16
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
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E. J. STACK POLE
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GUS. M. STEINMETZ.
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FRIDAY, SKITEMBER 5, 1919
Endeavor to be patient in bearing
with the defects and infirmities of
others, of what sort soever they be,
for that thyself also hast many fail
ings which must be borne with by
others. —THOMAS U-KEMPIS.
WHAT ABOUT IT?
WHAT has become of the new
high school project? The
school board having done ex
cellently in the purchase of the Hoff
man's Woods site should be hasten
ing along with the work of prepara
tion. Next spring should find the
contracts let and the ground broken.
We are in a hurry for that high
school. We need it badly. Not
only are the high schools proper
overcrowded, but we are told that
some hundreds of pupils ready for
the new Junior high schools cannot
be accommodated until the Technical
high school building can be vacated
and transformed. That means two
or three years at least. Too much
time has been lost in delay. Now
is the time for action.
Of course, the board has had its
hands full, and still is very busy,
but even so the high school prob
lem is pressing for a "solution and
the public is impatient. If the di
rectors can do as well with the new
university system they are discuss
ing as they have done in the matter
of the two Junior high schools the
city will be able to boast of one of
the most complete plants in the
world, ideally situated.
AS TO PRICE-FIXING
WILLIAM A. GLASGOW, chief
counsel of the Pennsylvania
Food Administration in Phila
delphia, is opposed to Government
price-fixing as a means of bringing
down the high cost of living. And
he is right. All the price-fixing
the Government can do will not
bring down the high cost of living.
Price-fixing is a purely artificial
means of regulating the cost to the
consumer in times of emergency, but
almost always Government meddling
with the immutable law of supply
and demand is fraught with peril
and usually is followed by a recoil
that Is hurtful to everybody con
cerned.
Our own Governmental trifling
with price standards is a sad reflec
tion upon price-fixing as a panacea
for the high cost of living evil. Take
coal for example, or wheat; house
hold fuel went up by leaps and
bounds and a famine followed Gar
field's anthracite manifesto, and
anybody knows that bread is selling
for more now than at any time in
the history of America.
Then there is also the incident
of the canned pineapple, for which
the Government made a market
price by selling a large quantity not
needed for army use to foreign buy
ers at a wholesale far above what
the American consumer was at the
time paying for it retail. That was
Government price-fixing. So, also,
was it price-fixing when the War De
partment sold fabrics in New York
to large dealers for a million dollars
more than it paid for them. Not
only was in price-fixing, but it was
profiteering as well. That million
dollars must come out of the pockets
of the buyers, and the Governmept
to all intents and purposes has plac
ed a new value on this product, al
ready very high. The Dry Goods
Economist of recent date gives an
interesting account of this trans
action and its relation to prices of
similar commodities in the trade.
"It was one of the stAingest
things that ever happened," says a
writer In that publication. "Over
13,000,000 yards of cotton goods—
mostly ducks, drills, silesias, bobbin
ettes and sheetings—costing the
Government originally about $4,000,-
000, were disposed of in a few hours
for about $5,000,000. They were lit
erally swallowed up at approximate
ly current market prices in most
cases and at more than current mar
ket prices in some cases."
It developed that the biggest
single buyer at the auction and the
FRIDAY EVENING,
most potent influence in bidding up
prices was the Siberian Union of
Co-operative Unions. This is a purely
economic and strictly nonpartisan
organization of 3,000,000 consumers.
The buying of the Siberian organ
ization has been taken as an indi
cation of the way in which foreign
buyers generally are likely to ope
rate. Obviously, it is nothing of the
sort. The regular foreign trader who
buys in this market must sell his
purchases at a profit to distributors
who must resell them at a- profit.
The Zakoopsbyt can distribute the
goods directly to its members at
cost, or even below cost, if for ay
reason this were considered to be
desirable or necessary.
I It is possible that the bidding
would have been Just as wild if the
Zakoopsbyt had stayed out of it.
There were some other foreign buy
ers and a number of speculators.
But it looks as if the Siberian buy
ing was the chief factor in causing
the stampede.
"However, one thing certain is
that the Government made a profit
of $1,000,000 on goods which it paid
for with public money at a substan
tial profit to the manufacturers,"
concludes the economist. "Taken
in conjunction with the Govern
ment's prospective campaign against
profiteers the thing has a certain
flavor of Gilbertian humor."
JUST AS WELL, PERHAPS
MAY BE it is just as well that
the urbiters of fashion have
set their feet down hard on
the flamboyant vest, waistcoat they
call it, which had begun to make
its appearance on Fifth avenue. The
garments probably would have cost
a lot, however decorative they might
have been, and it would have been
hard to resist the splendor of such
colorful habilaments as some of the
tailors ha(J, begun to turn out.
Likewise it would have been diffi
cult to explain to friend wife why
it was that the high cost of living
precluded satin gowns for her while
permitting velvet vests for husbands.
It's an 111-wind that blows no
good, much as we always have
hankered for one of those beflowered
waistcoats such as we used to note
in the English fashion prints and
around the bookies' stands at the
racetracks. Mankind is surely miss
ing a lot by confining itself to the
somber colors the tailors declare
the must wear.
But we are glad the white vest
also has been forbidden, else many
of us might have been mistaken for
bar-tenders out of a job.
City Commissioner Lynch is being
generally commended for introduc
ing an ordinance to provide bathing
facilities for Harrisburg and it is
now up to Commissioner of Parks
Gross to engage an expert to report
on the kind of facilities best suited
for the city.
SLOW RUT SURE
THE WORLD was not made in
a day, nor is our progress from
the Dark Ages to the present
enlightened period a matter of years.
That is one of the greatest difficul
ties of the reconstruction period.
We seem to think that the whole
fabric and structure of civilization
can be made over in a month or
two. Human nature is not con
structed on that principle and the
millennium is not just around the
corner, much as we might like to
think so.
Speaking of the Peace Treaty, of
which he is a far more ardent ad
vocate than are many Americans,
Samuel Gompers, who knows a thing
or two about world conditions, the
other day said:
The Treaty looks to raising
labor conditions to their highest
present level in all lands and
ending the competition of unfair
conditions in the future, so that
j there shall be international con
ditions as well as international
cards.
This cannot come in a day,-- in
a year, or in a decade; but it is
possible to turn the world of
nations in this direction, to give
the command of "forward
march!" to keep the world mov
ing until this great end is won.
Gompers is right. We must work
out our salvation. Nobody can give
it to us on a silver platter. No
matter how much we want the mil
lennium of industry, civilization is
still a long way from it. We can make
progress toward it, but, like the
Israelites of old, we must spend our
period in the desert before the
Promised Land is opened to us. The
end can be attained only by steady,
persistent effort and not at a jump,
flannel-mouthed orators to the con
trary notwithstanding.
THE MONROE DOCTRINE
WE ARE reaping the fruits of
Mr. Wilson's willingness in
Paris deliberations to permit
the Monroe Doctrine to be defined
as a more "regional understanding."
Carranza has seized upon this weak
ness on the President's part to de
clare that Mexico does not recognize
the Monroe Doctrine and will have
nothing to do with it. Of course, it
does not matter to the Ur\ited States
whether or not Mexico approves, for
we shall go right along enforcing it
regardless of the opinion of the
revolutionary republic to the South.
The hurt that is done is to the
prestige of this country aanong the
ignorant Mexican people, who
imagine that Carranza has issued
some new kind of a defl to the
United States and that we are afraid
to resent it. This has been the way
the Mexican leaders have held their
people in time past and it is a tricl
that works any time in Mexico.
So long as Carranza can make the
people believe that the President of
the United States is afraid of him,
so long he will be able to make
them believe thatr he is really pow
erful enough to control the fate of
his own country, and in some meas
ure they will be loyal to him and
defiant of United States rights and
threats.
By the Ex-Committeeman
No one in Philadelphia seems to
have any doubt now that the voters
of the State's metropolis are aroused
by this year's contest for the mayor
alty to an extent not known for a
long time. Newspapers and men
who follow politics are displaying
considerable unanimity of opinion
that Philadelphia's so-called stay at
home voter and the independent who
growls but does not take the trouble
to qualitt'y to vote have got some
thing in their heads and that they
mean to tuke a part in the coming
primary and in the general election
which was not anticipated some
weeks ago. The coincidence of the
great popular interest and the first
election of the officials to serve
under the new charter is impress
ing editors all over the State and
the Ciuaker City's political situation
is now a matter of National import
ance.
The estimates made by the news
papers are that over 280,000 votery
registered in Philadelphia on two
days and that there will be over
100,000 maybe 150,000 more regis
tered to-morrow. in any event a
registration exceeding anything ever
known before in Philadelphia is an
ticipated. The Philadelphia Press
says the voters are manifesting "a
disposition to do their full duty this
year while the Public .Ledger says
that they are no longer going to ' al
low Vare to do it." The Inquirer
says that "public sentiment is re
sponding to the call to duty" while
the Democratic Philadelphia Rec
ord says:
lor weeks tho anti-Vare men
have been fighting under a slogan
that an enrollment of at least 300,-
000 was necessary to win, and yes
terday these dopestcrs were jubilant
over the totals for the two days.
Vare leaders attempted to explain
away the figures, but it is apparent
that they are still dazed over the
outpouring of citizens to enroll."
The Philadelphia Press ' prints
these interesting facts regarding the
registration. "The second day
brought out a force of voters as
remarkable in its way as the first
day. It made a total for the two
days of registration of this year
t?nn e nr the com P' et e registra
tion of either of the two preceding
years. it came within a few thou
thn , ♦ th A, COmplete restoration of
1915 It w V m a ! ty cam Paign of
it inovf. i i K en o u Kli to make
, ,\ e that when the thud
days figures are added next Satur
day, we will have a complete regis
tration, tar in advance of anything
in recent years. It might be int er -
Hcrfthey^are:- 6 COmplete "^ures.
191fi < Ma yoralty) .... 259.72G
Presidential) ... 305,584
lots In Y n Meeting) 275,159
10T0 >pubematorial) . 241,075
1919 (to days only) .. 286,555
el 8 be added that these two
day figures come within about 135,-
000 of exhausting the list of as
sltu e rdnv° terß '. , Thcre is still next
Saturday s registration and then the
two days the Registration Commis
ca°scs r " t0 <lispose of special
r,i,7~ in ' nte rest to the Philadel
phia registration is the first dav of
the Pittsburgh and ScrantoVreVs
' which fell yesterday-. i n
Pittsburgh it has been claimed by
the Pittsburgh Gazette-Times and
other newspapers that the Leslie-
Babcock people were not making an
fit ti People registered and
that the general policy of that com
bination was much like that of the
l ares The newspaper campaign in
Allegheny county is as full of gin
ger as that in Philadelphia and it
is very plain that Senator Max G
Leslie has ahead one of the biggest
fights of his strenuous career.
Some of the third class cities
have had big registrations, too l-'or
i", S^n Ce Rea(lin & already reports
Li.aOO or more than 5,000 on the
second day. York has had a large
registration and as .for Johnstown
the humming politics of Cambria
county has been reflected in the
registration. Chester city, where
Governor Sproul and his fliends are
backing Mayor W. S. McDowell
against the McClures, has a rr
t ration of 7,300 with another day
to go The Philadelphia North
American considers this Chester
contest one of the most interesting
in the State and says that Governor
Sproul has entered it to down the
McClures for good and all.
—Here is some good news for Lu
cerne Democrats from the Wilkes-
Barre Record. -Attorney James P
Gorman of Hazelton, recently ap
pointed as census supervisor of Lu
zerne county, gives notice that the
iVoo W a L started on January 2,
1920 Three hundred enumerators
are to be appointed for various sec
tions, all of whom must undergo a
civil service test before they are ac
cepted. It is estimated that each
enumerator will be able to earn
from $75 to SIOO for work per
formed. In cities of over 20 000
population the enumeration must be
finished in two weeks, and in
smaller districts one month is al
lowed."
-—The Altoona Tribune wants more
interest in registration in that city
It says: "According to the most
recent statement only about one
half of the assessed citizens of Al
toona have registered thus far A
single registration day remains. If
there is to be anything like a rep
resentative vote at the primaries
and, later on, at the election in No
vember, the registrars will be kept
pretty busy on the next and final
registration day."
—Commenting upon the Philadel
phia councllmanic contest Odell
Hauser says in the Philadelphia
Press: "There are several members
of the Legislature front Philadelphia
who have suddenly become much
warmer exponents of the small
Council than they were at Harris
burg when it was being enacted into
law. They now see the light. Rep
resentative James A. Dunn who is
putting up an argument to get Sen
ator Vare to see things as he does
about his going into the new Council
summed up the viewpoint of these
State legislators when he advanced
as his claim to a seat in the new
Council the following: 'I have been
working for the organization for
thirty years and the only thing Pve
gotten was to be sent to Harrisburg,
where the expense is more than the
salary.' "
—Numerous complaints coming
from business men in the city and
county interested in good govern
ment and clean politics, regarding
the violation of a city ordinance
passed in 1914 prohibiting the use
of political advertisements in police
stations, resulted yesterday in an
investigation by the Pittsburgh
Gazette-Times, which showed post
ers in court and Dollce rooms.
HAmUSDTTRG TEXEGICXFH!
IT HAPPENS IN THE BEST.REGULATED FAMILIES '
•| MAD rJO IDEA IT /A " Daßm ThESE SQUEAKY "I LL N6U6R •STAY OUT THIS
SotSw T wftrt eup - | 1l - 1 * sK ''
|- HAD -NO /"A <£■ P? W IDEA T /K*\ DARPJ TH I S
I S °..
-IU LiS-reiO ' ? !' ? FRiSMD vnTFET ~ " 605H - I HAD hi©' IDEA
SH£ S> SLEEPINC. B WWMUJWW/J7 VJA " HEAVCNS I HEftR ♦ IT WAS SO LATE -
D u P<C> N"T
No Wonder Germany Quit
By MAJOR FRANK O. MARIN
Of the Army Recruiting Station
"One of the things everyone j
learned very, very quickly in the,
Zone of the advance in France was
not to make any light during the |
night. We soon found that e\enj
striking a match on a road miles |
behind the lines might bring down j
aerial bombs on our heads, and af- j
ter a couple of those had exploded i
close by, no one cared to take a j
chance on drawing any more. Ofj
course in the villages and towns!
within the Zone of aerial activity, ;
there were guards who inspected all j
night long to see that not a ray of
light shown from any house. No!
matter how cold it might be the j
old-fashioned camp fires passed out!
of existence and we all lay around j
and shivered, and no one growled, ]
because it was somewhat better to i
be chilly for a few hours than dead j
through eternity. I actually believe ;
we all got cats eyes for going with- |
out light for it wasn't many months;
before we got so we could find our!
w.fiy. through, dense woods, even in j
the very blackest of nights. And J
the chauffeurs! Well! a chauffeur j
who couldn't see in the dark didn't
live long enough to realize his dil- j
ficiency. imagine driving a car j
along a rough road on a rainy night, j
a road you had never been over be- j
lore, a road on which troops were |
marching, trucks, wagons, carts, j
motorcycles, passenger cars, every
conceivable kind of a vehicle wasj
moving and not a sign of a light j
anywhere. It would be bad enough
if you could just crawl along, but
probably you had thirty minutes ini
which to go fifteen miles so you had
to move right along. Furthermore,
every vehicle was either canto.*-,
tlaged or painted oli\e drab and of,
course all the troops were in uni
form, all of which added most ap-1
preciably to their invisibility. If' the j
chauffeur couldn't see in the dark he i
would either pile into the rear end j
of a column of infantry and kill a,
bunch of men or he would run j
head on into a truck or tank and.
kill himself. Nevertheless, risk or;
no risk, everything had to move ana j
it had to move without lights, ktif-j
there was one time when we really j
put one over on the "smart" Boche.,
As everyone who participated in the |
Meuse-Argonne offensive knows it
got bitterly cold the latter part of;
September and never did warm up
till the Armistice. The es
pecially were simply arctic. Early I
In October when we were held up a (
couple of miles north of Montfaucon j
while fresh troops were coming up;
to hit the Boche another wallop, j
our artillery, together-with a couple,
of thousand French guns moved up
as far as they dared in order to be i
ready for the next push. Just south 1 ,
of Montfaucon was a long valley
winding nearly east and west, and j
in this valley we had massed all the
heavy guns, thousands of them, j
with only a few feet between guns. )
\s they wanted a great concentra
tion of artillery the guns were in
three rows, one close to the north;
edge of the valley, one along the |
center, and a third row In the south
edge. Bivouaced In the valley were :
the tens of thousands of artillery
men, right out in the open without,
dugouts or other protection against |
the enemy. And furthermore, the!
infantry moving to the front and ,
those coming back, were blvouaclngj
on both sides of the valley, so that i
that particular area, within easy
range of the Boche guns, was sure j
a fertile one for the Boche to shell. ;
One night it got particularly cold i
and a bunch of "fool" American Ar- j
tillery men decided they would
rather be dead than be so cold, so
they gathered a lot of wood and
made a big bonfire. Everyone net
within the immediate warmth of the
fire promptly beat it at least a hall
a mile and then waited to see the
fire and environs blown to bits. A
half hour nassed and nothing hap
pened. Within a few minutes
more there were thousands of fb-es
burning merrily throuehout the
length and breadth of that valley.
Thousands of Doughboys rame down
from the hi'l" to join the artillery
men around their fi*-ns and stiil
nothing happened. For one night,
at least, everyone was warm and
comfortable and never a shell came
into that valley all nieht 'nng. What
is the exnlanation for our immun
ity? We doped it out that the Boche
had gotten so fed UP on Yankee
tricks that he figured all these fires
were s'mply another American trick
4(r> get him to waste a whole lot of
va'nrble ammunition on an n in
which the'e wan nothing to inec.
aH no human being with an . .m of
anse would hulld a fire in a place
like that and then stay within a
mile of it. But I con assure vou
mrm never tried a fool trick like that
Roosevelt's Letters in Peace-Making
[New York Times]
DURING the seven years and a
half that he was president.
Col. Roosevelt wrote, one of
his secretaries estimates,* 150,000 let
ters, and those which he wrote dur
ing other periods of that crowded
life have not been estimated at
all. The instalment under consid
eration deals only with his efforts
to bring about peace between Russia
and Japan in 1905. These efforts
began as early as February, when
he privately and unofficially advised
the Russian government to make
peace.
But it is not our purpose to trace
the steps by which he accomplished
his desire, though the story-stands
out like a monument throughout
these letters. All we now concern
ourselves with is the reaction on
Roosevelt's mind, the humor and
quaintness with which he viewed the
monarchs and peoples with whom
he was dealing, and above all tl*3
keen penetration. There is instruc
tion for us, emerging from the
great war of the world, in looking
back on Roosevelt's Russians, Jap
anese, Germans, Englishmen, and
men of other nations, and their
Kings. On March 30 he sums up
for John Hay the peace situation.
Cassini and Takuhira have been to
see him about negotiations, but the
Japanese won't stir except on the
word of the Czar himself, "because
it is evident that no one Minister has
power to bind the government," a
fact which the whole world learned
in turbulent years. Cassini, the
Russian Ambassador, tells him that
the government is officially bent on
war, but that privately he would
welcome peace—a hint that when he
speaks of himself he means the
government. Then this delicious
bit:
The Kaiser has had another fit
and is now convinced that France
is trying to engineer a Congress of
Nations, in which Germany will be
left out. What a jumpy creature he
is, anyhow!
On April 2 he writes to Hay about
his conferences with the Russian,
Japanese, British, French, and Ger
man Ambassadors. His conference
with the last named lead to this bit
of information about the Kaiser:
The Kaiser has become a mo
nomaniac about getting into com
munication with me every time he
drinks three penn'orth of conspiracy
against his life and power.
This irreverent comparison of. that
potentate with Dickens' unhappy
Mr. Dolls is followed by a depiction
of the Kaiser's relief and astonish
ment when he finds that Great Bri
tain agrees with him in opposing
that mythical Congress of Nations
from which Germany is to be left
out:
twice, for even the square headed
Boche can't be fooled all the time.'.'
Muchr Fifty Years Behind the
Times
[From Philadelphia Public Ledger.]
It is hardly necessary to say that
Doctor Muck, who has left us for
good and all, knows better than any
one else that he was not arrested,
nor is he deported, because he- re
fused to play the "Star Spangled
Banner." But his denial of having
refused to play the national air ut
Providence and his abuse of the
newspapers for hounding him on that
incident are quite characteristic. For
whatever Doctor Muck may say as
to his citizenship, he is Prussian to
the core, and in nothing does he
show Prussianism at its most com
placent and odious level than in his
j egregious utterance that the Boston
i Symphony Orchestra will go to
j pieces because it is short "twenty
! nine German musicians." Even if
hat were the case, the interpreta-
I tion of good music would survive in
I America and without any need of
I calling on the famous twenty-nine
; Germans or any of their confreres
; who may still be in our midst.
In Tipperary
! To-day 'cross Tipperary the bleak
I winds blow,
j And over Galtee Mountains the gray
j mists longer low;
And the tang of sea and smoldering
peat across the moorlands
sweep,
And the pain within a mother's
heart is dark and deep.
To-day in Tipperary a colleen's leav
ing home
For a land that's rich in promise
away beyond the foam;
With beckoning hands they're call
ing her to honors, wealth and
fame,
But there's one In Tipperary who's
crying out her name.
—Katherine Edelman.
He sincerely believes that the
English are planning to attack him
and smash his fleet, and perhaps
join with France in a war to the
death against him. As a matter of
fact, the English harbor no such
intentions, but are themselves in a
condition of panic-terror lest the
Kaiser secretly intend to form an
alliance against them with France
or Russia, or both, to destroy their
fleet and blot out the British Empire
from the map! It is as funny a
case as 1 have ever seen of mutual
distrust and fear bringing two peo
ples to the verge of war.
As for Russia, he says in the same
letter:
Did you ever know anything more
pitiable than the Russian despotism
in this year of grace? The Czar is
a preposterous little creature as the
absolute autocrat of 150,000,000 peo
ple. He has been unable to make
war, and he is now unable to make
peace.
On the next day, he tells Hay, he
is to start on a "week's horrid
anguish in touring through Ken
tucky, Indian Territory, and Texas;
then five weeks' genuine pleasure in
Oklahoma and Colorado on a hunt;
to be followed in its turn by three
; or four cindery, sweaty, and drear
ily vociferous days on the way
home." Evidently he did not enjoy
a triumphal tour with its accom
panying adulation as much as he
was thought to do.
And again, in a letter to Senator
Lodge after the negotiations had ac
tually begun, he called the Russian
ruling class "hopeless creatures
\\ .th whom to deal," adding:
They are utterly insincere and
treacherous; they have no concep
tion of truth, no willingness to look
facts in the face, no regard for
others of any sort or kind, no knowl
edge of their own strength or weak
ness; and they are helplessly unable
to meet emergencies.
To his daughter Alice he wrote,
referring to the two embattled gov
ernments, after the negotiations had
ended triumphantly for him, "I
finally had to write "time after
time (to them) as a very polite but
also very insistent Dutch uncle."
He added:
It is enough to give any one a
sense of sardonic amusement to see
the way in which the people gen
erally, not only in my own country
but elsewhere. £uuge the work by
the fact that it succeeded. If I had
not brought about 'peace I should
have been laughed at and con
demned. Now I am overpraised.
The story itself, as unfolded in
the letters, is a fascinating one.
T'-ipse few quotations are enough to
justify Mr. Bishop's assertion that the
letters are not merely like lioose
\ elt's talk, but are in fact his talk.
To Observe Constitution Day
[From Scranton Republican.]
In times like these when so many
have shown a tendency to forget
that splendid document which blaz
ed the way to a larger measure of
human liberty, the Constitution of
the United States, it is cheering to
note that preparations are about
complete to approximately observe,
on September 17 next, the one hun
dred and thirty-second birthday of
the fundamental law of this repub
lic.
This contemplated celebration
should impress on the people of
this countiy the need of a closer
study of the Constitution which has
brought the Nation such marvelous
prosperity and moral and material
assets such as are presented no
where else on earth.
A study of this American "Magna
Charta" will prove profitable to all
who would rush this Nation into
hastily signing away some of the
independence that was won in the
Revolution, confirmed in the Great
Rebellion and finally sealed in the
gigantic struggle against the auto
cratic and ruthless Central Powers
of Europe.
These liberties, that independ
ence. consecrated by the blood of
patriots and made sacred by the
tears of the survivors of those who
fought that this Nation should be
free from entanglements as well as
from a foreign yoke, must not be
compromised by the delusions of
foolish idealists, by the caprices of
internationalists nor by the weak
ness of some seemingly well-mean
ing persons whose Americanism is
so feeble and flabby that they are
mere visionaries and sentimental
ists.
Let every city and town in this
great land observe Constitution Day
by evidence of a more vigorous
American patriotism and by a show
of greater respect for the revered
instrument that has pointed for us
the way to happiness, contentment,
honor and glory.
SEPTEMBER 5, 1919.
Crusoe and Friday
[From the Kansas City Star.]
Robinson Crusoe and his man
Friday had reached a point in their
life on their desert island where
they were doing well. They had
accumulated enough breadfruit and
cocoanuts and other provisions so
they could spare the time to build
themselves a comfortable house and
make themselves some clothing.
They had to work hard, it is true,
to keep ahead of the game. But
they were industrious and thrifty,
so they began to accumulate some
of the comforts of life.
Then one day Crusoe said to Fri
day: "What's the use of working so.
hard and saving up yams and cocoa
nuts? Thrift is out of date. Let's
work short hours and not accumu
late anything. We might as well
consume all we produce. Let's
spend our money and get the good
of it right now."
The plan sounded good to Friday.
If it was possible to be better off
by loaling a good share of the time,
and by not denying one's self any
thing, why naturally it would be
foolish to work. So the new plan
was put into effect.
At first it worked beautifully.
They had accumulated enough food
so there was plenty to fall back
on, and the dwelling was in good
shape. But after a while the roof
! began to leak and their clothing to
1 wear out and the reserve supply of
food had been exhausted. They de
cided finally they must mend the
roof and make some more clothing.
But then they found they hadn't
enough food for dinner. So they
I had to stop work on the roof while
they went after food.
In the time they had allotted for
| working,' however, they discovered
! they couldn't get the dwelling re
paired, keep up on clothing, and
obtain all the food they needed.
Life became more and more un
comfortable for them. Their house
j became almost impossible to live in.
they were ragged, and they began
to feel the effects of hunger.
"Mr. Crusoe," Friday one day re
marked after several months' trial
of the new light work plan, "your
scheme sounds good. But it some
how does not produce the results.
For some reason we don't have as
! many comforts now we are working
four hours a day as we had when
Iwe were working eight or nine. It
| seems to me if we are going to have
Ps comfortable a home as we used
to have, and as good clothing and
as much to eat, we have got to
work as we used to under the old
plan."
Crusoe had had the same ideas
borne in on him by the experience
of the previous months. So they
went back to the old plan and grad
ually produced enough surplus to
enable them to live as comfortably
as they did before.
Thus, the chronicler reports, did
the desert island realize through
painful experience the two great
factß of political economy which
the race regards as so disagreeable,
that in the long run a good living
is to be had only by work and
I thrift.
The League of Nations
Dreamers come, who follow war
with Vision overdue.
Dreamers come, the thoughtless
laugh; but often dreams come
true.
Greatest Teacher of Mankind, the
one who preached Good Will;
Greatest Dreamer of Mankind, the
one who healed with skill;
Cast aside the evil lie that there is
east and west.
Science, the cause of love must
serve by divine behest.
Ocean does not separate, nor do the
hills divide,
Engines in the sea and air bind
nations side by side.
Tears of sad and stricken souls flow
toward a common sea,
Force makes the sun of justice draw
them thence up to Thee;
Help us to know prevention is
worth much more than cure,
Bind the strong together to make
sure that peace endure.
Force, indeed, must rule the world;
but there is Power above.
Dreams come true. All rule is
Force. Let Force be ruled
by Love.
SAMUEL HAMILL WOOD.
Called Trotzky a Bourgeois
[From the Living Age.l
Bolshevism is a many headed
monster. At a fete recently givrti
by Leone and Anatolia Trotzky,
there was food in abundance, wine
sparkled in the glasses and mudc
was provided by a gypsy orchestra.
Sudde.nly the sound of the instru
ments ceased, and the musicians
shouted to the merry guests:
"Why should you be the only ones
to dance? You are behaving iike
bourgeois. It is our turn now!"
Smtfttg (Efyat
It's odd the way a locality which
has become noted as a place for an
industry or establishment of one
kind or another will decline an'
then in the course of yeait3 ,
again employed for much the same
purpose. For years when Harris
burg was young the Paxton cre""
valley, owing to- the waterpower
to be had from the more or less
erratic stream, was the seat a*
most of the industries of the to*'
There were a couple of blast tp
naces, some rolling mills. 4 . -
mills and other plants ioe-t
alpng the creek, but except i'- '
some of the industrial units at .
lower end of the stream there ai
practically none of those whir,
nourished fifty years ago to i
found in the creek valley, althous"
for a long time it was set aside it
conversation as the "coming indt£- . •
trial section of Harrisburg." Inf
old car works, Price's furnace, V,':
ter furnace and others have dlsar
peared along with the flour and
grist mills. Instead there have
grown up the Pennsylvania rail
road shops, the Harrisburg Pipe
and Pipe Bending works, and the
various factories which are com
mencing to fill up the vacant spaces.
And one of the interesting devel
opments has been of the assembling
of the scrap iron district along the
creek and canal bed south of Hul
berry street bridge. There are half
a dozen establishments handling
this pretty important branch of the
basio industry and more will prob
ably come. Large amounts of
sgn-ap are gathered here and ship
ped either to other places or to
the nearby steel mills. And one of
the coincidences to which attention
was called in the opening para
graph, is that almost on the site of
the Wister furnace, which was
close to where the Reading's line
across the river passes the Har
risburg Gas Company's plant, there
is now located a large ironmonger's
yard and all about is iron in various
forms and amounts.
* •
Dividing attention with primary
election politics and the fate of the
Peace Treaty at the State Capitol
just now is the question whether
goldfish in the basins of the big
fountains which front the State
House are reducing the mosquitoes
that occasionally infest parts of the
Mill. The fish are a recent acqui
sition of the State, having been
given by Thomas W. Templeton,
the superintendent of public grounds
and buildings. Colonel Edward
Martin and other officers of the
State Department of Health, have
been pretty busy telling people how
to destroy the larvae of the mos
quitoes and urging the filling up of
places where stagnant water can
gather and mosquitoes increase.
There are some people wjio insist
that ducks are great destroyers of
, the infant pests, while others de
clare that goldfish have been noted
for activity in thus benefitting man
kind. In any event when there
were some complaints from the
Capitol that the fountain basins,
which are so much enjoyed by the
children taken to the Capitol park
for the afternoons and as bathing
places for sundry squirrels robins,
blackbirds and other denizens of
the park, had been found to contain
mosquito larvae, the new superin
tendent made up his mind for a
tryout of the theories. He bought
the gold fish and put them into the
basins. But the fish have become
such favorites that they are being
fed by park visitors on a scale sec
ond only to the squirrels and the
question is whether they are not
being banqueted so much that they
disdain the larvae of the mosquito.
It is not generally known that the
late Col. William B. Meetch, who
will be buried to-morrow, was onti
of the most active men in the sup
port of the Harrisburg Reserves
during the war. Colonel Meetch
was the first of the associate mem
bers to enroll and offered to go out
and drill if it would stimulate the
interest of the younger men. When
the home defense organization got
under way, the Colonel set about
finding out how many men wore
familiar with firearms and offered
to act as an instructor.
Requests by the dozen for in
formation as to effect of changes
in election laws authorized by the
recent Legislature have been made
to the office of the secretary of State
and orders for special printing pf
laws relative to the primary, regis
tration and general election laws
have been made. Owing to the length
of the session the bills relative to
elections were signed late and let
ters received at the elections bureau
indicate that hasty steps to correct,
errors have had to be taken in some
places. Quite a few of the inquir
ies relate to the printing of ballots
for the primary which is now under
way in most of the counties pre
paratory to this month's election.
Another source of inquiry is as to
whether any change in the law rela
tive to filing expense accounts has
been made.
It took just one month to trans
fer the names and records of "live"
members of State commissions and
boards and officers appointed by the
Governor to a new set of books in
the commission bureau of the de
partment of the Secretary of the
Commonwealth. The old canvas
backed record book containing the
names of men appointed to various
places, including numerous com
missions, rinee 1893 was almost
filled up and when Chief Gilbert H.
Hassler ran up against the neces
sity of using either the margins or
separate pages he started a new set
of books. Clerks engaged on the
transfer worked day and night for
thirty days, digging out the names
of men now in office and entering
them on new pages and indexing
them.
WELL KNOWN PEOPLE
—Gen. W. W. Atterbury, of the
Pennsylvania railroad, is expected
to be one of the speakers at the
American Legion convention.
—Dr. H. S. Drinker, president of
Lehigh, is arranging for a reserve
officers' corps to be established in
that institution.
—Judge R. R. McCormick, of
Lock Haven, is holding court at
Clarion this week.
—Mayor Arch Johnston was the
first, passenger over Bethlehem's
new bridge.
| DO YOU KNOW
• —That Harrisburg Js still
making plates for construction
of ships?
HISTORIC HARRISBURG
—A passenger steamer service wa*
inaugurated between Harrisburg
and Wrightaville in the twenties