroyed by military
operations, but more of them were
wantonly ruined in order to make a
waste of the industrial region of
France. In Belgium the destruc
tion was relatively as great and the
needlessness of much of it in both
lands is apparent from Ihe fact that
buildings in German hands were
looted while they were still intact,
their contents being shipped to Ger
many, and were thereafter demol
ished by the Huns in their occu
pancy of the territory or just as they
were being driven out.
No building in Germany proper
has been destroyed save for the few
that were bombed from the air in
reprisal for zeppeltn raids. All Ger
many's structures are standing un
harmed. All its homes arc habit
able; all its plants are in operation
or ready for work. This fact should
be thoroughly understood, throwing
light as it does on the financial con
dition imposed on Garmany which
its delegates violently denounce and
threaten to reject.
Governor Sproul's Desire
[Philadelphia Press]
Governor Sproul's desire that
Pennsylvania shall promptly ratify
the prohibition amendment of the
Constitution- is in harmony with cam
paign pledges on- that subject. The
Commonwealth will eventually ratify
the amendment, no doubt, but if the
legislature does not act at this ses
sion the matter will have to go over
for nearly two years, by which time
a majority of the States will prob
ably have acted. Pennsylvania was
one of the leaders in the ratification
of the Federal Constitution, follow
ing immediately after Delaware,
which was the first to ratify. The
income tax amendment never was
ratified by this State, and it was
among the very last to ratify the
| amendment providing for the elec
tion of United States Ser.-ators by
popular vote, though years before
the legislature by formal resolution
had declared in favor of that meth
od. Pennsylvania is too big and too
important not to have all the time a
prominent place in all the nation's
activities.
New York Needs New Schools
[From the New York American.]
New York's urgent nefed of new
schools is shown in a report com
piled and made public the other day
by the mayor's committee of women
on reconstruction and relief, of
which Mrs. William Randolph
Hearst is chairman.
Miss Aice Carpenter, chairman
of the employment committee of the
organization, made the survey. She
estimates between thirty and fifty I
thousand children were baried from
classes this year because of the lack
of school buildings to accommodate
them.
The report was submitted to
I Mayor Hylan with the request that
■he speed the construction of schools
with the 10 million dollars appropri
ated for their erection and mainte
nance by the board of estimate.
t
Eimting (Eljat ;
People in Harrisburg would not!
go back to the old hours in effect be
fore daylight saving was legalized i
for half of the year if they couldi
was the concensus of opinion of
three representative men asked about!
the agitation for a change and how
the folks here would think about it.
A fourth man said that he camei
into contact with many farmers and]
thought that the old system would
1 have many supporters. In the last
month men active in affairs gener
ally or in certain lines have beeni
asked their opinion regarding mat—
ters very much in the public mindj *
so that they might be expressed iiu
this column, especially such ques
tions as "what is going to happen
in Harrisburg when tbe country
goes 'dry," and "how do the people
ol this city take to the soda water
tax." The results have been Inter
esting and varied. One man who
was queried summed up the daylight
saving proposition this way: "Tho
people of this city like the evenings..
Just look at people hurrying home
to flnsh up supper and get out and
enjoy tho evenings while the surt,
still shines and you will find them,
all in favor of daylight saving,
especially in summer." The second
man said that the crowds about
baseball games in the evenings told
their own story, ,while the third
man, who is a large employer, said
"Men and women come to work
promptly and seem to enjoy tho
l'resh morning air. I notice that
they talk a good bit about the even
rings and that often times they say
it. is fine that the sunsets last so
long. I do not get the viewpoint
of the ' farmer. His work is reg
ulated by the sun and the opposition
to the system we have adopted for
summer time does not seem to bo
strong about here." The fourth man
said that farmers told him that
daylight saving forced them to get
up earlier when they came to mar
ket because people in the cities went
to market earlier and that they did
not like the idea of working after
supper.
* • *
Speaking of the soda tax a woman
asked to sign a petition for repeal
of the law gave a clerk in a store
in the central part of the city some
things to carry to his employer.
"Yes, I'll sign this and I also want
to know why it is that since the war
is over and restrictions are off sugar
and other things that we have to pay
you war prices for everything. You
are-charging as much as in the midst
of the war and there is no excuse
for it. Furthermore, ten cents is
charged a block away from here for
what you charge a nickle and in an
other store a pretzel that one would
have been ashamed to give along
with a soda In old days is now sold
for a cent."
* •
This complaint about prices for ica
cream and soda and pretzels has
considerable basis. Men in the whole
sale end of the business say that
there is not the justification that
there was early in the war and
that to charge prices that are ob
tained in many confectionaries for
candy and soda is not fair. The re
tailers say that the manufacturers
are keeping up prices| No one on
either side has much to say when,
prices of sugar and other things are
referred to. One of these days the
various prices charged for the same
things in Harrisburg and the story
of the rise of the price of the pretzel
and the slice of pie in Harrisburg is
going to be obtained and written in
plain unvarnished terms with some
observations on why one can still buy
a good sized pretzel for one cent on
Second street and be charged one
i cent for a pretzel half the size on
Third street at one end of Capitol
park and be sold two of the same
size for a cent on Third street at the
other end. And the difference be
tween what it costs to bake and serve
pie now and three years ago will like
wise be studied from original
sources. The ice cream cone, tho
pretzel and the slice of pie are dear
to the heart of many a Harris
burger.
*. • •
Sufficient money to complete one
office building and enough to start a
second will be voted by the Legisla
ture this year as the result of a
series of conferences with Governor
Willia;® C. Sproul. The Governor,
who is anxious to consolidate the
State governmental activities in Har
risburg, is also seeking to cut down
the rent roll which has assumed
alarming proportions because of the
necessity of leasing buildings in this
city to house departments crowded
out of the Capitol through the ex
pansion of the highway and other
departments. It is likely that all of
the educational branches will be
grouped in the new building which
is to replace the Harrisburg Board
of Trade where many historic con
ventions and State political gather
ings were held just as the Labor
and Industry Department has been
grouped under Dean C. B. Con
nclley in the Keystone building.
Not so many people are going
sailing in the Susquehanna now as
used to sail ten years ago. says a
riverman. The canoe has caused the
sailboat to go into disuse and the
old flat-bottomed boat is no longer
popular among Harrisburg boys.
[ WELL KNOWN PEOPLE f
—Congressman John M. MorifJ
says Cardinal Mercier, of Belgium,
will visit Pittsburgh late this sum.
,ner - , j
—Admiral Sims and Judge Orlady,
to be honored by Juniata College this
week, grew up in Huntingdon
county. „
—The Rev. P. J. Higgins, Ger
mantown clergyman, is celebrating
a quarter of a century in the priest
hood.
General Adelbert Cronkhlte, who
commanded the Blue Ridge division
formed at Camp Lee, is to be tho
guest or Pittsburgh which had many
boys in the division.
A. C. Bigelow, prominent in thq^
State's "more sheep" movement, is
taking an active part in the woolen
convention at Philadelphia.
M. Hampton Todd, former At
torney General, has been named by
the city of Philadelphia to repre
sent it in the John G. Johnson art
collection actions.
1 DO YQU KNOW
—That Harrisburg silk Is used f;i
balloons?
HISTORIC HARRISBURG
Meetings to denounce the st&mri
tax were held here before Phlladete
phia got into action, j