10
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
A NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOME
Founded 18S1
Published evenings except Sunday by
THg TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO.
Telegraph Building, I'cd-rnl Square
E. J. STACK POLE
President and Editor-in-Chief
F, R. OTSTER, Business Manager
QUS. M. STEINMETZ, Managing Editor
A. R. MICHENER, Circulation Manager
Executive Beard
I. P. McCULLOCGH,
BOYD M. OGLESBY.
F. R. OYSTER,
GUS. M. STEINMETZ.
Members of the Associated Press— The
Associated Press is exclusively en
titled to the use for republication
of all 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 uiso reserved.
Member American
Newspaper Pub
lishers' Associa
tion, the Audit
Bureau of Circu
lation and Penn
sylvania Associ
ated Dallies.
Eastern office
Story. Brooks &
Finley, Fifth
Avenue Building.
New York City;
Western office,
Story. Brooks &
Gas' Building
I Chicago. 111.
Entered at the Post Office in Harris
burg, Pa., as second class matter.
carrier, ten cents a
prt week; by mail, $3.00 a
year In advance.
WEDNESDAY, AUG IST 20, 1019
He who aspires to nothing, who
learns nothing, is not worthy of living,
— HELPS.
MR. WILSON YIELDS
net result of the remark
able conference of the Presi
dent and the Foreign Rela
tions Committee of the Senate at
Washington yesterday is that Mr.
Wilson yields to the Senate's in
sistajice on interpretations and
reservations.
Since that is practically the only
point at issue, little time should be
lost in setting a date for a vote on
the treaty and the league covenant,
getting the debate under way and
clearing the Senate decks of the
wreckage of the war.
The President pleads for early
approval of the peace proposals,
but he should remember that if he
had agreed at the outset that the
Senate should have a voice in fram
ing the terms It was asked to ratify,
the whole peace wrangle would
have been avoided and the country
would be at this moment at peace
with the world in name as well as
in fact. If anybody is to blame for
the long delay it is Mr. Wilson him
self. who insisted, until he saw his
case was hopeless, that not a single
reservation or interpretation would
be permitted and that any changes
on the part of the United States
would endanger the treaty with
England, France and Italy. Now
he finds that any such reservations
on the part of this country will be
perfectly acceptable to our allies in
the war, who apparently are not
nearly so unreasonable nor so self
willed as Mr. Wilson himself.
The Senate leaders are practical
ly agreed upon the interpretations
and reservations that are necessary
to safeguard American interests and
free this country from the danger
of entangling foreign alliances, so
that little time should be required
to put them into text, and that done,
a vote should not be delayed a mo
ment longer than is necessary to
permit of proper discussion. The
country is tired of the whole thing
and anxious to move forward with
the big task of peace which con
front it.
H. C. Lodge and H. C. Living seem
to be causing the President a lot of
trouble these days.
EVEN IT UP
IT IS claimed by at least one of
the members of the Foreign Re
lations Committee that a major
ity of its members favor an amend
ment to the League covenant that
will give the United States an equal
vote with the British Empire in the
League assembly. As at present
written the Empire and its colonies
will cast six votes and the United
States but one.
Going to be an awful lot of "canned
willy" for supper in this man's town
the next few weeks.
POPULAR SUPPORT
THE prompt endorsement of the
municipal aviation field pro
posal by the Rotary Club will
be followed by similar action on the
part of other civic organizations.
As Chairman Herman, of the City
Planning Commission, said, in sup
port of the resolutions adopted, it is
imperative that immediate action be
taken and that every man and wo
man interested in the future of
Harrisburg should get behind the
movement and show the City Com
missioners that public sentiment is
overwhelmingly in favor of the ex
penditure of whatever sum is neces
sary to finance the project.
That is an important point. Un
questionably, the City Councilmen
nre entitled to know how the people
think on such an important matter,
but the unanimous endorsement of
such a representative organization
as the Rotary Club ought to, go a
long way toward convincing the mu
nicipal authorities that the estab
lishment of an aviation field lis not
only a good thing, but *it has
WEDNESDAY EVENING,
the backing of the public at large.
Fort Wayne has overcome tho legal
difficulties Involved by purchasing
the necessary ground, turning it over
to the park department for park
purposes and giving permission to
aviators to land there. This may be
the way Harrisburg will have to go
about solving its problem. That it
is a workable idea is shown by the
fact that it has the recommendation
of Warren J. Manning, the park ex
pert, who five years ago urged it
upon the City Planning Commission.
We must have this landing field.
The people want it. If Councilmen
I have doubts on that score let them
[ put the matter up to the voters in
the form of a loan at the Novem
| ber elections.
So far as prices are concerned, we'd
; be satisfied to return to a state of
war.
SENATE MUST KNOW
THE President has definitely re
fused to supply the Committee
on Foreign Relations with the
letter of General Bliss containing
the remonstrances of himself and
Messrs. Lansing and White against
the Shantung settlement. He like
wise declines to permit the commit
tee to inspect the memoranda taken
by members of the League of
Nations Commission, of which the
I President was chairman. The only
[ documents that Mr. Wilson has seen
fit to surrender to the Senate are
the American draft of the League
I covenant, the first report of the
League Commission and the final
report which was adopted by the
conference. The two last, of course,
have been in the possession of the
Senate and the country for several
months. The committee made
specific requests for all of those
papers and also for "all data bearing
upon or used in connection with
the Treaty of Peace with Germany
now pending." None of the latter
was forthcoming.
It is the, business of the President
to negotiate treaties. It is the busi
ness of the Senate to examine the
result of those negotiations. It in
vestigates the finished Treaty in the
light of all the facts and from the
viewpoint of the protection of
American interests. That investiga
tion fails of its full purpose and the
value of its outcome to the Ameri
can people is endangered if the Sen
ate does not reach a decision in the
ljght of the same information that
was at the disposal of the negotia
tors. There were reasons why the
President assented to each provision
in the Treaty. The Senate has a
right to be apprised of those con
siderations in order that it may form
intelligent judgment. The Presi
dent had access to those documents
as an agent of the American people.
That agency now rests in the Senate,
and the same privileges enjoyed by
Mr. Wilson should be accorded to it.
HE WAS SPARED THIS
IF FORD had, by any chance, at
tained his coveted seat in the
Upper House of Congress, he
might nbw be known as the Six-
Cent Senator.
"A NEW POLICY"
WE ARE informed from Wash
ington that Mexico has been
notified of a "new policy"
adopted by the United States Gov
ernment. Mexico has been told
that drastic action will be taken un
less outrages against Americans are
stopped.
And to think that it has required
nearly eight years to find that the
Wilsonian policy of "watchful
waiting" is a failure- Meantime
Americans have been murdered by
the wholesale, their properties
plundered and their public con
cessions confiscated. Our valuable
oil holdings are slipping away from
us and soon Europe will control the
petroleum supply so much needed
in our industries and for our new
oil burning naval vessels.
How old Carranza must laugh!
Surely, he will say to himself. Presi
dent Wilson must be merely bluff
ing; a President who has stood all
the insults heaped upon him can
not be in earnest when he threatens
force.
And from previous experiences it
is a fair gamble that Carranza will
guess right. The outrages will con
tinue right along with punctuality
and regularity and we will continue
to do nothing—until after March 4,
1921.
PUBLIC SUPPORT
THE Kipona celebration, to
ward the success of which V.
Grant tForrer and his able
assistants are doing so much, is the
one big purely Harrisburg celebra
tion of the whole year. No city in
the country can duplicate it, for
none has such a set of front steps
as we have, fronting on such a beau
tiful river basin. Those actively in
charge of the program have been
working for months to make it a
success. It remains for the people
to finance their efforts. They have
given generously of their time; we
must give the money.
In years to come the Kipona will
draw thousands of excursionists to
Harrisburg annually. It will be
come an event in Central Pennsyl
vania to which throngs will flock.
But even now it provides a day's
vacation and a free show for many
people of Harrisburg, old and
young, who cannot get away from
town for a summer vacation. It is
celebrations such as this that make
the city a better place in which to
live and the people more contented.
Support the Kipona.
LAST CALL
THOSE benighted individuals
who still cry for the League of
Nations are advised to get on
the band wagon of Americanism be
fore it is too late and they find
themselves labeled "Tories" and
shunned by patriots generally.
tx
By the Ex-Oommlttccman
The desperate efforts of local
Democrats at the eleventh hour last
evening to find candidates with
which to till their local tickets dem
onstrates better than anything that
might be written the frightful
wreck of the once well-oiled Demo
cratic machine. It is on the rocks
and about the only thing the faith
li'.i ones have been able to salvage
is the name. The captain has be-;n
convicted of gross carelessness, if
net worse, and the survivors are in
a mutinous mood. If only an elttcl
ent tirst mate were at hand the
erstwhile commander would find
himself demoted to the ranks of
common sailor. Indeed there is
every likelihood that this will nap
ren at all events.
"We want a new leader," de
riared one of the disgruntled mem
bers of the Central Democratic
Clut last evening." a man who will
give us his best all the time; a
man who will do something nit re
than offer unl'a"orable criticism for
U<.se who are really tryinj to do
something and who will be inter
ested in the welfare of the party all
the time; not only when his own
future is at stake but when the fate
of the ticket depends upon wise
leadership and good judgment."
That seems to be the attitude of
Democrats everywhere to-day. The
spectacle of their gallant old ship
being smashed to bits on a rocky
coast with no help at hand and only
a few sturdy survivors on the shore
has aroused anger in the hearts of
those who are true followers of Jef
ferson and who sincerely believe
that the best interests of the coun
try demand a militant Democracy.
—Strange to say the same senti
ment is to be heard among Repub
licans, who are ordinarily gleeful
over any discomfiture that may
'"■"e to the Democratic organiza
tion. They cannot understand hew
a boss with all the Federal patron
age at his disposal that the Dau
phin county Democratic dictator is
supposed to have been able to wield
should have let slip the chance to
demonstrate his political ability in l
his home district by building up a
really strong Democratic organiza
tion here. The thing was possible.
The groundwork was well laid.
There are many ardent Democrats
in Harrisburg always ready to- fol
low a real leader and who will stick
to even a losing cause to the bitter
end. Rut instead of encouragement
these men have met nothing but
carelessness of consequences, neg
lect of opportunity and criticism of
those who have dared to try to save
something from the wreck.
—Republicans viewing the situa
tion are at a loss to understand. Oa
the eve of a Presidental election the
minority party is allowed to go id
pot and control to drift from those
who will want a big place in the
national counsels of the party into
the hands of men who were favor
able either to the old Fritchey or
Meyers wings of the party and have
been openly opposed to the McCor
mick control ever since the former
Mayor assumed the bosship here.
The whole thing is a puzzle to local
political observers who see in it op
portunity for a strong young Demo
crat to come to the front and take
away the reins of power from those
who have misused them for the past
fifteen years.
The Scranton Republican in the
following editorial commends Con
gressman Kolas' new printing bill:
"For years there has been criticism,
generally of a humorous character,
of the waste connected with the pub
lic printing offlce in Washington.
Congressmen themselves have joined
in pointing out some of the evils
connected with this office, but have
not shown themselves specially inter
ested in checking them. Represen
tative Kiess, of Pennsylvania, has
decided to take the lead in reform
ing public printing. He has intro
duced a hill at Washington which
aims to restrict the quantity of Gov
ernment printing, and also provides
for other economies which he be
lieves will total a half billion dollars
a year. Mr. Kiess points out that
in the past seven years the accumu
lation of unused public documents
has reached the enormous total of
7,000,000 publications, most of which
has been disposed of as waste paper.
There have been bulky volumes of
reports of no real interest to anyone
and there has been promiscuous
scattering of small volumes and
pamphlets. If Mr. Kiess's efforts re
sults in a checking of the gross
abuse of the franking privilege he
will have rendered a real service to
the country."
Industrial Bank For Scranton
[From Scranton Republican]
The names of the well known cit
izens who have organized the Indus
trial Thrift and Loan Corporation
of Scranton are a strong recom
mendation to the people of this
city and a guarantee that its affairs
will be conducted on a sound and
fair basis.
Similar institutions, which have
been formed elsewhere, are said to
have been found to be of great use
fulness, so a charter has been ob
tained and headquarters established
on Adams avenue as announced in
yesterday's Republican.
The object of this industrial bank
will be to loan money in smaller
sums than is customary with the
average banking house, the loans
being made for a year and at rea
sonable rate of interest.
Back of this financing will be the
praiseworthy purpose of affording
the industrial toiler a means of fi
nancial assistance, in an emergency,
at a minimum of cost.
If, in more than one hundred
cities of the country, banks of this
character have proved profitable to
stockholders, and beneficial to their
customers, such an institution
should prove a success in Scranton.
Coming to Fifth Avenue
The Rev. Dr. John Kelman, of
Edinburgh, famous among British
clergymen, is to become pastor of
the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian
church, New York. He will succeed
the Rev. Dr. Henry Jowett, who re
signed in May, 1918, to take charge
of the Westminster Congregational
Chapel in London, after having been
here seven years.
Dr. Kelman, who is about 50, in
addition to being regarded as a great
preacher, is known as an efficient
organizer and a successful worker
among men. He is well known in
America having visited here on
several occasions. He gave a course
of lectures at Yale last spring.
During the war he served with the
British Y. M. C. A. and was deco
rated with the order of the British
Empire. Among Dr. Kelman's writ
ings are several books published by
George H. Doran Company of New
York; "The Road 6f Life" a study
of the Pilgrim's Progress, "Thoughts
on Things Eternal," a volume of Dr.
Kelman's sermons, and "Among Fa
mous Books," a worth-while com
mentary on literature.
Eabheburg telegraph
SOMEBODY IS ALWAYS'TAKING THE JOY OUT OF LIFE By Briggj
C~l' tra ilPl
FIRST VLL LOAD IMVSELF \ ASOU i /( TneRS'S )To The Golf /( Thcrg's a I
I \}P WITH CIGARS -THEW J THIS CERTAIN! I J I CLUQ ? 7 \ .STRIKE OH/
\ To The Golf Links-amW sßamd of J{ !LL~S
A ~
/ A ShovaJ ANJYWAY- I WHAi TK --. ,/ *ge oF (
| There'S AUAJAYS \ / CREPE >l®' V^f
I THAT ConJSOL ATI onJ I v J HANGERSRLL V^k
EDITORIAL COMMENT | !
A German has been arrested in j
Frankfurt-am-Main for posing as |
an American. If an American in i
this country should pose as a Get - !
man we shouldn't Jail him—we'l !
put him in an asylum. —Tacoma
Ledger.
The price of food has declined
one-half of one per cent., the Gov
ernment experts tell us. Less thai'. •
one-half of one per cent, of the re
tail dealers have had this sad news
broken to them, however.—New
York Evening Sun.
At the hour of going to press
Haiti was not claiming that it won
the war.—Birmingham Age Herald.
Every raise in street-car fares
gives a greater area to the phrase,
"within walking distance."—Boston
Transcript.
The building of a "sky-scraper
church" would seem to be a move
in the right direction. Brooklyn
Eagle.
It's beginning to look as tho the
Philippines don't want a divorc3,
but only separate maintenance.—
Manila Bulletin.
Moses doubtless had a hard time 1
convincing the Israelites that the '
Ten Commandments would work.— 1
Indianapolis Times.
If they expect the League to be a
life-raft for the world, they'll ha-'e
to quit using it as a political plat
form.—lndianapolis Times.
After De Valera gets through
looking around over here maybe
he won't care to make a republic
out of Ireland.—Columbia Record.
No doubt one effect prohibition
will have in this State is that fewer
guides in the Adirondacks will look
like deer.—Rochester Post-Express.
Credit the Salaried Man
[From Wiiliamsport Gazette and
Bulletin.]
Attorney General Palmer said
something the other day when he
was discussing the proposed investi
gations into the apparently too high
cost of living. He said that while
economic conditions were the funda
mental causes of the high prices of
necessities, violations of law de
signed to prevent concerted raising
of prices also might be partly re
sponsible, and then went on to say:
"There is no doubt that the ma
jority of the people are more pros
perous than ever before, farmers
and wage earners especially. The
man who has suffered from high
prices has been the salaried man.
I wish we could do something to
help him. I'm open to sugges
tions."
While the ones who have sug
gestions to offer are putting them
into presentable and workable
shape, it is an appropriate time to
pay a deserved tribute to the quali
ties of the average salaried man
who has borne the burden of the
high cost of living incident to the
war and who has suffered perhaps
more than the men who have been
in big, profitable business, more
than the farmers who have reaped
a harvest of gold from the fields,
more than the wage earner who has
found increase after increase await
ing him on demand.
The average salaried man has
kept on the job; he has fed and
clothed his family somehow; he has
done his full share in buying bonds
and sticking away thrift stamps and
in giving to all the war causes; he
has pinched and economized, taken
on extra work evenings and spent
his holidays and off hours in the
home garden; he has done his duty
in the main bravely, loyally, pa
tiently, nobly.
The biggest thing about him is
that he hasn't kicked and howled,
he hasn't threatened and menac
ed; he hasn't bombed and bolshe
viked, he hasn't often complained.
He has, indeed, borne the middle
of the big load and been a good
citizen about it. He is not a whit
less of a hero than some others
whose work has been more spec
tacular and whose suffering lias j
been more sanguine. He deserves
a tribute!
And So the Cost Goes Up
[From the Washington Star]
"Aren't you afraid you will make
furs cost so much that women will
not be able to wear them the year
'round?"
"No," replied the dealer. "The
reason we raised the price was to
make them more desirable. No
fashionable lady will tolerate the
suspicion that she is not wearing
them because she can't afford them."
Conservation
[From the Boston Transcript]
Nothing Is ever lost—the kick
that was taken out o;' the beei is
ow in the public. {
KOPECS, DOGS AND POETRY '
A Moon That Rises Backwards; Cows That Arc Tliawed Before
Milketl, Make Archangel Life Varied
— . —— I
[From the Red Cross Bulletin.]
AMERICAN soldiers who have
just returned from six months'
service in Northern Russia
have brought back enough inter
esting impressions from Archangel
and the surrounding country to re
gale their friends with for many a
long day. An idea of what our
fighting men, mostly from Michigan
and Wisconsin, thought of Arch
angel, its girls, its customs and
things in general at the top of the
world is found in The American
Sentinel, the newspaper published
"up there" by the American Red
Cross for their entertainment.
Copies of The Sentinel show that
the Arctic weather was not severe
enough to freeze the humor out of
the soldiers or clog their rhyming
apparatus. The following descrip
tion of Archangel, pronounced by
the editor of The Sentinel as "the
best pen picture of the place writ
ten by an American soldier," proves
that one of Uncle Sam's boys did
not permit the job to get on his
nerves:
Lost Moon Comes Hack
"We are so far north that the dog
gone sun works only when it feels
inclined to do so, and in that way,
it is like everything else in Russia.
| The moon isn't so particular, and
| comes up, usually backwards, in any
part of the sky, it having no set
schedule, and often it will get lost
and still be on the job at noon. Yes,
we are so far north that 30 degrees
below will soon be tropical weather
for us, and they will have to build
fires around both cows before they
can milk them. Probably about next
month someone will come around
and say that we will be pulling
out of here in a day or so, but then
the days will be six months long.
"Now, up here in this tough town
there are 269,831 inhabitants, of
which 61,329 are human beings and
208,502 are dogs. Dogs of every de
scription, from the poodle to the St.
Bernard, and from the wolfhound
to the half-breed daschund.
"The wind whistles across the
Dvina like the Twentieth Century
Limited passing Podunk, and snow
flakes are as numerous as retreating
Germans were in France.
"We read in The Stars and Stripes
that the boys in Italy had some
tongue-twisters and brain-worriers,
but listen to this. Centimes and
sous and francs may be hard to
count, but did you ever hear of a
rouble or a kopec? A kopec is
worth a tenth of a cent and there
are a hundred of them in a rouble.
As you will see, that makes a rouble
worth a dime, and to make matters
worse all the money is paper, coins
having gone out of circulation since
the beginning of the mix-up. A
kopec is the size of a postage stamp,
a rouble looks like a United Cigar
Store Certificate, a 25-rouble note
resembles a porous plaster, and a
100-rouble note, the Declaration of
Independence.
Drninwnys Arc ,1 am ways
"Every time you get on a street
car (dramway) you have to count
out 60 kopecs for your fare and
most of us would rather walk than
be jammed in the two-by-four
busses and fish for the money. Be
fore boarding a car, each passenger
usually hunts up a couple of five
gallon milk cans, a market basket
or two, and a bag of smoked her
ring, so that they will get their ko
pec's worth out of the ride, besides
making the atmosphere nice and
pleasant for the rest of the pas
sengers.
"When a soldier in search of a
meal enters a restaurant, he says
to the waitress, 'Barishnia. zaka
zeetie bifstek, pazulouista,' which
moans, 'An order of beefsteak, lady,
please.' Y'ou see you always say
'barishnia,' which really means
'girl,' and until a young lady is
married she is always addressed in
that manner. She will answer the
hungry customer with, 'Yah ochen
sojalayu shtoo nas niet yestnik pre
pasov* si'echas' (a simple home
cure for lockjaw), meaning, 'I am
sorry, but we are right out of food
to-day.'
"When a Russian meets another
man he knows on the street, both
lift their hats and flirt with each
other. If they stop to talk, they
always shake hands, even if they
haven't seen each other for fully
twenty minutes. Then they sim
ply must shake hands again when
they leave. When a man meets a
lady friend, he usually kisses har
hand and shows how far he can
bend over without breaking his sus
penders.
Kak Vul Pozavayotlc
" 'Ay,' he will say, 'Yah ochen
rad vas veedet. kak vui pozavaye
tie?' which, in the United States
means,, 'How do you do?' To
which she will reply, 'Blagadaru
vas, yah ochen khoroshaw,' or
'Very well, thank you.' It is the
knockout. A fellow has to shake
hands so much that some of us are
getting the habit around the com
pany."
Russian girls prompted the fol
lowing tribute from one of the
American boys:
I wonder, little sister, as I see you
pass me by.
With your coarse, ill-fitting gar
ments,
And your huge, ungainly feet.
If a lot of things aren't true of
you,
The which your looks belie.
If some very minor changes
Wouldn't make you mighty neat.
I know a lot of damsels with twice
the chance you've had.
Who are twice as prone to grum
ble as you ever seem to be,
Who are twice as quick to anger,
and every bit as bad,
As their husky, Russky sister ever
yet appeared to me.
If you could change your clothes
for some my Yankee sisters
wear,
I imagine they would envy you
the roses in you face;
With proper Yankee foot-gear and
a ribbon in your hair.
You would spot them several tal
lies and give them second
place.
It's a weedy row you're hoeing, but
the way you hoe is great,
And I'm proud of your acquaint
ance, just as proud as I can
be;
It is you, in my opinion, who will
build the future state,
Who will shape the greater Rus
sia as a true democracy.
Woman and Home
[From the Philadelphia Ledger.]
The housekeeper and homebullder
is in the trenches on the firing line
in the war it is to live. All the
economic circumstances seem to be
conspiring to rob her not merely
of the sums apportioned in the
household budget for this and that
necessity, but of her peace of mind,
as she contemplates the rising scale
and wonders what limit there is be
low the sky to the rapacity of the
elusive profiteer.
It makes her blood boil to learn
that men are letting food rot or
throwing it away sooner than let it
come upon the market at a re
spectable price. She begins to won
der if presently she will have to let
her family go barefoot when she
finds herself called upon to pay fan
tastic. rates for shoddy footgear un
der the shameless mask of a bar
gain.
She finds that she must give for
what used to be the cheap staples
of diet as much as she used to give
for the luxurious superfluities.
Running a household in these
post-bellum days calls for all the
shrewdness and tact, the hindsight
and foresight, the knowledge of hu
man nature and the disciplinary
firmness that a whole council of the
sharpened wits of Europe finds re
quisite in dealing with the League
of Nations.
Guaranteed High Prices
[From the Detroit News.]
Bread is cheap in England. The
reason is that a barrel of flour costs
the English baker not more than
$6.72. The British government
guarantees this price and stands
such loss as is incurred in making
good the guaranty.
Bread is not cheap In the United
States. The Government of the
United States also makes guaranties
but its interest is not in the people
who eat bread. The Government
guaranty merely protects the men
who raise wheat. The Government
says the farmers shall have at least
v 2.26 per bushel for wheat and the
Government regulations so work
that in fact the wheat sells for more
than that. Is it any wonder that
under such a system of propping
the high cost of living there should
be protest from all consumers who
are so organised as to be able to
„volce their protest?
AUGUST 20, 1919.
No Wonder
Germany Quit
By MAJOR FRANK C. MAHIX
Of the Army Recruiting Station
"I was to go on my first tour of
inspection. It was to be a trip
through the boyaux to the front
line; then along our entire front.
In the course of our journey we
were to visit our sentry posts, and
mind you, this at the creepy hour
of two o'clock in the morning. I
had been in the line at that hour
before, but in an American sector,
and had gone in with others ear
lier in the night. Prowling around
at that hour, just two of us, I knew
would mean, that we would be stop
ped many times. And let me tell
you that a sentry in the trenches
takes no chances—you may look
like a general to him, but he will
wait until he can surely kill you, if
you prove to be an enemy, before he
discloses himself. You needn't
strain your imagination to appreci
ate —that it isn't exactly pleasant,
in the pitchy darkness, when your
nerves are jangled, to have a bay
onet point almost into your skin,
before the other fellow has even let
you know he is there. So it wasn't
wholly with relish tha,t I looked
forward to my trip. To make it
worse, the French Lieutenant with
me was reputed to be a reckless
cuss. We made most of the round
without mishap, although my heart
had raced several times when
Boche machine guns had spit a
burst at us in the pale moonlight.
It was doomed to something even
worse, however. Near the right
limit of our sector was a ravine,
which ran at right angles to our
front, and here our front trench
feathered out to nothing, for a dis
tance of about eighty yards. One
could detour around this place, by
way of boyaux up either side of the
ravine, but my friend, instead of
turning up the detour, continued
along the fast disappearing front
line. There was a sentry at this
junction, and because of him I was
ashamed to even suggest that we
take the detour. I was the first
American these Frenchmen had
seen and I could not let them think
I was afraid. But better reason
than that —I did not dare to speak,
for the Boche front line was across
a little valley, not over a hundred
yards away. I could only follow.
We had gone but a few yards when
machine gun bullets began to sing
over our heads. Quick as a flash
we flattened on the ground. When
the firing ceased we sprang up and
rushed only to hit the ground again
in a few seconds, because of shots.
After that we squirmed and 'crawl
ed until again in the trench far
enough to be protected. The expe
rience was certainly exciting, but
needlessly risked. My friend, how
ever, thought little of it, having
' been face to face with death for
three years. He had such contempt
for the Boche that it seemed he felt
no harm could come to him from
such a source. He had never been
wounded, although he had been in
the thick of things from the start,
and as he said to me, it was
through good luck. Some weeks
later he asked me how to apply for
a transfer to the Americans, to act
as an instructor. He said he was
the last of four brothers—the oth
ers having been killed—and that if
he were killed, as he surely would be
if he continued in the iine. there
would be no one to pass on the
family name to a new generation.
So he felt he was justified, after
three years of active service, to ask
to be put out of danger; with three
brothers killed in battle, his mother
killed in an air raid, and his father
a general in service, he thought his
family had done its share. It was
such patriotism and willing self
sacrifice that came from a spirit
Germany couldn't conquer.
Car Strikes and Hobbles
[From Milwaukee Journal.]
Hobble skirts have gone by the
board during the Chicago street car
strike. Only loose fitting and sport
skirts are being worn because of the
perils of walking home.
As a stop saving garment the
loose skirt has proved its value, a
hobble skirt requiring three times
as many steps to the block as a sport
skirt. To a girl who lives fifty
blocks from tho loop more thnn
20,000 steps would bo necessary.
With a loose skirt she could make
it with about 7.000 steps, And, be
sides, one almost has a wear a bath
ing suit to cltmb aboard an auto
i truck with any amount of decorum.
I
fumtlng (Eljat
L. F, Neefe, president of the Ki
wanis Club, has his hands full these
days arranging for the picnic of
Kiwanis clubs of Pennsylvania at
Hershey park, August 28. All the
clubs of the State and the Wilming
ton Kiwanians have been invited.
Much as the members would like
it, there will be no "basket" dinner.
Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and otheh
Kiwanis enthusiasts object to toting
hampers all the way across the State.
So arrangements have been made for '
a light luncheon at noon and for'
an old-fashioned country chicken i
d/jaor such as only the housewives
oL this locality know how to pre
pare.
During the day there will be stunts
of all sorts, including baseball, golf,
swimming races, etc., with prizes
| for each and band and orchestra,
music all day. So far as known this
lis the tiist State-wide picnic ever
I attempted. The attendance is prob
lematical but some thousands at
least are expected,
Mr. and Mrs. Frank E. Musser '
have just returned from a 1500 mile
motor trip, visiting their son, Clay
ton, at Booneville, X. Y., and their'
daughter, near Wilmington, Del
aware. Not an unpleasant inci
dent marred their trip. They mo
tored to the Thousand Islands, up
the St. Lawrence and to Placid Lake j
and the seashore. Mr. Musser's son, A
who is engaged in the newspaper ■
and general printing business at
Boonsboro, with his father-in-law, H
former Senator Willard, is a keen ■
sportsman. A
"You ought to let me take you
out for bass while you are up here,"/ i
said he to his father.
The elder Mr. Musser agreed. The
son carefully instructed his father
in the gentle art of making timid
bass take the bait. I
The trip took place.
Result—ten bass for father; sis
perch for son.
"Great Oaks From Little Acorns
Grow." Nothing new in that, but
it is true, nevertheless. It is also
true that big things are accom
plished as a result of an experiment.
Several years ago there was trouble
at the soft coal mines. This was
before the war. Railroads just had
to do something to be sure of a
supply of coal for winter. One offi
cial high up, in discussing the situa
tion at Altoona remarked, "let us
store coal." That is just what the
Pennsy did. Thousands of tons were
stored at Enola and in other Pennsy
yards, and wherever it was possible
coal was piled up almost as high
as a mountain.
One day another Pennsylvania
Railroad official on a trip to the
west in discussing the coal supply
said, "don't you think we have
enough." A younger official ans
wered, "yes and now is the time to
begin to save." How best to save
coal was discussed at length, and
finally the young man offered a sug
gestion that a count be kept on the
number of shovels used on each trip.
The experiment was started the fol
lowing day and within ten days
every fireman on a Middle division
passenger train was counting coal
by the shovelful. Then interest died
out, as coal conditions improved.
Later on came the war and again,
the slogan went out "save coal."
Now records of coal consumption on
engines are being kept all over the
United States, based on the amount
of coal used by the shovelful. It
is bringing the results. The young
man who started this movement
was just taking up duties as a super
intendent. He is now a general su
perintendent and his name is Noel
\V. Smith.
Along the line of coal saving there
was a time when firemen and en
ginemen received a bonus on the
amount of coal saved. Sometimes
the monthly pay check was increased
from $lO to SSO. Of course the stylo
of engines was different, and trains
were not so heavy as at present,
and sometimes it was said that bags
of coal were taken from cars on
sidings and added to that on the
tanks, and other schemes used to
get a good bonus check. There was
also dissatisfaction because the
amount of coal on a tank at the end
of a run was not always computed
correctly. These kicks increased
wages and changes in runs made it
necessary to cut out the bonus. Now
there is some talk that the bonus
system may be taken up in the near
future, after it is proven beyond a
doubt that trains can be run on a
certain amount of coal computed by
the shovelful.
German Propaganda
[From the Review.]
Some months before the outbreak
of the Great War there was formed
in Berlin an association for influenc
ing the press of other countries. Sir
Edward Goshen in February, 1914,
reported it as a vast system of in
ternational blackmail.
It was directed by Harmann, head
of the Press Bureau of the German
Foreign Office, and participated in
by representatives of the Deutsche
Bank, the Diskonto Gesellschaft, the-
North German Lloyd, the Hamburg-
American Line, the Gruson Works,
the Allgemeine Elecktricitas Geseli
schaft, the Schuckert Works, Sie
mens & Halske, and Krupps.
There is no space here to enumer
ate even a few of their known oper
ations or how they acted as a sort
of special general staff to direct tho
activities of a great organization
all over the world that was tho
complement of Germany's military
machine.
Many of the operations in Spain,
in Switzerland, and in Italy have
been exposed through treason trials,
through the discoveries of anarchists,
through the discoveries of the se
cret service. Everywhere they pro
moted strikes and labor unrest, sub
sidized socialist and other radical
papers, influenced public opinion by
the circulation of lies. Their big
gest success was in Russia.
But here in America they were
no less active. They worked through
many groups and in divers ways.
Leviathan to Be a IJner
The Leviathan sailed Wednesday
from the Port of Debarkation. Ho
boken, on her last trip as an Army
transport. It Is understood that
she will remain at Brest until
General Pershing ar.-d his staff, aa
well as a large part of tho First
Division, start for home. On heit
return from Brest, it was said, tha
steamer would be turned over by
the Navy to the United States Ship
ping Board to be refitted for pas
senger and commercial service.
Tho Imperator, tho sister ship of
the Leviathan, both of which are
spoils of the war, will make her
last trip as a transport this week
also. While nothing definite has
been decided upon in regard to her
future disposition it is believed irs
shipping circles that she will bo
given to the British.' The Finland,
now enroute from Brest, will be re
turned Immediately to the Interna
tional Mercantile Marine for service
as a passenger vessol between this
, port and Antwerp,