« of immediate need operatin TELEPHONE YOUR NEWS ITEMS TO THE DALLAS POST Telephone: Dallas 300 More Than A Newspaper, A Community Institution TELEPHONE YOUR NEWS ITEMS = TO THE DALLAS POST Telephone: Dallas 300 VOL. 41 The Business F utifre Of The Small — THE DALLAS wail DALLAS, P4., FRIDAY, JULY 7, 1931 own Dr. Julius Klein, Assistant] Secretary Of Commerce, Gives Reasons For ‘Back- kardness In Small Town ‘wardness In Small Towns J A “* TELLS WHAT THEY NEED { . 5 1 h'% . \ Somebody said the other day: “It's easy to see what the country is com- ing to—it’s coming to the city!” And that sums up a pretty general opinion, liberally backed by census figures. Of course, the popular song writers have a different idea of the trend, and, if we were willing to be- lieve them, we should expect to see the cities rapidly depopulated, as home- sick, mammy- yearning / city-dwellers rushed to board the “midnight choo- choos” for Alaba,” or “Sunny Tennes- see,” or “the little gray home in the West,” or “a cottage small by a water- fall”—or some other rustic spot, tar from the turmoil of city streets. But these lyrics of the, songsmiths are based, I féar, on sentiment instead of on statistics, For the popular im- bression as to 'the immigration eity- ward does tally with the statistics. Here is the proof of it: In 1890 more than 57 per cent of our population lived in the country. Last year’s cen- sus showed that only 37 per cent of the], total were in rural communities. We'see the cities expand in both di- rections (sidewise and up-and-down — become more complex and congested and deafening—rear more stupefying pinnacles—burrow deeper,into the bed- rock—ifling more titanic bridges—grow ever mightier and more magnificent. But how about the small towns of, say, from 1,000 to 10,000 people? Were they not the ancient stronghold of our} traditions, the bulwark of the Nation's strength? No candidate for national office was ‘supposed to have a chance unless he came from a small town— the smaller the better! And so let us see what the outlook is—especially the business outlook—for . those small places. If you will bear with me, let us “go statistical” for a moment. Between the census years of 1920 and 1930, the 2,200 odd little towns in the country with populations between 2,500 and 10,000 just about held their own in relation to. the (country as a whole; in’ both years they accounted for almost ex- actly nine per cent of our total popu- lation. How about the smaller hamlets and villages of léss than 2,500 people? Well, their portion of the total popu- lation has shrunk from 83% to T% per cent since 1920. But how about the possibility that a change is now at hand? Will new . business methods and conditions offer new prospects to the small town? If you want my answer right now to these questions, I would say yes. But let us look first at the other side —the factors working against the small « town. Powerful commercial forces have swept through and swirled around it. An unquestionably one of the most potent of those forces has been the modern business tendency to- ward ever-larger units of organization and operation in farming. /For instance, one is amazed to note the extent of farmers’ co-operatives’ dealings and their reaction on the busi- ness of the small towns. In the ad- mirable Yearbook 'of the Department of Agriculture I find that there are 12,000 farmers’ co-operative associations in the United States. More than 3 mil- lion farmers belong to them. Their es- timated total business amounts to 2% billion dollars annually, Most of that, of course, is in farm products sold. But what is the extent of their co-opera- tive buying? It amounts to pretty nearly 200 million dollars in the course of every year. 2 “Just/what has this to do with the small town?” vou may ask. Here is the is the point: The farm co-operatives largely buy these supplies directly from the manufatcurers. The come generally in car-load lots. The co-operatives ristribute them to their members. In such transactions as this, the small-town hardware store, feed store, agricultural implement store, general store, are permitted to play no part. The same is true of the pur- chases for most of the large scale farms that are being operated now by individuals or corporations, most of the things that they need they buy direct, from some distant manufatcuring cen- ter. Just what is the extent of the tend- ency of small town folks to buy goods “out of town?” If we are to draw any any ‘valid conclusions we need exact data—and fortunately I am in a posi- tion to give you precise figures in a typical case. A. real “business clinic” on this matter was conducted just re- cently by an expert employed by the Chamber of Commerce in a small Tili- €. And, ed there und in an of small tment of nd. t out-of- did not went to asked nswered survey t of the rchased element people are apt to want groceries agJ medi- cines in ga hurry, and they bY them (Continued on Page 8) nois town of about 3,000 incidentally, the facts xy coincide closely ith iN analysis ‘of thé same pin town business by our Commerce &taff in New In digging up the fact town buying, th investid generalize or guess; 1 every house in the plac questions — which werd frankly. ‘And this is what developed: Only 6 or 7 per adrugs and groceries were out of town; here we see ti .| fruit farmer and besides having five goods |” Attorney Smith Addressed Rotary Bu Local Club Members Highly Interested In 45-Minute Talk By Attorney ; “At its Seetings last Thursday night | Assistant District ‘ ‘Attorney Roscoe Smith save astirringforty-five-minute address | before members of Dallas Rotary Club on “Crime Costs and Crime Prevention in the United States and Luzerne County.” He asserted .that crime is costing the United States a direct annual outlay of sixteen billion dollars, and an indi- rect cost of three billion dollars, through the loss of earning power of criminals. This nineteen billion dollar annual crime bill is a little more than one-half of the total United States debt ineluding the cost of the World War. In the case of Luzerne county the cost of crime has increased fifty per cent during the past five years, rising from eight hundred thousand dollars in 1926 to a million two hundred thou- sand dollars in 1930. He stated that 95 per cent of the liquor cases that are brought. before the court are prose- cuted and found guilty. ; Mr. Smith urged ‘the members of Rotary to respond in every case ot jury and not dodge that duty by simu- lated illness and excuses. Mr. Smith | feels that the juries do not take, their duties seriously enough and do not sift the evidence enough to vote fearlessly. Rather than unanimous decisions, Mr. Smith believes that a 9-10 decision should be sufficient for conviction. In commenting on Kis-Lyn the speaker said that the institution costs the county $96,000 annually and is to’ crim- inology what preventative medicine is to the medical profession. It is an in- stitution of which every Luzerne county citizen should be: proud. All members of the club with the ex~ ception of three were present. Those absent being George Metz, who is on his vacation; George Behler, who was out of town on business and who made | attendance at the Wilkes-Barre Club, and. Prof., Warren Taylor, of Trucks- ville schools, who has been touring Europe after attending the Interna tional Convention of Rotary at Vienna, Austria. Prof. Taylor will be in New York today, and will give his report of the convention at next week's meet- ing of the club, later going to his par- ents home in the southern part of the State, to spend the remainder of his vacation. Yesterday afternoon and last night members of the club entertained their wives at a lawn party at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Warren Yiesley on the Isaacs’ Farm. WE APPRECIATE MR. ENGELMAN’S GIFT Edgar Engelman, of Noxen, dropped into our, office the other morning and left us a quart of Latham raspberries grown on his fruit farm tat Noxen. The berries are the finest, largest ana best flavored we have ever seen or tasted. . Mr. Engelman is a progressive young acres devoted exclusively to berry plants he operates a large orchard of choice varieties of apples. The berry fields at this season of the year pre- sent an unusual sight and are well worth a trip to Noxen to view. Commenting on ' the season, - Mr. Engleman says+that the crop this year has been about normal. Right at the present time is a good period for berry | growers to go through their fields and rogue out the diseased plants as these diseases are quite prevelent this year. Mr. Engleman has made an exhaustive study of fruit growing and is con- sidered one of the most scientific of the younger generation of fruit grow-) ers in this vicinity. He warns that all diseased bushes * should be scorched with a torch before removal from the ground to kill the aphis. Se rerm—mereem——() Welcome Rains What could be more pleasant or more beneficial than the recent rains which have drenched this section? Farmers. fields were parched by the drought and the heat. ‘Water supplies throughout the back mountain section were showing (the effects of the drought and were dwindling to a point where the water company had to put restrictions on the use of the hose in fear of a repetition of last year's drought. While the rains of the past few days have by no means entirely relieved the situation, they have done much to replenish ‘the diminishing water supplies and to remove for the immediate present the dangers of a severe drought. The weather appears to have changed. In the summer we get very little rain and in the winter very little snow. 0 GAVE PARTY Mr. and Mrs. Robert Strohl, Jr., of Luzerne, entertained on Sunday in honor of Mrs. Stroh¥s 25th birthday anniversary. Lunch was served to the following: Mr. and Mrs. J.\B. Dougal and Mr. and Mrs. George White, oi Meshoppen; Mr. and Mrs. Dorrance Mekeel, of Pike’s Creek; Mr. and Mrs. John Adams and son, Stanley, of Sweet Valley; Mrs. Robert Strohl and son, 1200,000 TREE (Fred Turpin is the. nephew John, TO BE PLANTED D IN LUZERNE CO. | ~~ { y, State Senator A. J. Sordoni To Receive 25,000 Of « The State Seedlings — Nearly 200,000 trees obtained from |i the State will be planted this season in Luzerne county, according to the Department of Forests and Waters. The Department has received appli- cations for 192, ,000 trees from 48 per- sons in the county. The seedlings are being shipped as rapidly as crews at the ‘State forest tree nurseries can handle the applications for the 7,500,- 000 trees which are being furnished throughout the State this year. One thousand trees will be planted by the school children of Mocanaqua. They will be set out by the pupils of ‘the biology class of the Mocanaqua High School under the direction of L. A. Baer. When planted the trees are to be dedicated as a memorial in ob- servance of ‘\the 200th anniversary of the birth of George Washington. The bi-centenary will be observed next year. Ten thousand trees have been con- signed to L. F. Mitten, superintendent of Irem Temple Coutry Club, for plant-| ing on waste lands of the club. E. E. Harwood, of Hazleton Chapter, Izaak ‘Walton League, has obtained 8,000 of the seedlings which the league proposes to plant. : Among some of the larger consign- ments of trees which the State will send into Luzerne county this year are: ; State Senator A. ¥ Sordoni, son, 25,000 trees. Jeddo Tunnel Co., Jeddo,. 17,000. Luzerne County Industrial School for Boys, Kis-Lyn, 5,000. \{ Hercules Powder co., 1,500. h Irvin Chapin, Shickshinny, 25,000. , Smith Brothers, Nescopeck, 5,500. Highland Coal Company. Einclaiom, ‘White Haven Water Co., 10, 000. Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton Ice gon 2,000. Alder- Expect Ch Changes In Local Appointments }. | ie—— New Board Of County Asses- sors Likely To Make Two Changes Here With the assumption of office this week by the new board of County As- sessors changes in the personnel of the sub-assessors throughout the county is expected momentarily. In the Dallas district there are likely to be at least two changes. ‘ The removal of the present sub-as- sessors and the appointment of new ones is a part of the spoils system ex- pected in political circles. During the past week several local men have been prominently mentioned as likely possibilities for the jobs, Those mentioned are: Nelson Rogers, of Idetown; Wilson Garinger, Fred Turpin and Warden Kunkle, of Dallas. All of these men have connections and abilities such that have warranted the supposition that the sub-assessor- of Con- gressman Murray Turpin, who is in- ential with the new board of Assessofs,| while Warden Kunkle hgs the supporu of all local committeemen and the sup- ‘port of strong leaders in the Fine or- ganization. Appointments will prob- ably not take place before the first of August. WINDOW BROKEN FOR SECOND TIME When a fast driving automobile struck a small stone on the cement pave in front of the Risley-Major Co. store on ‘Main street, Wednesday, the] stone was hurled with such force that it broke one of the big plate glass windows in the store front. This $= the second time this year that the same window has been broken in like manner. ' The window is valued at about $50. Q A Correction Recently Mr. and Mrs. Charles Gos- sart, of 41 Ridge street, Shavertown, celebrated their sixteenth wedding an- niversary. In its account THE. POST inadvertently referred to it as their golden wedding anniversary, with the result that both Mr. and Mrs. Gossart received numerous compli- ments for their youthful appearance on their fiftieth anniversary. THE POST, sorry for the error, etxends its best wishes to the couple with the hope that they may some day celebrate their fiftieth anniversary and that all of the guests present at the sivteenth may be present at the fiftieth, includ- ing the editor of THE POST. 0 BIBLE CONFERENCE Sunday, July 19, will be “get ac- quainted night” at the Evangelistic Bible Conference being held by Rev. M. F. Rasmussen at Lehman. The evening sermon subject will be “An Acquaintance Worth While.” Unusual musical numbers will be given by members of Rev. Rasmussen's family. During the period -of the conferences which will be held at Lehman, Centre- last week |’ moreland orchestra will be heard on special nights. COUNTY BOARD 0 STUDY PLAN FOR NEW ROAD ee Improvement At Luzerne Sought Fc¢- Harvey's Lake Tra - Artery Survey of the se Luzerne borough, Route 115, the main highway lear ng to and from Harvey's Lake will be made by the Luzerg County Commissioners with a view io determining what cost might be involved for the county to improve this important thoroughfare, the Com- missioners Tuesday promised the: Highway Committee of Wyoming Val- ley Chamber of Commerce. The improvement of the highway from a point where the present Gon- crete ends to the intersection of Union street and the abandoned workings of the Haddock Colliery of Luzerne bor- ough, had been urged by the Cham- ber’s Highway Committee as one of the featurés of its valley improvement program. The Chamber's committee further- more’ agreed to communicate with Samuel S. Lewis, Secretary of High- ways, for the purpose of conferring with the State highway official rela- tive to what assistance in the pro- posed program might be expected from the State. S. P. Longstreet, Scranton, division engineer of the State Highway De- partment, . attended the ' conference which was held in the County Com )m just south of missioners’ office. The Chamber's committee included H. F. Goeringer, chairman; D. T. Scott, E. A. Hoffman, John Dando and ASso- ciate Secretary Carl Fissell. The en- tire board of Commissioners was pres- ent. Wells Are Drained For Idetown Fire Husted Home Completely Destroyed By Fire Early Thursday Morning Handicapped by lack of water, Tetra A companies from Dallas and Harvey's Lake early yesterday morning were forced to devote their efforts to saving ‘adjoining residences from flames that totally destroyed the home of Ralph| ‘| Husted along the Lake highway at Ide- town The Husted home was completely destroyed by the fire, believed to have originated in a defective chimney. The fire was discovered at 5 o'clock in the morning by a man who rents the home from Husted and burned itself out in four hours. Fire departments frem the Lake and Dallas fought the flames un- der the direction of Chief Robert Allen, but when it was evident the house was doomed, turned to preventing the spread of flames. The home of Law- rence Keller is adjacent to the Husted property, but was not damaged. Damage to the house was estimatea at about $6,000, partly covered by in- surance. Firemen declared that lack of hose connections made it impossible to bring the fire under control and their efforts were confined to organiizng a bucket, brigade. Several nearby wells were drained dry by the volunteers. SHAVERTOWN STORES ENTERED THURSDAY) Burglars who entered the stores of W. E. Geyer and Herman Van Campen, located in the same building at 10 South Main street, Shavertown, were frightened off shortly after 2:30 o'clock Thursday morning before they secured any loot. The theives are believed to be the same gang that last week en- tered the store of Frnak Malkemes on Centre street, Shavertown, and got away with $6.50. Residents who saw lights moving in the double store building, which. also houses the Shavertown postoffice, noti- fied Mr. Geyer, but when he arrived the burglars had fleed. The top of the cash register in the Geyer meat and grocery department had been partially pried off with a screw driver, but the contents were untouched. State Police and local police officers are investigating the case. FATHER AND SON FINED $25 EACH Charged with violation of the fish laws, a father and son were arraigned before Justice of the Peace Ralph Davis at ‘Alderson Monday night and fined $25 and costs each. Russell Womeldorf, fish warden, who made the arrests, charged the father, Joseph Brody, of 1561 Marine Park- way, Brooklyn, N. Y., ‘with fishing in Harvey's Lake without a non-resident’s fishing license, and the son, Phillip Brody, of 254 East Northampton street, Wilkes-Barre, with lending a resident’s fishing license to his father. The 1li- cense which Phillip Brody gave to his father for the day is owned by the former's wife. ——————————————————————— TO ENTERTAIN FAMILIES Harvey's Lake Association members will entertain their families and friends at a dance at Sandy Beach this Fri- day evening. There will be dancing from eight o'clock to midnight, and a ride on the steamer during intermis. sion. Lake Co Prey Of Flames Lake Totally Destroyed Early Sunday u { The summer home of Frons B. Sgarlat, of Luzerne, located on Car- penter’s road, Harvey's Lake, about a mile from the lake front, was’ totally destroyed by fire early Sunday. morn- ing. Chief of Police Ira Stephenson and volunteers rushed to the burning cot- tage, but the flames by that time had made such headway that efforts to ex- tinguish them were useless. Chief Stephenson stated that Mr. Sgarlat and several friends left the cottage shortly after midnight Satur- and it was his belief that a lighted igarette butt. may have started the oo. Damage was estimated at about $8,000. TRUCKSVILLE FIREMEN TO HOLD LAWN SOCIAL : - At'' a special ‘meeting Trucksville Volunteer Fire Co. and Improvement Association: voted to hold a lawn SO- cial on Wednesday, July 22, on the school grounds. Arrangements are now under way. ‘In case’ of rain on the regular date, the social will be held the following evening. . It was decided to have ‘another meet- ing Monday evening, July 20, at 8 to make final arrangements. Several pledges were made toward the fire truck fund, and a request is now made to ask those who have not paid to make checks payable to the Trucksville Volunteer : Fire Co. and mail to Albert C. Groblewski, Jr, ireasurer, $4, 000 Suit Over Well Pollution Case To Be Tried In October ‘Before The Wyoming County Courts A $4,000 suit for well. poltition dam- ages has been filed by James Storey, of Centremoreland, against ' Clarence Gay, of Centremoreland, local “trouble- shooter” for the Commonwealth Tere- phone Company. The case will come up for trial in the October term of Wyoming county courts. The case is” exciting considerable comment and attention throughout the Centremoreland region and grows out of the charges that Gay polluted a well belonging to Mr. Storey when he filled in an’ abandoned cellar on. a property adjoining that of Storey. Orr eti Engagement Announced Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Schoonover, of Dallas, have announced the engage- ment of their daughter, Ruth beth, to Sereno F. Alling, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank D. Alling, ‘of West Haven, Conn. place in the fall Miss Schoonover. is a graduate of ‘Coughlin high school afid West Chester State Teachers’ (o- lege and received her bachelor of sci- nce degre at Pennsylvania State Col- lege. She has been a member of the faculty in the schools of Clayton, N. J., the last year. Mr. Alling is a grad- uate of Rensselaer Polytechnical In- stitute of Troy. RN SRNL AA GOOD RAKING Some years ago a’ street commis- sioner at Montross hauled a lot of dirt from the site of burned buildings to fill in one of the streets. Since that time motorists who drove that way have had much trouble from. punctured tires. 7 A. man secured an iron rake which had been magnetiezd and on July 4, just passed, he and his wife raked up more than 1,300 nails within a hundred yards on that street.—Tunk- hannock-Republican, imitate eters TO HOLD LAWN SOCIAL The Ladies’ Aid Society of the Trucksville M. E. church will conduct |and Mrs. W. a lawn ‘social at the parsonage lawn this Friday evening, for the benefit of the parsonage repair fund, Ice cream, cake, coffee, barbecue sandwiches and hot dogs will be for sale. a ite ARRIVAL OF TWINS ! Mr. and Mrs. Baden J, Thomas, Pio- neer avenue, Shavertown, announce the arrval of twins, a boy and a girl, John Evan and Joan Eliabeth,z at their re- sidence on July 2. Mother and chil dren are doing nicely. Ly operas MAKING VISITS HERE Dr. H. K. VanTuyl, well-know chiro- practor, with office at 26 Poplar street, Kingston, is making regular trips through this vicinity on Tuesdays and Fridays of each week. Anyone wishing chiropractic service may call King. 7-7250. . a ® at ee WILL HOLD REUNION The Crispell family reunion will be heid July 30 at Kitchen’s Grove near the Idetown trolley station. All friends and relatives are invited to.attend. Summer Home At Harvey's| ‘with blood streaming Up And Beaten After Giv- ' 8 5 ing Ride To Pedestrian At Harvey’s Lake — Charles Klopko, Culprit — | IN TROUBLE MANY TIMES “Let the With hiker ‘hike? is a good ; motto to follow and no one knows ae better than Elosis Vann, of Noxen, a who, out of kindness, picked up > 2 hitch hiker on the Harvey's Lake road late Saturday night only. to be repaid by being held up and given a severe beating when his passenger turned out to be a hold-up man, Vann, who works in the mines in J Wyoming Valley, was ‘returning home from his work and carried with ‘him his week’s pay envelope. Somewhere’ the other side of Harvey's Lake he was accosted by Charles Klopko, Buckwheat Hollow, who asked him for a ride. Vann gladly took him in. few moments later Klopko pointed a pistol-at the older man and demanded money. When Vann grabbed the pistol away from the youth thé latter beat him over the head with a black jack, secured Vann'’s money and made a get-away over the side of the car and across the fields. Vann immediately drove to the office of Dr. GC. Ex Boston in Noxen, where | down over face and shirt he had several stitches taken in his ‘scalp. Vann then res ported the hold up to State Police and Deputy Sheriff Frank' Turner, of Noxen. On Monday morning as Mr. 7 Turner was driving enroute “to Tunk- x hannock on business he saw. Klopko running across a field. He stopped his car, jumped over a fénce and took after his man, capturing him and coms pelling him to go to Tunkhannock with him where Klopko was given a trial of : his before Justice of the Peace George S. Baldwin. Klopko plead charges of assault and highway rob- “guilty to bery and bail was fixed at $2,000. Un- a) able to furnish bail the prisoner was sent to jail. It is said that Officer Turner did not have a warrant with Only for the quick wit of the officer the youthful bandit might still be at Klopko is no good, hag never. been any good and a long term in the peni- great benefit to society. /He has figured of which have netted him “vacations” tions. WORK STARTED on IE SA State Highway Department started. | work this week on seven miles of im- proved road from Brown's Corners ‘Tunkhannock road near schoolhouse. The Department has sight. tricks. two tractors and graders already on: Eliza- |. } {families for the. season. a of the vicinity to do the work. construction and will fill. a long felt want for an’ outlet to the county seat The. wedding is to take lat Tunkhannock. ‘Gave Party Mrs. Alonza Prutzman entertained on Tuesday in honor of her mother, Mrs. Amanda Thomas, who observed her 80th birthday anniversary. .Mrs. Thomas received many gifts and cards of greeting. Guests at dinner were: Mrs, Samuel Johnson, Mrs. Ella Kim-" Mrs. E. C. Aus- ball,” of Wilkes-Barre; Floyd White- tin, of Luzerne; Mrs. bread, Mrs. Mary Kunkle,’ Phyllis Whitebread, Mrs. Alvin Anthony, of Kingston, all former neighbors of Mrs. Thomas when she resided at Stull; Mrs. David Spry and Elgie Proteman, : of Shavertown. rr mn Visited Girls’ Camp Mrs. O. T.. Harvey, accompanied by Misses Ella and’ Christine Brecken- ridge, of Kingston, Frank Bulford, Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Elston, son, Harold, Mr. and Mrs. George Lamoreaux, Mr, C. Kleinert, of Hunts- ville; Mr. and Mrs. G. R. Splitt and son, Durwood, of Jackson, spent Sun- day at Camp Hiawatha, Lake Ariel Ruth May Hazel, Helen Splitt, Eliza- beth Breckenridge and Phoebe Lamor- ) eaux returned home with them. CLASS ON CAMPING TRIP tentiary or the county jail would be a in a number of similar escapades, some y NEW IMPROVED ROAD the job and is hiring only married men. 1 him at the time he captured Klopko. large continuing ‘his daring hold-ups. ] at Kis-Lyn and other/ similar institu- ih (Sutee) to Centremoreland and thence oh through Vernon to join the Dallas- the denis : Mr. Lewis's Sunday school class of | the Trucksville M. E. church left on Wednesday morning to spend a few days at Camp Kodack at Vosburg on the Sullivan Trail. 3 eee {J rere TO HOLD REGULAR MEETING The Jessie Austin Brickel Sunday school class of the M. E. church will hold their regular meeting tonight (Friday) at the home of Mrs. Paul Shaver. All members are request to be present. ; _, .— LT ~°AS°OaAas "CAMPING FOR THE SEASON Ten tents have been pitched on the fields adjoining Pertin’s Marsh and are being occupied by employees of Wilkes- Barra Railway Company and their | A A iy a The new road will be of water-bound fine