12
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
4. NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOME
Founded 1831
Published evenings except Sunday by
THE TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO.
Telegraph Bulldlag, Federal Sqaare
E. J. STACKPOLE
Preeident and Editor-in-Chief
P. R. OYSTER, Business Manager
GUS. M. STEINMETZ. Managing Editor
A. R. MICHENER, Circulation Manager
Executive Board
J. P. McCULLOUGH,
BOYD M. OGLESBY,
F. R. OYSTER,
GUS. M. STEINMETZ.
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Associated Press is exclusively en
titled to the use for republication
of all news dispatches credited to
It or not otherwise credited in this
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lished herein.
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a-988 Bureau of Circu
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Entered at the Post Office In Harris
burg, Pa., as second class matter.
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year In advance.
TUESDAY, JULY 8, 1919
Never be afraid of giving up your
beet, and God will give you hie bet
ter.—Jamee Hinton.
GOOD JOB WELL DONE
THE Harrisburg School Board is
to be commended for the
promptness with which it acted
upon the proposal to purchase the
Hoffman's Woods plot as a High
School site. Nothing could have been
gained by delay and a postponement
might have resulted in a withdrawal
by the owners of the very generous
sale price now available.
Doubtless there will be a few who
will find fault with the choice, but it
Is impossible to please everybody
and no one plot of ground could
have been found upon which public
opinion would have been more
nearly unanimous. Not one word
can be said against the price, the
healthfulness of the site, the wis
dom of providing for future growth
or the economy of the university or
semi-detached building plan contem
plated, and much might be pre
sented In their favor.
In all fairness to the School Board
it should be said that the directors
had their eyes on the uptown site
long before the City Planning Com
mission suggested Its purchase, but
St remained for the commission, act
ing independently along the same
; lines, to work out the plans, obtain
an advantageous price and offer a
, concrete suggestion to the board,
which the directors, having already
I made themselves familiar with the
situation, were in position to grasp
without much discussion. The de
cision to purchase was based, there
fore, upon the mature consideration
of the School Board amplified by
the Planning Commission's concrete
recommendations.
And now that the site is assured,
it is to be hoped that no time will bo
lost in getting ready for its develop
ment at the earliest possible mo
ment.
The School Board having decided
to do its part, City Council may be
expected to accept the fifteen acres
offered free in the Italian Park sec
tion. These two improvements
should go forward hand-in-hand.
THE TITLE IS OURS
GOVERNOR SPROUT., and Ad
jutant General Reary will have
the support of all Pennsyl
vania in protesting against the appli
cation of the 28th Division numeral
to any but the new National Guard
division of Pennsylvania, which, hy
the way, will be made up largely
of former members of the 28th who
served with the red Keystone on
' their shoulders in France.
Pennsylvania has earned title to
both the Keystone and the division
numeral. No State has a finer record
in the war and few so good. It
would be both stupid and unjust for
the War Department to do such an
obviously unpopular thing.
THUMBS DOWN FOR BILL
LONDON hears that the Kaiser
is to escape the death penalty
through "the special influence
| of the United States."
London's hearing is faulty. Lon
don may have heard the voice of
Woodrow Wilson, but It never heard
any other American plead for mercy
* tor the arch fiend of German fright
fulness. No, indeed; they might
string Wilhelm up to the first tele
graph pole outside his Dutch palace
and nobody in the United States
worthy the name of citizen would
raise his voice in protest, but a lot
of folks, doubtless, would be heard
to observe, that "hanging was too
good for him."
| Our own particular form of pun
ishment, providing It was found in
convenient to exhibit him In side
shows at ten cents a throw —pro-
ceeds to go to the war orphans—
would be to make him spend the
rest of his days helping by work of
: hand and sweat of brow to rebuild
the ruined towns and villages of
Belgium. But be the sentence what
It may the American people will
• • ' ■ "• r ■ _ . .v.i, ■ . ——. .. . . ... j .
TUESDAY EVENING, RARRISBUKG TEEEGPapg JULY 8, 1919.
ask themselves only if It Is severe
enough. There Is no leniency for
Bill the Brute In the heart of Amer
icans, and If President Wilson has
been begging mercy for the inter
national criminal who plunged the
world into four years of misery and
bloodshed, he has grossly misrepre
sented public sentiment at home.
We cannot believe that the report
is true. It's thumbs down in the
United States for Bill, and the
President must know it.
THE SUSQUEHANNA BASIN
ITH the coining of hot
W weather and the greater use
of the noble river which
washes our front steps there is
wider interest in the proper devel
opment of the Susquehanna Basin,
ft is not generally known that hun
dreds of canoes, row boats and mo
tor boats are in daily use on this
broad expanse of water, and, with
the improvement of the basin as
contemplated through the opening
of channels in the reefs at Maclay
street and the raising of the level
of the river through a higher breast
on the dam in South Harrisburg,
hundreds more will make use of the
river for pleasure and comfort dur
ing several months of the year.
The association known as the
"Greater Harrisburg Navy" has
within its membership men of vis
ion and enthusiasm who are con
ducting a constructive campaign of
education as to the advantages of
our water front and the basin to
the end that permanent improve
ment may be achieved at the earliest
possible date. The annual Kipona,
a river carnival which has already
become popular, has attracted at
tention to the possibilities of the
Susquehanna Basin and during the
next year or two substantial prog
rcs. will be made in the plans for
bathing and boating facilities which
are .io generally demanded by the
people.
No feature of our scenic attrac
tions is more commended by the
visitor than the river basin and the
unique treatment of the embank
ment along the city front, and when
the Hardscrabble district is con
verted into an additional park strip
definite consideration ought to be
given some adequate plan for boat
ing and bathing facilities at that
point. It is not a difficult problem
and several suggestions of a prac
tical nature have already been made
by competent engineers. One of
these plans contemplates a large
concrete boat house, so constructed
as to interfere in no way with the
park treatment from the top of the
terrace to the walk along the shore
line, inasmuch as the Hardscrabble
improvement will probably come
within the year the Greater Harris
burg Navy officials should give seri
ous study to the boating and bath
ing features of that section of the
River Front.
There is no longer any criticism
of the improvement of the river
frontage; on the contrary, there is
universal approval of what has been
done for the health and comfort and
pleasure of the people. The Sus
quehanna Basin is a part of the
people's recreation area and it is
quite as important to give atten
tion to its development as it is to
further improve our park system
and playgrounds.
NOT THE POINT
THE Kansas City Times offers
excellent advice to those who
would avoid a summer-weather
knockout due to too much flesh
across the equatorial region, a la
Jess Willard, by restricting the
amount of rich food we eat.
What a happy place Kansas City
must be, where a man can afford
to eat more rich food than is good
for him. We didn't think there
was any such place left on earth,
hut if there is why not advertise
the fact instead of deprecating the
enviable possibilities?
If there is opportunity to buy in
Kansas City for a dollar, say, more
steak than an ordinary man ought
to eat at a restaurant meal, (bread,
butter, potatoes and coffee not In
cluded in the price) the American
public ought to know . about it.
Kansas City has a duty to perform
to suffering humanity if it has any
opportunities for over-eating at a
time when other cities are trying to
find ways and means of keeping the
pay envelope and the cost of living
from getting so far apart the envel
ope will never be able to catch up
with the grocery bill.
We need no such advice in Harris
burg. When a man goes into an
eating place in this city or a woman
goes to market he, or she, as the
case may be, soliloquizes somewhat
after this manner: "Let's see; I've
so much to spend, now what can
I get for the money that will go
the farthest for the cash? There's
cabbage; that ought to bo cheap.
And soup—or the material thereof —
a lot of that will. help. And . steak,
ah, how we would like to have a
steak, but that's only for million
aires. May be we better compromise
011 a little beef (boiled or for boil
ing) and a couple of loaves of
bread."
Over-eating? Yes, thero was a
time when wo of Harrisburg got
fat for that reason, but thut was
in the "dear, dim days beyond recall"
when a man could acquire rotundity
without the suspicion of having been
too familiar with 2.75 beer or being
in the profiteer class.
Any on# who get* around Harris
burg with hi* eye* open must be im
pressed with the gradual development
of the porch ar.d window-box decora
tion of the homes of the city. It is
pleasing to note that the floral dis
play on the front of the Telegraph
building has been greatly admixed.
and other buildings are likely to be
simUpxly adorned next year.
Ik
""P tKKO\jtcCLKUI
By the Kx-Committeeman
Pittsburgh'c big bond issue elec
tion, in which a loan of $22,000,000
is involved ,is the high point of in
terest in Pennsylvania politics to
day and it is estimated by the Pitts
hurgh-Gazette-Times that about 54,-
000 persons will be entitled to vote
at the polls to-day. The campaign
has been strenuously waged, quite
in keeping with Pittsburgh's way
of doing things and meetings, pa
rades and the like have taken place.
Mayor E. V. Babcock has been a
prominent tigure on the stump in
behalf of the loan.
The Gazette-Times says the Mayor
is confident that the $6,000,000 sub
way item, which the Pittsburgh Dis
patch has been fighting, will carry
two to one. The Dispatch says that
the defeat of the item is "probable,"
and urges voters to vote as they
talk. The Pittsburgh Post strongly
urges the people to send every item
"over the top, as we did everyone
of our war quotas."
There are seven Items and the
program is the most extensive ever
lyjown in the State outside of Phila
delphia.
—People who follow politics are
commencing to discuss what an in
teresting situation will be presented
at the judicial primaries and general
elections in many counties of Penn
sylvania this fall when there will
be no liquor issue in the land. For
years every judicial election has
been torn up by the liquor license
issue and more than one judge of
prominence has gone down to de
feat because of it. There is no sign
of the issue being raised in any of
the counties as yet. hut it will possi
bly arise and there may be contests
waged in November over enforce
ment, although if it is made a con
gressional matters the voters will not
have much to say about it.
—Pennsylvania Congressmen are
commencing to hear from people
throughout the State about the way
the prohibition situation has been
handled and it is reported that some
have received letters urging action.
—Capitol Hill is commencing to
display nervousness over the possi
bility that there may be a pay day
on July 15 without pay, such as
occurred a 'couple of times during
the Brumbaugh administration. The
emergency appropriation, designed
to take care of the pay of people
connected with the State Govern
ment and to meet the expenses of
the various departments until the
general appropriation bill was ap
proved, did not provide for anything
beyond the first of July, it being
hoped that the general appropria
tion bill could be signed before the
fifteenth. However, there are all
sorts of possibilities in generai bills,
especially when they carry over $44,-
000,000 "such as that now on the
desk of the Governor takes with it,
and there may be some close con
nections. The heads of the various
departments who gave the appro
priation chairmen figures on the
"very least" they could get along
on have been asked to send to the
Governor statements of their real
minimum estimates and also what
positions they consider essential."
—The Governor is expected to
take up the general and the chari
table appropriation bills with Au
ditor General Charles A. Snyder and
Chairman William J. McCaig, of the
House appropriations committee, this
evening and will probably commence
to announce his action on the bills.
There are over 650 in his hands
and the time is up on July 26.
an old-fashioned fight for the may
oralty of Lebanon, as Mayor George
T Spang has announced that he will
be a candidate succeed himself
and City Commissioner George C. j
Krause, well known to many Har
risburgers, has let it be known that
he intends to seek the mayoralty,
too. These two men have been rivals
in Lebanon politics for years. Spang
is a Republican, and Krause a Dem
ocrat, and whether the election is
nonpartisan or not, it will be worth
watching.
—Dr. Homer W. Tope, superin
tendent of the Anti-Saloon League
,at Philadelphia, who is active in the
movement for election of "dry" men
to the next Legislature, says that he
believes world-wide prohibition is
coming.
—Joseph S. McLaughlin, director
of supplies of Philadelphia, is said
to have a mayorality idea, but it is
not meeting with favor in the Vare
camp where Kendrick stock is quot
ed at high figures.
—Congressman J. Hampton Moore
has written in his column in the
Philadelphia Evening Ledger this
interesting story about a State of
official: Dr. Francis D. Patterson,
of the Department of Labor and In
dustry at Harrishurg, rnshed to
Washington at the Instance of Gov
ernor Sproul the other day In an ef
fort to destroy a rider giving addi
tional powers to the Federal Bureau
of Mines, which had been sneaked
| in on the Senate side without notice
to the House. The doctor was hot
I under the cellar, as were a number
of other State officials, who eom
p'ained they had been taken hy sur
prise. The purpose of the rider was
to give the bureau of mines fifteen
new inspectors at fat salaries, and
the State's representatives contend
ed that they would onlv interfere
with efficient State regulations and
harass business men. A quickfight
was made against the rider and It
went out. the House for once stand
ing unanimous against the invasion
of the Senate.
TIME
I ask'd an Aged Man, a man of
cares.
Wrinkled, and curved, and white
with hoary hairs:
"Time is the warp of life," he satd.
"Oh tell
The young, the fair, the gay, to
weave it well!"
T ask'd the aged Venerable Dead,
Sages who wrote, and warriors who
bled:
Front the cold grave a hollow mur
mur flow'd,
"Time sowed the seed we reap In
this abode."
I asked a Dying Sinner, ere the tide
Of life had left his veins: "Time,"
he replied—■
"I've lost itl Ah, the treasure!"—
and he died. •
T asked the Golden Sun and Silver
Spheres.
Those bright Chronometers of days
and years:
They answer'd. "Time is but a
meteor glare,
And bids us for Eternltr prepare."
—The Rev, Benjamin Marsden in
<be Journal.
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AFTeg- ° IN sne Goes- A
Air Policy 'Unthinkable'
[Richard Washburn Child in Col
lier's Weekly.]
Upon one thing the British are
firm. They saw the inefficiency re
sulting from scattering the control
of aviation among various depart
ments of government. They saw the
unsatisfactory muddle when the
royal (lying corps of the army and
the royal navy aviation section were
trying separately and sometimes at
cross purposes to develop power in
the air. The British have seen the
efficiency of centralized control in
the air ministry. They want it to
continue in peace. They think the
development of civil flying depends
on it. So it does.
The good sense, the proved experi
ence, the wisdom and foresight of
this fact are so plain that it gives
an American in London a shudder
when he reads a dispatch from
Washington which, instead of con
veying the news that Congress or the
executive under the extraordinary
war powers had taken a step to
ward contralized control of army,
navy and civil flying, conveyed the
news that the only semblance of
centralized control built up in the
United States has been kicked to
pieces. The army air service, which
only saw growth under Major Gen
eral Kenly as director of military
aeronautics, has been taken back
and given over to the general staff!
I have before me an editorial com
ment from one of the foremost
European newspapers:
"It is unthinkable that a great
country like the United States will
allow this state of affairs (the de
centralization of control, the lack
of government assistance to the de
velopment of flying, and the reduc
tion of permanent air stations to
three!) to continue. The various
phases through which the service
has passed during the war may
serve as an example of the evils of
Indecision and the lack of definite
and continuous policy."
i No less vital to the development
of flying for peace is a definite and
continuous government policy, with
government support and supervision
of flying under one central author
ity.
The British know It! Does
America?
1 Secretary Baker's Prodigality
Washington, July S.—"l state de
liberately that in normal times, in
1 time of peace, such a violation mor
ally upon the part of an official of
the government would come very
close to leading to his impeach
ment."
This was the language of Senator
■ T.enroot of Wisconsin in a speech in
: the Senate in connection with the
Army appropriation bill. He, with
others, severely condemned the ac
. tlon of the War Department, ap
i proved, of course, by Secretary
i Baker in purchasing real estate for
I camps against the will of Congress.
The purchase most condemned
, was one for large tracts at Camp
I Benning, Georgia, for a school of
arms, a purchase consummated long
after the armistice, and in spite of
the fact it is contended there were
i ample facilities elsewhere, especial
ly at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, This,
however, was by no means the only
purchase which was criticised, and
it was made clear that the Secretary
of War hnd done a thing which Con
gress might have sanctioned had the
war continued but which the coming
on of pence made very different.
They "Sneaked It Through"
[Harper's Weekly.]
Good things are sometimes done
in a bad way, an orderly and legiti
mate way. But here Is an attempt
to do a bad thing in a bad way;
which means that it should he
doubly damned. It would ho a bad
thing to abolish the so-called "day."
light saving" arrangement, no mat
ter how It might be done. Tt is a
had thing to pass any measure as a
"rider." no matter what the meas
ure 'may he. But to pass this "day
light repeal" proposal as a rider Is.
as we have said, doubly evil, if
the short-sighted advooates of If
want to try Issues upon It. let them
nut It up as an Independent meas
ure; to take Its ehances according
i to Its own deserts. In that form It
would nrohahlv he overwhelming! v
reiected. which Is whv thev do not
dare to try it. hut Instead "sneok
it In" as a rider. Tn Its present
ferwi it ought to he atl the more
surely and strongly beaten.
Wood on Preparedness
[From the Washington Star]
AVERY interesting address
was delivered by Gen. Leon
ard Wood in Washingto,. the
other night to the graduating class
of George Washington University.
This is taken from it:
"This war has shown us that a
great commercial nation cannot be
come a great military nation with
out a considerable period of pre
paredness. We should do in the
time of peace what cannot be done
without great sacrifice in time of
war."
General Wood, as all are aware,
was an advocate of preparedness at
a time when all the advocates of
that policy were regarded and char
acterized as mere alarmists—as men
speaking without warrant—and by
some as spreaders of alarm for sel
fish purposes. The war, as all now
know, vindicated him and all who
held with him. Great sacrifice was
required and made as the result of
unpreparedness when war came. At
the heaviest expense, w had to
hurry with an order which all but
paralyzed us. What we should have
been ready with in a few weeks
taxed our utmost endeavors for
months.
Naturally and logically General
Wood advises against slipping back
into the old and discredited condi
tion. Now that we have discovered
the value of preparedness, and are
prepared, he wants us to remain pre
pared, and to take steps to make
the future secure. On that point, he
says:
"No greater aid in fitting the
men of the country to take up arms
in time of war can be found than a
Takes up Billboard Fight
[From the New York Herald.]
Opening a fight on billboards in
city streets and avenues, the Na
tional Association of Real Estate
Boards, in convention at Atlantic
City, places its interested strength
behind a public sentiment which has
been able already in a number of
cities to effect wholesome reforms
in the indicated direction. Wash
ington has abolished billboards,
Chicago regulates them by a prin
ciple of majority consent. In Bos
ton a charter provision is directed
against them.
New York has experienced sev
eral anti-billboard agitations with
out visible effect. Broadway still
suffers visl'ations of ugly boardings.
Along Riverside Drive choice beauty
spots of sloping lawn are spread be
fore backgrounds of unsightly ad
vertising rising to levels of second
story window tops. Such obtrusive
structures offend the intelligent eye.
The men at Atlantic City find that
they also can affect seriously the
values of real estate and of bonds
Issued to cover investments in parks,
parkways and boulevards.
For the billboards there is no plea
of public necessity. They are in
stitutions purely of private profit.
No ranking for general convenience
is to be accorded to them. They lack
the qualities of fantastic display and
the virtue of assisting materially in
the illumination of a great city
which has disarmed esthetic critics
of the electric night advertising
signs nlong shopping fronts and
skylines.
Billboards in cities are indeed the
unbecoming products of a special
indulgence. When that indulgence
is withdrawn by urban authority, it
may be found practicable to clean
up the landscape along rural drives
and crosscountry railway lines.
Omar Expurgated
When Omar penned his famous
screed
He little thought his lines
Would find admirers in a land
Destined to taboo wines;
But since, behold! the cards are
stacked
In favor of the drys.
The bibulous old Persian we
Must certainly revise.
So when we take our Omar up
Bv mountain stream or sea
We'll change his celebrated verse
To run quite harmlessly:
"A loaf of bread, a pitcher full
Of lemonade, and thou,"
Will foe the way we'll have to read
The Persian poet now. .
—-MINNA IRVING.
sound course of physical training
in the schools. Only one-half of the
men of military age were physically
fit for full military duty. This great
number of ' physically, poorly
equipped men will he bad for in
dustry. Most of these defects could
have been cured if we had better
physical training in the schools. We
should also have a better and more
thorough public education system.
It is surprising the great number of
illiterates who were found by the
draft."
This also is very persuasive. The
proper physical training makes for
efficiency in civil as well as in mili
tary life. The man thoroughly fit
physically for civil duties, no matter
their character, is the fitter for mili
tary duties when called to perform
the latter. His health and strength
are an asset in both fields of activ
ity. Let us have the upstanding
citizen as well as the upstanding
soldier. If we have the former, we
are certain of the latter.
As General Wood made good as an
advisor in the matter of war, he is
entitled to a most respectful hearing
as an advisor in the matter of peace.
His advice, as to preparedness for
war was not taken, to the regret now
probably of many who rejected it.
That as to peace, and preparing men
for peace duties, is before us, and
should be considered on its merits.
Now that thd war is over the work
of rehabitation calls for good men
and the best that is in them. Blood
tells. So docs training. The train
ed man is, as a rule, a dependable
man, ready for his assignment, and
quick and capable in performing
whatever is intrusted to him.
THE ENEMIES OF ORDER
[From the Scranton Republican.]
The anti-sedition law, recently
passed by the Pennsylvania Legis
lature and approved by Governor
Sproul for the purpose of curbing
the enemies of order in their in
sidious efforts to undermine the
Government of State and Nation,
by their advocacy of the vicious
tenets of Bolshevism and anarchy,
has promptly been invoked in this
city by the commendable action of
Superintendent of Police Day in ap
prehending certain persons on the
charge of violating its provisions.
While great care should he taken
not to deprive any man of his lib
erty unjustly, or condemn hiru with
out fair trial, conditions are such
as to justify the guardians
of the law in keeping a close
watch upon the agents of mis
rule who are now active sowing the
seeds of sedition in this Republic.
It is certainly a piece of brazen
assurance on the part of Bolshevist
emissaries to come to this country
where the people rule, for the pur
pose of advocating the body and
soul-destroying doctrines prevalent
In Russia where neither rule nor
reason prevails.
The agents of anarchy must be
taught that America is not fertile
soil for their pernicious and poison
ous propaganda. If the common
sense rule of the people, exercised
at the polls and subordinated to the
verdict of the majority, does not
suit the Bolshevist breeders of dis
content let them go to Russia or
wherever else the atmosphere may
be congenial to their wild-eyed
theories.
This is a land of liberty regulated
by law, not by unrestrained license
and It will not tolerate Bolshevism
or any of its kindred political here
sies.
Freedom of speech and of the
press are guaranteed by the Organic
Daw of State and Nation, hut not
to the extent of promulgating doc
trines aimed at the destruction of
our institutions.
The American people who poured
forth their blood and treasure so
generously for the destruction of
autocracy In Europe are not going
to tolerate any assault on their own
free and independent government
by a lot of half-baked agitators
whose theories would turn the world
into one vast lunatic asylum.
The great principle: "Order Is
heaven's flrst law," is the safeguard
of the American home, and of this
Republic, and those who undertake
to overthrow It must expect to be
treated aa enemies of this country.
No Wonder Germany Qu:
NUMBER TWENTY-TWO
One of the great problems we had
to contend with in France was the
Boehe spies," said Major Frank C.
Mahin of the Army Recruiting sta
tion, 325 Market street, Harrisburg.
"Spies were gotten into France in
four ways; those who were sent in
before the war, those who got in by
way of Switzerland, those who were
brought over the lines in aeroplanes
and landed at night, and the most
dangerous for us were the spies the
Germans got into our army in this
country and sent over as soldiers.
Most of this latter class were sol
diers, out there were several officers,
and even one chaplain; also there
were M. C. A. and other civilian
workers who turned out to be spies.
The great difficulty we had with the
men who were in our service was
that we got orders from Washing
ton that no man in the army should
be executed for any offense what
soever without special authority
from the President. We would get
all the evidence possible against the
spy and then instead of court-mar
tiailing him ourselves, we would turn
him over with the evidence to the
r rench. They had special courts in
session all the time to try spies and
justice was administered with the
utmost dispatch. Within twenty
four hours after they had a spy he
had been tried, convicted and shot.
Since we were under French high
command we could turn over such
spies as we caught to their gentle
mercies with the certainty that once
such transfer had been made we
would never hear any more about
the spy.
We caught one spy right in our
own regiment. Ho was a
sergeant in the Stokes mortar
platoon and a very good soldier.
The Stokes were sent up to mo
shortly after we got in the trenches,
and they promptly started having
trouble. The Roche apparently
knew exactly where they were and
shelled them unmercifully. We mov
ed them and within a couple of
hour 3 they were accurately shelled
again. Then we started doing some
counter espionage work. Each day
we movbd the Stokes and each day
they got shelled until more than
twenty of the men in the platoon
had been killed or wounded. Fin
ally we became suspicious of this
sergeant so we prepared a trap for
him. lie had a had habit of wan
dering around alone in the sector
and in particular of going down into
unoccupied parts of the front line
trench which was only about fifteen
yards from the German front line.
1 had the word spread all through
the sector that I had moved the
thirty-seven milimetcr gun platoon
in the area. Actually I brought up
one of the three guns and its crew.
Shortly after the guns arrived this
sergeant questioned the gun captain
as to where his gun was hidden, but
the gun captain and all his crew
had been told to tell anyone who
questioned them that their gun was
in an entirely different place from
where it was. The gun cuptain re
ported his conversation with the
sergeant, so we worked out the co
ordinates (exact spot on the map)
of a position that was a good place
for a thirty-seven but was really six
hundred yards from where the gun
was The gun captain then hunted
up the sergeant, the former being
watched all the time without his
knowledge to make sure he talked to
no one but the sergeant, and gave
the sergeant the false co-ordinates
of the gun position. The sergeant
at once went down into the unoccu
pied front trench and within an
hour the Boche blew the supposed
gun position off the face of the land
scape. That was all the evidence
needed and we proceeded to 'pinch'
Mr. Sergeunt.
No Thought Lead in America
[Charles Edward Russell In the
Bookman.]
It may be taken for certain that
in these days there is no such thing
in America as a leader of thought.
I do not know that there is one
man whose views on any subject
connected with public affairs have
the slightest weight because they
are his.
PRAISE THE LORD
Praise ye the Lord. Blessed Is the
man that feareth the Lord, that de
llghteth greatly In his command
ments.—Psalms cxli, L
Brottng (Et?al
With exception of the eolors of the
110 th Infantry, the 107 th Machine
Gun Battalion, which was attached
to the 28th division headquarters and
a few of the auxiliary organizations
the flags of all of the units which
made up the Keystone division in
I 1 ranee have been received by Adju
tant General Prank D. Beary and
this month arrangements will be
made by the State Board of Public
Grounds and Buildings for the prop
er placing of the colors in the ro
tunda of the Capitol. It is expected
that the colors, of the 107 th will
be here in a short time, while those
of the 110 th will bo turned over
late this summer. All of the other
infantry, machine gun and artillery
flags have been received at the Capi
tol. Steps are being taken to se
cure the colors of the regiments
made up of Pennsylvanians in tho
79th, 80th and other divisions which
were in the National Army list and
they will be given place with the
Keystone colors close to the stand
ards of thp regiments of the Civil
and Spanish wars in the Capitol.
* * *
Recruitment of the new troop of
the State Police is being made en
tirely of men who have had service
with the United States army in the
war. There have been numerous
inquiries from men who had over
seas service as to the requirements
for service in the State force and
the fact that the new organization
will be made up of men of experience
will enable tho troop to bo ready for
service earlier than expected. A
number of men who had been in
cavalry service have also applied.
Until the barracks here are com
pleted, which will be this fall, the
troops will have its headquarters
on leased property near Lancaster.
• * •
In these days of draught there
come from tho returned ones stories
of sunny France, which was not too
sunny but very cheerful in spirits
withal. This particular tale was told
by a young colonel of the Yankee
division, formerly commandant of
one of the army schools of instruc
tion and more lately general of a
National Army artillery brigade. It
seems that the tirst wave of the
26th was moving forward fairly
rapidly at the left side of the salient
at St. Mihiel, when a platoon of
Yanks ran into a big building chock
full of abandoned Bochc foodstuffs.
They rummaged about looking over
the tons of good canned vegetables
and fruit, the meat, tobacco, every
thing that the Bcclio had been re
ported short of; but the big yell
wont up when coming around the
corner of the building they saw a
big shed stacked up to tho eaves
with big kegs. Immediately with true
American fortitude, they made a
frontal attack on the supply and
found it good, old German beer.
That settled it. The attack was tem
porarily forgotten and tho platoon
sat down to enjoy its fill qf good
beer. And as they drank the word
traveled far and wide that an oasis
in the front had hcen discovered,
and before the afternoon was over
the place was surrounded hy dough
hoys, artillerymen, engineers, cam
ion drivers. M. P's and lieutenant
colonels from headquarters. A very
enjoyable time was reported by all
present. The evening found tho brig
ado headquarters billeted there.
• • •
When tho contracts for State
highway construction on which bids
are being opened to-day are award
ed Pennsylvania will have more
miles of road under contract than
any other State in the Union, ac
cording to the way Highway Com
missioner Lewis S. Sadler figures it.
The end of this month will see half
a thousand being built and the Key
•tone Slate will he a long ways to
ward being put in (he front rank,
says Co'. William D. Uhler, the chief
engineer.
• • •
Attorney General William I.
Schaffer is having his experience
Willi the Baker estate. This estate,
which does not exist as far as any
one connected with the State Gov
ernment has been able to discover,
appears biennially to plague the oc
cupant of the Attorney General's
chair. Attorneys general have been
asked to protect interest of heirs,
to get after crooks, to make inquiries,
to proceed in court and even to act
in the interest of the Commonwealth
in regard to this estate. It first ap
peared twenty years ago when the
"heirs" began writing to see what
they should do. It has beep located
in the heart of various cities and in
profitable coal lands. Since then
every Attorney General has been
asked to take some steps, generally
in interest of the writer of the let
ter. Mr. Schaffer is having his
turn.
| WELL KNOWN PEOPLE ~~
Dr. D. A. Harman, head of Hazle
ton schools, is out trotting the cir
cuit hunting teachers. He says that
the scarcity is serious.
—Ex-Judge W. K. Stevens, of
Reading, well known to many hero,
was struck by an automobile ami
badly hurt a few days ago.
-—Dr. Wilmer Krusen, head of
Philadelphia's health, says his big
problem is to get the children to
the playgrounds.
—Col. Francis Ralson, active Jhi,
American army work in France, is
a brother of Judge Robert Ralston,
long prqminent in Nat onal Guard*
affairs.
—H. DeY Dents, prominent Car
bon county lawyer, has been named
as head of the Carbon county Sab
bath school association.
T DO YOU KNOW
—That ITarrlsburg's postal busi
ness Is showing unothcr spurt and
tluit it is far ahead of what it was
ten years ngo?
HISTORIC HARRISBURO
—The Harrlßburg National bank
corner has been occupied by' that
institution longer than any site has
been continuously used by any es
tablishment in Harrisburg.
A Self-supporting Poland
[From the New York Sun.]
The boundaries lixed for Poland
include the mining districts of tho
former Polish kingdom, thus fur
nishing practically all the minerals
required In modern industries; they
include also the rich agricultural
lands of the Polish provinces and
the manufacturing centers where
Polish industrial skill reached Its
highest development. New Poland
is thus from an economic point of
view what the Polish people ha.ve
■ought, a truly self-supporting state.
It