Harrisburg telegraph. (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, August 04, 1919, Page 10, Image 10

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    10
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
A. NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOME
Founded 1851
Published evenings except Sunday by
THE TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO.
Telegraph Building, JUcd-rnl Square
E. J. STACKPOLE
President and Editor-in-Chief
F. R. OYSTER, Business Manager
OUS. M. ST.EINMETZ, Managing Editor
A- R. MICHENER, Circulation Manager
Executive Beard
I. P. McCULLOUGH,
BOYD M. OGLESBY,
F. R. OYSTER,
GUS. M. STEINMETZ.
Members ol the Associated Press —The
Associated Press is exclusively en
titled to the use for republication
of all news dispatches credited to
it or not otherwise credited in this
fiaper and also the local news pub
ished herein.
All rights of republication of special
dispatches herein are also reserved.
I Member American
Newspaper Pub
lishers' Associa
tion, the Audit
Bureau of Circu
lation and Penn
sylvania Associa
ated Dailies.
Eastern office
Story, Brooks &
Finley, Fifth
Avenue Building,
Western office'.
Story, Brooks &
Gas Building
Chicago, 111.
Entered at the Post Office in Harris
burg, Pa., as second class matter.
By carrier, ten cents a
ii'*y L * week; by mail. $3.00 a
year in advance.
MONDAY, AUGUST I, 11119
Die when wc mag I want if said
of mc, by those who knew mc best,
that I always plucked a thistle and
planted a flower when 1 thought a
flower would grow.—Lincoln.
THK PLACE TO BEGIN
IT IS to be hoped that the return
to Hurrisburg of Arnold W.
Brunner, the architect of the
State in the Capitol park improve
ments, with the revised plans for
the street changes and the terracing
and coping of the Third and Walnut
street sides of the park, will not be
long delayed. This is the work
wherein Harrisburg first pledged
itself before all of the State to co
operate and it is ready to begin.
In fact, from what some of the city
fathers say, it has been ready for
weeks. It would like to start to
make dirt fly so that when the time
comes for it to do its share in the
wonderful bridge to he built as a
memorial to the Keystone State's
soldier and sailor sons, it will have
the habit of co-operating well de
veloped.
In no place in the State is ttiere
greater interest in Governor Sprout's
plan to make the Capitol the civic
center of the Commonwealth than in
Harrisburg. It has been the ex
perience that many state capitals
regard state improvements as wholly
state matters. Not so in Harris
burg. This city wants to bear a
part and it wants to start right in
on the Capitol park, so that it can
show to the f3tate that it is
and at the same time better the
traffic conditions for the hundreds
of tourists who come to Harrisburg
to see the State House, and who say
things about the way to get in and
out of the park every hour of the
day. This is a place where some
' thing should be done and where it
can be done this fall.
And we repeat, Harrisburg is
ready to make the dirt fly.
Wc wonder if there is anything sig
nificant between the prohibition law
and the sudden increase in coffee
prices?
CAUSE FOR INDIGNATION
THE Telegrapti on Saturday pub
lished an exclusive pictilre
made by Underwood and Un
derwood, the noted photographers,
showing the burning of a million
dollars worth of airplanes ,n
France by order of the War Depart
ment as a means of ridding itself
of an incumbrance after the signing
of the armistice.
And yet Democrats complain be-
cause Republicans in Congress are
"grumbling constantly" over "war"
expenses. •
Not a Republican single ob
jection to raise against a single item
of necessary war expenditure. They
voted for the appropriations which
Mr. Baker said were necessary with
out debate and gave into the hands
of the administration without a
murmur such power as even the
German General Staff did not possess
—all with the object of winning the
wur with the least cost of American
life. And insofar as this money was
spent to that end and the autocratic
authority vested in the Government
exercised purely for the purposes in
tended Republicans the country
over, in Congress and out, are in
hearty accord. But when the War
Department burns up a million dol
lars' worth of airplanes, built at tn
iinite cost of money, labor and the
% sclf-sacrillce of a devoted people,
especially when the machines might
have been held in reserve for war
emergency or used in the develop
ment of air traffic commercially, then
\ Republicans and Democrats too are
Justified in entering vigorous protest.
This airplane incident is waste
raised to the nth power, but it does
not stand alone as an example of
gross extravagance. There come
from France well authenticated
stories of so-called "salvage dumps,"
where millions of dollars worth of
blankets, boots, clothing and equip
ment of all kinds was put to the
MONDAY EVENING.
torch in order to lessen the baggage
of returning divisions. Nobody
would have objected if this stuff had
been turned over to needy French,
Belgian or Italian people, but to de
liberately burn it is a crime that
should be punished. It is too late,
unfortunately, to get back any of
wasted material or the money loss
involved, but it is not too late to
find out who was responsible and
make an example of him. The
efficient Mr. Baker apparently has
some explaining on his hands that
will require the limit ot even his
well known abilities along that line.
Uncle Sam is going m into the
grocery business for a little while,
but. there will be no book accounts.
NEW NATIONAL GUARD
WHILE it is most gratifying to
learn that Pennsylvania may
be the first of the States to
reorganize its National Guard after
the war, it is exactly what we
should expect to hear. It is the
Pennsylvania way.
Pennsylvania has a history of
citizen soldiery ready to fight, in
fact some times accused of spoiling
for a fight, from the days when its
farmers dropped hoes and took up
flint locks to help Bouquet and
Forbes redeem the western half of
the State, clear down to the Argonnc
and the Lys, with Monmouth,
Lundy's Lane, Chapultepec, Gettys
burg and Manila as bright spots of
intervening years. Its National
Guard was ready for the last war
before the War Department was
ready for the Guard.
Men of the 28th, the 42nd, the
79th and all the other divisions in
which Pcnnsylvanians fought in
France and Belgium will gather
with the Reserve Militiamen at the
mustering places when the word
goes out to give the Nation and j
the State a body of men ready for
any emergency, trained, experi
enced, vigorous and spirited. So j
now it is to be hoped that the au
thorities at Washington will have
arms and equipment from '.be vast
stores at hand ready to issue to
the State of Pennsylvania when it
calls for them to keep alive its I
tradition of preparedness for any
call that Columbia may make.
Halifax wrote her name in large
letters on the upper epd map Satur
day, linking up with Lykens, Wlcon
isco ana the other communities that
have been celebrating the return of
their young heroes.
EUROPE'S NEED OURS TOO
THOMAS W. LAMONT, just re
turned from Europe where he
had exceptional advantages for
observation, gives it as his opinion
that the greatest need abroad is
trained young, men.
No doubt of it—and it is Amer
ica's greatest need, too, not only
from the standpoint of the Nation
but from that of the individual as
well. J
We seem to have remtlmljered vecy '
clearly. Indeed, that "the laborer
is worthy of his hire," but we have
forgotten that he is rtot worth more
than his hire; in other words, that
there is a limitation to his earn
ing capacity. But there is, and no
law, decree or decision by any man
or body of men can make it other
wise.
The man who sells a pound of
coffee gets more for it than the man
who sells only a half pound, Right,
you say, he delivered twice as much.
The farmer who cultivates twen
ty acres earns more than his
neighbor who works only half as
much. Altogether proper, you say,
for he has worked twice as hard.
But the untrained or the lazy
man cannot quite understand why
he should not be paid as much as
his comrade who has trained his
mind or who works twice as hard.
Always and ever, so long as the
world stands, the trained man, the
industrious man, will be paid more
than his untrained or his lazy fellow
workman. Once suspend that law
and the whole of civilization would
go to ruin. Why? For the reason
that if men are not paid according
to their earning capacity and if all
men are placed on an equality of
wage, the result would be to en
courage the lazy man and discour
age the industrious man to the point
that shortly nobody would be work
ing more than an hour or so a day
and their production would not
keep the world alive.
Yes, the greatest need of the day
is trained young mdn—not trained
in technical and professional lines
alone, but trained in the gospel of
hard work, trained to believe lhat
production should govern pay.
that one should give an honest
day's toil for an honest day's pay,
trained in the rudiments of busi
ness, in honesty, fair play and an
intense desire to succeed by indi
vidual worth alone.
Some of the Cumberland Valley
I cornstalks better look out or they will
be mistaken for telegraph poles.
BEWARE BAD WATER
BEWARE of bad water. Every
summer Harrisburg has from
one to a dozen cases of ty
phoid fever brought in from the out
side; "vacation typhoid" or "picnic
typhoid" the physicians call it, be
cause for the most part it is ac
quired on outing Jaunts or camping
trips.
Campers, fishermen, 'swimmers
and hikers are most apt to pick up
the germs. Often they are care
less and in many, cases reckless,
willing to "take a chance" wheie
the chances are all against them.
Water is not always good because
it chances to be clear and cold.
Don't drink water unless you
KNOW it is pure.
The fellow who "stands on his
dignity" seldom adds much to his
stature.
By the Ex-Committeeman
—Chief Forest Fire Warden
George H. Wirt, of the State Forestry
department appears to have stirred
up some District Attorneys in various
parts of the State and have interest
ed'some judges by remarks in his
annual report about enforcement of
forest fire laws judging from letters
and inquiries coming to Capitol Hlil.
The Chief Warden said bluntly that
it was hard to get judges and attor
neys interested enough to convict
men who set woods on fire and that
considering the loss due to -forest
fires, the prosecution policy was lax.
He also dealt a rap at county at
torneys to push violations of the
forest laws as a better measure of
"fairness" would be obtained.
The critic'sms were the most
severe that have come off Capitol
Hill in a long time and the interest
evinced seems to be in counties
where there are forest reserves. This
is the first time an official publica
tion of the" Forestry Department has
taken county authorities to task.
—This is the final week for filing
petitions for judicial nominations.
The time will expire on Thursday
night and the last week has been
marked by a rush of requests for
blank petitions which have been
sent out from the State Department
by the dozens. The records thus
far show that in some counties
where there are judges to be filed
no petitions have been filed and that
in others where contests loom up
only one or two have been put in.
The usual eleventh hour rush is ex
pected with all its attendant possi
bilities that petitions may go down
because not in form. Last year over
ten petitions were rejected because
defects that could not be cured in
time were discovered. Three peti
tions fell for this reason in the last
half hour of the filing period.
—While most observers in politics
in Pennsylvania are of the opinion
that the Pinchot movement was 4
personally conducted one and that
it will not amount to much in the
long run, Odell Hauser writing m
the Philadelphia Press says that it
is going to he a factor in 1920. He
says: "The Vare strength will prob
bl.v be behind it. Anyone would
think that Vare crowd had enough
of a fight on its hands in Philadel
phia during the next few weeks to
keep it from going way up to Har
risburg to look for another fight.
But apparently they don't think so.
It looks as though their hiolto
might be a reversal of Washington's
famous maxim which would run
something like "In time of war pre
pare for another one." It is emin
ently fitting that the Vare organiza
tion should align itself with the
Progressives. They have one purpose
in common very strongly, namely
to whack Penrose. There may be
others, but they are not conspicu
ous.
—The opposing, candidates for
the Republican Mayoralty nomina
tion in Philadelphia will be uu
blanketed this week. The Evening
Bulletin says that many petitions
are out asking A. Lincoln Acker to
run and that John T. Windrim will
not be a candidate. The Inquirer
says: "Notwithstanding Senator
Vare's statement that he is not com
mitted to any candidate for Mayor
and his linking of the names of
John T. Windrim, former Mayor
Edwip S, Stuart, City Solicitor John
P. Connelly and George ' Wharton
Pepper, with those of Receiver of
Taxes W. Freeland Kendriclc and
Judge John M. Patterson as avail
ables, the opinion prevails among
potential Vare lieutenants thai
Judge Patterson will ultimately bo
picked as the Vare candidate.
Friends of Judge Patterson stated
yesterday that they look for Re
ceiver Kendrick to formally with
draw from the race this week and
come out for the nomination of
Patterson and to ask his friends to
do likewise." The Public Ledger
presents this thought: "It is believ
ed that with the expected an
nouncement from Mr. Kendrick,
urging support for Judge John M.
Patterson, the Vares will end then
dilatory tactics and that Judge Pat
terson will at once make a public
statement declaring himself a can
didate for the mayoralty."
-—This is from the Pittsburgh
Gazette-Times: "If the action or the
Postal Telegraph-Cable Company In
reducing rates as soon as the wires
were turned over by the Govern
ment may be taken as a criterion,
the way to reduce the cost of liv
ing is to remove Government con
trol.
—Various candidates for District
Attorney of Lycoming county have
withdrawn in favor of Lieutenant
Carl A. Schug, who abandoned his
law practice to enlist in the U. S
Army, served with distinction in
France and came home with a
wound, which laid him up for some
time.
—Cambria county now has three
candidates for Judge and Somerset
four.
—Many Democrats heard with
sorrow of the death of Ex-Repre
sentative Fred T. Ikeler, of Blooma
burg, for several years one of the
fighting Democrats in the Legisla
ture. He was quite a figure in Staty
politics when some present Demo
cratic leaders were field mice.
—Congressman J. Hampton
Moore writing in the Evening Pub
lic Ledger on the way Attorney
General A. Mitchell Palmer has big
business with him remarks: "The
secret of Mr. Palmer's popularity
with the big financiers and business
men, who had very little interest in
him when he was boosting Wilson
for President, is due to the manner
in which the alien property custo
dian office has been managed."
—City Treasurer George N. Burk
halter has the inside track for post
master of Butler by a civil service
examination. The place has been
kept vacant since November, when
W. T. Mechling died. Mechllng was
well known here.
—Reading Republicans have de
cided to try to put over a slate for
Berks county. Robert E. Harvey,
of Reading, will head it for Sheriff!
—New Castle newspapers say pro
hibition decreased arrests 350 per
cent, in July in the Lawrence
county capital.
—Announcement of the booms of
Col. J. P. Kerr and Capt. S. D. Fos
ter for County Commissioners of
Allegheny is said to be disturbing
Senator Max G. Leslie. The align
ment ugainst Leslie's domination is
one of the strongest ever known in
the county.
What's to Follow the Ukulele?
[From the Philadelphia Record.]
The time is ripe for some hither
to unknown, musical instrument to
leap into popularity. That sort of
thing goes by waves, and we are
now in the trough of the sea of
melody. We need something to
cheer us, and it is only necessary
for somebody to start something to
make the crowd fall in line hilari
ously.
HABBISBURG TGGK£&. TELEGRAPH
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I LETTERS TO THE EDITOR !
THi: MOSQUITO NUISANCE
To the Editor of the Telegraph:
Dear Sir. If it be true that the
city of Harrisburg hasj failed to take
advantage of the expert assistance
placed at its disposal by the State
Commissioner of Health to make
Harrisburg more than 'ever a model
city, some one should be called to
account for it.
The big men of Harrisburg,' the
leading civic organizations, went to
a meeting at the Capitol and pledged
the support of the city to the plan
of the State. From what I know
the State authorities have been try
ing to get action. The city authori
ties seem to have been trying to
avoid action just as they have been
sidestepping that city bathing beach
and more bath houses until the sum
mer is nearly ended.
This year because of the weather
conditions Harrisburg has been
plagued by mosquitoes. There have
been more than ever and they have
been more ferocious than ever. And
in the Telegraph we read that a
State official says that he has been
trying to get the city authorities'
stirred up so that they will eradi
cate the mosquitoes by going to the
places the State has marked out and
following the plan which the State
used with such conspicuous success
last year in ridding Hog Island of
mosquitoes. It looks to me as if
some one in the Harrisburg city
government was just a bit too
strong for his job to pass by such
an opportunity to bring relief to
hundreds of his fellow citizens who
have to sit and 'slap and scratch
evpry night when they could spared
the annoyance and pain. The doc
tors say that mosquitoes carry ma
laria. The city has a department tp
keep us healthy. Won't the city
officials please take their own doc
tor's advice, and use the good sound
business sense to accept what the
State offers free, especially when it
has been proved to work in the most
"skecter" ridden district in Penn
sylvania? VOTER.
WHO HAS "RIGHT?"
To the Editor of the Telegraph:
Sir: Please explain the regula
tion of the new automobile act which
reads as follows:
"When two vehicles approach the
intersection of two public highways
at the same time, the vehicle ap
proaching from the right shall have
the right of way."
It is understood that both ve
hicles are on the right-hand side of
the street. Yours truly,
ODD SUBSCRIBER. •
Feeding Damaged Wheat
[From Pennsylvania Farmer.]
Many farmers in this section will
be confronted with the problem of
disposing of wheat damaged by
sprouting and exposure. When mar
kets are normal is a questionable
policy to attempt to sell damaged
wheat. Under present conditions,
and with other grains high, it will
certainly pay many to feed such
wheat if they have any fattening
animals on the farm. . Badly sprout
ed wheat is a total loss, but there
' will be much that has feeding value
that cannot be put into condition for
marketing. This wheat may be fed
to hogs at a considerable saving
over the present cost of corn. The
Missouri Station has but recently
I concluded feeding tests indicating
that slightly damaged wheat is a
close second to corn as a hog feed.
In pounds of grain required to pro
duce 100 pounds of pork, damaged
wheat was ahead of corn. It ri
quired 483 pounds of damaged
wheat to produce 100 pounds of
gain in the hogs, as compared with
582 pounds of corn in the same test.
Where hogs are available it would
seem advisable for farmers to use
the damaged wheat to replace the
corn in the fattening ration. For
younger hogs, the addition of tank
age to the damaged wheat# ration
will insure good growth and a con
siderable saving over the cost of
other feeds at present prices. Where
hogs are not kept, . considerable
quantities can be disposed of to ad-
I vantage in feeding poultry or even
dairy cowa
THINKING AMONG THE GUNS
A Clergyman's Conversion to Universal Military Training
By The Rev. Thomas Travis, Ph. D.
The man who carried the lirst American- Flag under tire in Flanders
NUMBER 1.
• There were four of us, resting in
the shelter of ah "arbi," at the tir
ing line in Flanders. Shell were
bursting around us' just near
enough to give point and penetra
tion to our thinking. From where
we lay, we could look over all the
Lys Valley from Ypres to Armen
tiers and beyond. We could see the
planes fighting over Ypres, wheel
ing, spitting spangles of tire from
their machine guns, dodging shell
tire, attacking, looping the loop, tail
diving amidst little puffs of cotton
where the anti-craft guns were
sending gruff messages to the clouds.
We could see the great "Wooly
bears" bursting over the roads, and
the flash of our big guns behind us,
as they answered. Even could we
see the signals flashed from plane
to battery where the limbers and
lorries crowded the roads. We could
see mile after mile of No Mian's
Land, a desolation so utter that the
very color and form of the earth
were changed so as to be easily dis
cernable at a distance of ten miles.
A wreck-littered seaboach under a
howling gale.
We had walked ten miles through
mutilated towns and villages. The
little town on whose site we lay
was a sample,—one square, brick
pillar some twisted iron and a red
smudge on the mud—all that was
left of a onceNsmiling and happy
little town. All its men-folk were
either killed or maimed and most
of its women were broken and
scattered with the strain and horror
of the war. Just to our right lay
a black ruin where the enemy had
centered his guns on a thread fac
tory full of working girls, and blown
them and it to a gruesome frag
ments.
And we four were watching,
thinking. We were an Australian
private in the ranks, a British offi
cer, an officer in the marines and an
American Clergyman with a long
string of degrees representing four
teen years of steady "education."
And here was what that clergyman
was thinking that day at the front:
Those airmen, mere boys, were play
ing an active part. They knew all
the complex code of war signalling,
they knew in a definite and thor
ough way, the actual use of the
compass in the sky, the aerostat,
map-making from planes—all the
complex science of flying under war
conditions. The private knew the
signals, wig-wags, the science and
practice of trench warfare. The
captain knew all the multitudinous
things that have to do with guns,
big and little, their trajectories,
powers, range, the ways of laying
them, elevations, practical ballistics,
knew geography and topography
with a sureness and detail amaz
ing to a mere scholar like tho
clergyman. The marine officer
knew the complex science of the
sea fighter, seaplanes, submarines
and the rest. These men whose
total "education" amounted to less
than one half that of the "scholar"
were able to carry on a great task,
with certitude, amazing ability and
effect. They could handle regi
ments, drill men, plan out at least
a local campaign, understand at once
the meaning of every move. And
they were in it doing things, mak
ing history, while the clergyman,
who had a classical and scientific
education as the ordinary colleges
teach, was able to do what in this
great crisis? Wash pots and mugs
in a Y. M. hut; amuse the boys, and
do the scorp of little things all
of which any one of these men
could also have done. At their
work the clergman was helpless, at
his, even on his specialty, preach
ing, there were at least two of these
laymen who could stand in his
boots and do good service.
Here was a great world crisis,
here were literally millions of lives
at stake: here were anguish and
heroism, seething human action
reaching over half a world, and
the clergyman was helpless to do
any one of their jobs even at a
pinch—while every man of these
I "half-educated" warriors could not
only do a big man's work in this
crisis, but could have done also if
necessary, the clergyman's work
too.
While the clergyman the "best
educated" man of the lot was ab
solutely at sea as to the basic prin
cipals of the big job in front of us
and able to comprehend barely
enough of the practical tactics to
make the plan of action intelligible
—these men could follow the whole
scheme, know the w ; hy and where
fore of every position and move of
the great game. Even the great
moral and religious issues were
grasped as clearly and firmly by
these as by him. in other words,
the "scholar" of the group, though
just as eager to do his bit as any
of the others, could fill only rela
tively unimportant gaps in this big
job, while the "half-educated" lads
could do the important tasks, and,
if nee'd be, do even when partly dis
abled, all that the clergyman was
doing—and do it as a side issue.
(To be Continued.)
(Copyright by National Service with
the International Military Digest.)
MISTAKES
[From the Johnstown Tribune.]
We all make mistakes, humankind
is not perfect. It is small wonder
Secretary of War Baker makes mis
takes. He was drafted from tho
ranks of pacifists to his present high
place. His predecessor, Lindley Gar
rison, was altogether too much in
favor of preparedness. The pacifist
wing of the' Democracy, then close
to the ear of the President, demand
ed the Garrison scalp—and they
were given it. Triumphantly tho
pacifists sported about, gloating over
the going of Garrison and the com
ing of Baker* If we recall eorrect
y, there was blazoned about by
pacifjst newspapers that one of the
Baker children—bless his or her
heart—exclaimed; "Now wo will havo
no war, papa will see to that."
The Secretary of War says that
the selection and maintenance of cer
tain Southern military camps was a
'mistake," in fact, a series of mis
takes, and that he is, to a certain ex
tent, responsible. Mr. Baker had
supervisory power. He had tho
power to veto any selection. I'.
will be admitted that terrific pres
sure was brought to bear in locat
ing the camps. Thrifty gentlemen
bad friends who had lands for sale.
Politicians from tlie South are adept*
at getting things for their districts.
'J he war was regarded by some of
these gentlemen as a party asset. In
deed, the great struggle was regard
ed by some gentlemen as a personal
political asset.
Secretary Baker generously come*
forward and admits his "mistakes."
Recognizing his pacifist, profession,
nobody would be so.unkind as to say
he should havo been able to manag
tho War Department, in war timo
without making "mistakes." A pa
cifist supervising rough soldiers and
called upon to approve strategic tac
tics of armies in the field, is supposed
to make mistakes. But, in simple,
ordinary, real estate speculations wo
might expect so astute a lawyer as
Secretary Baker to avoid mistake?.
A lot of persons would have ques
'.zoned the establishment of camps
costing millions of dollars in Georgia
and Mississippi while there existed
m other States fully equipped cump.,
prepared for emergencies.
llow many "goats" arc demanded
for the Administration? Is it pos
sible the Secretary of War proposes
to immolate himself on the altar of
party and to sacrifice himself that
a party leader may place all tho
mume on others?
What's the Use?
[From the Kansas City Times.]
It is idle talk of coming seven
cent pieces for street car fares. It
would be only another year before
we would have to discontinue them
and begin to coin-fourteen-cent
. pieces.
AUGUST 4, 1919.
"Going to the Country"
[From the Detroit Free Press.]
A great many people profess an af
fection for Nature who have never
met the dame and know nothing
uliout her or her ways. Most of our
lives are spent in looking at the
procession. N Take it away and the i
zest of living is gone. The average I
individual wants to see something j
going on, but it must be the human i
"go on"—the external and eternal j
stimulation affprded by the march of
events. Anything else is stagnation, j
Sick people like nature —bound in i
cloth. Their taste calls for formed I
gardens and shaven lawns. They |
call it "going to the country" to ride,
muffled in veils, in a motor car on j
a concrete road at thirty miles an i
hour. i
To those accustomed to city noise ,
and hustle, three days of country j
quiet develops homesickness. A la- j
mcntablc lack of mental resources, j
when thrown upon themselves, J
comes to view. A very short shelf j
would hold all the books written j
tlfese days by men who live what j
they write. Who writes of nature >
and describes country life is a,
Pharisee. The real nature lover is j
as rare as men like John Burroughs j
and Enos Mills. Country people do j
not appreciate • their environments,
otherwise they would not be so ready j
! to give up the plenty and privacy of i
the home acres for a 30-foot lot!
and a dinky porch on a village street |
and a daily trip to the store for ,
two quarts of potatoes and a box of I
berries. j
Farmers are great despoilers of |
beauty. A tree is cut because its I
roots exhaust the soil; they choose a I
shadeless site for the new house, and :
perhaps plant trees, awaiting their
growth, when well grown forest
trees are reasonably near. Trees
along the highway are trimmed to
resemble feather dusters, and all
low growing bushes uprooted as un-
I sightly.
For a day's real country pleasure
I—if you like that sort of thing—
j lock the car in the garage, find if
i possible that all but obsolete vehicle
known as a phaeton, coerce a not
too ambitious nag between the shafts
and go forth to explore. Turn from
main traveled roads down the first
shaded, lonely way that invites, and
note Nature's unstudied beauty. See
how she garlands a fence with bit
tersweets, festons a young tree with
a wild grape vine, or fringe a marsh
with rope mallows. The homely but
picturesque rail fence, the squirrel's
highway and haunt of bush and bird
has been replaced by a more modern
substitute, but the fields and hills be
yond are the same. Samuel Johnson
regarded one green field as like any
other green field, but there is a
difference to eyes that have real
vision.
Part of the joy of such a pilgrim
age is the association recalled; one
landscape calls to mind others like
it or in contrast. Recollections,
which Thoreau said were as "intan
gible and indescribable as the tints
of morning and evening," are the
true harvest of life.
The Victorious Dead
Peace? 1 recall an acre of the dead
Marked with the only sign on
earth that saves.
The wings of death were hurrying
overhead,
The loose, earth shook on those
unquiet graves.
For the deep gunpits, with quick
stabs of .flame,
Made their own thunders of the
sunlit air;
Yet as I read the crosses, name
by name.
Rank after rank seemed that
peace was there.
Sunlight and peace—a peace too
deep for thought,
The peace of tides that underlie
our strife,
The peace with which the moving
heavens are fraught.
The peace that is our everlasting
life.
The loose earth shook. The very
hills were stirred.
The silence of the dead was all I
heard.
* *
A little while we may not see their
eyes.
Or touch their hands, for thcy
are far too near;
But, soul to soul, the life that
never dies
Speaks to the life that waits it 3
freedom here.
They have made their land one liv
ing shrine. Their words
Are breathed in dew and white
ness from the bough;
And, where the May tree shakes
with song of birds,
Their young unwhispered joys are
singing now.
I
By meadow and mountain, river
and hawthorn brake,
In sacramental peace, from sea to
sea,
•The land they loved grows lovelier
for their sake.
Shines with their hope, enshrines
their memory,
Communes with heaven again,
and makes us whole,
Through man's new faith in
man's immortal soul.
—Alfred Noyes in the Golden Peace
Number of the London Mail.
—;
Chuzzlewit's Eden Today
[From the Christian Science
Monitor.]
Eden has changed since Martin
Chuzzlewit and Mark Tapley tried
to develop the spot which Dickens is
believed to have given that name in
the 'American State of Missouri. The
swamp was too much for them. But
now comes the report that this
identical tract has lately produced
I 56,000 bushels of corn and has 350
acres successfully planted to oats
and 125 acres profitably raising
alfalfa. In 1910 the land which
Dickens is held to have named Eden
was still as Chuzzlewit and Tapley
found it and were defeated by it; the
soil was good, but the river annually
overflowed it, and except for a while
in spring, made permanent an un
profitable swamp. Then came a
farmer from Indiana who said "no
land is low land if properly drained,"
and had the initiative and eloquence
necessary to organize a drainage pro
ject. The cost of the scheme was
S3O an acre, and the objection was
raised and overcome that the land
was worth no more than S2O. Today
the reclaimed land is worth upward
SIOO an acre, and that part of the
once hopeless Eden which the or
ganizer improvied for himself is con
sidered perhaps the most valuable
farm in the State.
Introducng the New Pastor in
Kansas
[Ogden correspondence Manhattan
Mercury,]
The Rev. Snare gave two good ser
mons Sunday which if some of the
people of Ogden and community
who have not attended a church
service for fifteen or twenty years
had been present to hear they might
I not have slept quite as peacefully
Sunday night.
Earning (SUjat | "
One does not ordinarily look for
individuality in an electric arc street
light, but there are some which have
marked characteristics and furnish
interesting ground for speculation In
Hurrisburg. On Front street there u
are three lights which have unusual t
traits. One at Forster street has a
habit of going off the job at 11
o'clock, while that at Maclay street
gets absent-minded about midnight, -
while further up there is a light
that is hiding ulmost every night
between 1 and 2 o'clock. In fact,
it has a record of failing to give
service that is impressive. 'On
Derry streets the lights at Seven
teenth and Twenty-first streets are
apt to play "hookey" for a time
after midnight, while the light that
shines at Fourth and North .takes a
nap every night. Two lights on
State street belond Thirteenth are
given to dozing every morning and
there are others which seem to be
| visiting almost at the same • time *
: every night. Capitol Park lights,
on the contrary, are noted for their
i attention to business and are gen
j orally found shinning on schedule,
| although neighbor lights may be
j sulking. The odd thing about some
| of the street lights is the compara
tive regularity of their darker
I moods.
I* • .
t The men who have been observ
| ing these light traits say that there
, are also street cars which have their >
I fits of temper, and that they have
known a trolley that has gone along
most of a morning purring as though
it enjoyed its job to grow cranky and
rattle and clang when another
hand takes the lever. There are
cars which run on Third and Fourth
streets which have been known to
fairly shriek when , they stop at
night and yet when on the same
run next day are as docile and well
voiced as though their nerves had
never been strained, so to speak, by
] a man who threw on too much air
or were hauled up short when they
were rolling along on their way
thinking of a nice rest in the car
barn. Some cars which act in a
perfectly respectiable manner in
residential sections all day have
been known to protest and groan
when hauling the "foundry" gapg
or put on the "Rutherford Special"
after 12.30 in the morning. Valley
Railway cars probably have the
same singular lines of conduct at
times. •
• •
State officials who have been busy
enforcing the pure food laws in
Pennsylvania have come to conclu
sion that so-called ciders are going
to furnish the most prolific source
of violations of the "dry" laws of
the land and from some discoveries
made lately there has been marked
activity in inquiry into the size of
the cider crop that may be expected
to various valleys of the Keystone
State. In some sections agents have
learned that farmers have been ap
proached as to their plans for mak
ing cider and that in many a section
cider presses are being overhauled.
The Central Pennsylvania counties
which have always been noted for
their cider and such products as
come from it are short on apples this
year and this may account for some
of the interest in the crop. Experi
ence of the agents of the bureau
of foods of the State Department of
Agriculture last month gave indica
tions of in what lines there were
going to be some activities when
the Nation becomes good and "dry."
Some apricot cider found on general
sale was discovered on analysis to
contain 6.5 • per cent of alcohol,
while some cider sold as "Sweet
Cider" contained 3.68. As there is
no 3.75 per cent law in Pennsylvania
In spite of all the legislative ma
neuvering this merchant was ar
rested and fined. In a northwestern
county what was called "grape
cider" was found to not only contain
6 per cent of alcohol, but to be also
colored with coal tar dye. In other
sections what were alleged to be
ciders were found to contain any
where from 6 to 10 per cent of
"kick." The State officials go on
the law that such things are mis
branded and that if there are olco
holic contents they must be put on
the label.
• • *
Probably the most sweeping in
vestigation of dams in Pennsylvania
is now under way by engineers of
the State Water Supply Commission
to see how the structures which were
gone over a few years ago, and in
many cases strengthened and
changed to meet the demands of the
times and experience, stood the
strain of the frequent periods of
high water caused by June and July
rains. Scores of dams will be in
spected and data gathered as to ef
other features of stream observation,
feet of the high water on flow and
Comparatively few dams went out
during the recent high water and
the facts will be gathered for fur
ther control of streams. Five
groups of counties on the Delaware.
Allegheny, Lehigh and Schuylkill
basine have been made out for the
engineers to cover.
* * *
From present indications Superin
, tendent George F. Lamb is not going
to have any trouble filling up the
new troop of State Police at Lan
caster. The applicants are already
greater in number than the author
ized strength and all of overseas
men. The troop will bo located here
next year.
WELL KNOWN PEOPLE
—The Rev. Max C. Wiant, of
Reading, has suggested that
churches establish membership de
grees.
—Prothonotary W. B. Kirker, of
Allegheny county, is seriousjly ill.
—W. A. Destine, new head of
Bucks county motorists, is crusad
ing against toll roads.
—Chaplain Jarrifcs R. Dalling has
returned to Northumberland after
service in France.
—Justice John K. Kephart de
livered the welcome home address
at Colver.
—Ernest T. Trigg, head of the
Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce,
is active in moves to speed up ex
press claims.
—Frederick Hall, of Pittsburgh,
will head the anti-Bolshevik move
ments of the Security League in
Eastern Pennsylvania counties.
—Director C. B. Pritchard, of the
Pittsburgh Department of Safety,
has headed a movement to halt salo
of firearms.
—Congressman George P. Dar
row is heading a committee to have
President Wilson address the
Knights Templars in Philadelphia
this fall.
| DO YOU KNOW
—Harrisburg had taverns be
fore it was even a town?
HISTORIC HARRISBtTjRG
—Early industries of Harrisburg
i were chiefly repair of wagons.
J
• . *