—
=
~ fore the present situation is remedied. If we must wait that
~ long for temporary relief, why not use the same time for
more permanent measures? -
It is time to recognize that the problem of satisfactory
water service in this section demands action more funda-
mental than any appeal to the Public Utility Commission.
It is not merely a matter of demanding water; it is a prob-
lem of determining HOW we can, quickly and permanently,
assure present and prospective residents satisfactory ser-
vice constantly in the future. : :
Any approach to a solution must be made with an ap-
preciation of the problems of the water company, as well
"as of the consumers. It is a matter of common knowledge
that Dallas Water Co., which has an investment estimated
conservatively at $100,000 in its local plant, is not receiving
a fair return on its capital. It is trite to say that you can-
not get blood out of a stone. It is also true. And there is
probably no better time than now to give Leslie Warhola
and Phil Anderson full credit for their earnest attempts to
respond quickly and courteously to the complaints which
have flooded their office. It is enough to say that they have
never done any less than their best. £2
There is a feeling that conferences with the officials
of the parent company at Harrisburg are useless, that the
‘company has never made improvements until it has been
compelled. There is justification for that attitude. Even
so, the next attempt might bring results and save the cost
of litigation. It would not be a waste of time if a group of
level-headed citizens, with a clear idea of what they want,
made a final effort to induce the company that unless it can
guarantee adequate service it must be prepared to expect
outright antagonism from this long-suffering community.
If such a meeting is held, and The Post feels it would
‘be worth while, it should be given full publicity and the dis-
cussion should be reported in full to a public which wants
to know and deserves to know every fact on both sides of
the question.. : ;
If the company convinces the consumers that it has no
money to carry out needed improvements there will be only
one course left, an effort to prove that the utility does not
deserve its franchise locally and an investigation to deter-
mine what steps can be taken to establish a new company,
which will have the resources and the courage to spend
money now and get its profit in the future, when a steadily-
. growing family of consumers will assure a fair return.
~~ From the engineering standpoint, the prime require-
ment here is the construction of an almost completely-new
system. The pipes are not quite so bad as some sidewalk |
engineers would have you believe, but most of the mains
are ridiculously small. Any patch-work in this community,
which is growing constantly, can be only temporary.
The wells and springs now used as sources of supply
cannot be expected to satisfy the future needs of Dallas.
Eventually, we must expect to sacrifice the unquestionable
‘high quality of our present water for the less satisfactory,
but more consistent, supply from some sizable lake or pond.
\
their organization's name on a bill-
board at a particularly dangerous
confluence of streets and highways in
North Tarrytown. I refer to the bill-
board which masks an abandoned
church on the Albany Post Road
just before it dips down to cross Po-
low Cemetery.
\ * pas
When the eyes of motorists should
be attending strictly to business at
this very confusing intersection,
(there is actually some doubt as to
which fork will take them to Al
bany), the American Legion screams
from a billboard for attention. I have
never dared risk time enough to read
| that particular billboard, but if it calls
upon drivers to join or support the
American Legion, it certainly fails in
its purpose, for the motorist, fool-
hardy enough to read that board,
would" not live long enough to do
either. :
* o .
Doubtless the ‘American Legion
will retort that it does not pay for
billboards and that, therefore, its
hands are clean, that the Legion is
not responsible for all the ugliness
and traffic hazards billboards natur-
ally produce. If this is the Legion's
answer, then it will only be dodging
the issue, as an official of the Boy
Scouts of America did last Spring,
when he wrote me the Boy Scouts
did not pay for billboards, merely ac-
cepted free advertising space where
ever and by whomever it was given
to them. -
* *
And yet the Zoy Scouts of Amer-
ica are supposed to be nature lovers!
And we are asked to support this
organization because it trains our
young boys to be good citizens of
the future! I, for one, can’t see how
such hypocrisy at the heart of an or-
ganization cannot fail to communi-
cate itself to its younger and more
impressionable members. And I for
one, will never contribute one dollar
to the work of Boy Scouts of Amer-
ica until its officers publicly repudi-
ate this specious stand regarding bill-
boards. The brobdingnagian bill-
board blight violates every tenet of
good scouting. +. nat are a few pic-
nic papers scattered carelessly about
to the gigantic litter of billboards and
Such a supply as, for one example, Harvey’s Lake would
provide adequate fire protection as well as a constant sup-
ply for howe consumption if finances for such a project
were available. .
Whatever the right answer, let everyone be prepared
for the expense that will be necessary. The root of the evil
is money, and unless such needed improvements can be fi-
nanced by sale of stock, by interesting a new and more
prosperous company or by the purchase of the utility by
local communities there is not much use expecting any
very satisfactory water service in Dallas for some years.
When Snow Isn’t Beautiful
Last week’s record-breaking snowfall was so lovely, a
good many people in town displayed reluctance to mar the
virgin whiteness of their sidewalks. Their appreciation of
beauty apparently was greater than their consideration for
pedestrians who had to plow through the nine-inch snow.
There is-an ordinance which requires householders to
keep their sidewalks cleared of snow and ice but we believe
the obligation is more than that; it is a neighborly duty.
We cannot believe any one likes to see his neighbors forced
to slosh through wet, icy snow when even a narrow path
would save them such inconvenience.
It is not merely a matter of inconvenience, either. In
some sections of town pedestrians were compelled to walk
in the streets because the sidewalks were not cleared. Many
persons had narrow escapes when cars came skidding by
and it is extremely fortunate that no one was injured.
It was, of course, the first snowfall of the season and
unexpected. Perhaps the snow shovel corps was not in
training. Let’s hope that on the next snowfall all of us will
be good enough neighbors to get out early and keep side-
walks clean. 1
snipe signs which make all but a few
of our well-policed parkways a blot
on the fair face of nature?
The brewers of America are cur-
rently spending spads of money try-
ing to convince the public they are
cantico River and flank Sleepy Hol-
In short, Mr. Harley, representing
a vast industry which wants to be
classed among good citizens, offers no
help to those of us who want to see
billboards brought down once and for
all. If Mr. Harley, and his brewers,
as an industry, would ban the use of
billboards among themselves, then the
billboard blighters would have so
3 § at
B 2 ‘
: VE More Than A News —A Co ity Inmstituti ; :
Congrats Sullimihe mo kw, . atiidying the freedom of bye Xia. A Newspevor=A, Gommuninyslesmition THE POST'S CIVIC PROGRAM
Cr . S . | | 3
Speer) ” of \ Press The Constitution of the United States. ; 1. A modern concrete highway leading from Dallas and con-
The Dallas Post is a youthful, liberal, aggressive weekly, dedica- The Dallas Post necting with the Sullivan Trail at Tunkhannock.
ted to the highest ideals of the journalistic tradition and concerned Established 1889 2. A greater development of community consciousness among
{primarily with the development of the rich rural-suburban area about * residents of Dallas, Trucksville, Shavertown, and Fernbrook.
Dallas. It strives constantly to be more than a newspaper, a com- : 3 : 3. Centralization of local fire protection.
munity institution. L A Liberal, Independent Newspaper Published Every Friday 4. Sanitary sewage systems for local towns.
! : Morning At The Dallas Post Plant, Lehman Avenue, 5. A ceniralized police force. ’
Subscription, $2.00 per Year, payable in advance. Subscrib- Dallas, Penna., By The Dallas Post, Inc. 6. A consolidated high school eventually, and better co-oper-
ers who send us changes of address are requested to include both } 8 \ ation between those that now exist.
a and old addresses with the notice of change. Advertising HOW ARD W. RISLEY General Marui 7 Tone Tana g polis from local school affairs.
Hates on, requ HOWELL EB REES.. ae ian os Managing Editor : VSiiuction job more dewalt
= A = x o " \ o}
The Real Problem Is Money, Not Water ? ; What Do You Know About Health?
3 pi TUN
The decision of the Borough Council to file a formal : oda i on ;
complaint with the Public Utility Commission in an effort Pal \
to secure better service from Dallas Water Co. is proper! RIVES How cn oi. Qc
and reasonable but it can scarcely be accepted as a guar- BE IMPROVED ?
antee of immediate or permanent relief. : — ~
In October, 1933, council, the borough school board, the M AT L HE W S
township school board, the Taxpayers’ Association and the
Rotary Club filed a petition of complaint with the old Pub-
lic Service Commission. More than a year later, in Novem-
‘ber 1, 1934, hearings began. Three months later, after di- |
gesting the testimony, the Commission ordered the utility / ade’
to carry out a five-point program. Those improvements! I am surprised the officers of the | Otherwise it would be quite futile to 2 ¥VHO was :
~ were completed in August, 1935. - | American Legion in my own county have one advertiser withdraw his use 8 ANZTORIUS ?
Nearly two years elapsed from the time that complaint | of Westchester are so careless of of a sign only to have another take : x
was filed until the steps needed to improve the service were | good name and reputation as good his place.” > WAT ARE
taken. At that rate of progress, it will be late in 1940 be- | citizens that they permit the use of ta BLOT'S ‘
SCISSORS {
?
many blank boards on their hands
they'd have to take a number of
them down. And so, if industry by
industry, resolutions against bill-
boards could be passed, we would
gradually begin to see our country as
nature intended us to see it. Mr.
Harley's opinion is typical of the
stiff-necked bureaucrat who knows
how to make a good thing for him-
self out of a trade association. The
1. By cooking
them in milk or by
Answers:
mashing them and adding milk
promptly after cooking.
2. A Paduan professor of the 17th
century who founded the physiology
of metabolism. He was the first to
weigh himself before and after a
meal to note the chemical changes
@
wherebv the process of nutrition
takes place. :
3. An instrument used in a skull
operation. Invented by the 19th
century Parisian, Claude Philibert
Hippolyte Blot, these lance-pointed
scissors are used to pierce the sl
and to cut as the blades are opened.
\
stiff-necked bureaucrat’s secret is to
avoid change ‘or progress whenever
and wherever possible.
* : *
I was amazed that even the N. Y.
Times, which has ‘given roadside im-
provement some very real assistance
City Symphony
By Edna Blez
in its columns from time to time, did
not make use of the opportunity af-
forded by the Automobile Show re-
cently to do a little missionary work
among the motor makers at a time
when they would be most sensitive
to it. They, with the oil people and | cause I simply can’t let Christmas
hotel people are, of course, the worst | come without writing my annual let-
offenders, and they should be made |ter. But my letter is somewhat dif-
to realize that highway safety (about ferent from those the children write
which they talk so much only because | because I don’t want anything out of
they are afraid an outraged public that great pack of yours. I want to
may step in one day and demand |ask a favor of you. Perhaps you will
think it is too large a favor but I am
Dear Mr. Santa Claus:
I think it was about this time last
year I wrote to you. I am afraid I
am very much like the children be-
regulation of one sort or another) |
can not be attained as long as they
continue to give the outdoor adver-
tising interests such a huge chunk of
money every year to blazen their
wares along your highway and mine.
* *
I learned last week at the Joint
Council for Roadside Improvement,
held at the Russell Sage Foundation
in New York, that Mr. Henry Ford
has issued orders to his advertising
people that they are not td permit
his cars to be advertised on billboards
except in what are known as “‘com-
mercial areas.” '
* *
At the conference, Colonel Freder-
ick Stuart Greene, head of the De-
partment of Public Works for the
State of New York, made no bones
about the fact that efforts to control
billboards by legislation had always
failed at Albany because the bill
board interests always managed to
have a few senators, simply because,
as lawyers, they could take nice, fat
doing their best to be good citizens. | retaining fees from the billboard
And yet they are among the steadiest [moguls without batting an eye.
of billboard users. In my own home
town, Hastings, we find our view of
the Palisades marred by signs touting
the beers of Ballantine, Schaeffer
and P.O.N. I am calling upon my
fellow villagers to show these brew-
ers how they feel about their using
billboards in Hastings
# »
Here is what the head of the brew-
ers’ lobby, Mr. Hugh Harley of the
Brewers’ Industrial Foundation,
wrote me recently: “Naturally we
feel that the brewers are engaged in
a legitimate business and they should
enjoy the same privileges of adver
tising their product which are grant-
ed to any other business man. Of
course, I do not know the situation
with regard to the particular cases
which you brought to our attention,
but I presume that the case rests fun-
damentally with the owners of the
property on which the advertising
boards are displayed rather than with
the displayees themselves. If the
properties are owned by the brew-
ers mentioned, they can be consulted.
|
|
In outlining how hopeless it has
been to expect statewide relief from
Albany, Colonel Greene pointed out
that local governing groups have the
right to take the matter in their own
hands. But, he warned, we may ex-
pect the sly hand of the signboard
spadassins to turn up and offer a con-
sideration to anyone ready to “wote
for a local zoning ordinance with
teeth in it.
= on
Of course the officials in my town
are all honorable men. I do not mean
to suggest that the. billboard brigands
have crossed their palms with silver,
but I can’t help wondering what's
been keeping their hands tied all
these years. I imagine people in other
parts of these United States have the
same problem. But to them I bring
courage. The anti-billboard senti
ment is growing, and here in New
York State one of our political can-
didates, a large billboard user, got
left at the polls, largely on the bill-
board issue. Thats sompin!
not afraid to ask you because you
(have never failed me yet, and I have
| been writing you letters for a good
many years!
I don’t know how much you hear
in that far away home of yours and
I don’t know how well informed you
are. Do you receive a daily news-
paper or do you depend on the ra-
dio? If you don’t know what has
been happening in the world since
you were last here it would take more
than this letter to tell you, but I can
tell you that the world is in a sorry
state of confusion. Everywhere things
seem to be going wrong. And I think
you can do something about it! For |
generations you have been spreading |
good will and cheerfulness and so we |
have never needed you quite as much |
as we do this year. We need your |
happy face and we need to hear your |
infectious laughter. The world is
sick at heart and it needs a doctor to
cure its aches and pains.
You might be surprised to know
that things are not what they should
be right in our own United States.
Everywhere there is an atmosphere of
intrigue and the whispering cam-
pains get worse and worse. You
should hear some of the gossip which
has grown into fabulous stories about
those in authority. No one has faith
in anyone else. Just a few weeks
ago the entire country was in a wild
state of confusion because Orson
Welles dramatized one of H. G-
Well’s fantastic stories too realistical-
ly. People are afraid and they don’t
know exactly what they are afraid of.
The world is bubbling over with anx-
iety, hatred, and fear. We need help
and that is the favor I want to ask
of you. Never before have we need-
ed you as we need you today. So
please, Mr. Santa Claus, while you
are on your annual tour of this sick
world put a little tolerance, and love,
and understanding into the hearts of
the people. Christmas spirit always
comes back for a few days during the
holidays but we want it to stay a lit
tle while longer than a few days. See
what you can do to help people to
forget their prejudices and suspicions.
We need a little more understanding
and less hatred. 1 have great faith
in you, Mr. Santa Claus, and like the
children, I at least have courage
enough to write to you and ask for
what I want, and this time.it is a
large order but I feel sure you can
do something about it!
THE LOW DOWN
from |
HICKORY GROVE
Some folks keep pointing at
the bankers and blaming them
for everything, like even chinch
bugs, etc., but you know, they
are not such a bad lot—if you
once know ‘em, and don’t hap-
pen to owe them anything. But
the ones I know, they are just
cashiers and presidents, etc.—
and not vice-presidents—so may-
be that has something to do with
it.
Anyway, bankers have been
in the dog-house. But our Govt.,
which is findmg fault with
bankers, if it would run its bus-
iness with one-half the gump-
tion that the bankers use, we
would not all need to lay awake
nights wondering what is going
to happen next to upset the ap-
ple-cart.
The bankers, they stick to
money, like a shoemaker sticks
to shoes But our Gov't. it
spends most of its time acting as
if nobody else knew beans, and
it must look after everybody like
we are 2 year olds— like Mr.
Hitler in Europe, he thinks he is
Napoleon, and runs everything.
Bankers—I would sooner let
them hold my gold watch and
chain, if I had one, than some
of the gents there in Wash.
Yours, with the low down,
JO SERRA.
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