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ooocooooooooooooooooocooooco 8 The Leading 8 § Weekly Newspaper of Allegany § § County, Maryland 8 0000000000000000000000000000 FORTY-SECOND YEAR. NO. 47 WHAT OF THE FUTURE OF BIG, BUSY FROSTBURG?! i \ A Splendid Field For Many Different Industries--- No Need of Depending Chiefly on c Coal Mining. r , t The Time Has Arrived For Frostburg to Braach Out aad Become t More ladpeadeat—Some Timely Suggestions. c Mr. Frostburger, did you ever ask yourself the question in the top head line of this article? If not, do so now and think it over. Do more than that, —talk it over with your friends and the leading citizens of the town, and help to crystalize public sentiment into business activity that will bring new industries here. No Need of Depeadiag Chiefly oa Miaiag. For a long period of years Frost burg has been a great coal mining center, the very hub of the great Georges Creek bituminous coal region, where is mined a quality of steaming coal that is famous in all quarters of the civilized world. And it is still a great coal mining region, and will continue to be for another hundred years, at least. In fact more coal is being shipped out of this region to-day ' than ever. This one industry alone will keep Frostburg in the list of good indus trial towns, but that should not satisfy the people of this town. As a com munity Frostburg has all along made the mistake of being too easily satis- ' tied. Only during long-continued strikes has the community realized how a town is handicapped when de pending on only one industry. But the situation could not' be helped very much so long as there was but one railroad here, and that not a trunk line. But conditions have changed since the Western Maryland Railway has built a splendid trunk line into this community, giving us a splendid outlet to the East, West, 1 North and South, making Frostburg a splendid point for the location of in dustries of many kinds, owing to its cheap and excellent fuel, having the best of coal and natural gas, both in abundance. Town Has Grown too Big for One Industry. / Frostburg has grown too big to con tinue to depend almost entirely on one industry. It can thrive and grow on the mining industry alone when all the mines are runuiug full time, but when reduced to half time, or if there should take place a long-continued strike, this whole community would become as flat as a flounder on very short order. Therefore Frostburg cannot afford to remain at the mercy of one industry. True it is that we do not have as abundant a water supply as we should have for some industries, yet there’s a plenty for others, of which the Parker Hosiery Mill is a good ex ample. This concern now employs about a hundred people, and there is a splendid field here for a great many other industries employing from one to several hundred men, women, girls and boys, such as a shirt factory, silk mill, lock factory, handle factory, novelty factories of all kinds, etc., etc. Fruit Culture Should Be Encour aged. Nowhere else in the United States does certain kinds of fruit, especially cherries, grow bigger and better than good varieties grow right here in this vicinity, with scarcely any attention. The same can be said of strawberry, raspberry and blackberry culture. Scientific growers of cherries, straw berries and other small fruits can find no better place to get rich returns from their line of work than right here. And the same can be said of poultry raising, for there’s no better market for eggs and poultry than here in Frostburg, and there’s lots of cheap land near town that could be utilized to great advantage by good poultrymen. More and Better Farming Also Needed. There is much idle land and a great deal more that is almost idle in this vicinity, which would soon be made prolific and to “blossom as the rose,” could arrangements be made to locate a colony of thrifty Swedes or Germans here to bring this land to a higher state of cultivation. If some of our local capitalists would take hold of this matter, as moneyed men have done in many other localities, they would soon be surprised and deligted with the results. The great bulk of farm produce consumed in Frostburg comes from too great a distance—Grantsville, Salisbury, Pocahontas arid Meyers dale, and that makes it too expensive to the consumer. The proper utiliza tion of idle laud near Frostburg would greatly reduce the high cost of living and at the same time yield goodly re turns to the producers and the laud owners. We feel certain that the Western Maryland Railway officials would gladly help to locate a colony of thrifty Swedish or German farmers here, if some of our local, capitalists would take the matter up with them. THE FROSTBURG SPIRIT Home Paper Support Also Es- C sential. We could go on and enumerate many other things that could be done for Frostburg’s benefit, not the least 1 of which is a good and generous sup port for the home paper, in which every live business man’s advertise- ' ment should appear each week. Frostburg must attract more atten tion to itself, and in no way can it be done so well as by going after the things we need here, and the mer- r chants advertising liberally it! the home paper. When seeking to at- tract manufacturers and others here, nothing will pull harder on them than to be able to show them a nice, cleanly printed home paper like The Spirit J is, well filled with Frostburg adver tisements. Copies of outside papers containing Frostburg correspondence have no pulling power for Frostburg. The pulling of the outside papers is all the other way, a pull against our own town. Many more wholesome truths could be added, but the writer is sick abed ‘ and is tired out for the present. But he’s for Frostburg, sick or well, to the extent of his ability, and now it’s up to our dead board of trade to get J alive again, get new industries headed this way, provide free sites for them, and make the year 1914 the banner prosperity year in Frostburg’s history until the year 1915, when the record for the good of the town should again be broken, and so on each year there after. Comeon, come on, let’s boom this town! Eoud let her praise be sung, ] Until each year brings more renown, , Until all lend a lung! j And let us back the song with works, 1 To bring more workshops here, And if no man his duty shirks, We’ll get them, never fear! i Proving Very Popular. Western Maryland’s New Through: , Sleeper Service Being Praised on All Sides. Highly pleased with the manner in 1 which the new through sleeper ser- ' vice between Cleveland and Baltimore ' has been recived in the west, F. R. 1 Darby, traveling passenger agent of the Western Maryland Railway Com pany, is back from a ten-day trip to ' Cleveland, Detroit, Toledo and other ’ important cities itj the west. The well known traveling passenger agent accompanied David Belasco, the not ed play-wright, and the Frances Star Company, which is appearing in Bal timore this week, from Detroit to the Monumental City, the trip being made over the Western Maryland lines and ' connections. Mr. Darby says that railroad and business men have nothing but praise for the new service which has been inaugurated by the Western Maryland ' between Cleveland and Baltimore, and they firmly believe that it will do much to cement the two sections of the country in a business and social way. “The new service,” remarked Mr. Darby, “is bound to place Baltimore, Cumberland, Frostburg, Meyersdale, Connellsville and other points on the Western Maryland on the map in the most effective way possible. The fact that the Western Maryland has taken the progressive step that it has in giv ing additional passenger service be tween Cleveland and Baltimore is be ing heralded all through western cities by letters and circulars which are be ing sent broadcast by the railroads in that section. In this way these points are being brought to the attention of the people of the West in a manner which could not possibly be accom plished otherwise. Westerners be lieve that Cleveland and Western Maryland points will be drawn as close together as Baltimore and the cities in the East.” Traveling Passenger Agent Darby, in commenting on the trip of Mr. Belasco and the members of the Frances Starr Company, declared that the noted playwright and each mem ber of Miss Starr’s company enjoyed the trip to Baltimore immensely, and especially the mountain scenery along the route. “They had a perfect day to view the beautiful scenry along our lines,” said Mr. Darby, “and the members of the party declared that it compared favorably with any to be found in Europe or other parts of the world. They also expressed themselves as being well pleased with the arrange ments made for them on the trip.” Don’t Be a Sponger. Subscribe for The Spirit instead of borrowing your neighbor’s copy. tf. FROSTBURG, MD, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1913 SANTA CLAUS. It is amusing to read some of the editorials written on this subject. Some writers contend that the myth ical character known as Santa Claus has long ago outlived his usefulness, if he really ever had any usefulness, while other writers contend that it would be worse than a crime to teach children that there is no Santa Claus. We have just read an editorial in a newspaper, the writer of which takes the position that this old world would be but a “desert drear,” so far as the children are concerned, if the Santa Claus myth had never been invented, all of which is yawp, “tommyrot” and thoughtless drivel. The Santa Claus myth, like a good many other myths, is not as univer sally beautiful as many people sup pose. In the first place, children at a very early age discover the mythical part of this Santa Claus business for themselves, and then help to delude other innocents. In the second place, Santa Claus does not seem the same to all children. The .little tot in the rich man’s family gets dolls and other toys in great pro fusion, also a great variety of every thing good to eat, etc., that can be found in the stores, markets and shops. The little tot in the poor man’s home across the street is often shown the presents that Santa Claus brought to the rich man’s child, and the poor little waif’s eyes almost pop out of their sockets with admiration and longing. The poor child, too, has heard much about dear old Santa Claus, but soon becomes embittered against the much-praised saint who has been so lavish with his gifts in the families of the rich, while leaving little or nothing in the families of the poor. There are more philosophers and deep thinkers among children, even among quite young children, than most of us realize. Santa Claus is, therefore, a loveable character in the minds of one class of children, and disappointingly unfair and partial in ; the minds of another. . We can not find it in our heart to pass harsh judgment against the mythical Santa, even though when a child we were neither joyfully nor sorrowfully deluded to any great ex tent by him, and from our earliest recollection we somehow had it in our cranium that father and mother were the real Santas. But while we are content to let the mythical Santa live, yet we are not prepared to say or to believe that the world would be any the less happy if it had never heard of such a character. Same way with the Christmas tree business, which yearly denudes thousands of acres of land of fine young timber, which something within us seems to say should be allowed to grow into mature trees for the use of generations yet unborn. Santa Claus is all right when he brings good cheer and happiness to innocent childhood, but when he brings nothing but disappointment where happiness is most needed, as is the case in thousands of homes, what then? After all is said and done, isn’t there about as much need of agitation for a more sensible and sane Christmas as there is for a safe and sane 4th of July? We sometimes feel that there is. In the mean' time, picture old Santa Claus as a myth or as a reality to your children, as you think best, but don’t lose any sleep over what a gulf of dark despair this old' world would be if Santa Claus had never been in vented. Neither adults nor qhildren are ever the less happy on account of myths they hear not of. The Spirit Complimented in New York. C. B. Ryan, formerly a resident of Frostburg, but now employed in the Claim Department of the New York Railways Company and residing at Bogota, N. J., writes to The Spirit as follows: “In the course of my business, I had occasion a few days ago to call on the city editor of the New York Morning Telegraph, and I showed him a copy of The Spirit, whereupon his eyes flashed admiration, and he was unstinted in favorable comment on its “clean cut” appearance. In fact, to quote the immortal “Bill Nve” (apparently) told himself more of The Spirit than it could with modesty speak in its own behalf. Keep up the good work.” MAN’S LITTLE DAY. First thing a fellow knows at morn He’s born; Then, say at ten o’clock the next, x He’s vexed By readin’, ’ritin’, ’rithmetic, Till sick. At noon he has to go to work, Or shirk. Then ’round ’bout two he takes “for life” A wife. From two till time to bring in lights He fights And struggles with his fellowmen, And then He sits around awhile and thinks, And blinks, And when at last it’s time for bed, He’s dead. _W. "V?. Whitlock, in N. Y. Times. i, ■ . NfpsS & •' ■ u ■ s® " : ■ I THE MINERS’ HOSPITAL, FROSTBURG, MD. The above illustration gives a good idea of the fine new hospital recently opened to the public in this city. It is not quite an exact likeness of the building, as the cut used was made from the original drawings of the architect. However, only slight changes were made from the original plans, and those who are familiar with the building as it stands completed will readily recognize the building by the picture and scarcely notice the slight deviations from the original plans. At any rate, the picture will give our readers who have never seen the fine structure, a good idea what the building looks like, and The Spirit is under obligations to the Cumberland Daily News for the use of the cut. A full description of the Miners’ Hospital was published in this paper some time ago, and also in the Cumberland papers, but the Cumberland Times has created a wrong impression in some quarters by referring to it as “the hospital for miners, at Frostburg,” thus creating the impres sion that the hospital is for the use of miners only, which is not the case. While the name of the institution is “Miners’ Hospital,” it is, never theless, a general hospital, and is not restricted to the use of any particular class, but is open to everybody. The name may be more or less misleading, but it was chosen to show that miners, in particular, are entitled and welcome to its benefits in times of sickness and accident. THE SPIRIT PRONOUNCED ONE OF THE BEST No Outside Paper Can Fill the Needs Supplied by the Home Paper, and None Can Take Its Place. High Tribute Paid to The Spirit, to Its Editor and to Frostburg by a Good Newspaper in a Good Neighboring Town. The Eonaconing Advocate, a good weekly newspaper published in a good neighboring town that has for many i years liberally patronized the various publishers who have been in business there, last week had the following to say: “The day of the small city weekly is not waning. The metropolitan daily cannot infringe on its rights. The home weekly reflects the senti ments of its community, aids it in its march to prosperity by continually heralding its advantages and cham pioning its rights as can no other pub licity agent. The metropolitan daily admits its weakness and inability to enter imto the life of any community other than the one of which it is part. Its mission is too broad in its scope for these minute details. “It is here the home weekly or daily comes into its own. It alone can un derstand, sympathize and aid in Solv ing the perplexities of its community. Necessarily, its scope is limited. For this reason it has a right to demand the unqualified support of its people.” “A splqndid example of a progres sive county weekly is The Frostburg Spirit, in it Allegany county and the Mountain City have a live newspaper, one of which they can be proud. Judging from typographical and editorial viewpoints, it is in the hands of a capable and versatile editor. It is one of the best weekly exchanges that come to our desk. It is a credit to Frostburg. That city has a prom ising future. It does big things in a big way. It is a growing power in the affairs of Western Maryland and surrounding territory. But in order to properly organize and thoroughly understand itself, to conduct a public ity campaign whereby it might hope to attract profitable attention from the state and country, it must have a newspaper. It has such a newspaper now, and if Frostburg is wise and far sighted it will give that paper its moral and financial support.” A Compliment That Comes From the Heart. In connection with the foregoing compliment from our esteemed Eo naconing contemporary and competit or for business in the Georges Creek region, we desire to add some com ment. First of all, in our own behalf, and in behalf of “Old Frostburg on The Pike,” we return our warmest and most grateful thanks. Every word The Advocate published in support of the small, city weekly is true, ab solutely true. Secondly, we know that the high compliment paid The Spirit and to its editor, is a compliment that comes right from the heart of The Ad vocate’s able editor, Mr. Kolmer, who is an entire stranger to us, as well as a competitor for business here in the Georges Creek region. In fact the editor of this paper has never seen Editor Kolmer to know him, but he hopes to make his acquaintance soon, feeling sure that he is a man worth getting acquainted with. At any rate, the indications are that The Advocate is edited by a decent, fair-minded, neighborly competitor. While the establishment of The Spirit occasioned the loss of considerable printing to The Advocate, such as the publishing of bank statements, etc., which the law requires to be printed in the nearest newspaper in the same county the bank is located in, the editor of The Advocate is neverthe less fair enough to point out that Frostburd needed a newspaper of its own, and now that it has one, owes it a liberal patronage and its moral sup port. Furthermore, when Editor Kolmer declares that The Spirit is one of the best weekly exchanges that come to his desk, that Allegany county and Frostburg can both be proud of it, that it is a credit to the town and county alike, that it is in the hands of a capable and versatile editor, etc., — when all this comes from a stranger and a business competitor who is un der no obligations whatever to this paper and its editor, why should not every man and woman in Frostburg boost the home paper and help it to grow? What All Frostburgers Should do. If the people of Frostburg all take The Eonaconing Advocate’s advice, we can and will build up a newspaper in this town within a year or two that will be famous from one end of this state to the other. Many of our peo ple are doing nobly for the hotne pa per, while many others are doing nothing for it. Yet the do-nothing and knocker classes are the ones that know just how a newspaper in this town ought to be run. They work overtime yawping and slopping over with “pointers” expressed to each other on the proper course for the editor to pursue in the various details of his business. Some of them expect a metropolitan newspaper on a cross-roads village support. They expect a wonderfully great and newsy paper before they contribute a dollar to its success. But they do not realize that no pub lisher with a grain of sense is going to squander great piles of money without his constituency meeting him at least half way and coming forward with their support, thus furnishing a foundation to build a paper on. Frostburg is a good town, but it would be a much better town if it had a number of badly needed funerals, a shuffling off of mossbacks, tightwads, croakers and old fossils who constant ly cry their own town down and spend as little money here where they make it, as possible. Yes, Frostburg is a good town, but with the great resources at its com mand which it has enjoyed for many years, it ought tb be a much larger and better town than it is. The only trouble \tfith Frostburg is that it has never been loyal enough to its own institutions, and has never boosted hard enough for itself. Now, let us all get together for a long pull, a strong pull and a pull altogether for Frostburg. Bet the following lines be your slogan, and memorize them to the tune of “Marching Through Georgia:” Come, get The Frostburg Spirit, boys, And sing another song; Throw up your hats and cheer it, boys, ’Twill help the town along; Stop your knocks and kicking, boys, For that is beastly wrong, While we are living in Frostburg. Chorus Hurrah! hurrah! for good old Frost burg town, Hurrah! hurrah! we’ll never cry it down, We’ll boost The Frostburg Spirit, and will never on it frown, While we are living in Frostburg. Republican Banquet Complimented by Democratic Paper. The big Republican banquet given in Cumberland on Dec. 6, by State Roads Commissioner Andrew Ramsay, was criticised from one source only, and that wasn’t from a reliable source. The only criticism came from the “B. S.” (blue spite) organ, which wasn’t consulted as to the arrangements and invitations. Even the Democratic newspapers were truthful and respect ful in their mention of the big affair. The Democratic Cumberland Times had the following to say: East night’s banquet at the Queen City Hotel was a credit to Andrew Ramsay, the host; to Governor Golds borough, the honored guest, but more than that it was a credit to the Repub licans of Allegany county and the re mainder of the state. If, as some of the speakers said, more such functions can be arranged, the Republican party of Maryland will be stronger than ever. As far as party principles are concerned, there may be differences, but one who would speak the truth cannot say anything other than that the keynote of each address was pro gressive legislation. Speaking en tirely from a non-political standpoint, the banquet was one that would be welcomed by any city, and Cumber land has only congratulations to offer. Zihlman Boomed for Republican Floor Leader. State Senator Zihlman, of Allegany county, is being mentioned as minor ity floor leader in the State Seriate by leading Republicans. Mr. Zihlman was one of the leading members of the last Legislature, and by his party is considered ably fitted for the roll ' of leadership. It is known that he ' stands for the party doctrines as laid L down by Governor Goldsborough and would ably support all party measures 1 that come before the Senate. —Oak- l land' Republican. 0000060000000000000000000000 § Successor to 8 § The Frostburg Mining Journal 8 § Established 1871 § 8000000000000000000000000008 WHOLE NUMBER 2,184 Will Entertain Doctors And Hospital Directors Georges Creek Medical Association Will Entertain and Give Fine Dinner at Miners Hospital on Friday. On Friday, the 26th inst., the Geor ges Creek Medical Association will entertain at the Miners Hospital, this city, the Board of Hospital Directors and the physicians and surgeons of Grantsville, Md., and Salisbury and Meyersdale, Pa. The entertainment will begin at 3 o’clock p. m. and last until some time during the evening. A fine dinner will be served at 6 o’clock, and a most enjoyable time is anticipated. Addresses will be made by Dr. T. Griffith, President of the association, and by Dr. F. H. Charles, of Midland. The medical men of this town and locality are justly proud of Frost burg’s fine new hospital, and they de serve much credit for inviting doctors from neighboring towns to be 1 enter tained in true Frostburg style and be shown through the institution that is the especial pride of Frostburg and the entire Georges Creek region. Frostinirg’s Handsome New Postoilice Opened New Government Building Now in Commission and Patrons of New Postoffice Are Delighted. The new Frostburg postoffice, a handsome and substantial building erected by the government, was open ed to the public on Monday, the 22nd inst,, and the patrons of the office, as well as the obliging postmaster, Ulys ses Hanna, and his able and obliging corps of assistants, are greatly de lighted with the new quarters. All the equipment was moved from the old quarter last Saturday evening, and on Sunday. Mail was placed in the lock boxes of the new office on Sunday, and the first caller for mail was W. E. Gunter, proprietor of the Gladstone Hotel, who got the Sunday mail for the Gladstone guests. The new building is a model of con venience in every way, and a decided improvement to the town. It is a one story structure with a large and com modious basement, and is located on the corner of Water and West Union streets. It was erected at a cost, in cluding the lot, of $50,000. When a town is once large enough to get a government building, it is getting to be a place of great import ance, and Frostburg is in the class of important towns. A more complete description of the new postoffice will appear in next , week’s issue of The Spirit, and Olin Gerlach, the contractor who carried out “Uncle Sam’s” plans, ought to be interested enough yi a good write-up of the building to supply The Spirit with a first-class engraving. A little co-operation like that is always appre ' dated by the local pajier and its readers.