Harrisburg telegraph. (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, August 29, 1919, Page 16, Image 16

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    16
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
A NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOME
Founded 1891
Published evenings except Sunday by
THE TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO.
Tlerah Building, Federal Saare
E. J. STACKPOLE
Pretident and Editor-in-Chief
P. R. OYSTER, Business Manager
OVS. M. STEIN'METZ, Managing Editor
A. R. MICHENER, Circulation Manager
Executive Board
I. P. McCULLOUGH,
BOYD M. OGLESBY,
F. R. OYSTER,
GUS. M. STEINMETZ.
Kdmbers 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
paper and also the local news pub
lished herein.
All rights of republication of special
dispatches herein are also reserved.
t Member American
Newspaper Pub-
Associa-
SIE Bureau of Circu-
JHM latfon and Penn
sylvania^Associa-
M] Eastern
SEflv Avenue Bu'ilding"
Sf Shory, A
-I Chicago, 111. B
Entered at the Post Office in Harris
burg, Pa., as second class matter.
By carrier, ten cents a
week: by mail, $3.00 a
year in advance.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 1919
O brother man! fold to thy heart
thy brother;
Where pity dwells, the peace of
God is there;
To worship riyhtly is to love each
other.
Each smile a hymn, each kindly
deed a prayer. — Whittikr.
THEN AND NOW
HANIEL YON HAINHAUSEN
will never be acceptable as
German ambassador to the
United States. He was a member
of Von Bernstorff's band of con
spirators, who were little if any
better than murderers, and we had
quite enough of their outrageous
conduct immediately preceding our
entrance into the war.
The choice of Yon Hainhausen
as their representative to this coun
try marks those behind the present
"reform" element in Germany as
the same old crew that held the
reins of power in 1914 and until the
dethronement of the Hohenzollerns.
The only difference would appear
to be that then they swash-buckled
up and down the center of the stage
and their minions fawned attend
ance, while now they pull the strings
from behind the wings while their
puppets merrily dfince.
PAY FOR POSTAL CLERKS
DURING the Burleson adminis
tration of the postal affairs of
the country the people have
learned to appreciate more than ever
before the importance of efficiency
and vision in the handling of the
mails. There lias been a constant
inquiry in the public mind as to why
all the insufferable failures in the
postal administration, but no reas
onable explanation has been vouch
safed a long-suffering public. Re
cent testimony before the House
Committee on Expenditures in the
Postoffice Department has thrown
some light on the situation and Con
gress will almost certainly provide
remedies for the widespread defects
in the postal system.
Postmaster General Burleson has
maintained throughout his direction
of the department an arbitrary and
inexcusable attitude toward the pub
lic. He has been accused of using
political influence to defeat needed
improvements in the service, and the
president of the Railway Mail Asso
ciation declared the other day that
the mail delays could be traced di
rectly to terminal distribution. At
the same hearing Representative
Sells, of Tennessee, commenting on
the testimony before the committee,
said: "It seems to me that he
(Burleson) has made a sweatshop of
the Postoffice Department." Postal
employes have been underpaid as no
other class in the Government serv
ice. Increases have meant little as
compared to the increased cost of
living. It has been openly stated
that the present salaries of the pos
tal clerks are less than the wages
paid unskilled laborers in many
cases.
The Postmaster General is alleged
to be out of sympathy with the re
quests of the clerks for increased
compensation and has upset the fa
vorable action of Congress in some
instances. It is suspected that the
head of the department prefers to
make a showing in the way of rev
enue without regard to the effect of
that policy on the postal service.
If the people generally could ex
press themselves they would make it
quite clear that, as against a sur
plus in Mr. Burleson's department,
they would prefer efficiency. Many
good men have already quit the
postal service to engage in mord
remunerative occupations, and this
means a breaking down of the sys
tem which most intimately concerns
the people.
Within the week it has been
charged before a committee of Con
gress that the Postofhce Department
was never in a state of greater, in
efficiency; that boys in knickerbock
ers were employed in place of
skilled men; that so much mail had
been rifled in Chicago that even a
FRIDAY EVENING,
suit of clothes belonging to an offi
cial had disappeared, that men in
one of the terminals at New York
had worked twelve hours per day
for twelve weeks and that railway
mail clerks receive less than negro
porters on station platforms.
Thomas S. Flaherty, head of
the National Federation of Employes,
declared in Washington the other
day that in six years not a single
constructive recommendation for bet
terment of the postal employes had
been made; that, on the contrary,
their wages had been reduced and
laws for their protection nullified.
He declared the wages are so low
that the department cannot get men
to work for it. This witness told the
committee Postmaster General
Burleson's idea of granting relief to
the employes when the mail service
was so heavy last winter was to
send down his Chinese cook and
coachman to work in the Washing
ton postoffice at night.
It has been stated that the larger
groups of postal employes had re
ceived only a 25 per cent, increase
over the maximum established
twelve years ago, yet living costs
had increased over 100 per cent. It
has been further stated in the Wash
ington investigation that the increase
in work has been 60 per cent, and
the decrease in the number of em
ployes has been 11 per cent, during
the last six years in the postal serv
ice.
Threats of resignation 'have been
made in many places among postal
employes unless relief is provided.
There is a feeling among the men
that they have been overlooked and
Postmaster General Burleson has
been accused of withholding the
facts from the public. Delays in the
mail service are due, it is said by
those who have appeared aswit
nesses before the Congressional com
mittee, to the lack of experienced
help and that higher wage standards
were absolutely needed to overcome
the unsatisfactory conditions.
No class of public servants are
more faithful than the postal clerks
and carriers, and the people will not
hesitate to favor Congressional action
for their relief when the facts are
more properly presented through the
investigation now under way. Con
gress seems disposed to do the right
thing and the Burleson policies must
give way before the enlightened
judgment of those who favor fair
treatment and substantial apprecia
tion of a large body of faithful Gov
ernment employes.
President Wilson will spend
twenty-five days, according to Wash
ington advices, in laying before the
people of the country his reasons
for the immediate ratification of the
Peace Treaty without change. Talk
has been harder to suppress than
the Hun.
AS TO STRIKES
ALL OYER the country social
unrest is developing into
strikes.
There are excuses for some of
them and absolutely none for others.
One can understand that men be
come restless and discontented when
pay envelopes fail to meet the ex
penses of decent living.
It is the right of every American
to aspire to a wage that will yield
him a livelihood, with something to
lay by for a rainy day. Nobody
will deny that.
But, since men strike to better
their conditions, there are several
questions they should ask themselves
before they leave their work. Among
them are these:
"Is the industry for which I am
working able to pay me more than
I am getting, and if it is not, can
I help to put it on a profit-making
basis?"
"Am I giving as much service for
the higher wages I am getting to
day as I gave for lower wages be
fore the war, and would it not be
better to try the experiment of hclp
j ing the plant increase its output?"
"If I lose my Joli can I go else
j where and get one as good or better,
and if I can't where do I come out
I in the end."
j And last, but not least "Have
I I the sympathy of the public, with
out which no strike ever has been
I won?"
I These are fair questions. They
I are vital to the si ccess of any strike.
! If men would pause to consider them
there would be fewer walkouts.
Some times a strike does seem
the only way out of the workm |'s
striving for better tilings, but mostly
it is bad for both sides, gains little
and loses much. A little more rea
son between employer und employe,
a little more thought, co-operation
and understanding on both sides and
there Would bo fewer newspaper ac
counts of labor troubles being settled
bv resort to the strike.
A LESSON IN THIS?
IX VIEW of the agitation for re
adjustment of our industrial re
lations it may be well to study
for a moment some of the recent
happenings in Russia. As is well
known, the Bolsheviki came into
power on the promise to turn in
dustry over to the workers, and they
made good the promise. The indus
tries were given to the manual labor
ers, and the owners and executives
were turned out. What has hap
pened there in the course of this ex
periment is told by Prof. g,
noted Russian educator recently re
turned from that country, in,the
current issue of "Struggling Russia."
"The Bolsheviki," he says, "are
r.ow inclined to give up the so
called workers' control, which has
done more harm .than good to in
dustry and to substitute State control
for it. Having number
of failures in their land and lal3Br
policies, the Bolsheviki have begun
to look for a way out of the intol
erable situation. They would be
ready now to accept even nonrevo
lutionary measures in order to fix
|up somehow the crumpled-up in
dustries of Russia."
By the Ex-Committee man
It is very evident that more is
going to be heard in the next Legis
lature of Pennsylvania about "home
rule" for cities than in any previous
year and the manner in which the
representatives of the third class
cities discussed the proposition at
the convention of their League at
Allentown indicates that the smaller
municipalities are going to be lead
ers. The last Legislature passed for
the first time a constitutional
amendment to pave the way for
enactment of laws which would pro
vide a general scheme for govern
ment of cities, leaving them free to
prescribe the detailed system best
suited to their own needs. This is
what has been wanted for a long
time and if it had been in effect
in 1913 Harrisburg. which had oper
ated very successfully under the old
act of ISB9, would have been able
to escape much of tlfe difficulties it
has encountered under the Clark
code.
It is expected that third class city
laws will be made an issue in most
of the smaller cities next year.
There may be an effort to restore
the nonpartisan elective feature, but
by that time it will have been so
bedly discredited that a strong move
ment will be under way to do away
with it entirely. The big feature
will be defnands for liberal amend
ment of the third class city code, so
as to include some of the things
not put through this year, and the
"home rule" constitutional amend
ment. Undoubtedly certain inter
ests will light the "home rule" prop
osition. The amendment will have
to be passed by the next Legisla
ture and will be voted upon by the
people in the fall of 1921.
—Auditor General Charles A.
Snyder, who was author of bills for
"home rule" in third class cities
while in the Legislature, has again
aroused much interest among the
officials of such cities by a sugges
tion that an arrangement should be
made for a State fund from which
cities could borrow money for im
provements such as paving, sewers
and other objects for which it would
not be advisable to wait for a local
election on a bond issue. The State
could advance the money which the
city could repay by special taxes or
a bond issue.
—Discussing the propositions for
amendment of the constitution to
relieve cities, the Scranton Repub
lican says: "Perhaps these amend
ments would solve some of the prob
lems that now confront Scranton
and other cities of the State. Third
class cities as well as Scranton now
suffer from the restriction of only
three groupings. The Electric City
complains because it is mated with
the municipal giant, Pittsburgh, and
cities the size of Hazleton and Car
bondale rtnd their needs are differ
ent from those of Erie, Harrisburg
and Wilkes-Barre. A larger classi
lication would enable Scranton and
Reading to get in a group by them
selves and the other incorporated
towns to group themselves accord
ing to size. That would be fair and
equitable for all."
—Slackers in registration are as
sailed by the Wilkes-Barre Record
vigorously. It says. "It should not
be necessary to urge citizens to
qualify themselves for the exercise
of the most sacred civic privilege
that can be conferred upon them.
Next to the slacker in time of war
the most despised of slackers is the
person who for no good reason ab
sents himself from the polling place
ou election day. when the fate of
government —whether good or bad
—depends upon the selection of men
competent and honest and disposed
to regard tax revenues as a high
trust."
--•Writing in the Philadelphia In
quirer, George J. Brennan says:
"Judge Harry White, of Indiana,
jurist, legislator, iinancier and sol
d er, on a visit to Philadelphia last
week met a number of the officers
of the American Legion and ho ac
cepted their invitation to address a
meeting to be held under the
auspices of that organization at
which Civil War veterans will be
asked to recount their military ex
periences for the edification of the
young men who saw overseas service
in the recent World War. Judge
White has a fund of valuable anec
dotes and personal reminiscences of
historical interest covering his serv
ices in the State Legislature at Har
\ risburg, the lower House of Con
gress, his career as a lawyer and
u jurist and his services in the Union
I Army and his Incarceration in Libby
Prison and subsequent escape there
from."
Pome of the school hoards of
the State are inclined to be some
what indignant over the failure of
the school teachers' increase layv to
Ibe more specific. In certain sections
of the State questions have arisen
' which solicitors for the boards have
j suggested be referred to the State
I authorities. There arc also some
i districts where it is said that teach
ers lnuy not get the salary increase
at all because of the inability of
the school boards to increase the
tax limit or to borrow money. It
rather seems as though the teachers'
salary qui slion will figure consider
ably in tin politics of Pennsylvania
next year.
—Assurances have been given to
people in a number of departments
of tlie Capitol that there will be
no shakcups or reorganizations until
after the primary election.. Rumors
have been afloat of numerous
changes to be undertaken next week.
—Newspapermen throughout the
State are sending congratulations
to W. H. Schwartz, the editor of the
Altoona Tribune, who is just 74
years of age. He works harder
than the city editors of many a
newspaper and the Tribune editorial
page is always worth reading.
—Congressman J. Hampton Moore
is getting vigorous in his replies to
the attacks being made upon him.
He says Judge John M. Patterson
was one of the character witnesses
for Mayor Thomas B. Smith and
that Thomas Robins, chairman of
the Patterson committee of 1,000,
which the Evening Bulletin remarks
was oddly made up, should be taken
down before he gets "a few blotches"
on his face. Robins was one of the
prominent Roosevelt men and
Moore says of him: "I want to say
_to that social leader who is trying
to give respectability to the camp of
the Vares down the street, that he
is profaning the name of Roosevelt
every time it passes his lips."
Unless the World Toils
[From the New York Herald]
Mr. Hoover made one wise and
sound statement when he said that
"unless productivity is increased in
Europe there will be nothing but
political, moral and economic chaos,
finally resulting in loss of life hith
erto undreamed of." One great
trouble with the European situation
is that the people in many countr'es
deceive themselves in assuming that
their problems are political instead
of economic.
HJLRRJSBTIRG TELEGRAPH 1
IT HAPPENS IN THE BEST REGULATED FAMILIES OH, MAN!
Since. "THev v£. cyisi.uei> OFF I WON T TFLL HER HEt.l.© -HCLLR LUCY
IMS dinme Tonickt Ths UIN4MI2R. is ofc T H ts IS Joe- SAV OH GOOOY'- Ipa
l Guess ** weLU IT u^ ,NK ,-N/e - GoT SOMe JuiT HUNGRY FOR
P nf-Tto .x" JUST HOMt .. GOO® wews FORYou- SooD NCwS I
CREDIT FOH IT VVHA " P 14 ,T '
" vvcli-- >'ve Decide® •• ~ . . f ' " ~ \
(SOT lb Go To That . HOv/m VRoVoiYinG, I Jost Thousht 1
Dinner tonight but 'OH iSrv'T ' He maid oo_< Ar vD / jd raiTher I \
w^ss.* 0 " 6 ( <*&%*"* r/ / z%r)
!nsteaU * . VNHY COULDN T Me V Luce J V ° y
0 have —"
Pomerene on Plumb Bill
United States Senator Pomerene j
does not favor Government owner- I
ship of railroads, telephones or tele- l
graphs. When it was proposed that
the Government take over the tele- 1
phone and telegraph lines, he I
counseled against it until hearings
upon the subject showed something j
tangible to base a conclusion onr, ;
but was overruled."
Senator Pomerene's criticism of j
the Plumb plan was drawn out by .
a letter to him from a committee
representing the Hocking Valley j
Federation System, which advanced j
arguments in support of the meas- ;
ure and asked for the Senator's I
opinion. Only a synopsis of what
Senator Pomerene said in answer
was telegraphed from Washington, j
The following is a verbatim quota
tion from part of the answer:
"Are you quite sure that when the [
Plumb plan was devised it was in the |
interest of 'the masses?' If so, j
how does it happen that the bill is !
presented by the brotherhoods alone, j
and their associates? Why were .
not the interests of the general pub- I
lie consulted?
"In the history of railroad eco
nomics do you know of any country
anywhere under which any plan
akin to the Plumb plan has been
adopted? Are you quite sure that
it is fundamentally sound to require
the Government of the United States
to invest 5 20,0f 0,000,000 —about one
tenth of the total wealth of the
country —in this enterprise and turn
it over to the operatives for 100
years ?
"If the Plumb plan is sound eco
nomically and is for the interests of
'the masses,' why do you not sug
gest that similar legislation be
adopted whereby all public utilities,
including water works, electric light
plants, gas and l.eating plants, be
purchased and turned over to their
employes and operatives, respec
tively?
"If it is sound and in the interest
of the masses, why do you not sug
gest that all the coal mines, iron and
copper mines be purchased by the
Government and turned over to the
operatives in the same way .'
"Why do you not suggest that all
the manufacturing and industrial
plants of the country be purchased
with Government funds or by the
issuance of Government bonds and
turned over to their operatives In
the same way?
"Why do you not advise tlint all
the stores be purchased and turn
ed over to their operatives in the
same way?
"Why do you not recommend that
all the banks of the country be
required by the Government and
turned over to their operatives?
"Why do you not ask, in the in
terest of 'the masses,' that the Gov
ernment purchase all the farms of
the country and turn them over to
the employes on the farms.'
"And lastly, may I suggest that
if one man should happen to own
two house* one of which lie rents,
whv do vou not ask that the sec
omi house shall be bought by the
Government and turned over to the
renter? ,
"Where is this going to end .
"Mv friends, permit me to say the
Plumb plan has nothing akin to it
outside Bolshevist Russia.,
"It is worse than socialism.
Efficiency in Business
[Kansas City Times.]
The existing system of selecting
heads of industry works by a pro
cess of natural selection, like evolu
tion The concerns that fail to ex
ercise good judgment go to the
It is because the Plumb plan of
the control of the railroads by the
einployes disregards this system of
making the owners of the roads
responsible for their efficient man
agement that the public shies away
from it An enormous amount of
experience throughout the would
has convinced most persons
efficiency in the conduct of a busl
ness is purchased only under the
always present penalty of loss of
property in the event of failure.
EDITORIAL COMMENT""
Henry Ford gets even with Presi
dent Wilson. The latter catapulted
the former into politics as the
Democratic nominee for Senator
from Michigan and Henry got a
trimming. Now. Henry nominated
Woodrow for President of the
whole world, assuming that the
League of Nations is a fact, which
it isn't—not yet. About all these
two good men get done is to nomi
nate each other for good Jobs. —
Johnstown Tribune.
For and Against
"Good Old Days"
One Writer Defends the Traditions, While Another Champions
Jazz Against Simple Melodies.
LITERATURE is decadent. Out
side some histories, there
hasn't been a book written in
this generation that will live to
the next. The flower perfumed
plots of Ouida have given place to
the trysts of Elinor Glyn on bear
skin rugs imperfectly tanned and
giving off odors of the wild. Poe
is forgotten in the jingles of the
syndicated versifier who writes an
ode to a cabbage.
"Cooper, who clothed the spring
forests in verdure and the autumn
woods in crimson and gold, who
spangled the wild meadows with
blue bells, who put a sheen on the
waters and a purple glory in the
sunset, sleeps on while we crowd
our systems with the liyperbolous
happenings of 'Ma Pettingill."
"There hasn't been a poet since
Bryant, Whittier, Whitman, Long
fellow and Willis, with the possible
exception of Markham, whose prin
cipal claim to fame rests on his
'Man With the Hoe!' "
So writes C. M. (General) Jack
son in the San Francisco Bulletin.
The General ife a newspaper man of
the old school who still ably tills
a place on the staff of the Bulletin.
• That newspaper recently assigned
I to him the defense of the "Good
Old Days" and at the same time
had its art and musical critic. Wil
lnrd Hamilton Wright, champion
the cause of the present against the
past. The two articles appeared as
a full page feature. More of Gen
; eral Jackson's review follows:
The Old-Time Religion
"The old-time minister knew lit
tle of psychology. His idea of driv
i 111 nails was to hit them on their
heads with a hamper. He was
>1 nick to perceive wrong and to de
nounce it. The dominie of Patton's
Church in Chicago, of Armour's
lor Swift's would no more dare
i tackle gambling in foodstuffs than
' he would dare tackle a grizzly with
' only his naked hands for weapons.
"As a result of this dilution of
truth with the lukewarm waters of
sophistry and evasion, the church
; has lost much of the power it once
I had and realizes it.
j "Recently 1 looked over the
' schoolbooks used by a third genera
i tion descendant of my own family.
■ In almost every instance the pro
cesses of figures were devoted to
problems explaining how much he
could make by buying something
cheap at wholesale and selling it
j dear at retail. Nowhere did I en
; counter a line commending the
j precept that it is more blessed to
i give than to receive. I searched his
. textbooks vainly for the story of
j Robert Morris, who pledged his
: private fortune that the Army of
j Washington might be paid, but
. found in a volume I presume was
issued by the school library a con
cise and commendatory review of
the lives of those three great men —
Rockefeller, Carnegie and Schwab.
Mourns Old-Time Music
"Music is as essential to the mind'
as food is to the body. And what
a mess your modern is making of
music. Gone are the days when it
was presumed to appeal to the
sentiment of humanity. In its place
we have conglomerations of electric
storms and cackling hens, of rumb
ling chariots and blazing buildings,
of thundering cannon and nasal
catarrh. Lord of Israel, what a
mess! Instead of rythm. the poetry
iof sound, we have movements.
I Orchestral cathartics, symphonic
I abstergents! And jazz!
"Dancing is a first cousin to
music. But it also has been in
i oculated. Gone the dreamy waltz,
j the vivacious schottische, the good,
honest old quadrille, the merry pol
ka and the stately minuet. In their
places, what? An olla podrida
made up of 'turkey trots,' 'bunny
hugs' and 'shaking the shimme.'
Sensuality set to music.
"It is the same way with the old
songs. 'Home. Sweet Home,' 'The
Igst Rose of Summer,' 'Annie Lau
rie' and other tender things that
made a fellow's heart fill up, are
ditched, while our sopranos shriek,
'He Took Me Out in an Auto, but
I Rode Home in a Car,' and bary
tones and tenors howl, 'lf She Rov
ed Me as T Rove Her Money, How
Quickly We'd Agree.' with Jazz or
cliestra accompaniment and jazz
chorus."
And here, on the other side of the
shield, is Mr. Wright's satirical
picture of the old as contrasted
with the beauties of the new:
"Religion has become more sen
sible, more intelligent, more human,
and, above all, more tolerant. It
no longer holds that whatever
pleases and enchants is a wile of
the devil and, therefore. to be
avoided if one would lead a right
eous life.
"And as for education, it, too,
has become broader and more hu
man and more practical.
The Gingerbread Whatnot
"Gone is the gingerbread what
not in the corner with its riot of
shells, gone with the wax flowers in
the glass case resting upon a knit
ted wool doily, the marble topped
center table with the plush album
and the stereoscope with scenes
from the Grand Canyon and Niaga
ra Falls. Gone, too, is the haircloth
furniture with its pricking stray
hairs and its slippery surface. The
stuffed owl has disappeared from
the wardrobe, and the Moody and
Sanke.v liymnbook no longer leans
against the rack of the square
piano which was always out of tune
and which had at least four keys
that didn't strike.
"Surely the absence of these
abominations is a sign of progress
and advancement. To-day the shell
covered whatnot has given way to
the sectional bookcase, with here
and there a readable book among
its contents. A cloissone vase
stands in the place of the wax
flowers. A mission table, simple
and sensible in design, occupies the
center of the drawing room, and
the album and stereoscope have been
replaced by travel books.
Better Furniture Now
"One may now sit upon chairs
and sofas without sliding off or hav
ing sharp points penetrate one.
"And regard the books that were
once read and the authors who
were held in high esteem. The
great writers of Europe were un
known. Our grandfathers content
ed themselves with the pallid chirp
ing of such mild and uninspired old
gentlemen as Longfellow, Bryant
and Whittier. 'Unclfe Tom's Cabin'
was regarded as a literary master
piece; and James Fenlmore Cooper
was thought to be a greater genius
than Balzac, Flaubert or De Mau
passant. Why should one wish to
return to such barbaric conditions?
"All dancing was based on the
theory that the emotions were
criminal. Hence, the quadrille, the
minuet and the preposterous polka.
To-day's Mental Attitude Frank
"The young people of to-day have
outgrown their honor of all gen
uine instincts. For this reason I
think the modern dance is destr-,
able. It is at least more honest,
just as jazz music is more honest
than the e*egant and genteel dance
compositions of yesterday.
"This honesty and frankness
seems to me. to be the crux of the
whole argument. The mental at
titude to-day is cleaner than it was;
it is less hypocritical and more
. natural.
"This is shown by the fashions
of to-day as compared with the
fashions of yesterday. What is
there so terrible in the fact that
a woman reveals her curves and
angles? The false modesty of our
grandmothers appears to me to be
the real immorality. And do the
weepers for yesterday really prefer
a pretty woman swathed 'n bulging
garments, which conceal and dis
guise her utterly, to the close fit
ting and abbreviate'd attire of the
modern woman?
Ix>ok at the Bathing Suits
"And the bathing suit'! Come
with me to the beach, General, and
I will convert you to the modern
standard! There js more freedom
to-day than formerly a greater
mental and physical tolerance.
"As for comforts, there can be
no comparison between the new and
the old regime. Steam heat and
open plumbing are not to be sniffed
at. And I will wager that "even
the old-fashioned gentlemen use
elevators in preference .to the stairs,
safety razors In preference to the
naked blades, and typewriters in
preference to quill pens. And what
is this I hear, General, about your
recent acquisition of an automo
bile? What! With all the Dob
bins available and all the one-horse
shays?"
AUGUST 29, 1919-
No Wonder Germany Quit
By MAJOR FRANK C. MAHIN
Of the Army Recruiting Station
"One night towards the end of I
September my regiment came into
the town of Dieulouard on the Mo
selle river, about five miles above
Pont-a-Mousson. We were just out
of the St. Mihiel offensive where,
being the pivot for the attack, we
had caught the devil for four days
and nights. At the entrance to the
town my battalion billeting ofiicer
met me and I went on ahead with
him to look over the billets. I
found my entire battalion was as
signed to a large tannery on the
north edge of town. While we were
looking over the building there was
a stunning concussion and 1 re
marked that that sounded like a
big one going. It was customary to
speak of shells as coming or going,
according to whether they were
Boche or Allied. My lieutenant an
swered that there was an Ameri
can 14-inch railroad gun firing on
Metz from a siding about a hun
dred yards away. I asked him if
the Boche had been searching with
their guns for that nice little rail
road gun, and he told me they had,
; but everything had been hitting in
! a field and on a hillside six or seven
1 hundred yards away. Nevertheless,
j I didn't like the idea of putting ray
I men in that building, but we were
! ordered to do it, so in we went.
! There was plenty of room, plenty
jof straw for beds, and plenty of
I water and we were' more comfort
' able than we had been for months
except for one thing, and that was
that the Boche started shelling the
town itself. Our 14-inch friend pull
ed out and left us, for which we
were not a bit sorry, as every time
it fired the concussion blew you out
of bed and made the very ground
tremble. However, that wasn't near
ly as bad as the spasmodic shelling.
I The Boche were using long-range
] 9.5-inch guns and they would drop
| live or six shells into the town about
a minute apart, then perhaps wait
two hours and send over two more,
I then wait 15 minutes and send one,
j then wait four hours and send 20,
land soforth. The shells came so fast,
| dropping down out of the skies that
| you hadn't even hit the ground after
hearing the whoosh of the approach
! ing shell till it had burst. There
| were still some hundreds of civilians
lin the town, and during our first
j week there several women and chil
i dren were killed, but strange to say
not a soldier was touched. Never-
I theless, the shelling Was decidedly
nerve-racking. Everyone felt the
! same, and as I heard it frequently
I expressed, 'Wouldn't it be just hell
I to be bumped off by a stray shell
I after what we have just been
through.' Finally we begun to get
a feeling that since nobody had been
hit in a week, nobody was going to
be. But just the same, everyone
was getting mighty sore at the Boche
for this long drawnout harassing.
You don't mind being harassed for
a few hours, or I should say you .ex
pect it occasionally, for you most
certainly do mind it, but when the
blame buincss keeps up for a week
it gets your gout. But our exemp
tion came to a sudden and disas
trous stop. Just at noon on a bright,
clear Sunday, one of those 9.5-inch
shells lit right square in the mid
dle of the big room in which .all
four of my kitchens were estab
lished. I was down at regimental
headquarters when that shell hit, but
I heard it and placed the smothered
explosion in my tannery, so I start
ed post haste to see what damage
had been done. Believe me, it was
plenty. That room was a sight be
yond description. Rolling kitchens,
tank carts, and ration carts, and
kitchen paraphernalia were smashed
and strewn broadcast, while inter
mingled with that kind of debris
were tons of brick, quantities of
broken glass, twisted steel girders
and the bodies of twenty-four dead.
In addition to the dead there were
69 wounded, so that shell tempo
rarily or permanently accounted for
93 Yanks. Of course, the Boche ex
pected and hoped to demoralize us
with the shelling, but if they could
have seen us after that slaughter
they would have carefully refrained
in the future from long-range ha
rassing of American troops. The
whole outfit were so thoroughly en
raged, there was no talk or demon
stration, but everyone made up their
minds that the Boche were going
to pay for that shell with blood, and
two weeks later they most certainly
did, for in our next attack every
man jack went over the top with a
grim determination to get revenge
for some friend or bunkie who
passed out in Dieulouard. I am
afraid very few prisoners came back
out of our area, but I know the
burial parties had plenty to do to
put the dead under ground after we
had Dassed on."
Euttimg Cljat
Harrisburg's twilight baseball."
which has been in many respects one
of the most remarkable outgrowths
of the war In the way of
will come to a climax during
coming week when the leade.s of
the two leagues which furnished
such excellent after supper games
will cross bats for the city cham
pionship. There are pretty wet
defined community sentiments in
regard to these two leagues, one
ing an up town affair with its root
ers scattered all through the old
part of the city, while the other v
pn Allison Hill organization whit
is supported by thousands of the
folks in the highland part of the
State Capital. And in between there
are several smaller league whoso
players and backers are partisans
of the two larger organizations
And all of these grew out of day
light saving because last year when
men found that there was an hour
after supper baseball came into its
own again and games, such as we
used to see in the late eighties and
early nineties, in years when Har
j risburg did not have a professional
; nine, but some rattling amateur
j teunrs began to be repeated. Owing
| to its neutral position the big dia
mond on the city's island will be
I used for the opening game between
! the West End and the Reading
i Railroad teams, which are at the
peaks of the two leagues and the
other matches will be played on the
respective grounds. It will be a
great chance for people to see just
what daylight saving has brought to
Harrtsburg in the way of groat
j sport and just how firmly rooted is
j baseball to this city of ours.
Every now and then something
turns up, ahout a Harrishurg man
and a copy of the "Em and Ess Elec
tric News" is just here with Frank
Wert's name as editor. Mr. Wert
is a son of Prof. Howard Wert and
was formerly city editor of the.
Harrishurg Patriot and also on the
Harrisburg Telegraph. He was se
lected for the publicity manager of
the Mahoning and Shenango nail
way, which operates in Ohio and
Western Pennsylvania after some
service on the Philadelphia Even
ing Bulletin and was made head of
some welfare work in addition. Now
lie is editing the company's maga
zine for its men at Youngstown
among other things.
You can get almost any kind of
a sound you want up around the
Capitol, declare people who work in
the big building. There is a whistle
on the big building and occasionally
there is a rattle of tinware in the
subterranean depths. Practice of
an orchestra is not unknown and
there is a good choir. But records
•were broken yesterday when a horse
which had been allowed to stand
in one of the recesses of the build
ings by a deiicery wagon driyer,
neighed violently and aroused a
rooster, which had been bought by
an attache to take home.
A good story is told by a com
mercial man who travels "about the
State a good bit. This man is a
great rooter for Pennsylvania be
cause he has been all over the State
and knows its people and what they
are doing. One day recently he met
a fellow traveler, who haiied from
New England.
"I should think." remarked the
man from Yankeeland, "that vou
would have been much worried dur
ing the early days of the war be
cause of the possibilities in the at
titude of the Pennsylvania Dutch. '
'Why'.'" asked the astonished
traveling man.
"Well, they would naturaliy
sympathize with Germany," remark
ed the New Englander.
"Say, let me tell you that there
was more uncertainty about the at
titude of some of you New Engend
ers of English descent in 1770 than
there ever was about the attitude of
the folks you call Pennsylvania
Dutch in days. They helped
make up Washington's army. Just
leave off the Dutch, they're Penn
sylvanians and have been that ever
since they settled here and tlio
muster rolls of every war will prove
Here's another train story. A
Harrisburg businessman happened
to get alongside a genial Irishman,
who said that he was head of a
big gang of men on construction
work in Colorado, that part of Colo
rado which furnishes the setting for
some thrilling stories and "movies."
"Me friend," said the Irishman,
"I came East to see relatives
and when I was going into
Chicago a bullet hit the frame
of the car window beside which I
was sitting. When I got into Chi
cago there was a race riot. When
I got to New York I heard men
spouting all kinds of raw stuff from
corners. When I got to Brooklyn
i they slammed bricks and rocks at
the street cars I was riding in and
I the cops were called out to stop the
I riots. Say, me friend, I'm going
back to Colorado. The wild and
woolly west is safer."
Citronella is almost at a premium
in the upper end of Harrisburg.
Owing to the failure of city author
ities to take advantage of State of
fers to help eradicate mosquitoes,
that part of Harrisburg has been
overrun with specimens of the ano
pheles, culex and several other va
rieties of "skeeters" with names al
most as bad as their stings. People
have taken to smoking "twofers,"
burning smudges, lighting punk and
other expedients in order to sit out
doors while citronella has been
bought by the pint and handker
chiefs and cushions sprinkled with
it.
WELL KNOWN PEOPLE
I John F. Short, the United States
| marshal at Pittsburgh, who is very
I much in the limelight just now,
used to be a newspaper correspon
| dent here.
Claude T. Reno, former Allen
town legislator, is to be one of the
I speakers at the welcome home of
| Lehigh veterans.
| Edward Wertley, Reading news
paper man. has been given decora
tion for his war service.
Senator Edwin H. Vare, the Phtla
! delphig political leader, gets recre-
I ation by horse back riding.
Louis Frank, chairman of the
nominating committee of the third
class city league, is mayor of Johna
! town.
| DO YOU KNOW ~j
—That Harrisburg made silk
for cartridge cloth for the
Army?
HISTORIC HARRISBURG
—Harrisburg was one of the first
places in the State to establish a
cotton factory.