Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-09-13
Enpntng Gf1at

ION of men who have been with the
army In France, whether they be
at the bases or in the front-line
trenches, that the thing which most
InpTesses them and has amazed the
brltlsh and French officers is the
dash OF the American soldier.
ietter received from a man away up
IN the recent fighting confirms the
remarkable article in the Saturday
evening Post a few weeks ago by
George Patullo in every way, espe-
cially in the astonishment which
swept over the French when they
saw the Americans fighting Germans
with rifles and 'potting' them. The
fact Is, said man who had some
inside information from the front,
the American soldier does not play
war the way the people do in Eu-
rope. He never has. His fore
fathers never did either. If they
had, they would not have lasted and
the war whoop would have been
heard here instead of the whistle of
the locomotive. What l have been
told is that Americans believe it is
their bounden duty to get Germans.
They pick out their men when an
attack is on and shoot them down
Just like they get quail or rabbits.
And they will not surrender when
they are caught behind the lines
and there is a chance to get away.
The spirit of the American Army
dates from the French and Indian
War, and that's the one way to wind
up foe. The only good Indian,
they used to say among the hills
and valleys of Pennsylvania long
ago, was a dead one. Well, there
are good Indians now and they are
fighting with us, but the maxim
holds good, so l am informed by
men who have been at the front,
| Of
A Harrisburg fisherman who likes
to fish with light tackle had a lot
of fun along the Conodoguinet creek
the other afternoon with trout flies
He was fishing with an eight-ounce,
nine-foot rod for bass with flies and
got several strikes that he knew
were not those of bass. AFTER trying
vainly to hook one of the fish, the
angler replaced his bass fly with a
small trout fly and tried it again.
The fly had scarcely struck the wa
ter before he hooked a big sunfisn
and in the next half hour caught a
fine basket of sunfish and rock bass.
1t was his first experience in thi;
rather unusual style of fishing, al
though old fishermen have frequent
ly reSorted to 1t, and he says he had
a lot of fun. A black gnat, a Par
machenee Belle and Royal Coach
man were the lures he used on a
siX-foot leader. A single small shot
provided the lead necessary to sink
the flies to a proper depth and the
casting was done in deep water and
along grass patches.
When the members of the State
, Board of Public Charities re-elect-
ed Francis j. Torrance as president
: the other day they did more than
: select for another year an officer of
: unusual capacity for directing a
work as extensive as supervision of
5 the wards of the commonwealth.
: They honored an official Of the State
S Government who has a remarkable
t record for attention to duties. Mr.
' Torrance is now closing his twenty
t fourth year as a member of the
| Board and in all that time he has
failed to attend just three sessioRA
, of the Board. One time he was in
| Europe and another time he was
, sick. His friends do not know why
he missed the third, but 1t does not
, matter. He has travelled hundreds
? of miles to attend meetings, given
! up all sorts of engagements, let his
! own affairs go and devoted time and
thought to the building up of a sys-
, tenn of state care which is attract
|, ing national notice. And, in addition
to playing his part in the develop
7 tivities, he finds time to serve on a
: local draft board and to direct
great big manufacturing business.
1t is an interesting fact that the
| Thirty-third Infantry, which was
mentioned in the cable reports as
J having been reviewed by the King
of Italy, is commanded by Col. r. c.
Williams. who was stationed in this
city as inspector and instructor of
the National Guard few months
before the war began. The Colonel
is a West Point man and has many
friends in Harrisburg.
Complaints filed against the mar
row-gauge railroads rates in Perry
county this week before the Public
Service Commission will raise an
interesting question. The narrow
gauge lines until recently were un-
der federal control and advanced
rates. Now they are out of the
supervision and the question has
been raised whether they can make
increases stand which were made by
federal authority.
ITS an odd thing, but there are
more porches being built or changed
now than I have ever known to be
time" said a builder to-day. "Peo-
pie can not build houses or make
extensive alterations, but, by lingo,
they can improve the porch in war
time"
Paul Littlef1eld, secretary of the
State Chamber of Commerce, who
travels extensively through the state,
SAYS there is an unanimous opinion
among businessmen to the effect
that the war profits tax of 80 per
cent as fixed in the revenue bill of
1918 now being debated in Con-
gress, is excessively high in rate. A
tax of 65 per cent, he says, would
meet with wide approval, not that
Pennsylvania business is not glad to
give it's last cent to win the war, but
because many profits are not inter-
changeable with cash.