8 HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH FOR THB BOMB Founded 1831 .published evenlngo except Sunday by VHB 'TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO. |Ttkmrk aslMlat, Federal Sgaare E. J. STACKPOLE President and BditorAn-Chief OYSTER, Business Manager pus. M. STEINMETZ, Managing Bditor Ik. R. MICHENER, Circulation Manager Executive Beard 1,1 P. McCULLOUUH, n boyd m. oglesby. F. R. OYSTER,' GUa 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 Saner and also the local news publ ished herein. Sdll rights of republication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. t Member American latlon and Penn- Associa- Eastern f ce, Avenui Building, I Chicago, 111. *' Entered at the Post Office in Harris burg, as second class matter. -tfaSEßto- By carrier, ten cents a week; by mail, $3.00 a year in advance. MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1919 There is no action so slight or so wican hut it mag be done to a great I purpose and ennobled therefore; nor i any purpose so great but that slight Ictions mag help it, most especially 'hat chief of all purposes, the plats ng of God. — ANON. SOMETHING TO CORRECT IT SEEMS almost incredible that difteronc.es of inches should exist in the diameter and in other es icntial details of such emergency ap pliances as fire hose in towns within ; comparatively short distance of ,ach other. And yet the statements if experts of the State Fire Proven- , lon Bureau indicate that not many C the more than 700 cities and bor ughs surveyed have the same types f couplings. Scarcely a week goes iy but what some community is not ailed upon to speed aid to another, ,nd the statement that firemen were 'hampered by hose" is a familiar tatement in the news columns. And the most remarkable thing bout it is that there has been a tandard recommended by the fire xperts, the insurance men and oth rs whose business it is to fight fires ,nd that efforts have been made to lave it adopted. Thousands and housands of dollars are being spent y municipalities for modern auto mobile fire apparatus and yet fre uent sales of hose, are being made rithout regard to whether the ouplings are in accord with the iroposed standard. The trouble ap iears to be that manufacturers are making their own patterns, and as pr the man whose business it is to ell hose, there are few to compare rith him in enterprise. State officials can help meet this Ituation by getting the firemen, the nunicipal officers and the manufac [jrers on a better basis of under landing. STRIKER OUT! r HE strike epidemic has entered the world of baseball. The dis ease has appeared in violent orm in Chicago, with lighter attacks irevailing elsewhere and the tem peramental artists of the diamond pave proved easy, if not willing, Ictims. The symptoms are feverish ro*ws, loud and incoherent demands Dr more money and threats of leav ng the baseball field for the corn eld next summer. Pampered young Duthpaws and luxury-loving batters f the .400 class find they cannot Übslst on any such paltry sums as bey have been receiving—say $5,000 d SIO,OOO a year—and they demand a living wage." Yes, sir, that's rhat they must have, a "living Fage," which, it is to be supposed, is ny sum ranging from SIO,OOO to 25,000 for the season. All very well if they can "get way with it," but it should n.ot be that the baseball player K<T strikes too often is out. MARIETTA IS FIRST i r ARIETTA is the proud pos y! sessor to the first memorial * community house built in •ennsylvania to the memory of the >wn's war veterans. It is the gift [ Mr. and Mrs. Henry Heistand and n, Gerald, in memory of their son rd brother, Lieutenant Benjamin [eistand, who lost his life in the ar with Germany, and will be talntalned by popular subscription, (ready provided. Marietta is to be congratulated, he era of the community house, 'hether memorial or merely utlli irian, is here. Harrisburg must me into line with two or three, In irlous localities, or fall behind. The tloon used to be called "the poor ian's club." The community house I the whole neighborhood's club, for ieh and poor alike, and properly nducted can be made one of the reatest Americanizing agencies in te country. Such places make for cquaintance, acquaintance pro- MONDAY EVENING, motes friendships, friendships pro mote content, and content makes for good citizenship. We must think iqore and more of the happiness of those about us; more and more of bringing to those who have them not the means of social enjoyments and self-improvement, and the commun ity house is no mean agent in the carrying out of such a program. Marietta is to be congratulated. One more Jump to Leap Year. USES FOR BIG FORTUNES IT WOULD seem, almost, that there is a providential dispen sation in the accumulation of such large fortunes as those of Rockefeller and Frlck, both of whom recently have made over to public uses the bulk of their mil lions. The Frick bequest and the Rockefellar Christmas gift of SIOO,- 000,000 to the cause of popular edu cation indicate that these very wealthy men have regarded them selves more in the light of stewards of their vast possessions than as owners. If, as our socialistic friends would have it, this money had been divided up pro rata, each man, woman and child in the country would have had perhaps as much as $1.75 more to spend, but it would have been frittered away to meet individual desires or needs and there would have been no great endowment funds for the future welfare of society. Perhaps that is the answer to the so-called swollen fortunes about which the soapbox orators rave. More and more men of wealth are coming to look upon their accumu lated riches in this wise, and all over the land communities are re ceiving gifts of the kind. There are men in Harrlsburg who should give of their means to the city in which they have made their money, and many are so doing in various ways. But the practice could be generally encouraged by some such agency as the proposed Harrlsburg Foundation now In process of for mation by a committee of the Chamber of Commerce. The sooner this foundation is brought into be ing the better for the city. A dozen projects of a public welfare nature are crying for support at this mo ment. Beware not only of wine when It la red but of whisky that may have wood alcohol In it. A WISE YOUNG MAN THE country will applaud Lieut. Belvln W. Maynard's determi nation to leave the service of the air for the service of the church, even while regretting the loss to the Nation of such a gallant officer. - Lieutenant Maynard freely admits that he is getting out while the get ting is good; that he Is retiring un der the belief that like the pitcher that goe3 too often to the well, the aviator who flies once too often loses his life, and Maynard is young, with a family and with honor enough to satisfy any man. He has proved his courage and skill in a manner that has aroused the ad miration of his countrymen. He has played the part of a patriot, risking his life for his country, and no body will do other than approve when now he chooses the safer courses of travel and goes back to his chosen work, with money enough to insure him a livelihood If properly invested and a com petence for his old age. Mr. Maynard is a wise young man. He has lived to learn that there is more than a mere plati tude in the old saying that some times discretion is the better part of valor. THE RAILROADS, TOO PUBLIC sentiment for "daylight saving," as expressed through ordinances passed by the gov erning bodies of New York, Balti more, Philadelphia, Ilarrisburg and other important cities of the east, has brought the railroads to the point of adopting passenger schedules to conform. More than 300 com munities in New Jersey have gone on record as favoring the plan and a bill is to be presented in the Legislature to make the change of time statewide. Practically every city and town in Pennsylvania has expressed preference for the "day light-saving" schedule and the rail roads will be conferring a great favor upon the public by complying with popular desire in this respect. It becomes more and more evident that the people of the cities and towns do not mean to be cheated out of the extra hour of light, and the sooner Congress wakes up to the error of its judgment In this matter the better. AT LAST! mills of the gods grind slowly, but their grist is ex ceedingly fine," according to the old proverb, and at last the Allies are getting around to the indictment of the ex-Kaiser and the former Ger man Crown Prince. Frederick Wil liam is to be tried along with his infamous father in connection "Vith the crime of German invasion and Its attendant outrages against help less humanity. The ex-Crown Prince Is to be brought before the bar of justice as a common thief, which about fits his character. Born of less power ful parents he would have been in jail long since. But mere thievery is too light a charge. The honor of French and Belgian girls, whom he treated so lightly, demands the extreme penalty. Degenerate by na ture, crimlnarby instinct, Frederick William should be £ut where he will do no more harm. It may be safely left to the French to see that he and the one-time Belf-proclaimed "war lord" get what is justly com ing to them. FOUTLCQ CK *7 > tKK44|taaiua By the Kx-Committeeman February 28 will be the rst day upon which candidates for State wide congressional and legislative nominations and for national dele gate and State committee places can circulate their petitions for the May primary, according to the way Chief George D. Thorn, of the bureau of elections in the State department, has figured out the operation of the amended election laws. Although this day is some two months away there have been numerous inquiries for blanks and for information rela tive to the time and manner of cir culating such papers with every in dication that there will be a strenu ous primary campaign. Many of the inquiries have come regarding congressional nominations. Chief Thorn says that the time for filing nominating petitions will expire on April 8, which will be a change from former dates. Owing to the large number of nominations to be made next May and to the delegate elections there will prob ably be a heavy filing of papers and the usual strenuous final dac. The blanks for the nominating pe titions are now in the hands of the State printer and Chief Thorn Is compiling a statement which will show the time for circulating and filing petitions, together with other changes in the laws. —With Governor William C. Sproul here this week to hold a series of conferences with heads of State departments and many men from other places and Auditor Gen eral Charles A. Snyder scheduled tq announce the appointments of mer cantile appraisers, Harrlsburg will be an Interesting place politically. The Auditor General Is expected to give out his list to-morrow or next day. The first of the changes long anticipated in various departments will he made about the middle of January. —Situations in the State Depart ment of Forestry are to be laid be fore Governor William C. Sproul, hoth in regard to operation without a budget system and problems at tending the contracts for cutting timber, and the State executive will then determine what changes are to he made. The Commission is scheduled to meet on Friday and at the last meeting the proposition of whether the meetings. In view of the controversies which have been waged lately over contracts and ad ministration, should be open to the public came up. No one has ever at tended the meetings except commis sioners Considerable differences of opinion as to the management of the Department, which has evolved its own system in recent years, have arisen between Commissioner Rob ert S. Conklin and Gifford Pinchot, a member of the commission, and said to want a scientific forester put in charge instead of Mr. Conklin, who has been connected with the department since its foundation. —Governor William C. Sproul has given Philadelphia newspapers and politicians something real to talk about in the flat-footed way in which he came out in support of Mayor-elect J. Hampton Moore at a dinner in Philadelphia. Ever since Mr. Moore announced that he pro posed to put adamper on the blazing factionalism among Republicans in Philadelphia he has been em broiled with Vare leaders, including Senator David Martin and other puissant personages. Now the Gov ernor has bluntly said he is behind Moore and says it this way, accord ing to the Philadelphia Inquirer: "Following a complimentary remark on the class of men that Mr. Moore has selected as his political asso ciates in the various city depart ments, Governor Sproul said: 'I want to say something to you, Mayor Moore, and maybe some folks will consider this the import ant thing, that while we don't want to interfere in local affairs, we do realize that to work out the plans which you have in mind, and that the people expect of you, you have to have harmony and undivided po litical support in this town or you won't get along as you ought to get along. In support of that, I want to say to you here that the State administration will uphold your hands and do everything we can to help you, and that nothing, in ap pointments or anything else, will be done in this town without due re gard to their effect upon your ad ministration and the great work which you are trying to do." —The battle between Republicans and Democrats for control of the register of wills office in Columbia county, which is rapidly losing its reputation as a Democratic strong hold, is entering on another stage. Judge John G. Harman, of Colum bia county, has granted the motion of a number of qualified electors of Bloomsburg seeking to have the ex pense account of Clyde S. Shuman, of Bloomsburg, declared to have been elected Register and Recorder of Columbia county at the recent election, audited. Attorney R. O. Brocway, of Berwick, was named auditor. This is the second step taken by Abe H. Gennaria's friends to contest the election of Shuman over Gennaria by four votes. ■ —The Republicans have been led by A. W. Duy, who came near being elected Congressman last year In a hitherto Democratic baliwick. —A Northumberland dispatch to the Philadelphia Press says: Kobert Lesher, brother of Congressman John V. Lusher, of Sunbury, to-day resigned as postmaster of Northum berland, a place which he held for several years. It pays $1,900 a year It is said Le3her was forced to resign under pressure from the Post Office Department, because of alleged inefficiency in his work. Rumor has been for several months that Brother John had mado inef fectual attempts to keep his brother in the place, but reports from Post Office inspectors of the poor man agement of the office by postal In spectors continued, it is said." —According to Pottsvllle dis patches, Congressman John Reber will be a candidate for re-election In the Schuylkill county district and Frank J. Noonan, United States Marshal, may be the Democratic nominee. Noonan wants to stay In politics and evidently sees what Is coming to Democratic federal Job holders. —The Philadelphia Press, in an article by Odelt Hauser, gives an Il luminating story of the difficulties that are confronting Highway Com missioner Dewis S. Sadler and the manner in which be is handling ad ministrative problems such as never arose before on Capitol Hill. —Ex-Governor Edwin S. Stuart was congratulated upon his birth day by many friends yesterday. —Hasleton councilman have rais ed an interesting question as they have declined to advance the salary of the city controller to the figure row held by the councilmen, al though it is contended that the act of 1919 makes it mandatory. HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH MOVIE OF A MAN AND A GUM MACHINE By BRIGGS V\<£3 FOR A PENNY PUTS IN PCNNY AND PUSHES ROD VIGOR- BECOMES IRRITATTTD To PUT IN SLOT $0 PUSHES A PROJECTING OUSLV ANLV *"*> IWAKES CLO&E THAT GUM MAT BE HAP BRASS ROD SO THAT ®" SLV UP INSPECTION OP GUM MAT DROP INTO WHATSOEVER OW£R SECTION DP R -^ R V OPENING AT MACHIIOE - PUSHING V— ROD PUSHES ROD WITH SCATS ON MACHINE VIOLENCE .SUBSIDES PENRV GOAJE— MO INCREASING VIOLENCE AND .SHAKES IT BUT Gives Ro"0 ONE GUM. DOESN'T MIND AND A <SRSAT CIATT6H THAT SUM Fihal PUSH- - w L "T & „ n A Mr?^ T lUT , -- - - WILL. JSROP GUM DOCS. OBJTECT To B&ING ROEBED OP IT. W T. TXU. W >9 The Gang [By James Carroll, in the New York Times.] There's a Boy Scouts' bunch on the corner—aw, gee! An' ta think o' the felers that usta be there: Brady, Bertoni, Smith an' McNair, Scrup Dolan, Skin Harvey, Tod Heus tis—an' me! Them guys won't be there again, never no more, An' Mulin, the cop that usta get sore 'Cause we couldn't be bullied or coaxed to keep quiet. Can salt down his "Scattor, Now! Yez are worse nor a Hot." Brady went first, in the Road o' the Ladies— A spectacled Lieut, said that that place was Hades, But I guess he meant Hell in the language he spoke. The Jerrys sent gas to us, then they came raidin'. But we gave 'em a skinful, ourj French allies aidin'. We hammered 'em hard till they staggered an' broke— 'Twas the first chance we'd had at a two-sided bout— , But a lungful o' bullets put poor Brady out! Dolan went next! Say, that kid was a dandy! Gloves or bare knuckles he was ready an' handy— He could hit like the kick o' a mult: I had height, weight an' reach on him, but even at that. Whenever we scrapped I played mouse to his cat. But a shell crossed his guard at Bois Brule! Two outa the gang gone, we swore when we lost 'em— Well, never mind that, the Jers know what they cost 'em! Then we played in good luck till Marvoisin, Where we sure gave the Jerry the rout. They hit all the high spots leavtn' that place. An' I'l say they'd 'a' won if 'twas only a race. I was helpin' to hasten their hurry, An' I'd no time for lookin' about. So I lost sight o' Harvey, but, after a while. We found him an' seven good Jers — in a pile! The rest of us held till the Argonne, But two days o" that cost us three, An' the pair that was left had to fight for the gang— Bertonl an' me. Now I ain't sayin' much for meself, but that wop Was all over the job, an' wouldn't spell "stop" "Til a raft of Hun bullets from a cammiflaged nest Gave him the nudge 'twas his turn to go west. Seven good guys gone out! an' there's only me knowin' That though they wasn't no heroes, v they made a good showin'. They didn't get no citations nor no crosses de gare, But, while they lasted, them fellers was there! ! Seven outa eight—ye can't call that bad! They took what was comin' and gave all they had, An' none could do better than that, you'll agree— Besides, there's left only three-quar ters o' me! Public Benefactors [From the Wllkes-Barre Record] For generations to come the public will be benefited by the munificent be quests contained in the will of Henry C. Frick. In the pleasure to be given to admirers of art, in the help to be rendered by increased educational facilities, in the comfort to be afforded to the people of Pittsburgh b/ additional park and recreation advantages, the millions set aside for the public will yield results the scope of which cannot be estimated. So many persons of wealth are distributing large parts of their for tunes for public uses either during their life-time or in the form of post mortenr\ bequests that it is evident that they are impressed with a sense of responsibility towards the public that makes selfishness appear all the more as a personal reproach. It is the privilege of every person of wealth to tie up his millions in family inheritance, but when that is done the public is plainly disap pointed because of the contiast. The person who piles up tens of millions may be particularly capable or par ticularly fortunate, yet in a sense it is wealth that others have helped to create, and it is a recognition of this partnership, that undoubtedly Im presses those who remember the public. Uncle Sam Puts a Checkon Spendthrifts Ilccau.se 53 of Every 01 Men Pant 03 Arc Dependent, Government Is Teaching Americans to Sate. James B. ilorrow in the Philadelphia Record. WHA' fore you don't save your money?" one negro in Wash ington asked his grasshopper friend. "When you git ol' you'll need it." "But Ah won't live to be ol,' " the grasshopper replied, and then he danced a pigeonwing and laughed as only an African can. Of course, thoughtlessness is at the roots of most instances of personal improvidence. Something good is always going to happen—as, happily, visions are seen by most people. Next week I'll pay my debts. Next month I'll be on the road to wealth. Or, looking at the matter humorously and care lessly, next year I may be dead. But at any rate the Government has taken a hand in this situation here in America. In an effort at fin ancial evangelization the secretary of the treasury called on William Mather Lewis for assistance. Since early last summer Mr. Lewis has been director of the savings di vision in the treasury department. He is the man who is now directing the sale of thrift stamps, war sav ings stamps and treasury saving certificates in all parts of the coun try. The Majority Improvident Here are some cold facts about our improvidence which Mr. Lewis sets out: "Of the 3,000,000 widows in the United States over 65 years of age 1,000,000 of them lack the bare ne cessities of life and 1,700,000 of the others lack its comforts? "So much for the women, who in poverty have reached the closing days of their stay on earth. Of 100 males who are born, the 6 4 who attained the age of 25 are living at 65. What is the state of the 64? Five are wealthy, six are self-sup porting but must work for a living, and 53 are dependent upon their children, their relatives or charity. "More than 5,250,000 persons in the United States are compelled to ask for food, clothing, fuel and med icine each year—one in every 20 of our population. These figures do not include the Inmates of poor houses or of asylums for the deaf, dumb, blind and insane. Every tenth person who dies in a large city is buried in the potter's fie'd. "Now we shall never. b<? as solid, prosperous and self-respecting as we ought to be if we, as a people, continue to spend all that we earn. Idealism Run Wild [From the Kansas City Star] During the war the War Depart ment coddled the radicals who not only refused to fight, but tried in every way to obstruct military pre parations. Secretary Baker wrote the President that he was doing all for them "that public opinion would stand." He installed as assistant Mr. Keppel, who made them his special charge and virtually destroyed dis cipline in the prisons where they were confined. Finally there were wholesale discharges of these pie cious slackers with back pay. ■ It was a notorious fact that the war labor board was the refuge of the lunatic fringe during its exist ence. Men who were wholly out of sympathy with American institutions were certain of being taken care of at Government expense as investiga tors. Now it is disclosed that the Com missioner of Immigration of the port of New York, F. C. Howe, was the particular champion of foreign re volutionists who, finding It too dan gerous to continue their trade at home, had taken advantage of the freedom of America to conduct pro paganda for the overthrow of this Government. The watchman set to guard the gate not only threw it open to the reds who sought to destroy the Government, but he undertook to overrule his superiors and prevent the deportation of the trouble makers after they had been found cut. For the continued policy of sub ordinates the President cannot es cape responsibility. The policy of tolerance to the revolutionary foes of nil that America stands for can be explained only as another example of that Impractical Idealism that Is as dangerous to the national life as the blindest bourbonism could pos sibly be. ' We should be humiliated when we think that only 108 Americans in , each 1,000 of our population have | accounts at our savings banks. Italy j more than doubles our figures. Eng j land, Germany, France and Belgium 1! multiply our figures three times and 11 Switzerland five times." i James J. Hill, the great railroad j builder and manager, once wrote, i j 'lf you want to know whether you i are destined tq.be a success or fail j ure in life, you can easily find out. i The test is simple and infallible: Are you able to save money? j An "Orgy or Buying" j "I know," Mr. Lewis continued, "that the American people are now | in the midst of an orgy of extrava gant buying. War has turned every thing upside down. But the reaction ; will come, from one cause or an -5 other. The old habits will be re sumed. But that will not be enough. We must save more than ever here ! tofore. There are signs that we i shall do so. "At this moment, for example, there are 160,000 savings societies ; in the country—societies operating under plans formulated by the ■ United States treasury. Every society is buying thrift stamps, war stamps land savings certificates. Labor I unions, fraternal orders, churches 1 and Sunday schools are organizing i j societies in large numbers, j "There are 1,000 societies among | the industrial establishments of I Minneapolis. There is a Chinese so i ciety in Michigan. There are so-! ; cietics composed of the sheep and ] goat growers of Texas. Thrift donees, socials and parades are be ing held in some towns. Eleven ' thousand agencies are selling stamps i in lowa. Lessons in thrift are be . i ing given in hundreds of public ; schools. Soon arithmetics, gram j mars, readers nnd histories contain ing examples, and fncts j bearing on thrift, for use in our ! schools, will be published and sold, j Policemen, firemen and postmen I are selling stamps nnd buying them. l | "And the money, $7,000,000 a month, is steadily flowing into the treasury. Indeed, we are to become '.a nation of capitalists. Every man : and women, every boy and girl, al , most, is going to be the owner of the 11 securities of the Government. At- I taehment to the Government is to be practical as well as sentimental, i Nothing better could happen, either for the Government or the people." After All, Let Georqe Do It [From the Kansas City Star.] Attorney General Palmer's cam paign to reduce the high cost of liv | ing seems to have gone all the way | around the circle and arrived at the ! point where it started. After exert | ing the full power of his office and exhausting every legal resource at I his command and doing all the other things of a familiar sound which Government officials are In the habit of doing or saying, the Attorney General heads In about where it was expected he would. He now renounces, after a full ex amination of the subject, that reduc ing the cost of living is a job for the public. It Is very simple, if the pub lic knows how, and \yhlle the At torney General is a busy man and hates to be Interrupted, he will turn from more pressing matters for a moment and explain how. First, communities should organize fair price committees. Second, women should organize and refuse to buy everything except things they don't want. Third, communities should hold meeting and listen to speakers explain how desirable economy is. Fourth, mayors and prosecutors should bring their Influence to bear to prevent strikes. Fifth, the four minute speaker should be brought out again to entertain theater audiences. In other words, let George do it. That's us, George is. Our Job Is to do any little thing the Government can't do. The Government talks about it, rolls up its sleeves at it, shadow boxes with it and then walks off and leaves us to do it. Mr. Pal mer, who has gayly handed this little Job along to us. Is a candidate for President, too. He wants us to believe he can lead us out of all our troubles. By leadership we suppose he means he would tell us what we ought to do in case we needed any thing done. If Mr. will excuse us wo have, a different idea of the leader ship we look for in a President DECEMBER 29, 1919. Europe Goes On [From the New Tork Evening Sun. 1 The speeches of King George V of England, of his Premier, Lloyd George, and of the French Premier, Clemenceau, have expressed three practically simultaneous views of in ternational affairs. All three speak ers coincide in offering UB a picture of the British and 'French nations moving systematically together to put the Old World in order. Clemenceau informed the French Chamber, for instance, that it was intended to sustain systematically the buffer states on the borders of Bolshevik Bussia, notably Poland and Rumania. He gave assurance that French and British diplomacy were at work to settle the disposal of Flume, a less vast but nearer source of possible future trouble for the leading parts of Europe. The King expressed his expectation that the co-operation now going on in Europe would be long continued. In none of the speeches appeared any suggestion that could be turned into warrant for a belief that the affairs of Europe had suffered ma terially by the abstention of the United States from the League of Nations. The policy of Britain and France, on the contrary, is seen to take its course much as it must have with the United States as a League member. As between the statesmen's and rulers' declarations of to-day and those of a few months ago, one dif ference deserves note. No one now speaks of the finality of each mo ment's arrangements. The period for negotiating permanent treaties draws toward its close. It leaves the leaders abroad with a growing sense of the need for continuing activity to settle matters that elude summary treatment and call for gradual action. This is quite con trary to the tendency of a League of Nations, which literally construed would have removed the powers of contjnuing action largely from the leading nations to put it into the hands of synthetic political crea tions such it sought to bring into being. Interpreted Feelings f!* rom the London Times] The Blackfriars Club gave a peace commemoration dinner recently at n® Monico. Captain Bruce i>airnßfather, responding to the toast of •The British Imperial 1 oices, said that when he started drawing pictures he was merely in terpretlng what British soldiers were feel l ng—- what "ole Bill" and "Bert" and Alf were thinking and say ing at the time. He drew his first picture at "Plug street," and he wrapped it up in old newspapers and posted it to London, and then for got all about it. in course of time he received a letter and Inside he ceived * check—the first he had re- Not Welcome [From the Houston Post ] A youngster of three was enjoying a story his mother was reading aloud to him when a caller came In a few minutes his mother was called to the telephone. The bov turned to the caller and said: "Now you beat it home." — 1— The Birth of Jesus Now when Jesus was born in Beth lehem of Judea, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusa lem. saying, Where is he that was born king of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.—Matthew ii 1 and 2. | VEIL KNCTO PEOPLE ~) —Joseph H. Taulane, assistant district attorney of Philadelphia, who has been ill, is able to resume his duties. William H. Kcffer, prominent Reading railway official, is ill at his home in Readirf. —W. S. IVfcDowell, the retiring mayor of Chester, intends to con tinue his interest in politics. —Dorrls Fulkman is the new head of Lawrence county school directors. I DO YOU KNOW —That Harrisbnrg will have a convention or State-wide meet ing almost every week in 1920? HISTORIC HARRISBCRG —Harrlsburg manufactured steam | engines back in the twenties. Eotttutg (Eljat The oldest house In Dauphin county, for well nigh 190 years stand * near wh ere the western road winds over Peter's Mountain from orLJ aU . ey of Picturesque Clark's "®f h k '. ,B °t entertainingly de mlde a y aluable contribution IJiu to the written history of Penn sylvania s capital county in a by Prof ' Nevin W. Moyer, ifj Vfldd J? town ' who comes of the Pioneer Moyer family in Lower P&x ton and who served with distinction iili i ran rif, M a memb er of the 108 th Heldl artillery. Thls houae , of which Prof Moyer writes as "Peter Al en s, is none other than the coun try residence of Christian W. Lynch president of the Harrisburg Foundry and Machine Works, known now as Edgewood and possessing a story all £i£ Wtha . t outrlval the homes of t°£\ Ha " iß and Wllll m Maclay which still stand in Harrisburg, at testing the sturdy character of colon ial building and the firm belief of their owners in the destiny of the city which they laid out when the echoes of the celebration of York town were still ringing over the land. ' u nry w - Shoemaker, owner of the Altoona Tribune and an author and historian by love of has written for Professor Moyer a fore word, in which he sets down some facts about Dauphin county history that ought to be taught in the schools instead of being treasured in monographs and handed down from father to son. Col. Shoe maker supports Prof. Moyer's con clusions and newspaper practice en tbles him to establish vital consider ations of date and ownership, so that the pamphlet, all too short to the student of local history, can be taken is about the last word on the sub ject. • • • Prof. Moyer writes that this stone house, now a most attractive coun .-ry home, was standing June 9, 1729. I*hat is its earliest appearance in the i ecords and it is often referred to Ire those of later years. Prof. Moyer says that whet; the boundary of old Paxton township was surveyed that year, which readers of this column will remember was also the year of the formation of Derry and Hanover, the genesis of Dauphin county, men tion is made of the house by the men who ran the lines. He believes that the house dates from 1716 and that such year will be found or? the stone in the gable. The late Dr. ki ?? id that Peter Allen was prob ably the first white settler in what is now Dauphin county north of laxto n creek. He must have been a man of substance or he could not have built such an enduring house Tn,° r ? a r nted U ,n a manner that still challenges the admiration of the antiquarian. Mr. Allen's name turns up in a good many deeds of that section of the county and especially in the region back of Dauphin does apbears as selling. Men who have studied Dauphin county believe that John Harris came here on trading or exploring expeditions about 1705. French traders were active on the west shore of the Susquehanna be fore 1700 and Chartier, who gave his name to a part of Allegheny county, is said to have had a post near what is now Lemoyne before William Penn had visited Philadel phia. The date of Harris' definite locating here is given about 1717 sc that Peter Allen must have been settled in Clark's Valley before Har ris set up his trading warehouse and started Harrisburg on what is now 200 years of history. The John Har ris mansion at Front and Washing ton streets Is a quarter of a century younger than this old house of Peter Allen's and the Maclay mansion at Front and South streets, now the home of William E. Bailey, was built years after. • • • Peter s Mountain and Clark's and other valleys of Central Dauphin county are rich in history if some one could only take the time to col late it. From the top of Peters Mountain, which is crossed by a couple of roads, one much used while the State was rebuilding the river road from Dauphin to Clark's Ferry, a person can see several stone houses which go back more than a century. Indeed, there are few sec tions of the county which give evi dence of having been settled by more substantial people. This sec tion seems to have been the home of more than well to do settlers and in later years was a center of iron manufacture on a scale that recalls the Iron master and his lordly ways of the thirties, where coke hod not become familiar fuel and wide tracts of woodland were needed to furnish the charcoal. There are a number of families which could be men tioned as owning much land In this district, one of whom, the Berryhllls, gave name to a Harrisburg street and none of whom now lives here. in tracing the history of Peter Al len's house. Prof. Moyer goes into much detail regarding the title to the land, which he states was patent ed in 1734. Years often intervened between settlement nnd patent, as in the case of John Harris. He also refers to the fact that the Gtrty family land adjoined Peter Allen's, recalling to mind that the renegade of early days was black sheep of a family that had early settled !i this valley. He mentions the mill of Col. Timothy Green, one of the early patriots and a Hanover Associate-, which is still standing and brings in a wealth of local history that should be in the minds of many people who do not know the record of Dauphin county in dnys that tried men's fiber. After Allen died the property had several changes of ownership and like most big houses <)f early days, became a tavern or stopping place on the highway, but Its list of guests showed that it must have been a famous place for sojourning on trips up the river. The hall room was the biggest place in the establishment, showing that it was not only a place of entertainment but of community gathering. John Penn, Conrad Welscr, Spangonbsrg and Zlnzlndorf, Shickalemy, the groat Indian and friend of Weiser, the Duko de la Rochefoucald, who wrote the first description of HarrlsbOrg, calling it a town of taverns, a tribute to its importance as a transportation cen ter; David Bralnerd, the missionary; Col. Benjamin Chambers, who founded Chambersburg, and many others whose names tell of their ac tivities In the formative days, were frequent visitors. Peter Hocker, Benjamin Umberger and Benjamin Moyer were among the landlords. • • • | The place was bought some thirty I years ago by the Cofrode family and I remodeled, Mr. Lynch purchasing It later.
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