Swarthmorean 1932 December 22

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Vol. IV,    No. 51
Swarthmore, Pa., December 22,  1932
$2.50 Per Year
COUNCIL FIGHTS
TO CUT TAX RATE
Aim at Reduction in Boro Tax
of From 1*4 to 2 Mills;
Citizens Testify
REDUCE       WAGES       AGAIN
Only Three Hore Days of Waiting
Borough Council at its regular meeting
last Thursday sailed straight ahead towards a generous tax cut for 1933. A
dozen taxpayers, protesting at the present
rate, added wind to their sails.
Final approval of the 1933 budget was
withheld only because all the members of
council were not convinced that further
cuts could not be made. When the meeting adjourned at midnight, the budget had
been pared down to $38,016.90. At the
previous meeting of council on December
5, the total figure was $42,043.
This year's budget was $47,608.85
which means that council has already cut
$9,591.95 from this year's figure.
"Any budget which gives the borough
less than $40,000 to spend will mean reducing thc appropriation of each department to the very limit," declared Harry
Miller, chairman of the Finance Committee.
Although the tax rate for 1933 will not
be established until early next year, thc
budget at present indicates a reduction iu
the general tax of \y_ to 2 mills. The
$3,000 balance from this year's budget
will be added to the 8,000 to be secured
soon from the lien on the Syndicate
property adjoining the Rutgers avenue
school.
Council is planning to put this money
to work to save the borough at least $250
interest on money which it has been necessary to borrow from the bank in previous years.
If the unpaid taxes for 1932, of which
one third Of the total are outstanding, arc
paid up in the early part of 1933, Mr.
Miller believes it may be possible for the
borough to operate all next year without
borrowing a cent from the bank.
The borough general tax rate was cut
from eleven to nine mills last year. If a
further decrease of two mills is possible
for 1933, a cut of nearly 35 per cent in
the general borough tax will have been
made in two years.
The two and one-half mill sinking fund
tax and the half-mill library tax will remain the same this year as last.
Joseph S. Bates, chairman of the Highway committee, declared tbat Swarthmore
had better streets maintained at less cost
than any other borough in Delaware
County because of the resurfacing which
has been carried on each year in the past.
Only $2500 has been provided for resurfacing next year as compared to $3536
spent this year and $4500 in 1931.
"If streets are not resurfaced when
they should be, water works down and
disintegrates the paving materials," declared Mr. Bates. "This necessitates repaving in a fraction of the time that
would have been necessary had proper resurfacing been done each year.
"Approximately $350,000 of the taxpayers' money is invested in the borough's
(Continued on Page Three)
 o* »
Elric S. Sproat has been added to
the list of captains for thc Renovize
Campaign to be started in Swarthmore in the near future. Mr. Sproat
will replace E. B. Merriam, whose absence from the borough made his resignation necessary.
CAN SANTA BE
FAR BEHIND?
Alice Parks and
James Prescott,
twin son and daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
James H. Hornaday of 310 Dickinson avenue.
NOTHING BUT
CHRISTMAS
COULD   BRING
SUCH   BENIGN
SMILES
Walter Haines, Jr.,
and Mary Fell, son
and daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Walter Haines Dickinson, of 904 Mt.
Holyoke   Place.
CHRISTMAS PAGEANT
AT M. E. CHURCH
NOT A FRIEND
IN THE WORLD
Harry
Finance
Council,
Miller< chairman of thc
Committee of Borough
is beginning to feel thc
pressure of criticism which comes
upon anyone responsible for preparing budgets and setting tax
rates.
Thc once outspoken, aggressive,
Mr. Miller is now wistful and
lonely.
"I was talking with a friend of
yours the other day" remarked
Councilman Gensemer to the Finance Committee chairman.
"I have no friends," interrupted
Mr. Miller. ""
A Christmas Pageant will be presented in the Methodist Episcopal
Church next Sunday evening at 7.45.
This presentation was given last year
and is repeated. Members of the Sundry School will represent the different
characters, assisted by three choruses.
The Men's Chorus, Women's Chorus,
and the Children's Choir. Lighting effects will be used to depict the several
scenes.
An invitation is extended to the
people of the community to attend.
The morning service will be featured
by a Christmas sermon by thc pastor
Lloyd P. Stevens, "If He Had Not
Come." The two choirs will sing Christmas music tinder the direction of Mr.
Reuben   S.  Hormann.
COLLEGE STUDENTS
HOME FOR XMAS
The following college students are
among those who will spend the Christmas holidays at their homes in Swarthmore:
Betty   Bonsall  from Wooster college;
Ann Orr and Eleanor Wermouth from
Bucknell; Laurence H. Smith, Park College, Missouri; Boone Dinsmore, Peddie
School;    Ruth    Clewell,    Bryn    Mawr;
Sarah Frances Jessup, Wellesley; George
and Robert Barber, Rollins Park College.
i     Pearl  Bastian and  Dorothy  Underhill,
! Beaver   College;   Cole  Emmons,  Joseph
| Vincent   Carels and   Robert  Ford  from
! Pennsylvania Military College;  Webster
Taylor, Ralph Little, Anton Wagner and
Don Jaquette from State College; John
Jackson and Charles Smith, Lehigh.
Edmund V. Anderson, Williston
Academy: Ethel Garrett, Dorothy
Witham, Richard Griftin, Rawlston McLain William Bird and William C.
Campbell of Duke University; Mary
Child, Boston University; Catherine
Wood, Johns Hopkins; Harriet Matter,
Dickinson College; Adrien Child, North-
field Seminary;.Millard McLain, Cornell
I
University; Louise Wagner, State Teachers, West Chester, and Margaret Little,
Sargent School for Physical Training.
Margaret McCracken, University of
Vermont; Katherine Isfort, Battle Creek
College; Mary Devereaux, Elmira College; Elizabeth Ford, Marjorie Webster
School; Elizabeth Bassett, Adelphia College; Charles De Hart Brower, 3rd,
Princeton; Elmira Redgrave, Hood College.
FIRE DAMAGES HOME
ON DARTMOUTH AVE.
Only Two More Nights
CAROL SINGING
SATURDAY NIGHT
Residents of Borough Urged to
Attend Community Event
At Station Square
CHURCH      CHOIRS      ASSIST
Santa Claus will make his usual visit
to Swarthmore this year arriving sometime between the hours of ten o'clock and
early morning. Mothers and fathers who
want him to stop should leave their porch
lights burning.
In case there are new residents who
wish to make certain that they arc not
missed, they should telephone their name
and address to Sw. 206 or drop a line to
Thc Swarthmorean.
With last week-end's snow still covering the streets, preparations are being
made according to the latest reports to
have Santa complete his route earlier
than usual this year.
♦ •»
COUNCIL SUGGESTS
LIBRARY PAY RENT
Propose Annual Fee of $600 to
Help Borough Balance
Budget
SAYS   $1800   IS   SUFFICIENT
Fire was discovered in a front second-
floor room in the home of Arthur Hau-
ger, 326 Dartmouth avenue, shortly after
noon yesterday, and had gained considerable headway before the Fire Company
was called.
Volunteer firemen fought the blaze
from inside the house and although it offered stubborn resistance, the flames were
soon extinguished with chemicals. The
furnishings in the front room were ruined and water leaked through the floor to
the front room on the first floor.
Mrs. Hauger discovered the fire and
turned in the alarm. Mr. Hauger who is
an active member of the Fire Company
did not arrive home until the blaze was
extinguished.
  ««»	
Junior Dance Classes
The  Junior dancing class  will  meet
at   the   Woman's   Clubhouse,   Dec.   26.
The chaperones will he. Mr. and  Mrs.
Harry L. Miller, Mr. and Mrs. Charles
G.   Thatcher,   Mr.   and   Mrs.   Joseph
Perkins, Mrs. Leslie Campbell, Mr. and
Mrs. Walter Hoff Seeley, Mr. and Mrs.
Leonard   Peck.
*   *   *
The hostesses for the Intermediate and
Senior dancing classes which meet Dec.
29 will be Mr. and Mrs. Gary White, Mr.
and Mrs.  Varrell  Drew,  Mr. and Mrs.
Theophile Saulnier, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur
Bassett, Dr. and Mrs. E. Fullerton Cook,
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Jones and Mr. and
Mrs. George Mclntyre.
Borough Council is seriously considering charging the Swarthmore Public
Library an annual rental of $600 for
the use of the Library rooms on the
second floor of Borough Hall. Since
the founding of the library four years
ago, no charge has been made by the
Borough for the use of the quarters.
Members of council feel that thc
$600 would help balance the borough
budget after making a mill and a half
or two mill tax cut. They also believe
that the Library should be able to operate on $600 less than they receive
from the half mill tax.
At the present time it is roughly
figured that the income of the Library
from the half mill tax approved last
year and sustained this ycar is about
$2400. When the question of reducing
the Library tax to one-quarter mill was
brought up last summer, council declares that members of thc Library
board admitted they could get along on
less than $2400 but that a cut to one
quarter mill or $1200 was too drastic.
Out of these conferences this summer when the subject of placing the
library tax question on the ballot was
being discussed, council got the idea
that $1200 a year was too small an
amount for the Library, $2400 was admittedly more than absolutely necessary, and $1800 would bc nearer the
correct figure. A rentai charge of $600
a ycar would bring the Library income
to just that  figure—$1800.
No definite action has yet been taken
by Council, and the Library Board bas
not held a meeting since the subject
was first discussed by the borough so-
lons two weeks ago. However, individual members of the Library Board are
greatly agitated by the proposal.
They point out that due to the delinquent taxes, the income for the Library Association will fall far short of
the $2400 which they would secure from
the half mill tax providing the borough taxes were collected one hundred
p^r cent.
They also point out that thc residents
of Swarthmore have at two elections
within the past two years clearly voiced
their approval of the Library and the
half mill tax and that consequently
Council will be showing poor sportsmanship in going against these two expressions of approval by the voters just
because of the personal feelings of
certain members of the borough body.
Final disposition of the question will
probably be made at the next meeting
of borough council.
Swarthmorc's third annual Christmas
Carol singing for the entire Community
will be held Saturday evening, Christmas
Eve., at 7:30 at the Community Tree just
south of the railroad station. The project is being sponsored again this year by
the Interdenominational Committee of
Swarthmore.
Mrs. Leonard C. Ashton will again
lead the singing which will last one-half
hour, from 7:30 to 8 o'clock. Everyone
is asked to dress warmly and bring flash
lights to read thc words of the Carols
from printed song sheets that will be distributed. If the weather is inclement, the
program will be held inside the Woman's
Clubhouse.
Thc chorus which will lead the singing
will consist of singers from the choirs of
the various churches and the Men's Community Chorus. Frank R. Morey, Fred
Pine, and Webster Taylor, will be trumpeters for the occasion and R. C. Disque
will play the trombone.
The tree has been illuminated with blue
lights through the efforts of the Business
Men's Association and E. B. Merriam
will provide a spot light. Boy Scouts and
Girl Scouts will help pass out the music
and help with other details.
The members of the Interdenominational Committee are: Episcopalians—
Mrs. F. C. Irvine, Mrs. Arthur Redgrave.
Mrs. Arthur H. Mitchell; Methodists—
Mrs. .W. N. Spangler, Mrs. Earl Kistler,
Mrs. Frank Smith: Frjends^Mrs. Lewis
Fussell, Mrs. Jesse H. Holmes, Mrs. W.
H. Thatcher; African Methodist Epis.—
Mrs. J. Bundick, Mrs. Elizabeth Coleman, Miss Gladys Quinlan; Presbyterians
—Mrs. C. H. Leech, Mrs. E. F. Cook and
Miss Jean Doctor.
COLLEGE GIRLS SING
AT ELLIS HOME
For the twenty-first year, the Swarthmore College girls held their annual
Christmas service at the home of Dr. and
Mrs. William T. Ellis, last Sunday evening. The big blue Christmas tree on the
Ellis lawn was lighted for the occasion.
One hundred and twenty girls gathered
in the living room of the Ellis home,
which they had previously decorated. It
was a candle-light meeting, led by Miss
Olive Brown. In addition to carol singing by the whole group, one of the seniors
read the Nativity Story from Luke's
Gospel, and a trio of students played a
selection on violin, cello and piano. Dr.
Ellis described his latest visit to Bethlehem, and interpreted some of the present meanings of Christmas. As usual,
the feature of the meeting was the approach of the Seniors, in caps and gowns,
singing Christmas carols after the others
had assembled.
-^«»
Work of replacing present gas mains in
the Ridley Park area with larger mains,
at a total cost of $44,000, has l>ecn begun
by forces of the Philadelphia Electric
Company. Increased demand, due to the
use of gas house heating installations,
made the step necessary, officials explained.
All pipe used on the project is of Chester manufacture, and the entire investment will be spent in the Delaware Division of the company.
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