Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-09-15
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Investigations made right in this
district by officers of the States bu-
reau of narcotics and agents of the
Federal Government have shown
more schemes to beat the dry" laws
through use of alleged soft" drinks
and medicinal preparations in COM
mon use than dreamed of six months
ago. Most of the reports obtained in
industrial communities have pro-
vided startling news to the invest-
gators used as some of them are to
odd combination. Several concoc-
tions made by mixing near" beer
with compounds for allaying stom-
ach ache have been found to be the
basis of lighting jags' compared to
which the alcohol, sugar and water
of some mining communities in days
gone by were mere play affairs. In
several of the inquiries made in Har-
risburg, it has been found that use
of ginger preparations in mixing OF
drinks has produced wierd results.
Thus far it is said by the officers
that there have not been many re-
cipes made public, but they are to
be had for the asking in some places
and arrests have been made in some
cities, for providing the means as
well as the method of producing q
drink with a mule kick" Now
that the grape season in on and
peaches and other fruit are at hand
the federal officials say that they
expect to hear of all kinds of home
made brands of hard liquor" Some
of this, it is asserted, will not be
as powerful as desired and there
will be a demand for various drugs
to stimulate the stimulant. From
what the federal inspectors say and
what the State narcotic officers be-
lieve there will be a busy winter
ahead for both of them.
Resumption of the sessions of the
State Board of Pardons has pro-
duced more than the usual number
of appeals to that tribunal on be-
half of prisoners. Incidentally, mono
of them are also unusual as to style.
The straight appeal is noticeably
lacking this year. Instead there
have come a number of rambling
and in some cases disconnected pleas,
some written by prisoners, some by
relatives. These letters which are
not part of the official records in
applications, but on the side, so to
speak, are studied in connection
with cases, however, and some times
give valuable clues. One of the odd
est letters came from Scranton. 1t
was on a sheet of paper, eighteen by
twenty-four inches in size, each line
numbered and capitals put any
where.
Notwithstanding the fact that
nations recently at war are getting
back to ways of peace as rapidly as
possible and the American army
has been largely demobilized men
who were gwen commissions as
members of the volunteer police of
Pennsylvania are still in the service
of the Comm monwealth and liable to
be called upon by authorities any
time. This fact, unknown to many
of the men who were granted the
commissions during the war under
the act of 1917, came to light as a
result of an inquiry at the Capitol.
The commissions granted on appli-
cation of committees of public
safety during 1917 and 1918 all read
until the close of the war. At the
State department it is held that the
war does not end until peace is pro-
claimed and as a result some 10000
men, some of whom are dead, some
of whom have moved to other states
and many of whom don't know it,
are officially on "call service" There
has been no effort on the part of To-
cal authorities to revise lists, to
strike off the dead or removed, and
to all intents and purposes thousands
of men, most of them in Allegheny
and other western counties are to-
day members of the volunteer police.
1t is one of the singular results of
the war that when the army is re-
duced to something like peace
strength and all sorts of war activi-
ties and restrictions are ended and
q peace treaty before the Senate,
that a phrase in an act of 1917 con-
tinues men in service as policemen.
Word of a threat to invoke the
authority of the Public Service Com
mission in case a talkative group of
persons on n party line on a rural
telephone system did not "cut it
short has come to the Capitol as
result of recent statement in a
decision that there was no justificS-
| ton for people monopolizing a party
line more than fifteen minutes and
indicating that when the conversa-
ton got beyond a quarter of an
| hour it was gossip. The decision was
widely commented upon and tele-
| phone men say had good effect The
threat to appeal to the Commission
as a police power created consider
able amusement here as the state
ment was intended for guidance of
utility people primarily.
The coming of fall heralded by
the cool days of last week seems to
have brought about a revival of
Sunday bicycling and there have
been a good many youths to be seen
Isle and Reading pixies. In fact,
boys are going out in fleets and
squadrons and appear to be as keen
on making runs as did their fathers
and uncles back in the days of the
Harrisburg Wheel Club, some