6 THE STAR-INDEPENDENT ( Etlablithtd m 1876) Published by THB STAR PRINTING COMPANY. * » Star-lndopondant Building. I •■2O-22 South Third StrMt, Harrisburg, Pa.. ■vary Evening Exoopt Sunday. Offictrt: Virtclort ; IBWAMDI F. MITIBS, JOHN L. L. KCHN, President. RM. W. WALLOW**. I _ _ Vice President. Wu - K " M «™»< RM. K. MITERS, _ „ M Secretary and Treasurer. Wit. W. WALLOWIK. RIL. H. WABNKR, V. HUMMEL BIROHXIS, JR . Business Manager. Editor. AH communications should be addressed to ST A RIN DEPENDENT, Business, Editorial. Job Printing or Circulation Department, according to the subject matter. Entered at the Post Office in Harrisburg as second class matter. Benjamin A Kentnor Company. New York and Chlcngo Representatives. Sew York Office, Brunswick Building, 225 Fifth Avenue. Shieago Office, People's Gas Building, Michigan Avenue. Delivered by carriers at • centa a week. Mailed to subscribers tor Three Dollars a year in advance. ' THE STAR-INDEPENDENT The paper with the largest Home Circulation in Harrisburg and tearby towns. Circulation Examined by THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN ADVERTISERS. TELEPHONES: BELL Privsts Branoh Exohango, • - No. 3200 • CUMBERLAND VALLEY Privet* Branoh Exohanga, No. 243-24* Monday, May 3, 1015. MAY Bun. Moil. Tues. Wed. Thur. Fri. Sat. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 ' 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 MOON'S PHASES— Last Quarter, oth; New Moon, 13th; First Quarter, 21st; Full Moon, 28th. WEATHER FORECASTS \M Harrisburg and vicinity: Unsettled ■eather, probably showerß to-night and &r \ 'uesday. Not much change in tem- ' XVjfrf. Eastern Pennsylvania: Unsettled to- » ight and Tuesday, probably showers. L jjrl entle to moderate northeast winds. YESTERDAY'S TEMPERATURE IN HARRISBURG Highest, 65; lowest, 45; 8 a. m., 52; 8 p. m., 61. SENATOR GYGER'S GOOD EXAMPLE Senator John Gvger, of Kimberton, who repre lents Chester county in the tipper branch of fhe jegislature, is establishing a record on Capitol Hill rhich other law-makers might with profit try to iqual in future sessions. We are informed that Sen ator Gyger has not yet offered any new legislation n the present session and that he intends to strive 0 maintain this rather remarkable record during |he few remaining days tl/at the law-makers will le together. We hope he will succeed. We do not believe that Senator Gyger can be ac used of neglecting his duties as a member of the lenate simply because he has not tried to have any lore laws put on the statute books. Presumably e has been at the desk with a reasonable amount f regularity while his branch has been transacting usiness and has been using his best judgment in oting for or against bills that other legislators have ltroduced. If so there should be no complaint for is failure to have fathered any bills. Indeed the ery fact that Senator Gyger has not introduced any leasures of his own indicates, at least on the sur ice, that he is serving his immediate constituents nd the taxpayers of the state ns a whole, in a very eeeptable manner—far better than any of the oth r legislators who have been glutting the calendars ritJKmore or less useless legislation. WhiLe it is admitted that changing conditions in le Commonwealth call for a certain amount of new igislation each session, it has, on the otherhand ime to be a recognized fact that in almost every ;afe there are too many laws. There are measures Q the statute books of Pennsylvania right now that >nfer powers on commissioners which the Constitu on of the state never intended should be so con irred. There are many others that place unneces iry restrictions and exactions on business, in one >rm or another, in a way that tends to hurt busi ess, —and consequently the people who do busi ess, —rather than to benefit it. It is generally (cognized that this is an era of too much legisla on and it is refreshing to see at least one law aker taking a definite stand, as Senator Gyger is 9ing, in opposition to this injurious law-making id. It is true that the present Legislature has seen great reduction of the number of bills offered. h&8 cut down the number by about 1,300 we ■e told, as compared with tlie number offered in le 1913 session; but the most of the members of le present Legislature have still to learn to re rain themselves to a far greater extent in this atter of offering useless or defective measures, ow many of these there have been this year may ! judged in part by the large number of bills that ready have been vetoed by Governor Brumbaugh, ho also appears to have taken the right attitude [ainst too many statutes. We trust Senator Gyger's constituents will rec ;nize the service he is performing in their behalf setting an example to other legislators in refrain g from offering needless bills, and that they will ar this in mind when it comes time to elect the xt senator from Chester. COTTON PLANTERS RUNNING RISKS Opportunities for making or losing large atnounts money through agricultural pursuits were never eater in this country than at present. Farmers lo raise cotton and grain must make wild guesses to the probable duration of the war, do their HAKRISBUBG- STAR-INDEPENDENT, MONDAY EVENING, MAY 3, 1915. planting accordingly and then run the chances of having guessed correctly or incorrectly. Much of last year's cotton crop is, of course, still in storage, since the war has interfered with the great export business, closing many foreign mar kets. With a continuance of the war, large crops this coming season might not be profitable. In case hostilities end, however, before the season's har vest, the world's revived demand for cotton would probably be great enough to guarantee the market ing of the largest of crops at very profitable figures. The Southern planters cannot be certain whether to increase or to reduce the usual acreage devoted to cotton growing, any more than the wheat sowers are sure about giving over larger or smaller areas to grain production. That the farmers, if they aim high, will lose, is altogether as likely as that they will lose if they aim low. They can do no more than gamble on the war's duration and then await the consequences. If they plant large areas, and the war ends by harvest time, they win. The stake seems large enough to be worth striving for. Although the cotton industry was in a bad way last autumn, there has been in the business of the season a partial recovery of lost ground and the expected financial disaster has luckily beeu avoided. When the war broke out it closed the markets in which two-thirds of the season's record yield of cotton was to have been disposed of. That there should have been a scare in this country was to have been expected. While the cost of producing and marketing was placed at nine cents a pound, the selling price was six cents or less, if there can be said to have been a selling price at all. The price of cotton now, however, averages ten cents a pound, a figure even larger than that of some nor mal years. The cotton trade, as regards this country alone, is safe, despite the war. The present domestic con sumption is reported to be greater than the con sumption at this time last year. With the approach of the planting season for a new crop, last autumn's wild scheme to prevent the planting this year of more than half the customary acreage, will hardly get a great deal of attention, war or no war. A PROFESSOR ON THE STUDENTS' SIDE A traitor in the ranks of college professors of English has revealed himself. He comes out openly in the current number of "The Forum" with the declaration that college freshmen know a good deal more than their professors give them credit for knowing, and that this knowledge consists largely of the understanding of current questions is "su perior in value to the dead, stale and unprofitable information which is the principal stock in trade of about three-fourths of our teachers." The shameless traitor in his avowed purpose to defend the lack of literary knowledge on the part of freshmen, goes so far as to ask his fellow teachers of English whether they honestly harbored the knowledge when they were college freshmen which they are looking to find in present day members of that abused class, and which they are failing to find. The query is well put. College freshmen have often wanted to ask about that very thing them selves, but they cannot phrase the inquiry as can a college professor, and they would hesitate to come out openly with it even if they could frame it ac ceptably. They will be content, «those of them who see the current "Forum," to voice delightfully within themselves the opinions of the traitor pro : fessor, and to hope that a copy of the publication will get in the way of their own instructors. The author of the "Forum" article proceeds to point out what every sane person knows, but what few college professors ever emphasize in their class-rooms by words or by methods, that card indexes and reference books are the places for stor ing facts. He suggests that "if one wishes to live a dead life, as many college teachers do, then one ought to remember everything he has been taught." A college professor who says a thing like that furnishes unmistakable evidence that he is fortu nate enough to have still in him much of the college student. A good law to pass would be one not to pass any more laws. Why not stop killing people until they decide whether there is to be peace? The Legislature has yet to demonstrate where all the money it is appropriating is to come from. The New York, New Haven & Hartford is beginning to report surpluses. A spanking once in a while is a good thing for a railroad. With the approach of circus day the office boy who is looking forward to an afternoon off is becoming especially attentive to the wants of his employer. TOLD IN LIGHTER VEIN SAW IS THE TERM "I saw an opera last evening." "My dear, you see a play, but you hear an opera." "Not when society is out in full force."—Exchange. A MATTER OF WATER The ease with which some loans are floated may account for the amount of water subsequently found in the stock. —Washington Post. WARLIKE VEGETATION "How is plant life in Mexicof" "Mostly prickly pear, cactus and Spanish bayonet. Even the V«£etation is prepared for war."—Pittsburgh Past. INSPIRATION "What inspired this dainty spring poemf" babbled the romantic girl. "Daffodils and violets, I ween." "No," said the matter of fact poet, "when I'm going good all I want it a chew of tobacco."—Exchange. WAYSIDE CHAT "There's a good deal in this Southern hospitality." "Is that sol" "Yes; they gimme eight months for vagrancy in New Orleans. ] never got more than 60 days in the North." —Exchange. ttsMySl Sow Clear Docs Cuticura. The Soap to cleanse and purify, the Oint ment to soothe and heal. Samples Free by Mail Cuticura Soap and Ointment sold throughout the world. Liberal sample of each mailed free, with 32p. book. Address "Cuticura," Dept. 26F, Boston. Y / \ I Tonque-End Topics r Picks New Flaw In Censorship The London "Globe" expresses alarm and regret at the freedom with which British statesmen and leaders are granting interviews to American and French newspapers. "We have already commented," urges the "Globe," "on the extent to which foreign journalists are favor ed at the expense of the British press, by our soldiers and politicians. The question is not merely of interest in newspaper offices, but lias a certain national importance. If the policy of the press bureau stifles frankness where it is called for, it might at least be expected that such a prohibition would ibe uniform, and that an article which the censor imagines helpful to the enemy if it appears in an English paper will have no less sinister influ ence if printed in Paris or New York. It appears, however, that counsels of reticence which are binding when dealing with the English press may be relaxed when the speaker is talking for publication abroad, with the result they are cabled back again to this country. This is at ibest an illogical and undignified state of affairs." * , . Greek Shipowners Profit by War Several large English shipowners are piling up profits at the rate of $500,000 or more a month, and one firm at least is reported to have aver aged practically a million dollars a month since the beginning of the war. It is, of course, only those who have had their ships free who have been able to make money. Some owners had their vessels tied up by charters at normal figures and others had their ships taken by the government. Then all the shipowners have had to bear increased expenditures for wages, fuel, insurance and delays in port. The peo ple who are really making the money, according to a London shipping jour nal, are the Greek shipowners. "For the last few years," it explains, "the Greeks have been steadily buying ships, and they now have a very con siderable merchant marine. They can take full advantage of the high rates, and do not have to face the risks Brit ish shippers do, nor pay the extra wages.'' * * ' War Buildings Deface Park Along the peaceful green slopes of St. James' Park, which marks the center of fashionable life in London, there have sprung up almost over night a host of temporary buildings, to be used as an emergency extension of the war office. They will house a staff of a thousand clerks, representing the ac counting department. So rapidly has the work of this section of the gov ernment grown that the huge war building in Whitehall is badly over crowded. Early in the war an extra story was built Tip on the roof to house part of the emergency staff. The new buildings in the park are not jerry built, although they have the appear ance of mere shacks. They are solidly constructed, with foundation walls of brick four feet high, concrete floors and walls of carefully selected timber, asbestos lined. The buildings are only temporary, of course, but provision was made when they were planned, for a war that might last several years. • • # Salesmen Feel Offended The appointment iby the Home Sec retary of a committee in London to work up recruiting amomj the shop salesmen has caused the secretary of the Salesmen's Union to protest against what he terms an unwarrant ed insinuation. To show that the sales men have not bebn backward in an swering the call to arms, he mentions a dry goods firm with 43 per cent, of its 300 men in the army and a grocery with 30 per cent, of 480 men serving. Most of those remaining, he says, have shown good reason for it. * * * Lord Kitchener's Daily Prayer Lord Curzon's statement in the House of Lords that Lord Roberts had conducted family prayers for his house hold for more than fifty yeara is sup plemented by data collected by the "Church Family Newspaper" regard ing Lord Fisher, First Sea Lord and Lord Kitchener. "We learn on uniin- peachable authority," says the journal, "that Lord Fisher makes a habit of going to a certain church practically every day for prayer and meditation before commencing his responsible duties. We understand also that Lord Kitchener follows out a similar rule whenever he is in London." PEOPLE'SCOLUMN ' The Star-Independent does not make itself responsible for opinion* expressed in this column. — ———— Defends the Poplar Tree Editor, the Star-Independent: Bear Sir:—As a citizen of Harris burg fifty years, all this time a tax payer, I am interested in the high cost of tree trimming, also removing trees and all oilier work charged up to our city. The work already charged up, SSOO, could have been done for $l5O. The $-,000 asked for would be three fourths waste. The thousands of poplar trees the Forestor outlines to remove at $5 to $S each, I would do for one-half his proposed charge. However, it is 'ab surd to think of such removals. There are eight poplar on the corner of Third and Boas streets, planted by mc about twenty-two years ago. See the pro prietor of the Fifth Ward Hotel. See if he would take SBOO for them. The poplar is much more worthy of a place on our streets than a beech. For a low house or a house set in from the line of a street the maple is prefer able. For a lofty house a poplar of fast growing maple; but under no circum stances an old beech. It also has long roots. I planted about forty years ago, for Slayer on Boas anil Third streets; also about thirty years ago on opposite side, filling three corners. See all those and you will find the Carolina poplar as good in all respects as the Norway and Sugar maples. On April 29, 1915, at my nursery, a man bought two trees. He also re> quested me to tag four Carolina poplars for him for fall planting. The same day another person priced a poplar and ordered it planted. Mr. Mueller says the trees lack beauty and asks money to remove them and replace with a much more undesirable tree. To give out all the money asked for is like a mother giving the market basket to her five year-old boy with $5 to buy the family supplies at market. He would spend tho money but get a small supply. The mother had bettor leave $4 at home' and with $1 buy better supplies. T. A. Woods. Harrisburg, Pa., May 1. — —\ HINTS TO VACATIONISTS Little Talks on Health and Hygiene By Samuel G. Dixon, M. D., LL. D., Commissioner of Health —___ — mm} Nature's siren song is calling the city dweller. It lures to mountain, meadow', lake or camp. The call is universal and all who are free hasten to auswor. In selecting; a place for a summer home or a brief vacation it is well to observe a few basic precautions and so avoid incurring illness which may re sult seriously. There are thousands of resorts, cot tages and camps where tho defects in sanitation present a genuine menace. Certain things should be carefully ob served: The water supply. The disposal of sewage and garbage. The milk supply, particularly if there are infants or young children If the water supply comes from a well, be sure that it is not located where it will receive underground or surface drainage from a barnyard or outhouse. It is essential to boil water taken from surface streams. Clearness is no guarantee of purity. If springs are the source of supply, care should be taken that they are not surrounded by habitations or other sources of pollution. In small villages or shore places, if the water supplies are public, diligent inquiry should be mnde as to whether the source is free from sewage contamination. If the dis poral of sewage and garbage is care less. flies are certain and un less kitchens and dining rooms are care fully screened there is the possibility of typhoid or diarrheal infection from this source. With young children, particularly in fants, the question of a clean milk sup ply is one of vital importance. Fresh n.ilk is of little or no advantage unless it be clean milk. Mosquitoes also may prove a pestifer ous nuisance. There is the possibility of malarial infection in regions where they abound. Failure to give attention to these es sential points of sanitation may result in poignant regrets instead of delight ful holiday memories. WORK FOR MANY MEN Wilkes-Barre Firm Receives $300,000 Order for Sugarmaking Machinery Wilkes-Barre, Pa., May 3.—Return ing from Cuba with orders aggregating $300,000 worth of sugar-manufactur ing maehnnery, S. T. Nicholson, presi dent and general manager of the Vul can Iron Works, yesterday announced that the concern, which ;has heretofore devoted its large plant mainly to the manufacture of engines, will at once ar range to manufacture sugsr machinery on a large scale. The order will mean the employment of many men. For several months past the Vulcan Company has been unable to kee>p many men at work. The plant is one of the largest in the city and 4,000 men were employed until the business depression made it necessary to cut down this force. This Is CAMERA Time Now is the time to get beautiful views. Landscapes are now wonder fully clear and distinct. One of our good Seneca Cameras will enable you to record the Bcenes you delight in. Stop in at any time and let us demonstrate our Camera to you. Forney's Drug Store 426 MARKET STREET ROYAL PIANOS I atop Have specially designed full trichord scale of seven and one third octa%-es, producing wonder ful tone effects; overstrung bass; "" 'll improved flanged full metal frame with capo dastro bar; |g| 1 metal flanged quintuple pin block; 111 c repeating action with * metal ■ I I brackets; ivory keys; hardwood ■ '«i j II back; double veneered hardwood ~ —— H cases of special design and ele- M a "t finish. Low prices and easy terms. YOHN BROS. 8 North Market Square FIRST t (UNDER AN ARRANGEMENT WITH THIC DEPARTMENT OP LABOR AND INDUSTRY THE STAR-INDEPENDENT PRINTS EACH MONDAY A PRACTICAL. ARTICLE REARING ON THE "SAI'ETY FIRST" MOVEMENT OR KINDRED SUBJECTS. PREPARED BY THAT BRANCH OF THE STATE GOVERN MENT, OK WHICH COMMISSIONER JOHN PRICE JACKSON IS THE HEAD.) C4RELESSNESS—TH E CAUSE OF MOST ACCIDENTS Investigations of industrial acci dents recently Undertaken by the Penn sylvania Department of L