The Meyersdale commercial. (Meyersdale, Pa.) 1878-19??, December 21, 1916, Image 1

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    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.
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%
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LF SR =