Cleveland courier. (Cleveland, White County, Ga.) 1896-1975, December 25, 1925, Image 7

Cleveland courier., December 25, 1925, Image 7

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Newspaper Page TextNotice To The Public To the People of Hal). White and Lumpkin Counties: At the hearing held Thursday,' No¬ vember 12th, before the Public Serv¬ ice Commission of the State of Geor¬ gia, in Atlanta, in reference to the abandonment of passenger service on the Gainesville & Northwestern Railroad, it became apparent from the discussion that there was consider¬ able misunderstanding of the situation among the public which the Gaines¬ ville & Northwestern Railroad serves. The purpose of this statement is to set forth all the facts, so that the public may know the exact conditions and that there may be laid at rest the numerous idle and unfounded ru¬ mors that have been given circula¬ tion for some time past. •GAINESVILLE & NORTHWEST¬ ERN RAILROAD AND PIEDMONT CORPORATION ARE LOCAL IN¬ TERESTS. In considering the relationship be¬ tween the public of northwest Geor¬ gia and the men financially interest¬ ed in the Gainesville & Northwest¬ ern Railroad and Piedmont Corpora¬ tion. we wish the public to feel that they are dealing with home interests and not with an outside interest. I believe all will admit that men who may live in other sections of Georgia ■or of the United States, but who are investing their money in the develop¬ ment of northwest Georgia are in the truest sense home people. They are certainly much better citizens of northwest Georgia than those who physically reside there but who by their actions obstruct its develop¬ ment. In talking to the people of Hall. White and Lumpkin counties, I feel that I am talking to friends, as in all my contacts with them I have been met in the most friendly spirit. I have felt that they whole-heartedly desired the success of our operations. There have teen not more than three or four men who have sought to ob¬ struct and to profit from^lestruction. I feel to secure the active support of the citizens of Hall, White and Lumpkin counties, no more is nec¬ essary than to present to them all the facts and to show what is required of them in the way of co-operation. It is an absolute certainty that, if serv¬ ice on the Gainesville & Northwest¬ ern Railroad is to continue, there must be complete co-operation on the part of the public. PAST EXPERIENCE OF THE OWNERS OF THE RAIL¬ ROAD. Piedmont Corporation owns all of the capital stock of the Gainesville & Northwestern Railroad Company. It acquired this stock because it was clear that no investments could safe¬ ly be made in the Chestatee property unless the railroad could be built up and kept operating. White the stock of the railroad was held by other in¬ terests there could be no assurance that it would he kept running. While Piedmont Corporation expected that through the development of traffic the railroad would prove profitable, the facts are that to date the ownership of the road has been very expensive to Piedmont Corporation and, since he became interested in the situation in December, 1923, to Mr. A. Fillmore Hyde as well. It has taken large sums of money to keep the road in operation. The aggregate of these direct losses in Railroad operation is considerably over $100,000, and the effect has been that Piedmont Corporation and Mr. Hyde have actually been subsidizing a railroad and that the community has received Railroad service at less than it cost the Railroad to furnish. The rumor has been circulated that Piedmont Corporation through owner¬ ship of the railroad, has gained ad¬ vantages at the expense of the rest of the community. Not only has the ownership been costly to Mr. Hyde and to Piedmont Corporation, hut Piedmont Corporation pays the high¬ est freight rate on the road in pro¬ portion to its length of haul and class of material. The Railroad receives $24.00 for hauling a car of stone a distance of 24 miles from Chestatee to New Holland. In addition to this only 14 miles of this haul are over the tracks of Vq/? Gainesville & North¬ western Railroad Company, the other ten miles being ovei^Bteks owned and maintained by Piedmont Corporation. It receives approximately $28.00 for moving a car of lumber (which is a class of traffic carrying much higher rates than stone) 35 miles from Hel¬ en to New Holland over tracks main¬ tained entirely by the Gainesville & Northwestern. This should dispose of the story frequently given circula¬ tion that Piedmont Corporation made the Northwestern take stone out of Chestatee without being paid for the haul to Clermont. Train service to Chestatee is the worst on the entire railroatT. The train comes in only when there are a suf¬ ficient number of cars to justify the trip, and it frequently takes from three days to five days and on occasion has taken a week to get incoming freight and express to Chestatee from Cler¬ mont. In addition, the railroad charges to the Piedmont Corporation a great deal of demurrage on cars, which is not strictly chargeable to Piedmont Cor¬ poration at all, as the demurrage is due to the irregular train service. This is shown by the fact that Piedmont Corporation has been charged with demurrage during the current year amounting to $1,303, and that all oth¬ er shippers on the railroad combined have during the same period been charged only $288 for demurrage. i It has been stated, and the story still appears to he in circulation in spite of repeated denials, that the Gainesville & Northwestern Railroad maintains the private tracks of the Piedmont Corporation between Cler¬ mont and Chestatee. The Gainesville & Northwestern Railroad at no time in its history has spent one dollar on tbf> tracks of Piedmont Corporation. The track from Clermont to Chesta tee has been maintained by track crews employed directly by Piedmont Corporation and kept up with ties bought directly by Piedmont Corpora¬ tion, the work the last two years he¬ ms tinder the supervision of the Northwestern's road master to make sure that the tracks are satisfactory for them to operate over. During a portion of 1923 the Gaines¬ ville & Northwestern Railroad car¬ ried on its own payrolls the track crew maintaining the Piedmont Cor¬ poration's tracks and bought directly the ties for same. The entire expense of this system was billed to Piedmont Corporation, the total amounting to approximately $500. During the same period Piedmont Corporation advanc¬ ed in cash to the Gainesville & North¬ western Railroad more than $13,000, or considerably over twice the expen¬ diture on the Piedmont track. The stories circulated not only have no foundation in fact but such things could not be done even if Piedmont Corporation had any desire to do them. It must be remembered that the Gainesville & Northwestern Rail¬ road is a common carrier under the supervision of both the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Geor¬ gia Public Service Commission. Its accounts are kept in accordance with the requirements of the Interstate Commerce Commission and are sub¬ ject to inspection by that commission. If the things stated had been attempt¬ ed they would have been stopped by the commission and the men attempt¬ ing to carry them out would have been subjected to heavy fines and, very likely, imprisonment. POLICY OF THE PRESENT OWN¬ ERS OF THE RAILROAD. I have been asked on several occa¬ sions if it were not the real inten¬ tion of Mr. Hyde and the Piedmont Corporation to get the railroad in such condition that they could abandon it as a common carrier and operate only the trackage from Chestatee to New Holland as a plant facility. There never has been any such Idea in any one’s mind, although the interests of Piedmont Corporation might he better served by so doing. If there had been any such intention the improvements to the section between Clermont and Helen would not have been made. Every one connected with Piedmont Corporation has always felt a moral obligation to maintain the Gainesville & Northwestern Railroad as a com¬ mon carrier if it were possible. They have always blen willing to carry this through even to the extent of car¬ rying the traffic north of Clermont at a loss, provided the rock traffic out of Chestatee could show sufficient earnings to make up this operating deficit. For nearly two years past Mr. Hyde has gone heavily into his own pocket for the purpose of put¬ ting the road in physical condition to handle the traffic. EXISTENCE OF THE RAILROAD TODAY DUE ONLY TO AD¬ VANCES OK MONEY BY MR. A. FILLMORE HYDE AND PIED¬ MONT CORPORATION. At the end of 1923 the Gainesville & Northwestern Railroad was heav¬ ily in debt. The roadbed and ties were in such condition that It was almost impossible to operate trains over the road. Derailments, as is well known, were practically a daily occurrence. It was impossible to find sufficient money either to pay the indebtedness of the road or to put it into good phy¬ sical condition. An application was made to place it in the hands of a receiver for the purpose of permitting the money that could be raised from the sale of the receiver’s certificates to be applied in reconstructing ihe railroad. It must be remembered that the owners of a railroad do not have that freedom of managing their busi¬ ness which is possessed by private business men. In fact, they have practically no freedom at all. A pri¬ vate business man can cease or cur¬ tail an unprofitable business as he desires, hut the railroad operates un¬ der mandatory orders from the com¬ missions and is forced to continue ser¬ vice at a loss practically up to the limit of its ability to get into debt, all of this being done in the public interest. When the road was placed in a re¬ ceiver’s hands we estimated that it would require at least $50,000 to place it in good physical condition. Some shortsighted local interests opposed the application to issue this amount of receiver’s certificates with the re¬ sult that the road was limited to $25 - 000. This amount proved entirely in¬ adequate, but Mr. Hyde was public spirited enough to provide the addi¬ tional funds necessary. And Mr, Hyde advanced this money without receiv¬ ing any security. Thanks to these ad¬ vances, the receiver has been able practically to re-tie the road and to place the bridges in reasonably good condition. Also the ditching of the roadbed has just been completed and powerful engines have been obtained. The attention of those who have been suspicious of intentions to aban¬ don the railroad north of Clermont and to use the remainder as a plant facility is called to the fact that, al¬ though Piedmont Corporation for its own traffic is interested only in the section south of Clermont, from the very start of reconstruction opera¬ CLEVELAND COLRIER, CLEVELAND, GEORGIA tions on the road, the expenditures have been made equally over all por¬ tions of the road. The section be¬ tween Clermont and Helen has re¬ ceived as much attention as that be¬ tween Clermont and New Holland. Piedmont Corporation would have been fully justified, and I think you will agree that no word of criticism could have been raised, if it had tak¬ en the position that, as either Mr. Hyde or itself had to provide all the funds for the road, the funds would be advanced for expenditure only on that portion of the track which carried the Piedmont Corporation traffic, leav¬ ing it to the people served by the sec lion north of Clermont to see that finances were provided for that por¬ tion Mr. Hyde would even more clear¬ ly have been entitled to so restrict the money he was willing to advance, as he had had nothing to do with either the railroad or Piedmont Cor¬ poration prior to December, 1923. Clearly interests desirous of aban¬ doning service over a portion of the railroad would not expend a large sum of money in Improving the condition of that section. NO IMMEDIATE INCREASE IN FREIGHT TRAFFIC IN RIGHT. At no time since it was built has there been sufficient traffic available to the Gainesville & Northwestern Railroad to meet its operating ex¬ penses. The section served by the railroad holds out no hope of develop¬ ing such traffic for many years to come. The larger portion of'the freight originating on the Northwest¬ ern itself consists of ties and lum¬ ber and products of lumber. The in¬ bound freight is made up largely of materials and supplies for these lum¬ ber Industries. It is probable that the traffic de¬ rived from Ihe lumber industries will have ceased due to the available tim¬ ber in this section becoming exhaust¬ ed, before there is enough Increase in traffic, due to agricultural devel¬ opment or development of a summer resort section to take its place. It is obvious that no one can con¬ tinue to operate a railroad through this territory unless some other freight is developed in sufficient volume to make the operation profitable. The only source of such additional freight at present in sight is the develop¬ ment of the trap rock quarries at Chestatee. There is no probability of the section of the railroad between Clermont and Helen at any time with¬ in the next ten years handling enough traffic to pay its operating expenses. Therefore there would be ample jus¬ tification for seeking to abandon this section of the railroad. However, there has not been and is not today any intention on the part of either Mr. Hyde <v Piedmont Corporation to do so. The policy has been, and is, that if sufficient freight in crushed stone transported at a fair price can bn developed at Chestatee to pay a profit on the operation of the entire road, then all of the road will be operated. In adopting this policy, there is no claim being made of being actuated by a spirit of altruism or philanthropy. There is, however, claim made to a spirit that recognizes moral obliga¬ tions, and a policy that desires to up¬ build rather than tear down, even at the sacrifice of some immediate prof¬ its. The Piedmont Corporation and the Gainesville & Northwestern oper¬ ations have been financed and sup¬ ported with a view to ultimately mak¬ ing a profit, but they will not lie con¬ tinued unless a reasonable profit is realized. In these operations they aro governed by the same motives as gov¬ ern any of the business men in this territory. None of you will continue to operate a business if it does not pay a profit. Neither Mr. Hyde nor Piedmont Corporation can succeed in keeping the Gainesville & Northwestern In operation to Helen without the co¬ operation of the community. You and we are in a different situation from the large railroads of the country. Most of them have sufficient traffic to pay at least their operating ex¬ penses regardless of the general co¬ operation of the community. This is true because of traffic that must move by freight whether people like it or not, is sufficient lo pay the opera¬ tion costs. We are confronted with the fact that the closest co-operation is necessary if operations continue be¬ cause the total volume of freight avail¬ able is still insufficient to pay ex¬ penses. Inasmuch as Mr. Hyde has already advanced large amounts ot money to the Gainesville & Northwestern Rail¬ road Company, without which it would have been unable either to op¬ erate or to improve its roadbed, he is most certaintly entitled to your hearty co-operation. This is especial¬ ly so as Mr. Hyde must continue to advance money from his own pocket until such time as the stone ship¬ ments from Chestatee yield at least enough revenue to counteract the, loss in carrying the other traffic of the railroad. If you desire a railroad that has to be supported by financial contribu¬ tions from other people, I believe, and I think you will agree that the least you can do is to give it the maxi¬ mum of business within your power, even though at times this business is given at some inconvenience to yourself. If Mr. Hyde supplies the dollars you should supply the freight and passengers. Lumber shipments from Helen run from 75 to 90 cars per month and tanic acid 12 to 18 cars per month. The Piedmont Corporation has been prepared for some time past to ship out ot Chestatee 150 cars of rock per month, but has been held back owing to the low water of the past season and by the recent embargo on ida shipments. The rock shipments can soon he increased to more than 200 cars per month. These figures show to what a large extent the rail¬ road will be carried by the new traf¬ fic developed at Chestatee. SUPPORT OF CHESTATEE QUAR¬ RIES NECESSARY. The successful development of the quarry operations at Chestatee should be a matter of considerable local interest. As previously point¬ ed out, this affords the only known means of developing suficient new freight to enable the Gainesville & Northwestern Railroad to continue in operation. it also means the dis¬ bursement of a considerable payroll, which is expended locally. The pay¬ roll of Piedmont Corporation and the Gainesville & Northwestern already exceeds $120,000 per annum. Most of this is money that is brought from outside the Stale of Georgia so that it is a very teal addition to the wealth of the. section. Where this stone is used on local road projects it keeps a large portion of the county tax money in circulation at home instead of going to other sections. Local chambers of commerce ex¬ pend considerable time and effort In an effort to locate new industries in this territory. So far none of them seem to have realized that there is as great or even greater advantage to the community in encouraging the success of an enterprise already lo¬ cated. The failure of an existing en¬ terprise discourages (he location of other new enterprises while its suc¬ cess attracts them. You are all aware that (lie. greatest obstacle encountered lately in securing the location of a. large new cotton mill was the fact that the Gainesville & Northwestern Railroad was in a receiver’s hands. If the road had been prosperous wo would probably now have the mill. Piedmont Corporation has for sev¬ eral years been shipping its stone to Tampa and New Orleans although the freight rates are so high as to he equal to twice the value of the stone. These places pay these high rates be¬ cause the Chestatee trap rock is by far ihe highest grade in the South and they are sufficiently well informed to know that in the long run they are saving money by using this high grade material. There are only two other stones in the South, one in Tex¬ as and one in Arkansas, that will pass the Dock Board Specifications in New Orleans. But right here in our own territory roads are being built with stone vast¬ ly inferior to the Chestatee rock, this stone being bought outside the lax area and some of it from outside the State of Georgia and costing 30c per ton delivered more than stone. You are thus getting a road that is higher in first cost, In quality, higher in cost of and of a shorter life than if built aUs local stone. Further, this is diverted from local circulation the railroad on which this section is dependent is being destroyed. PASSENGER TRAFFIC. Before the building of the new high¬ way from Gainesville to Cleveland, the Gainesville & Northwestern had a to¬ tal passenger revenue approximating $2,000 per month. 7’ho service was conducted by a steam train making a slow schedule, with cars in very poor condition and track about as bad. Af¬ ter the opening of the highway the revenues tell to less than $700 per month causing a very heavy loss on the train operation alone. While the service was poor it was tiie host the road could afford. When you criticise the accommodations given by the rail¬ road, please take into account the fact that the railroad had constantly lost money and that the owners were each year having to make up heavy operat¬ ing deficits. Then ask yourself how you could have provided, under such conditions, any hetter service, and whether you would have continued op¬ erating the road as long as the owners did, if you had to go down into your pockets every year to make up the loss. The owners were given no en¬ couragement to go still deeper into their pockets and provide better equipment because there was no traf¬ fic in sight which could possibly make this equipment pay. At the time the service of the steam train was abandoned on ac¬ count of the Inability of the railroad to stand the losses any longer, J at¬ tended a meeting at Cleveland, which was very kindly arranged through the courtesy of Mr. Davidson, Editor of The Cleveland Courier, for the pur¬ pose of discussing the situation. Some fifty or sixty citizens of Cleveland attended and showed a very friendly spirit towards the rail¬ road. While they had many criticisms to make of its past operation, they were ail made in a friendly and con¬ structive spirit. I was assured that if passenger service was resumed on the railroad that it would get local support. Also, I was assured that it was particularly desirable that the passenger rates be reduced to the old level. I promised that if the Georgia Pub¬ lic Service Commission allowed us to remove the steam train that, through Mr. Hyde, we would provide as soon as possible a gasoline service. I stated that this service would he in¬ augurated with a car similar in type to the regular road bus, but equipped with a four-wheel pony truck in front and with a trailer for handling bag¬ gage. I stated that it would not be provided with ice water or a toilet. I also stated that we would try and give two round trips per day and that we would reduce the passenger fares. I also stated that if the patronage given the service justified it, better equip¬ ment would be supplied later; but that we could not afford to put on more than the equipment promised until the patronage justified It, SERVICE FURNISHED AS PROM¬ ISED, BUT LACK OF PUBLIC SUPPORT CAUSED HEAVY LOSSES. All that was promised was perform¬ ed. The rates were not only reduced to the previous level, but, when peo¬ ple still continued to patronize the bus line, the fare was still further re¬ duced. Two round trips a day and a fasler schedule than the old steam train were put into effect. The promised support of the serv¬ ice was not forthcoming. The total psasenenr business amounted to less than $400 per month. Furthermore, people continued to patronize the bus line, although its schedule was slower and the bus not as good as the one supplied by the Northwestern. According to my observations, about twice as many people regularly ride on the road bus as ride on the Northwest¬ ern bus. Not only was the new service not supported, but, in addition, the peo¬ ple of Cleveland, by making demands on the Post Office Department re¬ garding hours of mail delivery, made it impossible for the railroad to make two round trips daily, and the one round trip daily was made necessary. The business given the gasoline passenger bus never even justified the installation of this trial unit, lo say nothing of better equipment. I desire to make it clear to all peo¬ ple living along the 'tine ot tho Gainesville & Northwestern that the traffic conditions are such that you cannot support both a bus system and a railroad transportation passenger system. You must choose one or the other. It is frequently overlooked that the costs of operating any trans¬ portation system are and must he paid by those who use it, and that if peo¬ ple do not use it enough to pay op¬ erating expenses then it cannot con¬ tinue in existence. There appears u» 'bo a popular impression that rail¬ roads can be operated by some mag¬ ic, without reference to the income derived from freight and passengers. A moment’s consideration will show that a railroad is no different from any other business; that it cannot contin¬ uously operate at a loss, no matter how many acts Congress and the State Legislature may pass to the contrary. The utmost that can he ac¬ complished by edict is to operate the road at a loss until Us salvage in value has been eaten up in meeting those losses. That condition was reached long ago in the case of the Northwest¬ ern, and it has been kept going solely ihrougb fresh money meeting the de¬ ficits. If the community is leally interest¬ ed in securing permanent passenger rail service, it is necessary for it to patronize fully the existing service to the best of its ability. Otherwise, there will he no inducement for the supplying of capital for improving service. I am sure there is no one in White and Lumpkin counties who would have provided any equipment than that supplied by the Nortlrewestern, in view of the amount of patronage obtainable. You do not expect the men who operate the bus between Gainesville and Cievolaud to provide one of the large expensive coaches such as are operated out of Atlanta on routes where there is heavy traffic, and there should be no rea¬ son to expect the Northwestern to provide better facilities than the traf¬ fic warrants. ENTIRE PUBLIC CO-OPERATION NEEDED IF SERVICE IS TO CONTINUE. We still feel that the people of our community are friendly to the rail¬ road and desire to co-operate with It. However, we also feel that they have not given the necessary co-operation during the past two years, probably through a failure to realize how criti¬ cal the situation was and how much depended on them i! service was to he improved or even continued. Mr. Hyde is willing to make anoth¬ er attempt at establishing passenger service it the community will support it wholeheartedly. He is willing first to restore the type of service just dis¬ continued by reason of the burning of the Reo bus; and if the patronage you give that service justifies im¬ provement, he will then provide a better car. The co-operatton required is first that, inasmuch as the territory cannot support two passenger serv¬ ices, the road bus he discontinued (this can he accomplished by local ordinances preventing the taking up or setting down of passengers within, corporate limits from road buses); and secondly, that a willingness be ex¬ pressed to have mail deliveries ad¬ justed to such hours as permit effi¬ cient passenger service. In this con¬ nection we will be glad to confer with committees of citizens from each town and work out with them such schedules as will best serve their convenience and at the same time be possible tor the railroad to conform to. At the meeting in Atlanta several persons gave as a reason for the rail¬ road passenger service not being pa¬ tronized the fact that the rail car was continually going off the track, and that no one knew just when he would complete a trip on which he started. Such criticisms have no jus¬ tification except during the first three months the car was in operation. At that time the roadbed was in very bad shape and derailments of freight trains were of practically daily occur¬ rence. Since then Mr. Patterson has put the roadbed in excellent condi¬ tion, derailments are exceedingly rare, and for more than a year the passen¬ ger car has maintained its schedule with great regularity on a faster schedule than either the old train or the road buses. In Its en¬ tire history the rail car has had but one derailment, and that of the for¬ ward truck only. I feel safe in say¬ ing that if a comparison were made of regularity of schedule during the past year between the road bus and the rail car, that the rail car would make a considerably hetter showing. The owners of the Gainesville & Northwestern Railroad Company want to continue the passenger service. They have in the past continued it to the best of their ability in spite of the fact that the service has never paid for itself. Not only has it never paid for itself but there has never been any profit from freight opera¬ tions to help carry the passenger ser¬ vice. Except for the Chestatee Quar¬ ries there is nothing in sight that will materialy increase the freight traf¬ fic. If you will give the railroad all the business you can, you can help re¬ lieve the freight: situation. You can, if you will, put the passenger service on a basis whereby it will be pos¬ sible not only to continue it, hut also to make that service bettor and nioro comfortable than ever before. All that is necessary to put the pas¬ senger service on such a basis is that the community patronize it and give it their support. No business can suc¬ ceed without clients and good will ; and no railroad can exist without cli¬ ents and good will. The clients cf the railroad are those who ship and receive freight, and those who ara passengers. We believe that we have the sup¬ port and good will of many of the cit¬ izens of Hall, White and Lumpkin counties, but we need more than that. We need the support and good will of everybody living or interested la any one or all of these three coun¬ ties. I have outlined at length the actual condition of the railroad, and gone into detail regarding the policy of Mr. Hyde and of Piedmont Corporation. We are giving and skali continue to give the best service we can. Ts it not true that the interests and aims of the railroad are your inter¬ ests and aims? Railroad service de¬ velops and increases the value of property in the community. The hetter the service the greater the develop¬ ment and increase. The property in the territory served by the Gaines¬ ville & Northwestern belongs to you. The quality of the service given by the railroad depends on your support. With the entire support of every citi¬ zen, business and organization along the railroad it will be possible to con¬ tinue and improve. Without such co¬ operation all service, both freight and passenger must necessarily cease, and the development of the community to¬ gether with the increase in property values will be seriously delayed. It is therefore up to you individ¬ ually and collectively whether or not the railroad continues in existence. You citizens who now give the rail¬ road your support must co-operate with us to the extent of convincing others to do so. You must brand as false all idle and harmful rumors that may, from time to time, arise. The Gainesville & Northwestern Railroad Company is working for the community. Is the community work¬ ing for the Gainesville & Northwest¬ ern Railroad Company? The future of the passenger traf¬ fic over the Northwestern and for that matter of the freight, traffic and even the existence of the entire Rail¬ road. is squarely up to the community. Mr. Hyde will provide the necessary financing if he can receive adequate assurances of full local co-operation. This matter, so important to you, is thus in your own hands. Are you dis¬ posed to help LEWIS SANDERS, Vice-President Gainesville & North¬ western Railroad Company; Vice-President Piedmont Corporation. (Advertisement) It is announced that a magazine “wTitten and edited for lunatics,” has been started in England. Subscribers, it is reported, are crazy about it. Though France has two wars on hand, Spain has one and Great Brit¬ ain is threatened with one, the out¬ look for world peace is fairly good. Policemen in Constantinople have been compelled to shave off* their whiskers and are expected to get re¬ sults, thus completely disguised. The growler hasn’t a reasonable ex¬ cuse to offer, for in summer it’s “hot as hades,” and in winter it’s as “cold” as the same place. Conservatism: A state of mind in which it is contended that no one but Russians have ever made a botch of government. Apparently reckless drivers travel in the fear t&ttStbe devil takes the hindmost. Sometimes he selects the vanguard. A few of the powers want peace in China, but the most of them continue to have hankerings for just a piece or two of it. Is there any way to inform the chat¬ tering couple back of you in the movie that it is supposed to he the silent drama? A few of the powers want peace in China, but the most of them continue to have hankerings for just a piece or two of it. It is not the hash that is annoying at the boarding house so much as the rehash.