The Meyersdale commercial. (Meyersdale, Pa.) 1878-19??, December 21, 1916, Image 1
Mrs. VOL. XXXVII wm. Segst® _ Men way 1918 ersdale mmercial. MEYERSDALE PA, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21. 1916 NO 51. BEING PRESIDENT, The Strain and Isolation That Come With the Office. ‘UNDER GUARD ALL THE TIME. Wheg the Chief Executive Is In the White House the Regular Police Are on Watch, and When He Goes Abroad Secret Service Men Shadow Him. It is a fierce light that beats upon the White House—quite as fierce as any that beats upon a throne. Until he is relieved from it a president never real- izes the unconscious strain that he has to undergo. The joyousness that comes after he has laid down the burden and the contrast between the life succeed- ing that in the White House and the life passed in it regeal to him the na- ture of what he has gone through. Of course it is pleasant to be treated with consideration by every one; it is human nature for the incumbent to en- Joy the respect that is rendered to the office. But there is an isolation for the president that it is impossible to avoid. He is the only person in the govern- ment service who has that kind ef iso- lation. Few see him except by special appointment. The office separates him from society. There is no neighborly dropping in; there is & curtain between him and that body of men with whom he was accustomed to associate. It is not true that that keeps him from knowing what is going on or that it saves him from feeling the shafts of criticism. The suggestion that he hears only the kindly view of what he does from his cabinet and from those who are near to him does not cover th whole ground. He has candid friends, and he reads the newspapers. From congressmen and from visiters who frequently turn their steps to Washington the president hears the news from all over the country. He sees the newspaper men every few days, and unless he is always using them to give the public his view of pending questions he can learn much from them. If he is open to informa- tion at all he can exercise very excel- lent judgment as to the state of the ! you know that most of your guests will re- member all their lives all the circum- stances of their visit. The government is generous with the president in sal- ary and in paying his expenses of Hv- ing. He can save a substantial sum each year and still not be niggardly in his hospitality. Three presidents of the United States have been assassinated, and congress in consequence has thought it wise to enjoin upon the chief of the secret service of the treasury department the duty of guarding the president against assault. Three or more experienced men are assigned to that duty, and they attend him wherever he goes. Of course when he is in the White House the regular District policemen, who watch the approaches, make the presence of the secret service men un- necessary. Whenever the president goes abroad, however, the secret serv- ice men are expected to be in his imme- diate neighborhood—in the vehicle in which he is riding or in another that follows; whenever he makes a railway Journey they are in his private car. These secret service men become very skillful in detecting the presence of persons who are demented and: who in their excitement may become dan- gerous. Of course if a man wished to kill the president and sacrifice his own life for it the secret service precautions might not prevent him from carrying out his purpose, but there is gheater danger from demented persons than from deliberate murderers. My own impression is that if there had been as great precaution taken when President McKinley was at the exposition in Buf- falo as is taken today that tragedy would not have occurred. The assassin in that case had his band in his pocket, where he had con- cealed a revolver wrapped in a hand- kerchief. If it had happened today a secret service man would have seized the assassin’s hand in his pocket, found the revolver and arrested him long be- fore the man had reached a point where he could carry out his purpose. Although I recognize the necessity of such precautions, I am bound to say that they are often irksome to the pres- ident. The secret service men are as considerate as possible and are well trained men; whe mind their business, but that constant dogging of the pres- ident’s steps arouses in him the uncon- geious feeling of being under surveil- lance and guard himself rather than of being protected. An impression has gone abroad that the president may not leave the cour try. There is no law that prevents his doing so, and there is no provision in the constitution that he would violate in leaving the national jurisdiction. There is a constitutional direction that the vice president shall act for the president in case he is disabled. If { ELECTING AK PRESIDENT. Power of Congress to Deal With Elec- toral College Returns. The electoral commission established the precedent that congress should not seek to go behind certificates regularly submitted by recognized state govern- ments. That principle is also embod- ied in the Edmunds law of 1887, which defined and enlarged the power of con- gress to deal with electoral college re- turns. shall have provided by law before the selection of electors for the final deter- mination of contests rezarding their appointment ‘the state's decision shall be final unless the regularity of the state’s action is questioned by both houses of congress, If two or more returns are received these rules govern: First.—If thie state shall have deter- mined that the votes forwarded in one of the returns were given regularly those votes shall be counted. Second.—If two authorities, each claiming regularity, shall both have de- termined that the different sets of voters were regularly cast then con- gress must decide which set shall be accepted. Third.—If the state shall have made no determination, then congress shall be free to determine. But if the houses cannot agree the votes of those electors whose appeintment is certified by the governor shall be counted. The general purport of the act is to recognize the right of congress to de- cide all disputed questions in regard ta the counting of electoral votes which the state has not decided or has de- cided rreguiuily .—Neéw York Tribune. BUILD! NG A A BOOK. Cases Where the Endin Ending Was Written : Before the Beginning. There has been more than one in- stance in the history of literature of a book being written upside down—that | ls, its end becoming its beginning or its beginning Lecoming its end. Probably the most outstanding in- stance of the topsy turvydom i8 “The Idylls of the King,” Tennyson's great masterpiece. As every poetry lover knows, this great series of poems ends with “The' Passing of Arthur” and there can be no doubt that this is the ; “of a it was not. until, forty years later, the whole series: was finished and pub- lished in one book that the old poem of his boyhood was found to fit into its place as naturally as the broken arm or foot of a classical statue fits the place from which it has been removed. Thus the first became last. A case of double change is presented by the novel “David Harum.” The first part of that.book to be written by the author constitutes now chapters 19 to 24—that is, almost the Jast chapters in the book. Then, when the author had “practically finished his book, he found that two of his main characters were not introduced to the reader at all until he was halfway through the work. He therefore wrote last of all the two opening chapters for the ex- press purpose of introducing these two essential personages to the reader. This is probably a record case of topsy turvy authorship.—Pearson’s Weekly. —_— This act directs that if any state | || the best rubber, propes and jooyitails ¢ close of the wou. [ PUSHBALLS ARE COSTLY. If They Were Cheaper the Game Might Be More Popular. If some one could invent a pushball tocat could be made at a reasonable cost the game would be more popular. The enormous cost of pushballs has made it possible for only a very few to own them, and they Lave been rent- ed out at a high price to those wanting to use them. The pushball is six feet in diameter and costs $300. The outside covering of a pushball is made of cowhide leather. This cov- ering is composed of twenty strips, which “are sewed together by hand. Each of these strips is between nine and ten feet long, or half the circum- ference of the ball. The strips are widest in the middle, tapering uni- formly to points at either end, the poics of the bail, where they are fur- ther secured by leather caps sewed over them. To get the leather needed for a push- ball it is necessary to cut up five or six hides, which makes the cost of the cover very hizh. It tukes two men the betier part of a week, moreover, to sew this material together. The bladder for the ball is made of which is cut into strips and cemented together in such shape that when inflated it will form a globe fitting the leather covering, which is practically indestructible. T { very bect rubber biadders may give out in two of three years, and a nex bladder costs $150. A larze eylindei foot pump svitabLle for inflating this mizhey ball costs § iu. The game oniZiniced in America. The first pushball was made in New- ton, Mass. in 1894. This ball had au en form built for the purpese. cut to form six zones, which were put | together with belting hooks. The blad- ' sections and cemented together. The materials for this ball cost about $175. | her. The game is played on a field with | 8 goal at each end, each team trying’ j 10 push the ball through the oppo-} nents’ goal. It is sometimes used to get baseball teams in condition during? the early days. The game is played in Europe, both in England and on the tinent, | in variants, of ball through the goal of the Polis side. It is pushed by the horses, which must be as well trained as polo ponles | to maneuver it dexterously, and the game calls for great expertness in the riders. Cowboy saddles and dress are the correct outfit for this game.—St. Nicholas. ABOUT EXTRAVAGANCE. Nature Sets an Example, and Many Poor Mortals Fellow it. Bxtravagance is a relative term usually misapplied. If a man is worth a hundred million it would not be con- sidered extravagant for him to spend a hundred thousand dollars on goldfish if he wanted to. If a famliy of ten people living on $1,000 a year should get their pictures taken that would be extravagance. Extravagance, however, is not exact- | ly buying something you cannot afford. What you cannot afford now you may later, and the very fact that you have The Larch In Labrador. The: soil and atmosphere are so cold and dry in Labrador that scarcqly any vegetation thrives at all. The larch is | a species of pine tree which is found in all northern countries, but its growth is so stunted in Labrador that a specimen found on the most southern part of that dreary land was but nine inches in height and the trunk was but three-eighths of inch in diameter. A careful examination of the miniature tree revealed its age to be at least thir- ty-two years, for there were that num- ber of ring growths shown in its small trunk. The very cold currents pouring down from the north and the fact that Labrador has less sunshine than Alas- ka, together with several inland cli- matic conditions, make the summer seasons shorter and colder than are those of Alaska.—Hxchange. Durable. “I want a slogan,” said the manu- facturer of phonograph records, “some. thing that will convey the idea that our records never wear out.” The advertising man lit a fresh ciga- rette and thought for eight seconds by the clock. “How will this do?” he asked. “One of our dance records will outlast the best hardwood dancing floors ever built.”—New York World. Raw Food Must Be Washed. “Gritting of sand between the teeth while eating vegetables raw is a cer- tain sign that they have been cleaned improperly, if at all,” says the New York Medical Journal and adds that because of improper washing it is of- ten not safe to eat raw vegetables, sal- ads or fruits. Scared Him into It. Young Widow—Did you have any trouble getting Jack to propose? Girl Friend—No, dear; I told him you were (Continued to Eighth page.) 2 RR I after him.—Boston Transcript. | river. bought it may, have been the cause of your future prosperity. Hxtravagance {is an exceeding of the speed limit. But who shall say what this is? One of the chief difficulties in defin- ing extravagance is the general as- | sumption that it is something wicked. Yet extravagance is often necessary. The sun is extravagant—the greatest heat prodigal. So is nature. So is a Rain clouds are horrible exam- ples of extravagance. They pour out all their possessions without regard to what they get in return and then fade away. How like some people that is, and what a glorious time they have doing it! Think of spending a million raindrops a minute, knowing it will break you; and not caring! The chief fault of extravagance, whatever it may “be, is not so much in the results it brings about, which may be good or bad, as in the time it wastes. It is immoral because it takes away from our capacity for indulging in the real joys of life. It isn’t the money. you spend; it is the time you take to spend it that causes the damage.—Life. Climate and Food. In the arctic regions human feed is almost exclusively animal, because that is the only sort which is available in quantity. In the tropics, where vege- table food is abundant and animal foods readily decay, plant preducts are and always have been of very great importance in the diet. In temperate regions all kinds of food may he se cured, and it seems reasonale to oc: pose that all kinds have aiways |: eaten as they are today. Bright Qutlook. “How is the attendance at your cui lege this year?” “Splendid,” more. “We are getting scores of new fellows this year who (on’t weigh an ounce under 180 pounds.”—Birming- ham Age-Herald. NX covering of leather shaped on a wood: Four big hides were required. These were | der was made of rubber cloth cut in One of the most spectacular and. ame is. that FUSSY AUNT SALLY. 8he Is One of Those Who Always Find + a Task Undone. Our Aunt Sally always has ohe or two more things to do at night before she can go to bed. We were at her home a few weeks ago, and all of us sat. up until late. At about 11 o'clock ‘Uncle Buckram gave a yawn, and in thirty minutes everybody was under tlie gover liste: ing to the rain— sverybody'except Aunt Sally. She de- cided that while everything was quiet she would sew the buttons on the new trousers she was making for Buckram, When tis was finished she started to bed, but!she reembered that she her yeast. She went back ectly still for a few seconds. she was trying to think of - else to do belore going to he thought of it. She decid- } they would iron better next jen this was finished she fold- h dried pieces and put them the house was dark. The ouring down, and we turned good sleep. After we turned out there with a lamp. She 0d keep the lamp dry, but in utes it went out. A little heard her enter the hbuse, e feeling for a place to set the ‘said: “I declare that fool I put her up in uldn’t stay 2d to drown, ught to let her do it, but 1 [ Worth Star-Telegram. S 10 NEW YORK. the Natives Off Broadway inte the Side Streets. ver and other scientific that New York's Broad- ? aC Se ttl ite way hn the Rialto at Toast as well as does Hast Seventy-second street, and the cabarets along the great white way see more money from Des Moines than from Amsterdam avenue. ‘ The fact of the matter is that the out of town visitor, descending upon the metr¢polis trained to the minute, with the express intention and deter- mination of taking in Broadway, suc- ceeds largely in crowding. the native off the walk. Hence it has come about that other New York streets which never attain more than a local fame have become pleasure grounds for the real New Yorker, who leaves the streets and the restaurants of world reputation to the herZes of the invader. Such a street, for instance, is One Hundred and frequenters the “uptown Broadway.” One Hundred and Twenty-fifth street lies in the apartment house section, about in the middle of the long, nar- row city that is modern New York. From here to the Battery is a long here ‘to the limits of New York, up be- yond the Bronx, is a longer ride by local. The dweller in this section rare- ly takes either of these rides. He goes down to the office in the morning and in the evening returns to his own little side street. If he craves amuse- ment be strolls down One Hundred and Twenty-fifth street.—New York Letter in Cleveland Plain Dealer. Large Power Easily Controlled. In some cases a 1,000 ton or 1,500 ton press may be controlled by one finger upon the clutch lever, so that the ram will rise one-eighth of an inch or so at a time. More often, however, a press is set so that the ram will always stop at the top of its stroke, and the control of this condition is usually made by a foot treadle, although some- times with a handle also or with a handle alone. are arranged for continuous runping. This is often practicable with long, slow strokes.—Oberlin Smith in EHngi- neering Magazine. Cause of the Trouble. Specialist — Your heart is acting rather irregularly. Is there anything worrying you? Patient—Not particu- larly. Only just now when you put your hand in your pocket I thought for a moment you were going to give me your bill.—Puck. When He Remembers. “Willie. don’t you know wrong to fight?" “Yes, ma. I know it’s wrong, but I never think of it that way unless the fellow who tackles me is one I'm sure I can’t lick.” —Detroit Free Press. replied the athietic sopho- Must Have Been In the Dark Age. “How many years ago did he live?” “Who?” ‘““The man who said that two could live as cheaply as ome ?’—Detroit Free Generally such presses . acing the barn, and we saw better go back and see about . Twenty-fifth street, often called by its | MADE HIS WORKMEN RIVALS. How Charles M. Schwab Spurred Them on to Greater Efforts. In telling how he increased the efii- ciency of one of - his departments Charles M. Schwab, the famcus steel Ian, says in the American Magazine: | “It was near the end of the day: in { a few minutes the night force would come on duty. I turned to a workman who was standing beside one of tho red mouthed furnaces and asked him for a piece of chalk. “ ‘How muny heats has your shift made today? I queried. “Six. he replied. “I chalked a big 6’ on the floor pint passed alcng without another word. When the night shift came in they saw the ‘6’ and asked about it. “ ‘The big boss was in here today, said the day men. ‘He asked us how many heats we had made, and we told him six. He chalked it down.’ “The next morning I passed through the same mill. I saw that the ‘6’ had been rubbed out and a big ‘T" written instead. The night shift had an- nounced itself. That nizht I went back. The ‘T" had been erased. and a ‘10’ sway ered in its place. The day force re ognized no superiors. Thus a -fine competition was started. and it went on until this mill, formerly the poorest producer. was turning out more than any other miil in the plant.” STING OF THE HONEYBEE. About the Most Effective Infernal Ma- chine In Existence. In proportion to its size, the sting of the honeybee is pfobably the most ef- fective infernal machine in existence. The stinging apparatus is smaller than that of a rattlesnake, yet a single sting has been known to kill a man. When we realize that it is almost in- visible and consider what it can do we cannot fail to be astounded. It seems the very quintessence of devilishness. —s0 complicated that many words and much ink have been used in discuss- ing its construction and use. It is generally conceded that the | sting consists of a shaft of three parts, the principal one being a sheath within . which move two barbed lancets. Like the barbs of a fishhook, the lancets are not easily extracted from the flesh into have Deen he, son flows frém the poison S&C.. Two hairy, soft projections, evident- ly very sensitive, inform the bee when she is In contact with a stingable ob- Ject.—Popular Science Monthly. ° Frohman’s Little Safe. When Charles Frohman was treas- urer with Haverly’'s minstrels he con- ceived a novel stunt of arousing curi- osity In small towns. He bought a small iron safe, about three feet high, and on it had painted in big letters, ‘Treasurer, Haverly’s Mastodon Min- strels.” Now actually there was little need for this safe, but it was always carried on the first load of baggage that went to a hotel. It would be placed in a conspicuous’place, and then Frohman, waiting until the proper mo- . ment, would bustle up to it with an . air of great importance, open it, put in ride on the express trains, and from two or three $100 bills, close it and go away. When the crowd had gone he would slip back and get the money out again. It proved a good advertising stunt.—“Charles Frohman, Manager , and Man.” that it is ' The White House. A prize of $500 was offered in Wash- ington’s administration for the best de- sign for a house to serve as a home for the president in Washington. James Hoban, an Irishman from South Caro- lina, was the successful competitor. His sketch contained so many wings and colonnades that the public was horri- fled, and frills and gingerbread decora- tions were eliminated. The result was the two story White House as we know it now. Washington laid the corner- stone of the building in 1792. It was completed in 1799, the year of Wash- ington’s death. Liberty and Equality. Liberty is never the fruit of philo- sophical deductions, but rather of ev- eryday experience and of the simple ideas arising from facts.—Mirabeau. Liberty—I say it with a sigh, men are perhaps not worthy of thee. Equal- ity—they desire thee. but they cannot attain thee.—Turgot. John o’Groat’s te Land’s End. The distance in English miles be- tween John o'Groat’s, at the extreme north of England, to Land’s End, in the farthest south, is about 480 miles as the crow ilies, though by the ordi- nary lines of travel, of course, the dis- tance is something more than that. He Might Be Offended. “See that dog, Kathi? It has taken the first prize at ten shows and is valued at 1,000 marks.” “I wonder if I dare offer him a bit of sausage ?’—Fliegende Blaetter, Has a Heavy Touch. Jones—Does my daughter's piano practice annoy you? Neighbor—Not at all. But, tell me, what does she wear —mittens or boxing gloves ?—Life, mae The honeybee’s sting is complicated ' The | a | From the Ancient Chariot to the Modern Kistorcar. EVOLUTION Cr THE VEHICLE. The Crude Carts Used In the Early Ages by the Romans Were Followed by Carriages—Then Came Covered Coaches With Doors and Windows. From the forked limb of a tree to the automobile bas the evolution of the vehicle expanded. For hundreds of years the chariot reigned sup:eme, and, bearing a fair resa:ab.ance to it even in this day, crude forms. of carts on two wheels are to be seen in India, China, Ceylon, Mexico and other coyn- | tries. In China centuries ago the mon- | cycle was in great favor. This odd i vehicle, much like the modern whesl- ; barrow, is still in gereral use in many | parts of the country and is propelled . by man power. Among the two whecled vehicles in popular use in the Asiatic world may be mentioned the “ekka,” largely used In ngrthern India, and the famed jin- rikisha of Japan. The Romans first established the use of carriages as private means of conveyance, and with them these vehicles attained a great variety of form as well as of orna- # mentation. In all ages the employment of wheel- ed vehicles has depended largely upon the condition of the roads on which they were to be used, and the building of great highways, such as the Appian way by Claudius in 313 B. C., as well | as many others, greatly facilitated the development of carriage traveling : | among the Romans. In Rome as well . as in other large citied of the empire it became necessary to restrict travel in earriages to a few persons of high rank owipg to the narrowness and crowded condition of the streets. For the same reason the transport of goods along the streets was forbidden be- tween sunrise and sunset. For long journeys and to convey parties the “reda” and ‘carruca’” appear to have been mostly used. During the empire the carriage which | iotosial "» times covered and generally drawn ig two horses. If a carriage was drawn , by four horses they were yoked abreast among the Greeks and Romans, not in pairs, as now. From the Roman “car- ruca” are traced the modern English name “carriage,” the French “car- rosse” and the Italian “carrozza.” The “sirpea’” was a very ancient form of vehicle, the body of which was of osier basketwork. It originated with the Gauls, by whom it was named “benna,” and was employed by them for the conveyance of persons and goods in times of peace and baggage and supplies in time of war. On the introduction of the feudal sys- tem throughout Europe the use of car- riages was for some time prohibited as tending to render the vassals less fit for military service. Men of all grades ’' and professions rode on horses or mules. Horseback was the general mode of traveling, and heuace the members of the council, who at the diet and on other occusions were employed as am- bassadors, were called “rittmeister,” In this manner also great lords made their public entry into cities. ‘Covered carriages were known in the beginning of the fifteenth century, but their use was confined to ladies of the first rank, and it was accounted a re- proach for men to ride in them. For a long time they were forbidden even to women, but by the end of the fif- teenth century they were being em- ployed by kings and princes in long journeys and later on state occasions. The first time that ambassadors ap- peared in coaches on a public official occasion was at the imperial commis- sion held at. Erfurt in 1613. Soon after this coaches became common all over Germany, notwithstanding various or- ders and admonitions to deter vassals from using them. Carriages seem to have been used to : some extent at quite an early period in France, for there is still extant an ordinance of Philip the Fair, issued in 1294, by which citizens’ wives are pro- hibited from using them. It appears, however, that about 1550 there were only three carriages in Paris—one be- longing to the queen, another to Diana of Poitiers and the third to Rene de Laval, a very fat nobleman who was undble to ride on horseback. The first coach in Hngland was made in 1555 for the Harl of Rutland by Walter Rippon, who also made a coach in 1556 for Queen Mary and in 1564 a state coach for Queen Elizabeth. ‘By the beginning of the seventeenth century the use of carriages and coaches had become so prevalent in England that in 1601 the attention of parliament was drawn to the subject, and a bill ‘‘to restrain the excessive use of coaches” was introduced, which, however, was rejected. In regard to carriage construction, it would seem that glass windows or hinged and completed doors were un- known prior to 1650. Public carriages (Continued to Eighth page.) ., ‘ GOING ON WHEELS. al W % sl LF SR =