Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-08-22
Poeitica IL
Pe't~o4e0asio
By the Ex-Connmittecman


pears to be getting away with" his
harmony idea among the Republi-
cans and has not only succeeded in
getting agreements on city and
county nominations. but is also
ironing out some of the ward con-
tests. There are outbreaks here and
there but they are not regarded by
the newspapers as serious and even
the Democratic Philadelphia Record
admits that the mayor has sue
ceeded in getting the factions to be
good, although it charges him with
acting like real boss"
The belief is that if the mayor
gets harmony that will last out of
the primary campaign in his city
that it will go far toward composing
fights in other counties and place the
Republicans in good shape for next
years gubernatorial campaign, a
condition toward which State Chair
man William e. Crow has been
laboring for months in the face of
many disbursements including
some from friends of the Philadel-
phia mayor.
The Philadelphia North Ameri-
can is bit skeptical about the future
of the Smith harmony agreement,
but the Press says: Party harmony
under the leadership of the Mayor,
which already has taken the form
or ticket for the county offices
will h
united Republican Organization, was
established by him yesterday in al
most all the wards where factional
clashes were imminent"
The Philadelphia Public Ledger
says of the days events: Mayor
Smith announced last night from
his Atlantic City residence, following
a busy day of conferences in Phila-
delphia. that the harmony program
was going along most satisfactorily"
The Mayor put in much of his time
In arranging for a councilmanic
ticket, which, when elected, would
support the progressive measures to
be placed before Councils by the
administration" In short, the
Mayor acted like a real political
boss" and had ward leaders who
ordinarily report to Senators Nc
Nichol and Ware hurrying in and out
of his office. His final piece of poll
tical work was to call in Senators
Ware and McNichol, and 1t was an
interesting sight to see the harmony
Senators walking out of the Mayors
private office together"
Senator Bois Penrose returned I'd
Washington from Philadelphia last
night after a perilous experience
near Baltimore, when the Senator
and two friends were compelled to
leap from blazing automobile. The
car is believed to have taken fire
from a lighted cigar, which had
been tossed from a passing car and
Which lodged in the top, which was
down. In an instant the car and
ablaze in the rear and directly over
the gasoline tank. The Senator and
his friends escaped injury owing to
prompt action by the chauffeur,
Walter DeHaven, of Philadelphia,
who brought into play an acetylene
extinguisher and put out the blaze.
The body of the car was badly
scorched and the top entirely de-
stroyed. This is the second expert
has encountered in the past two
years. In 1915, while motoring from
Pittsburgh. headed for Washington,
his car caught fire near Greensburg.
When the residents of Overlook,
the Thirty-fourth ward and Lower
Merton township, Montgomery
county, learned of the order of the
Post Office Department, instructing
Postmaster ]. B. Conner to close
the Post Office at that point and to
discontinue all service after August
81. they Immediately sent a letter.
posthaste, to Washington, terming
the order an outrage.
A Stroudsburg dispatch says:
1T is generally believed in political
circles here that former Judge Will
ton A. Erdman will be appointed
Judge of the Monroe-Pike District.
to succeed the late Judge Charles B.
Staples. The appointment is expected
to be made some time this week,
as pressing court business requires
an early appointment. Judge Erd-
man at first was not inclined to per-
NIT his name to be used for the
vacancy For years he has been
the recognized Republican leader of
Monroe County. He has never en-
tered into factional State politics.
Sixteen years ago he was appointed
by Governor Stone to fill the vacancy
caused by the death of the late
Judge Craig.
In many sections of PennsyI-
vania Army men or private citizens
conversant with the manual of arms
and military regulations have in
stituted intensive training for the
drafted men who are to report in
September at the various mobiliza-
ton camps. Judge John w. Kep-
hart of Ebensburg, a member of
the Superior Court of Pennsylvan mia,
has a squad of twenty drafted men
from Ebensburg and vicinity which
he drills every evening. The judge
received his early training at Nc
Alisterville Soldiers Orphan school,
as did his brothers = Col. Samuel
Kephart, of the Coast Artillery, and
State Treasurer H. NJ. Kephart. In
Harrisburg those in charge of the
home defense have offered their
assistance to drafted men of
Dauphin county who may wish to
get preliminary training and drill
before reporting at Army canton
ments.
There are couple of interesting
sidelights for the Philadelphia situa-
ton. Friends of Senator E. w. Pat
ton insist on fling a paper for him