—Lancaster Farmlm. Saturday. June 22. 1974
10
Since
by Melissa Piper,
Associate Editor
This week will mark the
two year anniversary of the
Flood of 1972 or as it was
known in the Wyoming
Valley, near my home, the
“Summer of Agnes”.
Many stories have been
written about the conditions
of the towns and cities that
were badly hit by Agnes;
however, many forget that a
large percentage of crops
throughout Pennsylvania,
New York, Maryland and
Virginia were either ruined
or hurt by the raging water
and thick mud.
Fortunately, our farm in
Columbia County escaped
serious damage but many
others lost sizeable crops of
corn and grain.
Rain had been falling
steadily for most of May that
year and by early June the
ground had been soaked to
capacity. Flooding might
have occurred as the melting
snow of the mountain regions
blended into the streams but
when the heavy rains of June
began, flooding seemed a
more real danger.
Beginning at midnight on
Friday, June 23, the rain
came down in torrents
causing the already swollen
streams to overflow their
banks and by five the next
morning, Fishing Creek in
Columbia county had been
transformed from a swollen
creek to a raging giant.
Further up north in the
Wyoming Valley, the mighty
Susquehanna River had
exploded over its high banks
and had invaded the city of
Wilkes-Barre and the
surrounding country side.
Tearing houses, commerical
buildings, cars and bridges
to pieces without thought of
preference.
“Grassroots Opinion”
SCOTTSVILLE, KY., ALLEN
COUNTY NEWS: “Deficit spending is
peculiar to governments. No
businessman would or could continue
to operate his business by pursuing a
policy of more outgo than income. Yet
governments persist in it, to include
small municipalities. Fiscal
responsibility is one thing that we
think everyone should expect of their
civil servants, and by that we mean
also the elected officials who take an
oath that we think includes such a
requirement It is helpful, perhaps, to
turn the rascals out but if they have
been m office too long, the harmful
effects are usually irreversible. The
answer: Look closer at your can
didates’ qualifications, encourage
better candidates to run by not only
pledging but giving your full support,
and then work with them and know
what they are doing while in office.
You must either protect yourself or
pay attention to those who are trying
to help."
XXX
NEW BERN, N. C., SUN-JOURNAL:
“Beware of all kinds of frauds during
the current gasoline crisis! ... (In
one city), a man dressed in work
clothes, went down a line of cars
collecting money for gasoline and
giving receipts. Telling the customers
he was a station employe the culprit
Two
Melissa Piper
Associate Editor
Friday and Saturday for
most people involved in the
diaster, was only a blur of
time, remembered only as
evacuations, wading
through waist high water
and living as refugees in
shelters.
For the farm families, it
meant moving machinery
and animals to higher areas
and fighting to keep water
and mud from taking over
their buildings and fields.
By Sunday, June 25, most
of the water had
miraculously receded and
the grass, trees, fields and
buildings that had been
covered by water were left
with a brown coat of dust.
As I walked over our farm,
I remember how quiet the
world seemed as if it were
resting from the hardship it
had endured. Much of the
com which had only begun to
show itself because of heavy
rains, had been washed
away from the fields and
replaced with litter and mud.
The fields of grain had
cools of water in their center
Years
Agnes
and the clover which had
been damp for so long was
downed and heavy with
moisture.
The farmers closer to the
flood ravaged cities in the
Wyoming Valley were more
dismayed however for much
of their crops were totally
destroyed and worse yet
some of their animals had
been lost or drowned.
Within the next week,
volunteers from all over the
country streamed into our
area to help in the clean up. I
was especially touched by
the energetic and tireless
help of those families of the
plain sects from this area.
They devoted themselves to
helping wherever it was
needed without regard to the
religion or race of the people
in need.
Two years have passed
since Agnes hit our state and
yet the- effects of it have
lingered on. Many families
in the Wilkes-Barre area still
live in emergency housing.
Farms are still being
repaired and animals
replaced.
Measures are now being
discussed to limit zoning on
flood plains and the Red
Cross had announced that a
bill to make emergency
funds available without a
presidential declaration of
emergency has been signed
into law.
Hopefully, Pennsylvania
will never have to ex
perience another disaster for
it changes so drastically our
way of life and thinking. If
however we are subject to
another emergency I think it
wise to take on the attitude
that the volunteers from this
area demonstrated - to help
those in need with an honest
concern and love for all
people.
got about $l5O - and vanished. He
was not associated with the service
station in any way. So, take heed, be
sure you know who you are dealing
with. You could get stuck.”
ANTIGO, WISC., JOURNAL: "There
are sharp differences between the
approaches of congressmen and
legislators generally to economic
issues. One type is much more
disposed to place the blame than it is
to develop solutions, and since
spotting someone to blame has broad
appeal among the voters it can be
good politics until the time comes
that workable solutions are needed.
That calls for constructive efforts, the
sifting of facts and judgment based
upon them. Those who can see
nothing but conspiracy behind every
economic evil eventually are
recognized as politicians first and
statesmen - not at all."
CHASKA, MINN., VALLEY
HERALD: “I’m like so many
Americans, I hate to see the millions
and millions of dollars being spent by
congress for guns and tanks and
ships and other war-making
equipment but it’s pretty evident if
we don't have a giant capacity along
those lines we'll be a part of a
Chinese or Russian five-year plan
sometime in the future.”
XXX
XXX
THE DEEP END
Leison for June 23,197 ii
Devotional Reading: Psalms
13.
Background Scripture: 2
Thessalonians
Devotional Reading: Titus
2:11-14.
When we speak of someone
“going off the deep end,” we
mean that they have gone
beyond reasonable limits in
some particular direction,
they have lost their per
spective and become
fanatical.
This, of course, can
happen in any area of life,
but it is particularly true of
men’s religions. There are
always religious fanatics
and this fanaticism always
constitutes a threat to
religion because it tends to
distort it.
“The forest for the trees”
Fanaticism is like looking
at a whole forest and seeing
only one tree or group of
trees. So, religious
fanaticism is focusing on one
aspect of religion—usually a
valid aspect—and blowing it
out of proportion. When this
happens, the fanatic cannot
see, as the old saying goes,
“the forest for the trees.”
This was the problem to
which Paul had to address
himself when he wrote to the.
church at Thessalonica. The
Thessalonians had become
fanatics on the subject of
Christ’s Second Coming. For
them, every aspect of
Christianity was seen only in
the shadow of this one
concern. Both their church
lives and their daily lives
were focused on this belief.
Paul admonished them,
not to forget the Second
Coming, but to put it back
into perspective and stop
ignoring the other facet of
the gospel.'' Religious
fanaticism always distorts
the importance of one part of
the truth at the expense of
the rest of it.
Secondly, the problem at
Thessalonica was not just
that people’s beliefs were
distorted, but that their lives
were too. Because they were
hung-up on the question of
Christ’s immanent return,
they had decided to stop
working and leading
productive lives. Thus, Paul
had to warn them against
“any brother who is living in
idleness...”
Wrong belief may be self
serving
Paul realized that
fanaticism is not just a
matter of wrong belief, but
may be a means of satisfying
some self-serving tendency.
Perhaps one of the reasons
that the Thessalonians were
so attracted to this
fanaticism is that it allowed
them to be lazy and
dependent upon others. It
was so serious that Paul had
to demand: “If any one will
not work, let him not eat”
(3:10)!
Fanaticism usually meets
self-serving needs and its
effect is not just that people
hold erroneous or distorted
beliefs, but that they live
distorted lives. This
distortion is usually
backed up by a misguided
intensity. Philosopher
George Santayana defines a
fanatic as “one who, having
lost sight of his aim,
redoubles his effort.”
Paul was also concerned
rmt&mimm&mK
NOW IS
I THE TIME...
Max Smith
County Agr. Agent
Telephone 394-8851
To Enroll In
Cora Contest
The five-acre corn growing
contest is again being
sponsored by our Extension
Service and the Penn
sylvania Master Corn
Growers Association.
Growers must fill out an
entry form and return it to
the Extension Office by July
1. The contest requires five
acres of one kind of com,
either one field or in coun
tour strips, and any fanner
or tenant farmer in Penn
sylvania is eligible. Details
are available on the entry
form.
To Check Management
Beef and hog producers
are in a bind because of the
high cost of grains and the
low market price of their
animals. The high price of
feed grains makes it
essential to check all feeding
practices and try to get
cheaper grains. The wasting
of feed at the feeder or
hopper is one place to start;
some animals are throwing
out too much high-priced
feed. Rats and mice will
destroy valuable grains if
allowed to multiply. Limited
feeding of grains, rather
then self-feeding, could give
cheaper grains. The use of
silage in the ration will
usually cheapen grains.
Plenty of shade, fresh air,
anjl fresh water are all
important to economical
grains. With minus margins
efficiency becomes very
important. '*■
Farm
Calendar
Monday, June 24
Fulton Grange Youth Night
Thursday, June 27
Swine Field Day, Sponsored
by the Pa. Pork
Producers Council and
the Pennsylvania State
from HISTORY’S SCRAPBOOK
DATES AND EVENTS FROM YESTERYEARS
The United States Constitution went into effect on June
21, 1788.
Germany Invaded Russia on June 22,1941.
The Civil Aeronautics Authority was created by Congress
on June 23,1938.
The first mayor of New York City took office on June 24,
1665.
“Caster’s Last Stand” took place on June 25,1876.
President Tyler was secretly married in New York City
on Jane 26, 1844.
A depression began on June 27, 1893, as prices collapsed
on the stock market.
with the bad example some
of the Thessalonians were
setting and he reminded
them of his own example
when he had been with them
(3:7). The problem with
“going off the deep end,” he
knew, is that the fanatic
hurts both himself and, by
his bad example, others too.
(Based on outlines
copyrighted by the Division
of Christian Education,
National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the
U.S.A. Released by Com
munity Press Service.)
Tmmmsmi
To Introduce New
Grains Slowly
The winter barley crop is
now be harvested and
some producers may want to
start feeding. Due to the
danger of digestive disorders
feeders are urged to permit
the grain to stand for several
weeks and then introduce the
new grain into the ration
slowly (10 to 20 per cent at
first). After the grains have
gone through a curing period
(sweat), there should be less
danger of increasing the
amount in the ration. Cases
of scouring and bloating
have occurred when too
much of the new grains were
fed to cattle.
To Renovate Strawberry
Patch
If the old strawberry
plants are to be retained for
another season, it is
suggested that the rows be
renovated in order to get a
better crop next year.
However, it is a fact that
most plants will not bear as
well the second or third year.
During July or early August
the tops of the old plants
should be mowed off (set
mower high enough to avoid
injury to the crowns) and the
rows should be narrowed to
about 12 to 15 inches. Ap
plications of nitrogen or a
complete fertilizer will
encourage new growth and
aid the forming of more fruit
buds this fall. Irrigation of at
least one inch of water per
week (in dry weather) will
create ideal conditions for a
bumper Crop of strawberries
next spring.
University at Penn State.
Grain Meeting, at the
Sheraton Conestoga
Motor Inn, Lancaster,
sponsored by Penn Ag at
6:30 p.m.
Viewpoints
He serves his party best
who serves his country best,
—Rutherford B. Haye<
wK