6
THE STAR-INDEPENDENT
( EtiMwhtd in JS76)
Published by
THK STAR PRINTING COMPANY.
Star-lndepandant Bulldlnf,
15.20-22 South Third Straat. Harrlsburf, Pa..
Kvary Evenln* Except Sunday.
Officer.•; Uirtdort ;
BSNJAMIN F. MITKHS, J OHN L KDHN,
President.
WM. W. WALLOWJR, METERS
Vice President. * - >IEVIBB '
WM. K. MITERS,
Secretary and Treasurer. WH W. WALLOWER.
WM. H. WARNER, V. HUMMEL BEROHAUS, JR .
Business Manager. Editor.
communications should be addressed to STAR INDEPENDENT,
Business, Editorial. Job Printing or Circulation Department,
according to the subject matter.
Entered at the Post Office in Harrisburg as second class matter.
Benjamin & Kentnor Cempany.
New York and Chicago Representatives.
New York Office, Brunswick Building. 225 Fifth Avenue.
Chicago Office, People's Has Building, Michigan Avenue.
Delivered by carriers at 6 cents a week. Mailed to subscribers
far Three Dollars a year in advance
* DEPENDENT
The paper with the largest Home Circulation in Harrisburg and
nearby towns.
Circulation Examined by
THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN^ ADVERTISERS.
TELEPHONES: BELL
Privat. Branch Exohan«o. - • CUMBERLAND VALLEY
Prtvala Branch Exchange. No. E4B-141
Thursday, May 13, 1915.
MAY
Sun. Mon. 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, fltb; New Moon, 13th;
First Quarter, 21st; Full Moon, 28th.
.« ' '
WEATHER FORECASTS /"
Harrisburg and vicinity: Fair to- 1 M*
night and Friday. Moderate tem-
Eastern -Pennsylvania: Generally JT
fair to-night nnd Friday. Gentle to
moderate northwest to north winds.
YESTERDAY'S TEMPERATURE IN HARRISBURG
Highest, 63; lowest, 61; 8 a. m., 56; 8 p. m., 60.
BOME U. S. PAPERS COURTING CENSORSHIP?
Some of the metropolitan newspapers, while
openly committed to the policy of standing by the
President in the present crisis, are consciously or
sub-consciously inflaming the public mind witli
columns and columns of printed matter, which, all
too plainly, between the lines, encourages the idea
of our going to war. Cartoons and written matter
are to a large extent keeping alive the resentment
naturally felt in the minds and hearts of Americans
on receipt of the first news of the sinking of the
Lusitania with more than one hundred Americans
aboard. This plan of at least some of the metro
politan dailies hardly dovetails with their professed
intention to uphold the hands of or at least to do
nothing to embarrass the Washington administra
tion in the present very delicate situation.
Dispatches from Washington made it very clear
that it is the desire of the President and his advis
ors that the Government, —that is the people of
this nation, —take no steps with relation to Ger
many save after the most mature and dispassionate
judgment. It. will be recalled that for several days
after the sinking of the Lusitania the President him
self and other responsible Washington officials
wisely refrained from making any statements what
soever bearing on the sinking of the liner, on the
ground that it was not an occasion for hasty con
clusion.
This determination on Washington's part to
weigh well every phase of the situation and to per
mit public sentiment to crystallize before deter
mining on a course of procedure, was practically
unanimously endorsed by the press of the country,
yet we now see some of the newspapers of the great
cities printing matter that can only serve to preju
dice the public mind and to direct sentiment into
channels not calculated to encourage sane and un
biased judgment.
Certainly a matter of such vital importance as
the question whether we shall be drawn into the
worldwide war is worthy of the most dispassionate
consideration, and yet that kind of consideration
will soon become impossible if some of the news
papers continue to print inflammatory matter as
they are doing now. The President's announced
intention to hold Germany to a "strict accounta
bility" carries with it the injunction to the Amer
ican public to suspend judgment at least until Ger
many makes an accounting or until Germany lets
it be known that she will refuse to account for her
alleged actions.
Much has been said in this country in criticism
of censorship of the newspapers in the countries
now at war, but some of our big city dailies now
are printing the sort of matter which proves that
censorship may ultimately be necessary in our own
United States.
MEN AND BEASTS CONVERSING
A noted philologist who has spent years in the
Congo studying chimpanzees and gorillas especially
with respect to their methods of communicating
thoughts, says he is sure that "some day a man
will talk to his dog and his dog will talk to him,"
adding that "it will be then that all animal life
will become articulate and a widening of our cos
mic horizon, now undreamed of, will result."
Human beings are, of course, in sympathy with
any movement that might bring them into com
munication with the lower animals, although they
might with propriety inquire whether they are
supposed to learn the languages of the beasts of
the fi«ld and the birds of the air. or whether the
HAKKIiSBUHU STAK-JL-NDiiiPEJSDEMT, THURSDAY MAY 13, 191&.
latter are expected to acquire, parrot fashion, the
tongues of mankind.
From his study of gorillas the noted philologist
has drawn the conclusion that it will be with these
animals that man will first converse, and thus get
the keys for learning other languages of the lower
animals, lie expresses much respect for the goril
las, and points out that the males of the species
never abandon their wives. Presumably when
spoken intercourse is established between man and
his supposed relatives, the gorillas, the latter will
have much of benefit to say to the former on ques
tions of ethics. Man is perhaps so sinful because
he has not been able to profit by verbal intercourse
with the better behaved representatives of lower
orders of animal life. ,
A satisfactory way of getting into communication
with other living things might be thought to be
for man to learn their languages, if, as is insisted
by investigators, human beings are not the only
animals who can communicate thoughts among
themselves. Yet it appears from various accounts
about dogs that some of these animals have already
been learning the English language like talking
birds. A dog by the name of Cutey was taught
in three months by its owner to say "1 want ray
rights." It was doubtless able to make itself un
derstood by human beings more easily than the
latter would be able to make Cutey understand
them if they were to endeavor to bark intelligibly.,
AUTHORS JUDGING OTHER AUTHORS
Plagiarism seems to have become rather common
among men of letters, for the suggestion has been
made that a committee of authors be appointed to
pass judgment on members of their profession who
make free use of the ideas and the words of their
predecessors. There are in fact ten or twelve cases
of alleged plagiarism in the courts of the country
at the present time. Conscientious novelists and
dramatists apparently are of the opinion that it
is time they take some action to prevent further
pilfering by their more reckless fellows.
The proposed committee would have as its object
the careful examination of all writers accused by
other writers of appropriating the latters' literary
work and passing it off as their own. It seems,
however, that comparatively few of the plagiarists
could thus be brought to justice, since a good many
of the authors whose ideas are plagiarized by pres
ent day magazine contributors and book producers
have long been in their graves, and do not care
in the least what is done with their works. Living
authorities on literary matters would have to pre
fer the charges against the thieves, in behalf of the
deceased victims of the thefts, and little joy could
be had from such tattling.
Should the committee on plagiarism ever be
established the defendants brought before it, would
surely be deserving of compassion. Men of letters
are as a rule merciless to their contemporaries, espe
cially when they are in positions superior to thos§
contemporaries, and even though those positions
are superior ones merely in their own estimations.
Poets have had their severest critics in other poets
It was from the fellows of his profession that Walt
Whitman won most contempt, and contemporary
poets were among Poe's least appreciative and most
severely critical readers. An author who is a pla
giarist might be able to go through a trial in a
court of law without much discomfiture, but h* 1
could not pass through an examination by contem
porary men of letters so easily.
Once Italy goes to war she will be heard from.
Getting into war is far easier than getting out.
Doubtless those who are urging war will be among the
first to enlist.
The Legislature will adjourn May 20 unless the Legisla
ture changes its mind.
It is hoped that Uncle Sam's.people will celebrate a safe
and sane Fourth of July both at home and abroad.
TOLD IN LIGHTER VEIN
POVERTY
Olivia-—"Poor, is she?"
Hattie—"Well I guess! She'll have to go round all this
summer in a straw hat nnd 110 furs."—Life.
HOW TO TELL A HAS-BEEN
You can always know a has-been by the way he keeps
on talking when nobody pays attention to him any more.—
Albany Journal.
PA'S EXPLANATION
L'enfant—"Father, what is a 'sepulchral' tone of voice?"
La Pere—"That means to speak gravely."—Dartmouth's
Jack o' Lantern.
EVIDENCE OF THIS WISDOM
"How do we know that King Solomon was the wisest of
men?"
"Because," replied Mr. Growcher, "he allowed his many
wives to conduct their own arguments and entertainments,
while he went away by himself and thought up proverbs."
—Washington Star.
WHY HE GROWLED
"The Browns have a new automobile."
"That so?"
"Yes, aren't you glad?"
"I can't say that I am particularly."
"You should rejoice in the success of others. I don't
see why men act so gloomy when other people are get
ting on."
"You don't. Well, I'm Brown's tailor and he still owes
me for two suits."—Detroit Free Press.
TOLD EASILY
A witty political candidate, running in an agricultural
district, after making a speech announced that he would
be glad to answer any questions that might be put to him.
A voice came from the audience.
"You seem to know a lot, sir, about a farmer's diffi
culties, May I ask a question about a momentous one?"
"Certainly," replied the candidate, nervously.
"How can you tell a bad egg?" went, on the merciless
voice.
The candidate waited until the laughter died away. Th")n
he replied:
"If I had anything to tell a bad egg I think I should
break it gently."
He won the ylace.—National Monthly*
AVOID SPRING ILLS
Purify and Build Up the Blood With
Hood's SarsaparlUa
In the spring your blood needs
cleansing and enriching. You feel
poorly, and there i« more or less erup
tion on your face and body. Your ap
petite is not good, your sleep is broken,
and you are tired all the time.
You need Flood's Sarsaparilla. It
is the one safe and effective tonic that
has stood the test of forty years. It
makes the pure red blood that will
make you feel better, look better, eat
and sleep better. It is the old stand
ard tried and true all-the-.vear-round
medicine for the blood and the whole
system.
Ask any druggist for Hood's Sar
saparilla, and insist 011 having it.
Nothing else acts like it, for nothing
else has the same formula or ingre
dients, and so there is no real substi
tute. Get it today.—Adv.
f • 1 1 1 11 1 1 ' " " "\
[Tongue-EnJ Top ics|
A Valiant Prussian Band
The war for months had been little
I more than a rumor for the inhabitants
iof the little city of Memel, tucked
away in northernmost East Prussia ou
the Baltic. Beyond the mobilization of
600 of the "landsturm" to take the
place of the regular troops things had
gone on much the same as usual. Then,
suddenly, 011 the 17th of March, there
came the report that the Cossacks were
coming from the North and the East,
and Memel began to get its first direct
impression Of the gigantic conflict. In
the days that followed it was to get
other and more terrible impressions.
While officials frantically appealed for
help from the military authorities, the
little band of Landsturm slowly fell
back from one defensive position to
another before the oncoming Russians,
made one final but ineffective stand at
the outlying village of Althof, and on
Thursday night, March 18, were forced
to let the Russians enter.
* • •
Terror In a Village
Burning and pillaging as they went,
the Russian troops swept into Memel.
As terrified villagers gazed from their
windows, the soldiers marched through
Memel's main street smashing in the
store windows, stopping only long
enough to help themselves to tobacco,
liquor ami food. Memel, however, had
had 2 4 hours notice, and had utilized
the time for partial flight. Terrified
I villagers from the outlying districts had
come panting into town with stories of
dwellings looted and burned, relatives
j and friends seized and borne off to Kus-
I sia by Russian civilians following the
! wake of the soldiers, and of atrocities
| too terrible to mention. Eight thou
i sand of the town's population, thanks
' to one final stand of the Landsturm at
I the Karlsbrueche with a machine gun,
j succeeded in getting out Memel,
j with a few belongings, and onto the
j long strip of sand dune known as the
"Kurische Nehrung" that runs in a
curving direction southward toward
Koenigsberg.
• * *
Waiting for Reinforcements
Few of the fugitives had had time
to bring any food, and 011 the narrow
strip of sand there was nothing on
which they could subsist. The bitter
winter weather that had made the
flight so terrible, however, proved to be
their salvation, for it froze the shel
tered water between the sand and the
mainland so that supplies could be
sledged across in sufficient quantity
to keep soul and body together. Ig
norant of the fate that might have be
fallen those they had left behind, suf
fering terribly in the bitter weather,
the fugitives waited, hoping desperate
ly that the reinforcements for which
they had appealed so earnestly had ar
rived to drive the Russians out. There
they remained a week, or for four days
after the invaders had been expelled
with great losses.
* ♦ *
Looted Delicatessen Stores
For three days the Russian troops
camped about the town. Their swoop
on Memel seemed to have been inspired
by no tactical reasons, for they did not
sink ships in the land-locked harbor, nor
fortify themselves. Germany's threat
that Russian towns would be destroyed
if they 'continued to burn down Ger
man villages is believed to have re
strained them from destroying Memel.
Instead they cleaned out virtually
every delicatessen store, every provis
ion market and every wine and liquor
establishment in Memel. Individual sol
diers, prowling about, entered the
homes of inhabitants and added to
their fear by their depredations and
their threats.
• * •
German Aid Comes
On Sunday the German reinforce
ments began to arrive, and the Rus
sians began to leave. A few hours later
a trail of dead bodies from the center
of the little city to Althof—or its
remnants—told the story of the de
parture. When the last Russian had
gone and the inhabitants ventured out
of their homes, 171 corpses were
picked up and piled together prepara
tory to burial in a common grave. This
gruesome work was still in progress
when an Associated Press correspon
dent reached Memel. One of the first
to reach the scene was Ober-President
von Batocki, of the province of East
Prussia, and he began at once to sift
out the truth from the mass of rumor
and hearsay regarding the invasion.
Shortly he determined that between
500 and 600 persons in the Memel part
of the province bad been carried off
to Russia.
Wreck Johannesburg Shops
London, May 13. —A Router dispatch
from Johannesburg says a mob wrecked
a number of Austrian and German es
tablishments in that city yesterday.
RUSSIAPREPAREDIO EXACT
REVENGE FOR HER DEFEAT
Lmndon, May 13. —A ReuteT dis
patch from Pctrograd gives the follow
ing official statement regarding Rus
sian military operations:
"In the Righting between the Vis
tula and the Carpathians May 8 and
9, the Germane planned to break our
front by the lightning rapidity of the
blow directed at the neighborhood of
Krosno by seven divisions of the flow
er of the German army after a heavy
artillery preparation.
"On a general front of forty miles
the enemy gathered three-quarters of
the Austrian army, one-ninth of (he
German army, the first reserve half the
contingents of the second reserve—be
sides eight divisions from the Serbian
front, several new Austrian divisions
and twenty infantry divisions as well
as eight new divisions and nine cav
alry divisions from the western front.
Only one of our armies participated in
the first attack.
"The Germans gained no tactical
success. Our reserves, by a flank blow,
enabled our army to rearrange a lino
of advantagious positions eliminating
all fear of final retreat. Our army has
received strong reinforcements and is
ready to exact hearty revenge. Our
falling back was carried out methodic
ally. The enemy's loss was heavy.
"When our troops occupied the
mountainous sections which the enemy
hold to-day the enemy's official com
munications declared these positions
were of no importance."
GERMAN CAPITAL IN AFRICA
TAKEN BY BOTHA'S FORCES
'London, May 13, 10.45 A. M.—An
official statement made public at Cape
town and received by the Renter Tele
gram Company says that Windhoek,
capital of German Southwest Africa,
was captured yesterday without resist
ance by Union of South Africa forces
under General Botha. The population
of the town consists of 3,000 Euro
peans and 12,000 natives. General
'Botha's troops took a considerable
quantity of railway rolling stock. Mar
tial law has bqen proclaimed throughout
the conquered territory.
An announcement was made on April
20 that the forces of the Union of
South Africa had occupied Keetnian
skop, the most important town in Ger
man Southwest Africa next to the cap
ital, thus obtaining command of the
railroad leading to Windhoek.
A statement was issued at Cape
town on May 6 telling of the occupation
of General Botha of Karibi'b after a
forced march of thirty-five miles over
a waterless waste. It was stated then
that the early capture of Windhoek was
cjf t ected.
Swiss Troops Protect Germans
Basel, I May 13. —The Swiss govern
ment is sending more troops to, points
on the southern frontier of the Re
public, especially to Lugano, because
of recent anti-German demonstrations.
It is estimated that 10,000 Germans
from Italy are in and near Lugano. Lo
cal agitators have marched in proces
sion in front of the Lugano hotels, par
ticularly those occupied by Germuns,
calling out lo them insulting phrases.
Americans on Canadian Casualty List
Ottawa, May 13.—Names contained
in the casualty list for the Canadian
contingent issued here includes two
Americans, Privates Edwin Johnson Da
vis, of Covington, Va., reported as
killed in action, and G. Campbell Papil
lion, Neb., as wounded.
THE GLOBE THE GLOBE
A Surprise Sale
And Final Clean-Up
jg|* Of Ladies' and Misses' Coats
Y J Values are more surprising than ever.
We intend to sell every coat between
A AV now and June Ist—and at these prices
the y w i'l fairlv "walk out."
TSp j\ One Lot of 57 Ladies' Coats,
/f['\ "n Values to sls, at
m. $5.00
This lot contains Golfine, Eponge, Cor
duroy, Serges and many other Spring fab
, r i cs very choice models —all colors.
One Lot of 32 Ladies' Coats —Values to $lB
At $9.75
This range includes white Chinchillas, Scotch Tweeds. Covert
cloths and Shepherd Checks. Very smart styles—all sizes.
The Very Finest Grades of Ladies' Coats
Are All Reduced
At $11.75 Ladies 1 Coats, values to $20.00
At $13.75 Ladies' Coats, values to $25.00
At $15.00 Ladies' Coats, values to $28.50
/
White Chinchillas of the Worumho variety—lmported Pop
lins—Gabardines—Army Coverts—Velour Plaids and Man
nish Serges.
THE GLOBE 5 .? 0 "
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jKJJ . S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-S
'*' s a ' ac *— 8 K enu ' np Leather Belt
" lat stretches. It, yields with very
/ / ii R 1/ !j) contraction or expansion of the muscles, »
iN k Itt - ve * holds the trousers perfectly secure
V rau s»\ *t a " times. Handsome ami artistic in aflto
U"*\ IPs. IfU /l»5i a ' , P ftarancc ' am ' ver y durable.
MOST COMFORTABLE BELT
EVER KNOWN
Ijjl/i j|||l|rl Mail Orders Promptly Filled
f if/ CADDYS Wrt St, Near Walnut
*' I Vl\ IVI J, Open Evenings
Just the thing to fortify your system
against the sudden changes of Spring.
FINKS
BEERS, ALES
and PORTER
made from the very best of materials —■
all pure and transformed into a tonic
property, fresh and perfectly hygienic,
with the stimulating basis of solid food.
FINK BREWING CO.
HARRISBURG, U. S. A.
(Sold in Bottles and Delivered on
'Phone Message to the Home)