6
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
A NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOME
Founded 1881
Published evenings except Sunday by
THE TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO.
Telegraph Building, Fetl-rnl Square
E. J. STACKPOLE
President and Editor-in-Chief
F. R. OYSTER, Business Manager
OUS. M. STBINMETZ, Managing Editor
A. R. MICHENER, Circulation Manager
Executive Board
t. P. McCULLOUGH,
BOYD M. OGLESBY,
F. R. OYSTER,
GUS. M. STEINMETZ.
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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.
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t Member American
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tion. the Audit
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Then a voice within his breast
Whispered audible and clear:
"Do thy duty that is best;
Leave unto the Lord the rest!"
—LONGFELLOW.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 23, 1919
A NEW FRONTIER
AFTER every war in the history
of America we have opened
up a new frontier. When we
had settled down to peace follow
ing the Revolution we had vast
stretches of virgin territory right
at our doors waiting to be conquer
ed and turned into productive farm
lands. The same lure with a fresh
incentive followed the war with
England in 1812. The Mexican war
gave us Texas and vast territories
beyond, which we went into with
great energy and determination
when the Civil War had determined
for all times the stability of the
Union.
Always America has been a coun
try of frontiers. Always, previous
to the present, there has been a
mighty empire of wilderness to con
vert into habitations for our people,
with all that has meant to us in
the way of material reward for indi
vidual initiative and daring. New
territory makes for new business
and where opportunity is open to
all who will do and dare public dis
content never comes to the danger
point. So we must look about us
now for new worlds to conquer in a
business and industrial way if we
are to remain true to our traditions
and get back to the principle that
has been potent in the up-building
of the United States, and the in
dicator points unerringly toward
Mexico.
Not that Mexico should be an
nexed to the United States, but that
through the protective arm of Uncle
Sam that vast country, fertile as to
soil and rich in its mineral de
posits beyond almost any similiar
area on the face of the earth, may
be opened to the American pioneer
who wants nothing but to be as
sured of life and opportunity south
of the Rio Grande to do for that
great empire what his forefathers
did for the land west of the Mis
sissippi.
Wise statesmanship would have
recognized the need long ago. But
perhaps it is just as well, from the
American standpoint, that affairs
should drift along to the point
where the United States will have to
interfere for the sake of the Monroe
Doctrine and the safety of the peo
ple residing close to the border.
In the end our chance to do in
Mexico what we did in Cuba will
be all the greater.
Nobody wants the United States
to loot Mexico of territory or pos
sessions, but it would be a God's
blessing to the down-trodden masses
of that benighted country if they
could be brought temporarily un
der the sheltering folds of the Stars
and Stripes and placed in position
to work out their own salvation
without the constant threat of self
seeking revolutionists and murder
ous bandits. Perhaps we are just
on the verge of one of these great
pioneering movements that have
followed in the wake of every war
—even the Spanish-American, when
we set about freeing Cuba and put
ting the Filipinos in position to gov
ern themselves.
NEARING THE LIMIT
THE American public has always
had a feeling of sympathy for
the coal miner and his efforts
to better his condition in life. In
every great strike or wage con
troversy the miner has had the ear
of the people. They have believed
that his demands were in very large
measure Justified and that the dan
ger of his calling and the disagree
able nature of his work entitled him
to the best of wages and as short
a working day as conditions would
permit.
But when the miner comes for
ward with a request for a six-hour
day, five working days to the week
and at the same time a big increase
SATURDAY EVENING,
In wages, he strains the good will
of the public almost to the breaking
point.
The miner should consider that
hard coal is now so expensive as to
be almost prohibitive and the sup
ply none too large. The time has
arrived when people in general
must think of their own interests
as well as those of the miner, and
if the miner loses that moral sup
port which has been his great stand
by in time of trouble he must not
blame the public.
Every girl and boy, and old folks
as well, should have a part in the
Kiponn celebration. You can at least
cheer.
j THEY WILL COME BACK
THOUSANDS of alien laborers
are returning to their native
countries and the danger of
manpower in the industries and on
public work grows apace. These
foreign-born people have managed
to save a few hundred dollars each
and on arriving in the homeland,
they are immediately classed as
nabobs. American money represents
several times the value of the native
currency and the chap who spent a
few years in this country waxing
fat and prosperous at once becomes
a real plutocrat in Macedonia and
elsewhere. The older men will
probably not return, but the belief
is generally entertained among
these in touch with the migratory
population that the younger men.
after seeing the folks with whom
they have been out of touch since
the beginning of the war will come
back to America, and take out
I naturalization papers.
| These returning immigrants are
preparing to cut some swath in
their native villages. It is quite the
common thing for an individual
who has skimped in clothing and
been nourished with the plainest
food to purchase silk shirts and
classy underwear and otherwise ar
ray himself in gorgeous apparel as
against the day of his triumphant
return to the fatherland. It's going
to be a continuous "old home week"
observance in the Balkans and the
peninsulas of the Adriatic and
Mediterranean when the husky tide
of humanity sweeps back upon the
coasts which saw these men sail
away, toward the West, years ago.
We're going to miss the muscular
and industrious workers, but it is
hardly conceivable that, having ex
perienced the advantages of our
free and independent institutions,
they will long remain amid the
poverty and depression of the scenes
of their youth. The lure of the
West is certain to bring these rest
less spirits back to the American
shores after they have learned defi
nitely, the fate of their relatives in
the years of war.
Meanwhile, we must give earnest
heed to the great summons for
Americanization effort that these
aliens may learn how to become
real citizens and participate in the
development of all that is helpful
and worth while in our American
life.
FOOT POWER FLYING
THERE is interest in the an
nouncement from Paris that
Gabriel Poulain is the first
man to set a flight out of a strictly
man-power device. Poulain, who
first won fame as a cyclist, expects
(o win a SIO,OOO prize in a few
weeks by proving that his "aero
bike" or "aviette" really can fly by
leg power.
Airmen who witnessed his recent
trial flight at the Hong Champs
race course were thrilled by the
possibilities of the machine that
lifted Poulain one meter off the
ground in a flight of twelve meters,
the dispatch says. They see in his
device an antidote for engine
trouble, that dread of aviators, and
Poulain explains that when his in
vention is developed there will be
an attachment for motor powered
planes. By this means flight may
be maintained by pedaling, while
mechanics affect repairs to recal
citrant motors or pilots seek safe
landings, the inventor believes. In
trans-Atlantic flights, he says, the
aero bike attachment will become
indispensable for emergencies.
In the prize flight to win the
SIO,OOO offered by the Reugot Bi
cycle Company, Poulain is required
to fly only ten meters, and having
done twelve already, he regards the
money as good as won.
The "aviette" is a bicycle with
wings. On it Poulain gained a
speed of about twenty-five miles an
hour by vigorous pedaling and then,
with a twist of the handles he ele
vated the planes and glided through
the air. To land he simply depress
ed the wings and eased up on the
pedals; no greater exertion is neces
sary, he reported, than in ordinary
cycling on good roads.
The inventor hopes that when his
device is brought to the commercial
stage of perfection, it will become
the popular jaunting aero car of
the common people, inasmuch as
there is no expensive motors to be
bought nor costly gas therefor.
Can it be that we are to witness
the dream of our old and much
derided friend, Darius Green, come
true at last. The aerial bicycle has
been a standing Joke for cartoon
ists ever since poor Langley essayed
his disastrous flight with a heavier
than air machine along the Po
tomuc. The "comic" artist has
filled in many a dull day with
grotesque conceptions of the man
power flying machine and now we
expect a fresh outburst of energy
on his part. Let us hope M. Pou
lain's invention is a success, if it
does nothing more than take into
the air those motorcycle fiends
whose chief delight is using the
highways of the Commonwealth for
racing purposes, when they are not
annoying sleepy folks by running
up and down the streets with cut
outs open.
Ik
By the Ex-Commtttccman
One of the striking features of the
close of the period for tiling nomi
nating petitions with county com
missioners for municipal nominations
was the fact that there were so few
withdrawals. Some counties report
ed very small numbers of withdraw
als and in numerous instances news
papers comment upon the failure of
some candidates who had advertised
ambitions to enter the races. The
fact that the time for withdrawal
came so soon after the close of the
tiling time may have had something
to do with the matter.
The primary contests which will
be settled on September 16 are now
on and every county, every city,
every borough and every township
together with wards and precincts
have nominations to be made. It
is generally believed that there will
be a serious test of the nonpartisan
election law and that If it fails in
contests this year there will be a
redoubling of the demand next leg
islative session for its repeal. In
deed, there are some plans being
formed in anticipation of such a
contingency. The repeal of the
third-class city nonpartisan act has
had the effect of greatly stimulating
political interest in such cities and
results will bo closely watched.
—The next matters of interest are
registration days. The last days to
be assessed in boroughs and town
ships are September 2 and 3 and the
payment of tax must be made by
October 4. For the first time the
three classes of cities have different
registration days. Philadelphia's
three days begin on August 26, next
I Tuesday; Pittsburgh and Scranton's
first day i 3 September 4 and the
| third-class cities begin to register on
Thursday, August 28. Owing to the
tremendous interest in the primary
contests in many places there will
be regular rushes to register.
—The opening of the registration
in Philadelphia will be watched, as
it may indicate strength in the ranks
of the factions which will go to the
mat in the absorbing fight for the
first Republican nominations for
mayor and councilmen under the
charter of 1919. The city's charter
will become effective in January and
replace the famous Bullitt act of
the early eighties.
—ln Pittsburgh the registration
will furnish some straws to show
the way of the wind in the battle be
tween the Leslie-Babcock faction
and the people who seek a change
of leadership in Allegheny county.
Some men of State-wide standing
are involved in this fight which is
warming up.
—Third-class city contests are nu
merous and the soldier element fig
ures in some. Reading will have its
last election as a third-class city, as
the next census will send it over
the 100,000 population mark and
yet there is one of the hottest con
tests ever known for nominations
in the Berks capital. Altoona,
Uniontown, Erie, Easton, Allentown,
Chester, McKeesport, Carbondale,
Williamsport, Wilkes-Barre, York
hnd other cities have contests un
der way which will be worth watch
ing. Harrisburg, it may be re
marked, is one of the most inter
esting cities in the list, largely be
cause of the pronounced sentiment
here for repeal of the third-class
city nonpartisan act.
—Scranton is more interested in
the county nomination fights than,
in municipal selections, although ad
vertising is getting started.
—The Philadelphia Bulletin ex
presses the hope that the Supreme
Court will soon settle the troubles
over a loan issue in that city. Pitts
burgh is selling its bonds under the
great loan authorized this summer
and Wilkes-Barre is about to put out
over a quarter million of bonds.
Harrisburg is looked to for an elec
tion on transfer of the $300,000
bridge loan so that it can provide
at once for its share of the Me
morial bridge.
—The old-time game of getting
men with names similar to men of
prominence to become rival candi
dates is being tried again in Phil
adelphia, where the Woodward
nomination episode, bringing in a
truck driver against the Senator, is
well recalled. A man named Horn
was named in a paper as a candidate
against Councilman W. R. Horn.
Philadelphia papers charge that
every name on the list was spurious.
■—The Altoona Tribune presents
this thought; "Daylight saving
legislation having gone, the dis
gruntled and discontented must
look around for something else to
attack."
—Huntingdon county, ' the only
county in the State to elect two
associates judges, had a dozen candi
dates a month ago. Now it has
two.
—Up in Tioga county 252 men
filed papers to be candidates for
nominations. The Democrats have
no candidates for district attorney
or county treasurer. Five Republi
cans are willing to serve the county
as county treasurer.
—A few harsh words are being
said among Democrats over the se
lection of men to run the census.
Some of the men named were more
friends of friends than prominent
in party affairs, it would seem.
—Wayne county is without a
candidate for coroner on any ticket.
—Congressman Edgar R. Kiesa is
showing signs of stirring for renom
ination in the Williamsport district.
The Gazette and Bulletin notes that
he gave a lively talk on the pro
hibition issue before the Lycoming
cold water folks. They have al
ways backed him in his campaign
and given him their nomination.
• —The light for judge in Somerset
county is proving vastly entertain
ing, while the Garman-Sherwood
contest in Luzerne is of State-wide
importance.
—Judge William H. Keller, of the
Superior Court, who has a clear field
for nomination for the full term,
v/ill head the nonpartisan ticket.
—The Wilkes-Barre Record says:
"Holding that the facility afforded
by law for obtaining divorce is suf
ficiently disgraceful without disre
garding (he I rocedure, Judge Fuller
by opinions has refused to maite ab
solute rules for divorce in two di
vorce suits and scored the atto-neys
for carelessness in preparing pa
pers."
—ln making further observations
Congressman Focht suggested that
ex-President Taft might apply his
time and talents to better purpose
if he would endeavor to rectify this
great wrong and los 3 to the news
papers of the country than to de
vote so much of his time writing
scare articles on the League of
Nations question. "I have every
conhdenee in the United States Sen
ate which iB the co-ordinate treaty
making body with the President,
that that body will not permit the
surrender of our nation's sovereignty
or independence to accommodate the
designs und purposes of European
diplomatic intriguers and for the
self-glorification of President Wil
son."
HA.HRISBTTRG TTETEGTTXPH!
THAT GUILTIEST FEELING By BRIGGS
_
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To MAV/E VSUCED IH TO TM R= ROUSM ALONGSIDE'
£JF A HEDGS - - AND ON TH£ OTM6R SLDCI OP
1/JHICW IS YOUR EMPLOYER UJMO HAS QEEM
TOLD THAT YOU ARC ABSENT CROM THP
DPPICE BECAUSE ILINCS& •
No Wonder
Germany Quit
By MAJOR FRANK C. MAIIIN
Of the Army Recruiting Station
NUMBER FIFTY-FOUR
"The scouts' life was not a happy I
one in the trenches. He had to go I
out into No Man's Land at dusk and j
stay there till dawn, rain or shine, |
hot or cold, maybe to get Caught j
in a barrage laid down not only ov j
the Boche but by our own guns, ;
shot at by rifles, pistols, machine |
guns and hand grenades. All of this ;
they didn't mind so much, but one j
thing they did hate and that was j
the Boche light Minnie (trench I
mortar). The Minnie threw a shell ]
weighing about a pound and a half
for a distance of approximately a
mile. And that blamed little, shell
could be dropped with beautiful ac
curacy just where they wanted it,
and when it hit it burst with a
sharp, penetrating crack that made
every nerve in your b.ody jump—1
know and speak from experience.
Now the Boche had a bunch of so
called 'listening posts' and when oi.e
of these posts heard one of our
patrols he would shoot in a signal
star and within about a minute the
Minnies would start dropping all
over that part of No Man's land.
Then was the time to do a sprint
for the nearest dugout. And the
worst of it always was that once
you got to running you always got
real good and scared, in fact the
faster you ran the worse scared you
got. In one place right on the edge
of No Man's Land was a deep dug
out with a very step stairs and
when the patrols would get caught
by the Minnies anywhere near that i
dugout, everyone instantly departed
for that place. There was consid
erable wire in front of the dugout
but by the time they would get.
that far they were all so scared they
were really volplaning through the
air and simply soared unbeknown
over such things as barb wire en
tanglements. The first man to the
entrance would literally dive head
first down those step stairs and
each one followedd using those first
in as cushions to break his fall.
Once in the dugout and breath re
covered it was all a huge joke and
everyone would lie there and laugh
like a lot of idiots. As soon as the.
Boche got tired sending friend Min
nie over calling on us, out the pa
trol would go. Perhaps before they
got into the Boche lines the same
performance would be gone through
with again. Frequently they woulu
actually get into the Boche lines
before the Minnies would arrive and
in that case our boys sure had a
chance to laugh, for all the sweet
little Minnies would go calling out
in No Man's Land where nobody
was and the Boche wouldn't know
the Yanks were in their trenchc„.
Then were the times the patrols
made up for all their past unpleas
ant experiences and they would
have the time of their lives mak
ing life unpleasant for the Boolio
garrison of that particular trench
sector.
But sometimes the Hun would get
so exasperated ho would drop Min
nies for half a mile back in our
trenches and just generally sprinkle
the landscape all night long. About
4 o'clock one morning I was walk
ing along a path through the woods
thinking intently about something
miles away and not paying the least
attention to the Minnies bursting
on the other side of a little ridge.
The thing that brought me to life
was when a Minnie hit a tree right
over my head. It never touched ma
but tore up my runner pretty bauly
who was following fifteen or twenty
feet behind. About one-twentieth of
a second after that Minnie hit 1 was
spread-eagled just as flat on the
ground as it was humanly possible
to get and that is some fiat. About
every second Minnie burst either on
the ground around me or in the
air when they hit trees. Suddenly
I heard, even above the infernal
cracking of the shells, the thud of
hobnailed shoes ftnning and run
ning fast. Of course I was right in
the path and that fool was running
aling the path through utter black
ness. Well! with one foot he stepped
on one of my hands, skinning every
knuckle and with the other foot ho
kicked mo in the ribs, nearly burst
ing in half a dozen ribs. The unex
pected obstacle ho hit caused him
to turn a somersault in the air, but
he landed on his feet, still, running
and never even slowed up. I cabin
right up off the ground and started
after him with but one idea in my
mind, and that was catch him and
kick him in the ribs as hard as he
kicked me, but I never caught him.
much to my regret, even though I
What's Ahead of the Trolley?
[From the Nation's Business.]
TIME is showing that, in so far
as the facts are reflected by
street car traffic, the "riding
habit" is ceasing to grow.. May
hap it is declining. Between 1902
and 1907, street car riding increased !
at the rate of 2 7 rides per inhabi- !
tant of the United States. The in
crease fell to 15 during the suc
ceeding live years and to nine for
the period ending with 1917.
Of cotirse, the automobile ac
counts for much of it, though the
doctors and physical culturists ac
count for some. But whatever the
cause, the fact, along with many
others of more immediate impor
tance, is bringing dream 3 of indus
trial dissolution to the managers of
electric railways. Already nearly 20
per cent, of the country's electric
railway mileage has been scrapped
used to sprint some, for he was |
evidently somewhat scared, and
Duffy himself couldn't catch a |
scared man.
Enshrines Pride of Kings
[V. C. Scott O'Connor in Asia.]
The flux of life has recently
brought the writer into fellowship
with a certain ancient library re
mote from Europe and its troubles;
into a world of vanished men and
j vanished things. Here, in Patna
(Bengal India), upon the edge of a
great Indian river, there are gath
ered together, as into a safe har
borage at last, the remnants of a
once mighty fleet that put its sails
of purple and vermillion and gold
to the breeze of a sultan's pleasure
and enshrined the pride of emper
ors, more splendid in their day than
any the world has known.
There is nothing in the world that
surpasses the exquisite caligraphy,
the enameled gold, the priceless
miniatures, the colors of lapis lazuli
and vermillion. of indigo and scar
let. green, purple, cinnabar and saf
fron, of some of these illuminated
pages; nothing more touching in its
way than the simplicity with which
they are lodged; more human than
the vicissitudes through which they
have borne their part.
To enter this library then is to
pass from out of the common world
of the bazaar into the society of
princes and divines—from a world
that has been shaken to its founda
tions by the terrific events of the
hour, into a world that was no less
troubled in its day, but is now at
peace. Here the passing of empires
is like a little picture on a screen;
one can see how they come into
being, how they grew and how they
passed away. One is glad to meet
this company of books in their quiet
hours, to profit by the devotion of
those who made them, the love of
the* craftsman, the passion of the
poet, the urbanity of the great
prince, who In the midst of wars and
tumults and the clashing of arms
had yet the heart to water his gar
den of culture and help man out
upon his difficult road.
Letting the Squirrels Do It
Tree seed can't be bought in large
quantities in the markets. To re
stock the huge forests which are de
molished every year Uncle Sam needs
the seeds of the Douglas Fir, West
ern Yellow Pine, Englemann Spruce,
Lodge Polo Pine, not by the pound,
but literally by the ton.
The Government needs men from
two to six weeks every fall to gather
seed. When the call goes out lum
ber jacks, college men, hoboes and
ex-convicts drift into the camps and
work side by side gathering huge
stores of the precious seeds. Through
experience they have found that their
richest sources are the cunningly
hidden squirrel hoards. The squir
rel is canny; he always picks the
very best of cones for his winter
store. Storehouses of squirrels,
chipmunks and white-footed mice
yield quantities of cones —as much
as it would take a man a whole day
to gather otherwise. —The Nation's
Business for September.
Weeps Over the Idolaters
I will make a wailing like the
dragons, and a mourning as the
owls. He has come unto the gate
of my people, even to Jerusalem.
Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye
not at all: in the house of Aphrah
roll thyself in dust.—Micah I, 8 to
10.
Forlorn Hope
[Des Moines Kegister]
Remember how we hoped far
peace so that the price of shoes and
other necessities would come down?
or is in the receiver's hands. Divi
dends have almost ceased and inter
est payments are quite generally be
ing passed. Equipmen is becoming
rheumatic; virtually no extension of
lines is being made; and no less
than 763 miles of road have been
dismantled, and 25 7 miles aban
doned.
Regulatory bodies in some cases i
have permitted increases in the
price of fares. But, according to
the railway managers, the mere rais
ing of rates, in a majority of cases,
will prove only a temporary sur
cease. The difficulties that threaten
the industry with extinction are due
to more deeply rooted things than
the cheapening of the nickel.
Cause for these difficulties reverts
back to the beginning of the enter
prise, which was christened in
charactristic American optimism
more than in sound economic prin
ciple.
Girl Does the Courting
[Elizabeth Cooper, in Asia.]
The women in Burma have un
limited freedom in comparison to
the women of other Eastern
lands. Unlike the women of India,
China or Egypt, they may choose
their own husbands and indulge in
a period of courtship such as we
of the Western world so thoroughly
understand.
From the time of the first great
event in a young girl's life, the
boring of her ears, which announces
to the world that she is no longer
a child, but a woman, until her be
trothal, the Burnese girl looks for
ward to the search for a husband
as the one aim and ambition of her
life. Until her ears are bored she
is a child and runs and plays free
ly with her brothers upon the vil
lage street. Finally the day arrives
when her friends and relatives bring
with them the earborer and the
soothsayer, and the frightened girl
must pay the price of gaining maid
enhood. Her cries are drowned by
the music and the talk and laughter
that seem so heartless; but the pain
is soon o.ver, and she herself will
make the hole larger by every
means in her power, because until
the hole is la'rge enough to receive
the great round tube, nearly half an
inch in diameter, she does not feel
that she is indeed a woman.
This initiation of the girl into
womanhood compares to the en
trance of her brother into the mon
astery or the tattooing of his legs,
the sign that he is no longer a boy,
but must sit with men and chew
betelnut and discuss the affairs of
the world with wondrous wisdom.
After the ear boring ceremony each
man our maiden sees may be a pos
sible husband, and she copies the
coquettish sway of the hips that is
!so effective in her older sister, as
she walks down the street with her
mother, aunt or married friend who
carefully guards her from all im
proprieties now that she has ar
rived at marriageable uge.
LABOR NOTES
The United Textile Workers of
America have asked that silk work
ers in Paterson, N. J., have their
wages increased 15 per cent.
In Argentina an employer may im
pose a penalty on a workman for de
fective work, including injury to
materials, the fine not to exceed one
sixth of a day's pay.
Illinois is the only State In the
Union that can report a decrease
in child labor for the period of the
war.
In one chemical factory in
Switzerland, which is representative
of other chemical and dye concerns,
The Union of Theatrical Stage Em
ployes, in Toronto, Can., is preparing
a new schedule of wages to present
to the theatrical managers in that
city.
Maid servants in Germany are
demanding a 13-hour-day and In
addition want a separate room with
a key so that they can go and come
when they like.
Manufacturers of rough pine
lumber claim that the white pine
in Northern Chihuahua, Mexico, is
admirably adapted to the manu
facture of paper.
French actors and singers have
formed a union and affiliated with
the recognized French trade union
movement. The new unions will
endeavor to establish a minimum
of $4 a day with extra pay for all
rehearsals.
"AUGUST 23, 1919.
EDITORIAL COMMENT
Our guess is that Europe would
like to appoint a mandatary for the
Senate. Greenville (S. C.) Pied
mont.
The packers suggest that it we
eat more meat, prices will come
down. What's a little thing like the
law of supply and demand between
packers?— New York World.
There can be no doubt of the
willingness of Congress to investi
gate the cost of living; but can the
consumer survive the long years be
fore a report is made?— Baltimore
American.
It is perfectly proper for a British
newspaper to suggest the dropping
of "Ilun." German has acquired a
meaning since 1914 that makes
synonyms unnecessary.—New York
Morning Telegraph.
It is idle to talk of coining 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.—New York World.
Henry Ford would lie in a bad
way if authors, historians, artists,
lawyers, and statesmen didn't know
more about automobiles than he
knows about literature, history, art,
etc.—Boston Shoe and Leather Re
porter.
It's such a comfort to hear that
the trouble is not that prices are
going up, but that the value of the
dollar is going down. —Minneapolis
Evening Tribune.
"It's a hard come down," says
Walter Pulitzer, "that the country
that produced William of Orange
should have to continue to harbor
William the Demon." New York
Evening Mail.
That $2,000,000 worth of leather
the Government has to sell will
probably make its appearance later
as $20,000,000 worth of shoes.
Des Moines Register.
By the time lie's through with it,
the President will doubtless feel
nretty pleased if he can get even
"half a League, half a League, half
a League onward."—New York
Call.
Why Not Fix Prices?
',' The belief is now almost univer
sal among the peoples of the world
that high prices are due to profiteer
ing and that prosecution of the
profiteers or the fixing of a few
prices will drop us back on the pre
war level of prices overnight," says
Homer Hoyt, formerly of the Price
Section of the War Trade Board in
the Nation's Business for Septem
ber.
"If Congress starts to fix prices,
it must fix thousands of prices. If
it fixes retail prices, it must fix
wholesale prices or else the retailer
will be forced out of business. If
it fixes wholesale prices, it must fix
costs, for the Supreme Court will
not issue a writ of mandamus to
compel a manufacturer to produce
at a loss. If it fixes costs at a lower
level, it must inevitably fix wages
at a lower level, for wages are the
ultimate basis of cost. Wages are
the chief element in the expense of
putting raw materials on the mar
ket, and wages are the chief factor
in fabricating those raw materials
into finished products. Thus the
end of the gigantic price-fixing un
dertaking would be a lowering of
wages. Lower prices bought by
lower wages would be a fruitless
trade."
Baker's Complacency
[Ft„m the New York Times.]
Secretary Baker seems to be luke
warm when the maintenance of the
air service on a plane of efficiency is
urged. Senator New reminded him
at a committee hearing the other
day that of the 11,000 planes finally
built for the front in France 89 per
cent had been struck off the service
list, and he asked the Secretary if
he thought that in the event of an
other war emergency the delay in
supplying the army with machines
would be repeated. Mr. Baker was
positive that nothing of the kind
would occur. The industry, said he
confidently, would survive. There
will be dissent by those who know
how it is running to seed for lack of
interest by the War and Navy De
partments. Congress should heed
the American mission that came
back from a study of aviation in
Great Britain and France with a
recommendation that the air service
of the army and navy should not be
neglected. It is certainly in greut
danger of neglect when the Director
of Military Aeronautics can say that
the number of uvlation officers on
the army list is "too small even to
maintain an expedition to Mexico."
That is so startling a statement that
it should dissipate official compla
cency.
Eiuftttttg (Efjat
Refusal of the city to certify va
cancies in the street supervisorshlps
bring to a close a long official ca
reer of the Tress family in Harris
burg. For 60 years at least this
family has held continuously the
supervisorship in the lower end of
the city. The late Lewis Tress,
familiarly known as "Lewey," and
later his /son, Charles Tress, held
the place. Now the office lapses be
cause the city declines to recognize
it, and council holds that there is
State law to sustain it in its stand.
Originally the supervisor was a
man of political importance in Har
risburg. All of the street repair
work, and there was a lot of it in
the old time dirt street days, was
superintended by him. He owned
the carts and the tools and rented
them to the city. Likewise he hired
the laborers and saw to it that they
were paid, the city meeting his pay
roll every week. His duties cor
responded somewhat with those of
the highway commissioner of to
day, but through some misunder
standing not precisely clear the
duties of highway head and those
of the supervisors were allowed to
over-lap for a long time, although
the powers and influence of the
supervisorship had long since been
taken from him. In the upper end
i of the city George Kautz has held
! the office for a quarter-century or
more.
Lewis Tress had many noted
fights to maintain his supremacy
but he never for a moment lost
heart and usually swept the lower
district by majorities that were
convincing enough to lsave the held
undisputed for the next few years.
He was a good politician and a good
highway repairman, too, and so
kept everybody in his district pretty
well satisfied. One of his most
noted contests was with the late
Andrew Knobl, when the whole city
was stirred up over the claims and
counter-claims of the two candi
dates and their friends. Tress won,
of course, and after that had very
little opposition until the time of
his death, when his son stepped in
to the office and has had no diffi
culty in being elected and re-elect
ed ever since. A peculiar feature
of the supervisorship in Harrisburg
has been that in the lower end of
town, a Republican has always held
the office while in the West End, a
Democrat has been supervisor for
at least 25 years.
The big pole in front of the Cun
ningham restaurant, corner Walnut
and Court streets, which was cut
down by, the Western Union Tele
graph Company this week accord
ing to the records of that corpora
tion had stood there for the past
35 years and was in as good condi
tion when removed as when it was
first placed. It was a chestnut of
unusual length and thickness, there
being very few left like it in the
country to-day. Its surface was
marred by thousands of small holes
where lineman had gone up and
down but at its base it was sound,
no trace of rot being apparent. The
life of a pole is ordinarily not near
ly that long in such an exposed
place as the heart of a business
district.
"Good-by old friend," said a
wayfarer as the lineman attacked
the pole. "Fully many a time and
oft thou hast reared thine mighty
form like a rock in the weary land
in those good old days when a man
needed support if he tried to go
home after 1 A. M. Go lay thyself
beside John Barleycorn and take
your rest with him. I have need of
thee no more."
Those fellows at Augusta, Georg
ia who' failed to get in on the
announcement that the Coca-Cola
business a few years ago when the
chap who owned the formula of
fered a half interest for SI,OOO
which proposition they turned down
must feel unhappy over this week's
announcement that the Cocoa-Cola
Company has just completed a deal
whereby the business had been
transferred to a new concern for
cash and stock amounting to ap
proximately $25,000,000. Sounds
like a Henry Ford romance or that
other story about the Harrisburg
man who had an opportunity once
to purchase a controlling interest in
the Ilell Telephone Company for
$6,000.
A splendid opportunity for an ex
soldier is offered by a minister in
Western Pennsylvania on a postal
card to the Bureau of Employment
of the Department of Labor and
Industry. The only qualifications
the soldier must have it to know
how to run a Happy Farmer Trac
tor. a Buckeye Traction Ditcher, to
prune a 60-aere orchard and to do
plumbing work, "viz. install a sys
tem of water works in my dwelling
house."
"To such a man (discharged
soldier preferred)" the minister
continues, "proper wages will be
paid, according as the man and I
shall agree."
At the beginning of the letter the
minister says he has no faith in em
ployment bureaus, but nevertheless
is willing to try the State Bureau.
•
People who have returned from
the seashore say that Pennsylvania
food is making a hit nowadays in
the big hotels and restaurants.
"Everything that has Pennsylvania
attached to it has been selling and
a good bit is now tagged with the
State name that does not come from
this State" said one man. "For
years some hotels have been mak
ing a speciality of food from Lan
caster, York and other counties in
Eastern Pennsylvania which are
noted for farming and the public
has just waked up to It."
WELL KNOWN PEOPLE
—L. A. Weinstock. active in
Philadelphia affairs, is home from
France after serving with the Jew
ish Welfare Board.
—Ex Governor John K. Tener will
take up his residence in Pittsburgh
shortly.
—G. T. Arms, long connected with
Pottstown iron enterprises, will be
1 manager of the works acquired at
that place by the Reading Iron
com pany.
—Thomas Kennedy, miners' lead
er who spoke here during the
spring, helped prepare the new de
mands for presentation to the
operators. •
1 DO YOU KNOW
—That 'Harrisburg made some
of the early experiments with
steel manufacturing?
HISTORIC IIARRISBrRG
—Both the sites of the Y. M. C.
jA. and Y. W. C. A. . were tavern
places la their times.