12
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
I&iJfirWSPAPER FOR THE HOME
Founded 1831
Published eveningc except Sunday by
THE TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO.
Tekcrafk Building, Federal Square
E. J. STACKPOLE
President and Editor-in-Chief
-OYSTER, Business Manager
GUS. M. STEIXMETZ, Managing Editor
LA. R. JUCHENER, Circulation Manager
Executive Board
*" > BOYD M. OGLESBT.
P. R. OYSTER,
GUS. M. STEINMETZ.
Members of the Associated Press—The
Associated Press is exclusively en
titled to the use for republication
of all news dispatches credited to
It or not otherwise credited in this
fiaper and also the local news pub
ished herein.
All rights of republication of special
dispatches herein are also reserved.
t Member American
Newspaper Pub
ay Associa-
Eastern office
Avenue Building.
Western office'.
i Chfca B go,
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.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28. 1919
Only so far as a man believes
strongly eon he art cheerfully, or do
anything that is worth doing. —ROß-
T.TSON.
PROGRESSIVE ALTOONA
ALTOONA is fairly on its toes
and, with Harrisburg as an
example, it is going ahead
with a great community hotel move- j
ment. Indeed, so much progress
has been -made that the hotel is as- j
sured, an architect and manager j
having already been agreed upon. I
Also, a central site has been pur
chased not far from the main rail
road station and in the heart of the
business center. The total invest
ment for site and building wili ap- i
proximate three-quarters of a mil- |
lion dollars and in the campaign,
which has been responded to with
spirit by the community, the same
general appeal was made as that
which resulted in the construction
of the Penn-Harris here.
Plans will be rushed and it is ex
pected that the new place of enter
tainment in Altoona will be ready
within a few months. The city at
the foot of the Allegheny* is also
having a thorough planning survey ,
made by experts with a view to cor
recting some of the mistakes of the
earlier days. Like Harrisburg. tin
city at the other end of the Middle
Division of the Pennsylvania Rail
road Is throwing all kinds of "pep" j
into its public activity and the fu- '
ture is full of promise by reason of .
the aroused interest of the people in '
their own community welfare.
President Wilson is about to learn
that the present Congress is not like
the old. It has a mind of its own and
it does not see much virtue in rum.
The country is "dry." There is no rea
son why we should go back to an
orgy of drink, even if the President
does approve, and the Senate may be
expected to follow the course of the
House in passing the enforcement
bill over the executive's veto.
A GOOD MOVE
CHIEF STONE, of the Brother
hood of Locomotive Engineers,
has made a move toward low
ering the high cost of living that, if
properly handled, may got some
where.
His plan is to get together a party
of consumers and producers and
outline plans for getting foodstuffs
from one to the other without man\
of the unnecessary transactions be
tween them that now add so much
to the cost of provisions.
Some middle men are necessary.
There can be no doubt about that.
But others are in the market purely
on a profit-making basis. They serve
no good purpose and could be elim
inated with benefit to both producer
and consume:.
Lot us hope that Mr. Stone is suc
cessful in his effort, in order that
his example may be followed by
others.
At Lewistown the county jail holds
no prisoners and there has been no
body in the lock-up for five months.
Lewietown is dry.
TIME TO MOVE
IF HARRISBURG is to get into step
with the capital cities of other
States and to keep pace with
Brie, Meadville, Greensburg. West
Chester and other county towns of
its own Commonwealth in the mat
ter of facilities for its military or
ganisations, it has to move right
now. Much has been stud and
written In this city the last ten
years about the armory that the
State is going to build for Harris
burg aome time. The State is not
building armories as presents. It is
building them where municipalities
or communities provide the ground
and some cash to help pay for the
cost of construction. Places
smaller than Harrisburg have given
fine lots and the lake city not only
presented the State with half a
TUESDAY EVENING,
block, but donated )75,000 beside
j for n building.
j Hnrrlsburg is an important mtlt
tnry center both from official and
transportation standpoints. Ita ar
mory facilities were woefully In
adequate before the war. If this
| city is to have any place in the new
National Guard worthy of its pa
triotism. its sons and its standing as
a capital something has to be done,
and the time to start to buy that
property for the new armory is
: right now. Other cities are already
I moving.
A LIMIT TO LAW
HE Railroad Brotherhoods
, I threaten to strike as a protest
i against "nonstrike" legisla
tion in the railroad bill now .M'ore
i Congress.
i They are perfectly right and rea
' sonable in opposing an attempt to
stop strikes by law.
it was nonsensical to include
such a provision in the railroad
: measure. Nobody can prevent a
man front leaving his job if he be
; so inclined, and what one man can
| do a thousand or a million can do.
J If a million railroad men chose on
' a certain day to take "vacations,"
who could prevent? Their em
ployers might dismiss them and the
i law although that is very doubt
! ful —might indict them, but it
! could not compel them to return to
j work.
The way to prevent strikes is not
I by legal prohibition, and to try to
I do it that way would be merely to
i make a laughing stock of law
j makers and law-making.
The Brotherhood leaders have
the right end of the argument and
Congress will do well to heed.
A clause to forbid men to inter
fere with others in their desire to
! work would be all right, but a non
, strike provision is hopeless.
I Is this Indian summer or Just H
of the regular variety?
THE NEXT STEP
INASMUCH as City Council is in
lull sympathy with the important
Italian Park plans and the devel
opment scheme which comprehends
important street changes and deci
sion of water so as to provide for a
small park, we may expect prompt
action to the end that all of these
matters shall he determined before
the coming of winter. The city is
now ready for its next step forward
and the election next week will he a
signal for greater activity in all
directions.
Harrisburg officials have never
failed to respond in a public-spirited
way when the eonun inity has indi
cated definitely its wishes. Then
can be no doubt that the plans for
the development of the Italian Park
district will be worked out without
unnecessary delay in any particular.
Pressrt sugar prices do not tend in
sweeten the disposition.
IXDLSTRIAL CONDITIONS
AS indicated in an authoratative
business publication to-day
the real object of the Wash
ington industrial conference was to
arrange for business* to proceed un
disturbed hereafter by unrest and
dissatisfaction on either side. Many
theories have been advanced for the
solution of the industrial controversy
which has been so widespread, but
the determination tof the disputes
seems to hinge upon a change of
view as much as upon wages or
working conditions. What the
worker may do with his money, as
has been suggested by a recent
writer, is the affair of the worker,
but it is believed that a remedy for
j the situation must lie found either
l<y educating the workers to get
i lasting benefits from their increased
j earning or by putting into operation
; some plan which will bring about
i this result in another way. The same
authority observes that education
1 toward thrift is. of course, the bet
ter way, but it takes too long. Arti
j (ioial arrangements will not change
I economic laws. Rubor cannot be
'b.-nefited permanently unless pro
; duction is actually increased. "An
honest day's work for an honest
day's pay," according to Charles M.
I Schwab, is the only solution.
The great public, which is usually
ouishie in conferences between labor
I and capital, is waiting for the happy
■day when employer and employe will
j realize that the interests of the third
j party are quite as important as those
j of cither of the other two.
It is believed that the I. W. W.
' propagandists are at the bottom of
most of our trouble; that they have
i stirred v.. dissension wherever pos-
I sible and thai until their activities
are supp.-essed no real progress will
' be made in the way of agreement
between the workingmen and their
• employers in many industrial cen
! ters. The radical element must
1 first be eliminate 1 before a reason
| able settlement can lie reached be
i tween the two great forces, which
• should never have disagreed, be
' cause their interests are mutual.
But there are signs of sanity in
j many directions at the present time
i and as both sides to the controversy
, move irresistibly toward the same
' goal of confidence in each other and
consideration for the public there
, must come a solution of the whole
| problem.
| As has been suggested by the Tele
: graph more than once the individual
responsibility of the citizen at this
time is greater than ever before in
the history of the country. Each
must do his part and do it with the
sole purpose of advancing the wel
fare of the particular community in
which he resides, to the end that a
great community movement may be
started which will extend from one
end of the country to the other.
Upon the outcome of the labor
contest in America depends in a
large measure the future prosperity
of all classes of our people. There
must be reasonable concessions on
lall sides; no autocracy of any sort
will bo permitted to rise In tho
I United States eo long as so many of
the people are determined upon a
I course that Is manifestly fair and
reasonable and just.
TMtin U
~PC.KlV4ufvrahfa.
By the Ki-Commltteeman
• tine week from to-ilay Pennsyl
vania will be voting to settle one of
the most interesting series of coun
ty. municipal and judlclul elections
held in a decade and the echoes of
various contests are coming across
the counties to the State Capitol in
n manner that indicates that the
men who play politics have an eye
on next year's campaigns. The
Democrats are showing particular
.nterest in the way their vote comes
out because the fate of factions may
depend upon some slants which
uiuy be given to the balloting in the
, big counties
In several counties the Palmet
wing of the Democracy lias had an
idea that the Bonniwell people
might try to do something and they
have been ready and waiting for
something which never happened,
while in other count.es they have
tried to demonstrate that they are
on the job by taking various matters
into court and getting beaten most
■ ol the time.
In add.tion to the judicial and
j mayoralty contests which have been
j reviewed front time to time are a
score or more of loan elections. In
Heading, a mill on dollar improve
. merit loan is an Issue and movies
and speeches are being used to
boost it. Johnstown has a school
loan which is being extensively ad
vertised in the newspapers. 11l
Bradford county a million dollar
road loan is being voted on this fall.
I ~*
—Just as an instance of the way
the Democracy of var oils counties
is all fussed up. this statement about
the battling factions of Cambria
county mav be printed, it is taken
from the Johnstown Tribune: "Heal
war' in the ranks of the Demo
cratic party of Cambria county was
declared wiien the AleGuire faction
held M meeting Saturday and elect
ed Attorney J. Wallace Paul Coun
ty Cbn'rmnn. Air. Paul is the sec
ond man to be named chairman of
the Cambria County Democratic
Comm'ttee within the nest two
weeks, the other being Philip P.
Sharkey, who was 'named chair
man' of the 1919 committee in an
announcement by the llailey-Cooney
Democrats several days ago. The
AleGuire men claim that Air. Paul is
now tlie only county chairman who
has been legallv elected to office
They point out that the law his b a n
complied with in every part of the
proceeding that resulted in the
naming of Attorney Paul. No mem
ber cf tho party has speeifie author
ity to call a meeting for the organis
ing of a committee, but it is argued
that Air. AleGuire, through his of
fice of State Committeeman, has
implied authority to call such a
meeting."
—Democratic politicians have
also heen making trouble for them
selves and their party by some
court actions in Scranton. The Re
publicans have them on the run in
the Lackawanna county ticket fight
and the Democrats are struggling
lor an opening in Scranton. The
i Scranton Republican says: "In a
, statement issued yesterday Rogistra
tiou Commissi oners B. T. Jayne, A.
P. O'Donnell and Alex T. Connell
I brand as 'without foundation and is
j in fact a deliberate untruth' the p.
tition presented to Judge Xewcomb
; Saturday by the Democratic candi
| dates for county office and several
registrants and on which Judge
Xewcomb issued a temporary in-
I junction restraining the registra
, tion commissioners from taking any
action in the ease in which 400
voters, registered as Democrats, are
charged with having registered ille
gally in that they failed to pay a
; State or county tax w thin two
. years preceding the coming election.
! The injunction is returnable Wed
i nesday morning."
When it was shown to tlie Lu
■ zurne County Court that candidates
lor office in Warrior Run Borough
i oil an independent ticket had filed
[ their papers only fifteen days hefoie
election nstead of twenty-eight days
before. Judge Woodword declared
i tlie nominations invalid and the
names will be stricken off .the bal
lot. Attorneys for the candidates
i affected filed under the old law lie
cause they used an old form of
nomination papers specifying fifteen
; days as the time for filing. Judge
• Woodward said, however, that he
; would have to sustain the excep
tors because the new law was not
I complied with.
—Schuylkill Prohibitionists say
they will not take any court steps
to knock Lewis Heim off their
ticket. Heim is not a Proh'bitionist
I but a man more or less identified
with the liquor business.
York county Republican candi
dates are swinging through the
| county ftiis week and everywhere
j their platform of economy and
good business in county affairs, es
[ peclally the road construct on bond
I issue is meeting with favor.
—The Wtlkes-Ba rre Record is
saying snmp sharp things about the
Democrats in I.uzerne county af-
I I'airs. especially in regard to roads.
I It holds that the county needs Re
j publican commissioners for its own
I good. .
—Reading's campaign r s getting
; all beated up. The Reading Eagle
; of Saturday devotes a page to nr
j ticles about the campaign and the
! paper is filled with candidate's ad
i vertiscments. The Republican
, -om'nee for mnvor. John Kdm
I Stai'ffer. and J. Henrv Stump, tho
' Por'alist nominee, are having a long
, range debate over the water loan
StiiTrn is against ; t. William Ah
' t-ot Witropo the candi
date savs his Republican onnonent
'J" "afraid of criticism." W'tman
1 don't mind it. He's use to it.
1 Stnnffer is eonidered the likely
winner ! n the fight.
j —The Altoor" Trihune has this to
J say about the speaker" for tho big
• Republican rally in the mountain
eifv on Thursday night: "The cam
paigners selected are men welt
k"-wn here and are speakers that
w>]| certatptv draw a h'g crowd.
L'otitenan' Oovernn- Reidleman w"l
h" one of tbc rpeekers. He ncds
'•o introduction to the voters of this
citv. for he has been a stnnn-h
friend of the workers Auditor G"n
jeral Charle- Snyder will be another
! sneaker. He has frequently visited
i the city, has always been an enter
j tainer. sneaker and famous as a good
| story teller. Deputy Attorney Gen-
I eral Collins will also be here. He
■ is a fluent orator and a man that lent
i his voice and time in assisting to
jkeep America alive nnd patriotic dur
ing the World War."
Buausscno U!Q9fti telegraph
WONDER WHAT Al9 MONTHS' OLD BABY THINKS ABOUT? .... .... By BRICGS
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draw PICTORP6- The marks \ MAKE "to ME. MY Father I'm <®oin6 To BE Am
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m OS OPTIN\ISTtC CAREER BCFoRE me .
So IT DOSSM'T make Guess You 3>OM"T I vWowl l Got
SO MUCH XIFFEREMC E. - AW,ALL T„ E W Al£-. , WUCPSP MM*
u"*7r,n SAO TViinWS 1M A < ts AQA.NST .TUB Diwt 00 NOTHIM'
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FOR A PICTURE ITS PAIN Yep. —IP MO TAKE, a chance - j OLO WALL
MV DA ' D OIUE IS U>OKINCA - " -2^T(
Iron Ore From Bacteria
rFrom the Youth's Companion]
The most imaginative among us
would hardly suspect that bugs are
responsible, at least in part, for the
common tlaiiron and other useful
articles made from the same nietal.
Yet European physicists have known
for some time, says Chase P. Os
horn. former governor of Michigan,
in his autobiography, that there are
"iron ore bacteria," and the fact is
now commonly accepted in America.
Iron bacteria live in either stand
ing or running clear waters that con
tain iron compounds: not in turbid
waters and those containing much
organic matter. So active are they
in establishing deposits of ferric
hydroxide that water pipes of cities
where the water contains ferrous
carbonate have been known to he
completely closed by them.
Sheaths of dead iron bacteria have
been found in multitudes in linton
ite deposits, and enormous deposits
of several kinds of iron ore are
known to result from their work.
Yet we know little übout them. They
may even be at the very threshold
of life.
It is interesting, however, to note i
that the greatest deposits of iron'
! ore in the world that are being .
mined are in arctic and subarctic '
: regions, or in zones where nearly i
half the year is winter, as in the ;
lake Superior country. The greater
commercial activity in the colder j
regions may partly account for „this, >
, for there are extensive iron ore \
formations in the tropics and sub
tropics. But the fact remains that !
iron bacteria live in pure water and
that in the colder regions water is i
most likely to be pure.
Although iron bacteria ate nianu- j
facturing new deposits all the time.'
this is not of great importance nsj
far as the supply of iron is concern- ,
od. Bodies of ore are being formed i
'more rapidly than we used to think.
Hut Nature probably cannot create
: iron as fast as we are using it.
"Moira's Keeping"
lb N'OITOV- Jcphson O'Couor
I From "A Treasury of War Poetry."!
Houghton-Mittlin Company, Boston] i
<i mountain of Etin,
Your beauty is fled:
Beyond von. in Flanders,
My darling lies dead.
.Through the dune s and the grasses
Bespattered yvith blood.
; They bore him: and around him
Bareheaded they stood,
i While the chaplain in khaki
Was reading a prayer.
And the wind for his keening
Was moaning an air.
0 son of gray Fonnaught,
No more shall we stand
| By the dark lough at evening.
My hanil in your hand.
And talk of a houseen
! To hold you and me.
| The scent of the heather.
The gorse on the lea.
i
Yet, bridegroom of mine.
You are waiting afar,
; Past the peak and the blueness.
The shine of thon star.
Where Mary the Mother
Is bending her head,
i And you sleep at her crooning,
j O boy of mine! dead.
T. It. on Industrial Peace
' ""In our complex industrial civili
j zation of to-day, the peace of
! righteousness and justice, the only
| kind of peace worth having, is at
j least as necessary in the industrial
world as it is among nations."
Those words, spoken by Theodore
Roosevelt, in 1910, showed the
;Colonel's understanding of the Im
portance of a problem which has
; come to press the entire yvorld for
; solution since the world war. Col
onel Roosevelt used those words in
a speech in Christiania. Norway, In
j acknowledging the Nobel peace
prize of 1905, awarded to him fo
-1 his work in promoting the peace
between Russia and Japan. The
prize consisted of a gold medal and
*40,000 in cash. The medal Colonel
! Roosevelt kept, but the f40.000 he
used as a "nucleus for a foundation
to forward the cause of industrial
pea ce."
"I think in most cases," Colonel
i Roosevelt said in his speech, "It
would be eminently just and proper
: thgt the recipient of the prize should
keep for his own use the prize in its
j entirety. But in this case, while I
did not act officially as President of
the United States, It was, neverthe
less only because I was President
that I was enubled to act at all:
and T felt that the money must be
considered as having been given me
In trust for the United Stetoe."
TO ROUT BAD ENGLISH
BY PAGEANTS AND PLAYS
"Better Speech Week" Plans Provide For n Unique Campaign
Against Slang—Detroit Schools Exact a Pledge of Their Pupils.
The gingham dog and the calico cat
Side by side on a grammar sat;
'Twas half past 12, and (what do you
think?)
Not one or the other had slept a
wink!
The bottle of ink and the fountain
pen
Declared the two would fight again
And waited for a terrible spat.
(Of course, I wasn't there just then,
'Twas told to me by the fountain
pen.)
It seems the two had fought before.
And carried on a terrible war,
And this is how the fight began:
The gingham dog was called "I Can,"
And the calico cat, though 'twas a
sin.
Always went by the name, "I Kin."
So Can killed Kin forevermore.
(And this tale is true, I think.
For it came to me from the bottle of
Ink.)
BY parodies of child rhymes, of
which the quoted adaptation of
Eugene Field's "The Duel" is
typical, Detroit teachers will drill
their pupils in pure English during
"Better Speech Week," November 2
to 8.
"Better Speech Week" originated
in the Eastern District High School
of Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1915, and in
the four years since it has spread to
almost every state of the Union. In
Detroit, for example, plans for the
week this year are especially lavish,
inspired Miss Claudia E. Crump
ton, secretary of the committee on
American speech of the National
Council of Teachers of English, who
is a teacher in a Detroit high school.
A few of the features of the pro
posed program have been described
in the Detroit News.
In the beginning, every school
child will be required to make the
following pledge, prepared by Mrs.
Howard L. Willettt of the Chicago
Woman's Club:
Tlic Better Speech Pledge
I love the United States of Amer
ica! I love my country's flag; I love
my country's language. I promise:
That 1 will not dishonor my coun
try's speech by leaving off the last
syllables of words;
That I will say a good American
"yes" and "no" in place of an Indian
grunt, "Umhum" and "Humum," or
a foreign "ya" or "yeh" and "nope;"
That I will do my best to improve
American speech by enunciating dis
tinctly and by speaking pleasantly
and sincerely;
That I will try to make my coun
try's language beautiful for the many
boys and girls of foreign nations who
come here to live;
That I will learn to articulate cor
rectly one word a day for one year.
From this point the pupils will
carry on their propaganda for pure
speech with parodies of poems and
songs, posters, tableaux and allegori
cal plays.
They now are drilling in tableaux
and pageants picturing the fight and
victory of good English over bad.
An adaptation of St. George and the
Dragon is one of these. St. George
represents the Knights of Good
English. "Bad English" is the
dragon he must overcome, a dragon
scaled with language errors embla
zoned on bits of paper.
The English Truants
In another tableaux, the meddle
some Pandora opens her box and re
leases a great cloud of speech errors
to harass the words till they are
gathered up again and locked in
their chest.
The elementary grades have a
more ambitious program, of which
an allegorical play, "English Tru
ants," an adaptation of Frank Stock
ton's "Christmas Truants," is one of
the most interesting features.
Grown weary of teachers who in
sist on pure speech, a little band of
children runs away from school. But
they have not gone far when they
are captured by the "Robbers of
Good English," who carry them
off to their lair. Ignorance Castle.
There the children have a dream,
in which the great men of their land
come before them, Benjamin Frank
lin, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore
Roosevelt appear before them In
their vision, each in some scene from
his life depicting his struggle for
better English. Awaking they listen
in terror to their captors planning
raids on the alphabet and conjur
ing up slang phrases as weapons
against the pure words of the lan
guage.
"Do Without" Clubs
Then It is that the children plan
their escape. Seizing their captors,
I who are. intent on plans for further
attacks on the purists, thsy bind
them, and rush from the castle. A
year later they again go to view
their prison, but they find the Cas
tle of Ignorance transformed into
the Castle of Better Speech.
These are only a few of the many
novel means being employed in the
Michigan city to impress upon school
children the advantages of pure
speech. Teachers are endeavoring
to shun the commonplace—to at
tract and hold the interest of their
little charges in the "Better Speech"
campaign.
"Do Without Clubs" have been or
ganized in many of the schools, their
members pledged to drop the use of
one slang expressiori a week. As the
weeks pass, one by one these phrases
are being eliminated from the vocab
ularies of the school children. Hard
boiled language is headed for the
land of the Dodo and you tell the
world, it's travelin' fast.
Echo Seat
It is the greenest nook beside the
way!
A dark hill climbs behind It, dark
with pines,
Where one may know not if 'tis day
or night;
But, all in front, the laughing
river shines.
And, near the rive!* bank, there is a
seat.
So old none knows the time it was
not there.
Where many rest them from the
summer heat,
And breathe the cool, down float
ing, pine sweet air.
Then, they who still are young
enough to play.
Toss one another's name across
the stream,
And laugh to hear a hidden mocker
gay
In accents clear the cadence word
redeem!
And there are others in youth's
later bloom,
Who of the cavern dwelling
nymph require
What fortune shall be theirs, or
who loves whom
(Say, did that hidden one grant
their desire?)
How many a voice since then is lost
is still.
Of those that called with fresh
and lusty cheer;
Or if they call, 'tis past some
heavenly hill.
The voice responds—not heard of
earthly ear.
• • • It is so many absent years
gone by,
Since 1 the airy magic put to
test,
I doubt me, If the Echo would reply
To those old names I lock within
my breast.
—Edith M. Thomas, in the New
York Sun.
The Twenty Eighth
[By Lawrence Doyle. Private first
class. Twenty eighth Division.]
We are lads from Pennsylvania
From the grand old Keystone State,
And I'm glad that I am fighting
In the famous Twenty eighth.
We fought in many a battle
The work we did was great.
I tun proud to be a sofdier
In the grand old Twenty eighth.
i We fought at Chateau Thierry,
From the Marne up to the Rhine,
: And every place we fought them,
i They retreated double time.
We always had them running,
' If they stopped they knew their fate
For they always got their medicine.
When they fought the Twenty
eighth.
Nothing could ever stop us
For they feared us all the time;
It was the Twenty eighth Division
Which broke Old Hindy's line.
We are lads from Pennsylvania,
That grand old Keystone State;
| I'm proud I am a soldier
In The gallant Twenty eighth.
—From the "Dauphine Doughboy."
Speak Evil of No Man
Put them in mind to be ready
with every good work, to speak evil
of no man, to be no brawlers, hut
gentle, showing all meekness to all
i men.—Titus tii, 1 and 2.
OCTOBER 28, 1919.
W. Va. Assails Pennsylvania
[From the Philadelphia Inquirer]
This State has very properly en
tered legal proceedings to prevent
West Virginia from executing the
law passed by its recent Legislature
which prohibited the transportation
of natural gas from its limits until
local demands have been satisfied.
Ohio, also having interest, has Join
ed in the proceedings and the Su
preme Court of the United States is
asked to take original Jurisdiction in
order to settle the matter quickly.
There arc many important indus
tries in Ohio and this State which
depend on natural gas from West
Virginia. If West Virginia takes
from Pennsylvania the gas upon
which it lives industrially it does
much material damage.
Of course, the whole point is in
volved in the Constitutional clause
as to interstate commerce, together
with certain other provisions, such
as one stute giving good faith to
what the other does as represented
through corporations duly erected.
It seems monstrous to suppose that
West Virginia should try to get rid
of all its obligations so suddenly,
but there is something back of it
which illuminates the problem.
Recently after many years of liti
gation West Virginia has been com
pelled to pay Virginia some $13,-
000,000 in bonds as its share of the
debt of the Old I>ominion in 1861
plus interest. West Virginia's claim
was that the treasury assets of Vir
ginia in 1861 exceeded all debts and
that they were wasted by the Civil
War. Unfortunately the promise in
the West Virginia Constitution made
no reservations and the Supreme
Court upheld the claim. The bonds
have been delivered and must be
reduced rapidly by annual pay
ments. Hence the State is trying to
conserve all its resources and pro
j hibits giving us gas when it is need
ed at home.
Once more the Supreme Court
must decide. The moral is that the
next time a State wishes to remain
in the Union when part of it decides
to secede it should make no rash
promises. West Virginia could have
escaped paying a dollar, but she
wanted to appear fair. She was ad
mitted to the Union under circum
stances which made Constitutional
lawyers shudder, but necessity pre
\ ailed and the same consideration
would have admitted her if she had
never agreed to pay a dollar. So
that Pennsylvania and Ohio are
really asked to suffer now because
Western Virginia counties were loy
al almost sixty years ago.
Was Constitution Inspired?
[Harry T. Atwood, author of "Back
to the Republic," in Motor World]
I believe that the Constitution was
as much inspired as parts of the
Bible. You know they met for four
weeks, day after day, and had not
written a single word or a single
sentence, and on the morning of the
fifth week, in the midst of a verv
heated discussion, they were about
to adjourn and abandon the great
purpose for which they had met
and what a difference it would have
made in the history of this country
and the entire world if that had
happened!—but Benjamin Franklin,
one of the wisest men, if not the
wisest man who sat in the conven
tion, arose and, addressing George
Washington, who was in the chair
said: '
'Mr. Chairman, we have been
groping for four weeks in the dark
ness searching for political truth and
have not found it. How is it that we
have not invoked the divine guid
ance of the Father of Dight upon
our proceedings? The longer I live
and the more I know the more I
believe that God governs in the af
fairs of men, and if the sparrow
cannot fall without his notice, is it
probable that an empire can rise
without his assistance? 'Except the
Dord build the house, thev labor in
vain who build it.' I firmly believe
this, and I also believe that without
His concurring aid we shall succeed
in our political building no better
than the builders of Babel. I, there
fore. move you that from henceforth
we open our daily deliberations with
morning prayer."
And from that moment they be
gan to make progress in the fram
ing and adoption of that fame
crowned old document.
Women Voters in City Politics
[From the Twilight Hour Magazine.]
The purt that women will take in
city politics in the next election is a
wholesome prospect, provided they
put more importance upon organiz
ing for a nonpartisan city govern
ment than they do on the mere act
■of voting.
lEtimng ©ljaf
Suggestion made in this column
lust night thut the proposed Stute
bridge, to be built some time in the
future as a part of the comprehen
s ve plan to make the Capitol the
oleic center of the Commonwealth,
should be named the Ked (Jro.v,
Bridge In honor of the women of
the Pennsylvania branch of the
great organization, seems to have
met with much favor, but object.o.i
was promptly made to-day thut .1
would force a change in the rouds
leading to Harrisburg from the
Cumberland valiey. As a matter of
fact, it would not disturb a single
I existing road and being primarily a
; bridge for tourists would not inter
fere very much with the ordinary
! traffic over the present r.ver
I bridges which by that time will
, probably be freed, anyway. So muca
i tor those objections. As to the liigh
; w °y problem it would simply mean
:a new road cutting off from th
t-arlisle-Chambersburg pike some
where near Camp Hill and follow
ing, most of the way, a ravine or
series of depressions that come
down to the Susquehanna at the
j Northern Central water tanks al
most opposite State street. This
I would take it past properties which
were considered a few years ago as
a possible site for the Country Club
of Harrisburg and bring 'in the
traveller through some very pretty
| Cumberland county farming lands.
| There is a road a small part of the
way now. It would simply mean a
new road which will come soma
| time of the demand for it and the
I changing of a small part of the
| highway on the West Shore which
J comes up from York and Baltimore
! and brings down traffic from the
j Juniata Valley that docs not cros*
| the river at Clark's Kerry.
Tbe change in the hours under
the Daylight Savings Law, which
went into effect at midnight on
Saturday, caught many unprepared
and there was more confusion Sun
day. People say the newspapers had
not discussed the matter as general
ly as they did last spring, when the
law became operative, and so items
announcing the change had escap
ed the attention of many. Some
who had remembered the law for
got to turn back their clocks when
they went to bed on Saturday night
and they arose at the usual hour to
find that they would be able to en-
Joy a longer Sunday than usual. The
trolley cars and railroad trains ad
justed themselves easily to the
change. Trains in or near termi
nals on the steam roads were held
an hour to adjust themselves to the
new order of time.
Insurance people are nothing if
not versatile. In recent Legislatures
they have been getting through
laws which extend the field of in
surance, one of the recent acts an
thorizing insurance against bom
bardment from ail* or land and sea.
while others were from various
kinds of natural disturbances. Now
various firms are offering Insurance
against "riot and civil commotion."
Scarcely a day passes that one or
more letters with a complaint do
not reach the office of William El
mer, superintendent of the Phila
delphia Division. Some of the com
plaints are humorous. The com
plainants frequently take up much
space and paper in telling the r
troubles. Most of them overlook the
fact that there is a place for filing
complaints, and in many cases they
get the wrong railroad. This was
the case the other day, when a trav
eler wrote the local head of the
Philadelphia Division of the Penn*
sylvania railroad that while travel
ling from one city to another in an
adjoining county he had occasion to
leave his grip in the baggage room
for a short time. On his return to
Harrisburg he opened his grip and,
according to the letter, had an at
tack of "cow itch." "I scratched
all night" said the complainant. He
asked for an investigation into con
ditions at that certain baggage
room. Unfortunately Superintend
ent Elmer has no connection with
the railroad over which this travel
ler rode.
A year or so ago an appeal was
made by the late Dr. Joseph Kalb
fus. for years secretary of the Stale
Game Commission, for the planting
of the American walnut tree and
other nut trees. The doctor pointed
out that the black walnut hud been
largely bought up for gunstocks and
that there was danger of the tree
becoming very scarce. As a result
there were literally thousands of the
trees planted in this State. In Hat
risburg alone more than 500 were
planted, some of them being young
saplings brought in from the coun
try. In other instances people
bought the nuts and planted them.
Not many of the trees survived, but
the thing is that interest in' the
trees did not die out. It seems
to be as strong as ever. Years
ago there used to be many chest
nut and hickory nut trees in
the vicinity of Harrisburg, but
they are very scarce now. Tweiity
flye years ago there were chestnut
trees lining the back roads for miles
around Harrisburg and Oherliu,
Progress and Shiremanstown were
places where chestnuts were to he
had, while the hickory nuts were
on the Blue Ridge and on many
hills. Some were even to be seen
on Fort Washington. And the
beech nut which used to furnish
much of the pabulum for wild tur
keys was frequently met with in
upper Dauphin and Perry counties
and along the Swatara. Now they
are rarities and some people can not
even identify them. .' for the
birches that used to be so inim n r • s
along the Susquehanna the> n w
more garden ornaments ihe
Uombardy poplar has replaced them
along the streams.
[ WELL KNOWN PEOPLE
—Thomas Shipley, of York, well
known here, is head of the commit
tee named for the Knights Templar
conclave in that city in May.
—Dr. Deo S. Rowe, former Uni
versity of Pennsylvania professor,
has left the United States Treasury
Department to become head of jthe
Datin American Bureau In the
State Department.
Bishop T. J. Garland, of Phila
delphia, who declined the bishopric
of Utah, may become bishop of
Deleware.
—Ex-President Taft is to speak
at State College next month.
—Major Alfred M. Collins, of
Brywn Mawr, has taken charge of
a housing survey near Philadelphia.
\ DO YOU KNOW
—That Harrisburg hosiery is
sold in Cuba?
HISTORIC HARRISBURG
—Harrisburg used to be a dist
ribution point for Huntington an 1
Mifflin county wheat a century aeo.