Republican News Item. VOL. XII. NO 19. T $24,000 — $44,000 o > Which Do You Prefer ~ ? S Hie average man earns about si, ioo a year. He/' Ny works 40 years and earns a total of $44, 00 in a 112 time. The average dav laborer gets $2,000 a day or / 1 S6OO lor a year of }oo days. He earns $24,000 in a> / life time. The difference between $44,003 and 524- X \ 000 is $20,000. This is the minimum value of ay 112 practical education in dollars and cents The in-Y \ creased self respect cannot be measured in money. J ? Why not stop plugging away at a small salary when \ V the International Correspondence Schools, 9f Scran- / 112 ton Pa can give you an education that will make \ I high salaried man of you ? No matter what line of V ) work you care to follow, this great educational In- S \ stitution can prepare you in your spare time and atx r a small cost to secure a good-paying position. Ourr \ local Representative will show you how you can { triple your earning capacity. Look him up today, Q > HI is C. IF. BK/EIsTINT A IN - , / C. I. S. Representative. TOWANDA, PA. C HARDWARE> No Place Like this Place For Reliable STOVES and RANGES, COAL OB WOOD HEATERS; 1 ONE OF WINTER'S GREAT DELIGHTS. House Furnishiug Goods, Tools of Every Description, Guns and Ammunition Bargains that bring the buyer back. Come and test the truth of our talk. A lot of second hand stoves and ranges for sale cheap. We can sell you in stoves anything from a fine Jewel Base Burner to a low priced but satisfactory cook stove. Hot Air, Steam and Hot Water Heating and General Repairing, Roofing and Spouting. S «el a. The Sliopbell Dry Good Co., 313 Pine Street, ! WILLIAMSPORT, PA. Leidies' (L>lyife LavnWaist The stock is at ib best just now, and any ideas you have may be readily satisfied here, as we have all the newest st) les that have been shown this season, and above all a larg assortment to choose from. are neatly made and are reasonable in price. Ladies' and Children's Embroidery for Corset Tan Hose Covers Ladies' pl.lin and lace Tan I lose. ex- , , , , , We are showing some verv handsome tra good i|ualities lor e 12! cto 50c a Pail- a "' l new ''•'"is" B ot ' lß < -' orst '< (; " vpl ' CI 1 en's Tan Hose in a'T sizes lor Embroidery; the prices range from 15 and 2">c 25c to 75c a Yard L,ants' Dresses and Wearables tor Babies. We have iust opened some Infants' Infants'aiid Children's Hand Crochet 1.1 . I tresses with lots of laste and baby- ed Saei|iie.s, in plain or white or pink ami like licniiiy in tliem. Sime plain, others Idne trimmings, 25c to 1.50. with I. es and tucks. I'rices start at 25c .. , . . ■,. , .... .. ~ iialiv sand Children s \\ lute Mull and n;i to $2.75 ',... . . ... ... at 25 c to ioc. Sluirt I'resses tor older halites. All , . I, . u • Infants Cashmere Hands, 25c and .MM dainty ami well made from line Cambric or Nainsook, at 25c and up. Infants" Wool and Cotton Hose in Initials' ami Children's long or short while, pink, blue, tan and last Mack Skirts on waists at st)e. to SI.OO extra >|ii alilies, lor 15c and 25c. Ladies' White Dresses. Ladies' White Law n and Swiss ltresses in the newest styles. Neatly ma A and trimmed with emdroidery or lares. Il doesn't pay to make tliem when you an Lmy nice dresses here for >'.'l.oo to 17.50. Subscribe for the Newsltem LAPORTE, SULLIVAN COUNTY PA. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 1907. In lust week's issue (if I he Gazette I find a reference t«> me as follows: "As before staled we unable to say and unable to learn and can only inter what influence broughl about the results, .ludge Ingham is the acting counsel for the commissioners and we are (old that K. 1\ Ingham figured in (lie settlement tor Baron Council. II this be true the situation was this. Huron Council upon one side assisted bv Kllery, and Sullivan county upon the other side assisted by Judge Ingham. We learn thai commit* siotier Mcltounald <1 id not favor the set tlement." As this affects public interests I deem it proper to notice it. As County Solicitor it became my duty to render to the County Com missioners such legal assistance as they required of me, and in refer ence to the legal aspects of the recent triennial assessment, I have been occasionally eousulted. I can say with truth that from the beginning to the end of thi- difficult task, I have observed in the Commissioners nothing but a steady effort tit do their duty to the County and to the taxpayers. When they examined the assess ' meuts as returned by the assessors they observed that the valuations all over the county were substantial ly the same as they had been estab lished by their predecessors in office. The last board ot commissioners had raised the valuation on real estate, as returned by the assessors, to the extent often per cent, and that rais ed valuation was retained, but the commissioners observed that valua tions on timber lands,and coal lands and tanneries were not fixed at their proportionate value. As it required much investigation, and the testimony of those who had knowledge of all of these properties, to enable the commissioners to form a just estimate of their value, they deemed it proper to employ Frank W. Meylert Esq., to give special at tention to this part of the business. Mr.. Meylert's knowledge of the Sullivan coal fields especially fitted him for this employment. Sitting as a board of Revision the commissioners heard the testimony of witnesses on all of the interests involved, and on this testimony raised the valuation on such of the said lands as seemed to them to lie assessed bto low. This action of the commissioners was, as the law re i|uires, e.rpitrfc; the property owners were not heard. Immediately after the assessments had been raised, days were appointed for appeals in every township, and at the county seat. * The owners of the timber land anil tanneries were heard at Laporte. Witnesses were.sworn and examined on both sides, and the lands were considered tract by tract, and classi fied jis follows: Ist hemlock .timber land; 2nd hardwood timber land; ,!rd barren land. After a full inves tigatiou the valuation was amicably adjusted as follows: the valuation on the hemlock timber land was raised from 18 to 40 dollars per acre, the hardwood timber land from 'J. to •"> dollars per acre, and the barren land left as heretofore at one dollas per acre. The acreage was also exam ined and added.to when required, ami some tracts heretofore omitted added to the list. The valuation of the tanneries was raised from S9BOOO to $172,000. From such information as the Commissioners could gather, while sititng as a board of revission, they raised thw valuation of the Cherry and Colley coal lands from $lB to $350 per acre. On the day fixed for the apjieal Mr. Council, Mr. Jackson and others interested in the coal lands, appeared with K. J. Mullen, S. T. McC'orinick and A. Walsh as their attorneys. The situation was discussed at -ome length, but the attorneys represent ing the coal interests did not offer any evidence nor make any propo sition for settlement. They stated tersely that they would goto a high er Court. They afterwards entered an appeal to the Court ol Common Pleas. The Court of Common l'leas con \ened at Laporte on the :t, of Sep tember to hear the appeal, Judges Terry, Kshinka and Hichlin being upon the bench. Attorneys E. J. Mullen and S. T. I McCormick appeared for the appel lants, and Thos. J. Ingham, F. W. Meylert and Rodney A. Mercur ap peared for the County. A large number of witnesses on both sides were in attendance. Before the case was opened in Court an effort was made to get au amicable adjustment in the Com missioners office. Mr. Connell pre sented Ids side of the case very i strongly, and was answered in an j able argument by Mr. Meyiert. I The best offer that could be got from I Mr. Connell was for a valuation of | fifty or sixty dollars per acre, which the Commissioners refused; but offered to reduce it to $175 per acre; which thfc coal mVn refused. The case therefore had togo to trial* The Appellants first offered in evi dence the Commissioners Journal, and all of the assessment books of the county for the year 1907, and then culled Nathan l'ersun to the witness stand. Mr. l'ersun testified that he had examined a large num ber of farms and buildings in Cherry and Col Icy townships and in Dushore borough, and then proceeded to state the valuation which lie put upou a great number of properties; and the valuation he put upon them was compared with the valuation put upon them by the towuship assess ors. He was on the stand until the adjournment Tuesday evening and was called upou the stand again on Wednesday. HP was followed by U. L. McHenry of Dushore, who testified that he went with Mr. Per- HUII to examine the various proper ties upon which Mr, l'ersun had es timated the cost values; that they had agreed upon a valuation in every case, and he expressed the opinion that all the valuations mentioned by Mr. Persun were correct, Mr. S. Hurst was next called, and testified that he went with Persuu and Mcllenry and examined real es tate in Mildred, Bern ice and Lopez, •md corroborated the valuations made by them, so far as related to those villages. Several other wit nesses were called who occupied the time of the Court until Thursday 110011. The testimony thus far adduced indicated that the assessed valuation of the real estate in the townships of Colley aud Cherry, excluding the coal lands, did not exceed from one third to one-fifth its real cash value. In the afternoon sees-ion of the Court Thursday Judge Terry sug gested that it might be advisable for the parties to settle. He said it was now evident that it would take a long time to try the case and be very expensive, anil he thought if the parties would get together in an am icable spirit they might make a fair settlement and save a great deal of cost, lie said the Constitution pro vided that taxation should be equal, and that if the case was left to the Court, the Court would have to con form to the evidence in the equali zation of the taxation. Acting on this suggestion the Attorneys repre senting all parties interested request ed the Court to grant a reeess to give them an opportunity for consulta tion. The Commissioners and the coal men were so far apart that it was difficult for them to get together. Propositions aud counter proposi tion were made and rejected foi about two hours. Finally the coai men made an offer as their ultima tum, to consent to the valuation of #lOl per acre. The Commissioners were reluctant to accept this offer j but by the advice of their Attorneys finally conseuted to do so. In reaching this conclusion due consideration was given to five points iu the case, Ist. It could not be controverted that the assessments on real estate in the County were much below the cash value. 2nd. That as we could not produce evidence of any sale* of coal lands in the county it was difficult for us to establish its marketable value by the usual mode of proof, and in so far as what is called "expert testi mony" was coucerned the coal men had more "experts" than we had; 3rd. If the Court of Common Pleas of Sullivan county should sustain us in our [tositiong, an appeal would : probably be taken to the ; Supreme Court, which would cause i long delay and great expense; 4th. If we failed to sustain our assess ments in the Supreme Court, a large amount of costs would probably fall upon the county; sth. The trial was likely to last two or three weeks; the expense to the county for wit nesses, lawyers, officers of the Court etc. amounted to several hundred dollars per day. Thase costs were likely to exceed the amount which the County could get from increased taxation on any increased valuation which we might get on coal lands above the slOl per acre offered to us. In reference to the settlement some may say, "You had a jirst cause why did you not fight it out ?" To this it may be answered, "Who knows the result of a lawsuit?" And further, that so long as the litigation was lingering, and the costs accumulating, the taxes would remain in the pockets of the coal men, while the commissioners were borrowing money to pay current expenses. Summing up what the commissioners have accomplished we have the fact that the commissioners have largely increased the valuation of the taxable property of the county without imposing any increas ed burdens on the farmers and laborers of the county. The increased taxation will be, where it justly belongs, on timber lands, coal lands and tanneries. And this raised valuation, i.kt it i»k kkhemhicrbd, is established by AGREE MENT with the property owners and all parties interested. Most ot our people will be surprised to learn that this increased valuation ex ceeds HALF A MILLION i mile mileage in primary election bills, and has returned to county commis sioners all bills exceeding that rate. The charges for mileage by judges of election in making returns pre sent as much variation as charges for ballot boxes, printing, clerical work and other details, and suggest the neccessity of a state law fixing such expenses. In almost every in stance the bills for the winter pri maries and many „for the summer t primaries have been returned. Austin, in Potter county is wag ing war against an evil that has recently come to light in that place. According to the returns of an Aus tin constable, made in open court at oudersport, Frank J. Welsh, a lo cal druggest, and his agent W. J. Alexander were guilty of selling powdered cocaine to the people ,so promiscuously that from 50 to 100 of Austin's young people are victims of this deadly drug habit. Both men were arrested on the charge of selling the drug in this way. Justices of the peace and magis trates throughout Luzerne county will have something on which to reflect through the action of the grand jury last week which put the costs in many trivial cases upon the committing magistrates. It has been the eustom throughout that county among the magistrates to re turn cases in which costs were not paid no matter how trivial the of fense might be. The migistrates had been repeatedly warned by the court but the evil continued to grow. Last week when the grand jury came across a lot ol these cases, to show its disgust placed the cost of the pro ceedings upon the magistrates. 75C PLR YEAP BERNICE ITEMS. Mr, and Mrs. T. F, McLaughlin, Mr. and Mrs. H. P. McLaughlin were Laporte visitors Sunday. Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Miner were Nordmont visitors Sunday. Thomas Walters was visiting La porte friends Friday. C. E. Jackson was a Sayre visitor Tuesday. Miss Maude Turnbull of Rcynolds ville, was visiting Mildred friends last week. John O. Conner and Thomas Ram sey were at Colley playing hall Sat urday. Atty. A.J. Bradley of Laporte, was calling on friends at this place Wed nesday. Sheriff Buck of Laporte was a visi tor here Thursday. The game of ball between the Ber n ice Stars and Dusliore on Saturday was called of!" on account of some of our players getting cold feet. Mr. and Mrs. Robert McGee of Sayre, were called to Mildred Sunday on account of the sudden death of her father Timothy Uvan who died at Mildred Saturday. Another landmark has passed away in the death of Mr. Timothy Ryan. For the repose of his soul, Father En right celebrated requiem high mass at St. Francis church. Few men were better known than was Mr.Ryan in this section. Socially he had few equals, for hospatality lie had no peer. The community has lost a good citi zen and a most charitable neighbor. The surviving family are his wile, two daughters. Mrs. Robt. McGee, of Savre, and Clara, at home; one brother, William, of Mildred. Inter ment was made in St.Frances cetue terv. Mutiny Valley, Sept. H, 1907. Mrs. Sarah A. Webb, wife of Col. K. K. Webb of this place passed away September 4th, after a year's suffering with rheumatism and dia l»etes. The funeral services were hehl at the house and [also at Mt. Zion Lutherali ehurch 4 in Penn town ship, The sermon was preached by Itev. S. IJ. Bidlack. A largo num ber of people from this place attend ed these services. Mrs. Webb was a good woman of splendid character and with a kind disposition. She was the daughter of Daniel F. Smith of Penn township. She was mar ried to Col. Webb in the year 1882. Their union was blessed with a daughter who at the age of thiee years died. This was a severe blow to Mrs. Webb, but recovering from the sorrow, she became a sympa thetic and loving neighbor highly esteemed by all. She leaves beside her husband one daughter and one sister, Mrs. Mary Ann Houseknecht who lived with the family. Mrs. Dell Edkin of Hughesville, a niece, and Thomas, l'hillip and Jake Houseknecht, nephews, attended the funeral. The Munoy Valley choir sang three consoling hymns at the funeral interment was made at Mt. Zion cemetery. A very pleasant social affair oceur ,»d at the home of Mrs. H. L. Far doe, Forksville, Tuesday evening, .September 3, the occasion being a reeeption given by the ladies of the Forksville Woinans' Christian Tem perance Union to the School Board and the teachers and pupils of the Forksville High School. A short iterHry program consisting of read ing, essays, recitations and music given by members present was much enjoyed. At the close of the pro gram Miss Sara A. Jluckle, Co. Pres., presented a picture of Mrs. Mary H. Hunt to the High School which was graciously received by Principle N. B. Lundy. Elegant refreshments were served and a good time enjoyed by all. D. E. Hunihan of Pittsburg has been appointed an inspector for the state insurance department. Mr. Hunihan takes the place of Repre sentative Andrew 11. Hitchcock of Tioga county, whose appointment was declared illegal by Attorney General Todd on the ground that a member of the legislature ctinnot be appointed to a State office during the term tor which he is elected.