6 (Slje ( EstaMuhed m 1876) Published b • THE STAR PRINTING COMPANY, f Star-Independent Building. M-20-22 South Third Street, Harrisburf, Pa^ Every Evening Except Sunday Ofhceri; DirecltH . BWUAMIN F. MKTEBS. Joßti L . L KI'HN, President. Wm. W. WALI.OWIR, _ _ „ Vfte President K «*"*» Wm. K METERS, Secretary and Treasurer WM. W WALLOWIR. Wm 11 WARNER, V. HUMMEL BIROHAUS. Jr , Business Manager Kditor. AM roinuiuuica'ious should be «il•. i with accuracy that he has been the safety valve that has thus far prevented his nation becoming engaged in the hostilities which, at this distance from the scene of them, seem so unnecessary. Upon him has fallen the burden of keeping the Italian govern ment from becoming involved and his death or his prolonged illness might very logically be expected to result in the war party having its say and tile nation being plunged into the conflict despite what we believe to be the desire of the Italian people as a whole to keep out of it all. How critical the situation is in Italy at present is shown by the fact that transports have sailed from Naples to bring home the seasoned Italian troops who have been in Tripoli and Cyrenaica since the start of the Turko-ltalian war. There are 1(10,0(10 of these veteran soldiers who are trained fully as well if not better than any other military forces representing a European power. Added to the fact that they are being brought home is the significant fact that the mobilization of other Ital ian troops has been going steadily on until there are now about 500,000 fightifig men in the various camps. If Italy goes to war it doubtless will be on the side of the ailies and against Germany and Austria, The Italian people, as a whole, have never over come their resentment at the acquisition by Aus triaus of Irent and Trieste, which are inhabited by people of Italian origin and therefore of Italian sympathies, although under Austrian rule. It is perhaps largely due to this fact that Italy did not join the Germans and Austrians at the start of the war. Another important influence on the present situ ation in Italy was the appointment yesterday of General Zupelli as the .Minister of War. While it is understood to be General Zupelli s policy to strengthen the military power of the country to the fullest possible extent, the peace advocates of Italy may take some comfort in the fact that the new- War Minister is reported to be strongly pro-Aus trian in his leanings and would therefore, in the event of war, probably throw the weiirht of bis inflenee in favor of Italy becoming an ally id' Austria. This reported attitude of the new War Minister may have (lie effect of balancing matters so that Italy may remain neutral even with the death of the Marquis di San Giuliano, for rather than see Italy go to war against Austria, as the popular de mand seems to be, it is reasonable to assume that General Zupelli would seek to induce his govern ment to continue its attitude of neutrality. There is hope, therefore, that despite the gravely complicated situation in Italy, the counter influ ences in favor of war on one side or the other may work out in a way that will spare the Italian people HARRTSBUKG STAR INDEPENDENT, TUESDAY EVENING. OCTOBER 13, 1914, from the horrors of the great conflict. That is the hope of all people who view the European up heaval from a calm and disinterested standpoint. APPLY AT ONCE FOR AUTO LICENSES! There will have been close to 150,000 automobile i licenses issued from the Automobile Division of thej State Highway Department by the end of this year,; most of which were sent out during the first two I months. Naturally, owing to the rapid growth of the use j of motor cars, the rush to get licenses by automo-' bile owners was beyond precedent. In fact it was' so great that the department could not, even by doubling the clerical force and working day and j night for weeks, meet the demand so that all appli-1 cants could have their licenses to show on January 1 of the new year. To meet the emergency the; time for displaying the new tags on ears was ex-! tended one month, but even with this extension the I delivery could not be completed before the lattei*, part of February. Many who thought they should have received their licenses and tags in a day or so after they sent in their applications were indignant over the delay, not considering that it was a physical impos sibility for the division, even with its increased I force and doubled working hours, to issue the nee-, essary permits in time. However, there was very little inconvenience caused and the officers of the; law, acting under instructions, were lenient and j made no arrests. i In order to meet the great rush that is foreseen ' at the beginning of next year, the State Highway! Department lias issued a statement requesting that I applications for licenses and tags shall be sent in j now. If a great many heed this request it will be i a simple matter to begin preparing the licenses and ! tags at once, and long before January I the bulk ! of the work will have been done, and there will be no occasion for a rush during December and Janu ary. * The owner of an automobile at present is pretty certain to know whether he is going to own one j next year, and if lie is wise lie will put in his appli cation for a license now. If he does so he will get his license promptly and escape the unavoidable in convenience he may have experienced this year. Those complaining Reading firemen did not know that | free beer in the engine houses had been censored by the I Harrisburg City officials. According to Food Commissioner Foust's report there are : forty places in Dauphin county licensed to sell oleo margarine, and yet Madame Cow appears to be holding her own as a butter producer. The sizes of the audiences that saw the two performances of "Kverywoman" in the Majestic theatre vestordav are arguments why the management should give Harrisburg more plays of that excellent quality. The only sign of disturbance in the Army and Xavv of the United States is over their annual football game, and at last accounts "there ain't goin' to be none," as Uncle Bill Fairman, of' Punxsutawtiey, t'a., would express it. There have been more prisoners captured in the Kuropean war —according to figures that get by the censor—than there were men called into action by all the contesting countries. Yet there are enough soldiers left to do some fighting. TOLD IN LIGHTER VEIN T'OOE OLD FARMER The Great White Way with joy is rife Where cutups congregate at night. The farmer leads a quiet life, An early bed is his delight. ( Poor old farmer!) The urbanite sleeps late. You see His social duties make him do it. The fariucr snores till half past three, * Then beats the morning sunrise to it. (Poor old farmer!) The city man wears nice kid gloves And takes a taxi round the block, While all day loug the farmer shoves A plough, or reaps, or feeds the stock. (Poor old farmer!) The city man, ho rarely stops To think about the rainy day. The farmer gathers in the crops And salts three million bucks away, (I'oor old farmer!) —H. S. Hasking. THE UNHAPPY STUDENT Senior —"Couldn't he make the team?" Junior—"Nope; he was onlj- a substitute for beef." New York Sun. CORRUPT POLITICS Candidate—"lf I can't get this 'ere election by honest methods 1 don't want it, but 1 suttingly won't stoop to ! open bribery like .labez Storekeep." Si Woodlot —"Wot's he dewin' naowf" Candidate—"Wy, he's tuk every wire cage off hist prune en' apple barrels en' leaves his cheese en' crackers! where everybody kin help themselves."— Exchange. PURELY FINANCIAL Wife—"Tata, dearie. I shall write before the end of' the week." j Husband —"Good gracious, Alice! You must make that check last longer than that."—London Opinion. MIGHT WED A BACHELOR A little girl of six years sat looking thoughtfully out the window of her home the other day. Her mother aslTed j the cause of her seriousness. "Oh," she replied, "I was just thinking that when 1 i grow up to be a big lad.v I agoin' to get married and have j three children." » The parent was surprised and amused. "Well, you will be very fortunate, indeed," she said. Then the little girl again lapsed into thought. Finally ; she said: "But you can never tell, mother. I might marry a , bachelor."—Exchange. JUST AS GOOD "Don i you believe every woman should have a vote?" asked the Sweet Young Thing. "No," replied the Young Man. "But- 1 believe exery woman should have a voter."—Pearson's Weekly. | Tongue-End Topics -» ClOße View of Baseball Stars The easiest way to see the great baseball players of the I'niteil States, past and present, is to attend the world's scries games for the ehsmpion thip—— not all of them; one will suf fice. And you cannot only see the big players, but also the magnates, the men who have the last word in the con trol of the national game in this coun try. It is at the hotel where the Na tional league establishes its headquar ters in the city where the game is to be played that the big 'uns are to be found. Take last Saturday, for in stance, in Philadelphia, where the Bos ton Nationals and the Philadelphia Americans were to contend a second time for championship honors. The headquarters had been established at the Bel levue-St rat ford hotel, ami there is where the big boys be found. » « Teaer a Central Figure There were stars from all of the haseball organizations in the big lob by of the hotel, and men who made contracts and men who signed them mingled as if there had never been any differences in contract provisions to create had blood. In one corner, shak ing hands with everybody and hobnob bing with old friends, was Governor Tener, the president of the National lx'ague. Nobody called him ''Presi dent," but everybody called hitn "Gov ernor.'' Near him were Ban Johnson, Garry Herman and James Gaffnoy, and nearer were Secretary Heydlor, who keeps the Nationals straight, and the mysterious Keeves, who carries the secret documents from New York head quarters to Governor Tener and was never known to "leak." In the throng were such old-time players as Al. Reach, of the original Athletics, of half a century ago; '"Orator Jim" O'Rourke, of the famous New York champions thirty years ago; Old Cap Anson and Al. Spaulding, who went around the world with Tener, and many other old-timers, all hearty and rug ged and showing the effect of a life in the open air during their younger days. ' * * * Some of the Leading "Fans" In the crowd were many tans who have never missed a championship game, chief of these being Digby Bell, the famous comedian, who was intro duced to Pennsylvania's Attorney Gen eral as "the other Bell." Old "Well, Well," the loud rooter for the New Yorks, was therfc, aud the of the various teams. * * # Women Enthusiasts There There was no lack of women base ball fans, all carrying Hags bearing names of their teams, and all as en thusiastic as the biggest rooter that has followed the fortunes of the va rious clubs durhig the entire season. * o * Cobb and Mathewson on Hand A lid the players of to-day not en gaged in the world's series games were all there. Held up in a corner talking to a couple of the most widely known baseball writers of the day was Christy Mathewson, of the New York. Chat ting with Detroit friends was Ty Cobb —a very gentlemanly Ty and not the belligerent he has been depicted. Big Meyers, the New York Indian catcher; Marty O'Toole, the ?20,000 pitcher, who failed to make good in Pittsburgh and was sent to New York; Sam Craw ford, the Detroit slugger; Kilefer, the Philadelphia catcher; all were there and too many to be mentioned, and not the least was " Hughey " Jennings, the Scranton lawyer,* who manages the Detroit! when not in court. Shouts of the Ticket Scalpers ' Mingled with discussions of the game played the day before and what each club would do that afternoon came the raucous cries from the street of the,ticket scalpers who offered seats for the day's gane. "box, grandstand or pavilion" at "only a slight ad vance," which meant that a fo scat could be had for s.s, and a $5 box scat for $lO. It was a most interesting gathering, and the oldest fan in the crowd, as he looked it over remarked to himself: "Forty yeifte ago jf anybody had prophesied a scene like this he would have been looked upon as a tit subject for an insane asylum." Thomas M. Jones. MECHANICSBI3RG Hiss Hamilton Field Gave a Very In teresting Lecture at Irving College ipeclal only, will he sold at rates based lon one fare for the round trip. Special j excursion sections of regular trains will I be run to and from Hagerstown. SHIREMANSTOWN' Missionary Convention In St. John's Church Thursday Special Correspondence. Shi reman et own, Oct. 13. —Mr. and 'Mrs. John Stevens anil son, Scott, of York, and M - rs. J. C. Miller, of M>o chanicsburg. were visitors at the-home of Mrs. H. M. Rupp a day recently. Virginia Wood and Lee Wood, ot Harrisburg, spent Saturday with their grandparents, Mr. and IMts. J. S. Weigel. 'Mr. and Mrs. S, IMorgeret and v'hil dren, Violet and Carroll, spewt Sunday as the guest of Mr. and M's. David Brink ley. Mr. and Mrs. Kitamiller announced the birth of a son, IHaroid Frederick Kitami'lier, last. Thursday. Mr. and Mrs. D. 0. 'Faiust spent Sat urday an I Sunday with their parents at Green castle. The members of the Lutheran church • are preparing to entertain from 150 to 200 delegates next Thursday at tttie missionary convention which will ibe 'held in St. John's "church. The dele gates will all be fed in the basement of the church. The ltev. Mr. Kmen'heiser was elected pastor\for t'he IT. B. church. iMr. Smith moved his family and household goods to Slate Hill on Mon day. i.Vlirs. I - '. P. Echard, of Los Angeles, Oal., formerly of this place, is visiting | at the home of Mrs. H. M. Rupp. Mr. and Mrs. P. F. Fcister and daughter, Nellie, amd son, Paul, spent Sunday with Mr. and Mrs. Monroe Vogelsong, near Spangler's LMills. Mr. and 'Mrs. Howard Wolfe, of moyne, spent Sunday with Mrs. Wolfe's parents, Mr. and Mrs. ■ i I*—————Ma—i ————^ ATTENTION STOUGH HELPERS Donations Wanted for Tabernacle Builders' Dinner, Saturday, Oct. 17, At Ridge Avenue M. E. Church Send pledges to supply bread, rolls, beef roasts, whole j hams, potatoes, canned corn, pickles, sugar, coffee, bottled milk and cream, small cakes, salt and pepper, to Mrs. E. A. Riegle, Phone 201 <>W. All goods to be sent to Herr street door of the church Friday. I | ters, Alma and Mary; Harry Bbersole , | and Mr. and Mrs. H. O. Smith motored , to Gettysburg Sunday. . I Miss Olive Martin, of Altoona. was a | wiek-end guest of John Watts' family, < Third street. The New Cumberland knitting mill I | closed down last evening on account of ! the yarn not arriving. Mrs. W. H. Speck and Mrs. Parker Minter have returned from a trip to Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Sterline have ! returned from a «two weeks' \ isit to Columbia, .Lancaster and York. Mrs. Ira Forry and son, Ira, spent some time with Mrs. Forry's parents at j Mechanics burg. Mr. and Mrs. Bucher and family, of ! Shepherdstown, were guests ot' Mr! and i | Mrs. J. A. Sprenke! on Sunday, j Miss Emma Fought, of near Median- II icsburg, is spending some time here. Mrs. John Hess, of steelton. spent, j several davs with her sister-in-law, Mrs . < . U Halo. Instinct Woman Election Inspec'tress—Thore ] are t'bree s;.oiled ballots. I Ditto —Oh ,dcar! But then 1 suppose i we can make them over into something j else.—'Puck.