Editorially Speaking: Tue QuestioN WE CouLDN'T ANSWER People have a way of asking questions which we can’t answer because the authority to answer rests with someone else. Such a question came to us this week. It should have been addressed to the volunteer fire departments in the Dallas section, and so we are passing it on to them. “Why,” a public-spirited always so difficult to locate a alarm is sounded? Sometimes the blaze if they're not near a telephone. Why couldn’t the fire companies out here adopt a system of signals which would disclose the location of the fire, at least the general direction, or enlighten people a little beyond the mere fact that something is burning ?”’ It’s a good question. When we submitted it yesterday, to the chief of one of the local fire departments he agreed that it was a good one. We pass it on now to the fireme: of Harvey's Lake, Dallas, Trucksville and Shavertowr volunteers all—and count our especially timely suggestion in M. Laing Company is taking a new lease on life and show- ing a praiseworthy earnestness about improving its protec- tion. . It would seem easy enough to decide upon a simple alarm system. One blast of the siren might mean “house call—no fire’ and be reserved for meeting nights. ’. Other numbers might give, not only the general location of the blaze, but other ififorma- tion, i. e., “grass fire”, “call out of town”, etc. toots generally mean “fire out’ Moreover, it should contribute to the solution of a pro- blem which has always annoyed firemen and the/local tele- phone company. As soon as the fire equipment rolls, curious citizens besiege the telephone exchange with requests for information. Frequent announcement that the location of the fire will be given only to members of the fire company has scarcely stifled the eagerness of the citizenry to know what is burning and where. An alarm system should elimin- ate a good many of such calls, leaving the lines open for emergency calls. As we explained, it is not within our province to answer our friend’s question, but we believe it deserves some gentleman asked us, “is it Yur Darras Post MORE THAN A NEWSPAPER, A COMMUNITY INSTITUTION fire in this section after the |V even the firemen can’t find 0 FRIDAY, JANUARY, 5, 1940 ae vIC PROGRAM FOR 1. More community spirit "= Dallas area. : 2. A concrete highway from Dallas to Tunkhannock. 8. Centralization of police and fire protection. 4. Better fire protection and lower insurance rates. : No. 1} 5. More sidewalks. bwnsend Plan ¥ains Following In Dallas Area Group Headed By Doll Boasts 100 Members; To Found Second Club Encouraged by assurances that the Townsend Plan will reach the floor of the United State Senate at its next ses- sion, Townsend Club No. 1 of Dallas, spearhead in the lo- cal drive to arouse interest in the highly-controversial plan, is preparing to capitalize on | the gains it has made in the | last six months. To an extent surprising to those who have been wunin- formed, Dr. Francis E. Town- send’s scheme to provide pen- sions for retired elderly per- sons through a tax on the na- tion’s business has been winning strong support throughout the Dal- / duty done. It should be 4 Dallas, where the Dr. Hen, Two discussion at the next meeting of the four volunteer fire companies in this section. Then we would like to give him the answer—in a headline story announcing which of the * local companies has taken the lead in adopting a simple, informative system of alarms. las ‘area and at its meeting. next Tuesday night Townsend Club No. 1 of Dallas will discuss plans for or- ganizing a second club in this sec- tion. Since its inception in 1934, the plan has had a staunch following POST SCRIPTS The following document was dis- covered among a litter of confetti, empty bottles and badly-broken resolutions early last Sunday and submitted to The Post’s “Lost and Found Department” in the hopég that it would come eventually into the hands of the proper persons. If the Executor mentioned reads, this, he may claim the document by presenting himself at the offices of The Post, with proper identifica- tion. The document: “I Nineteen Hundred and Thirty | Nine, being of sound and disposing | mind and memory, do hereby make | and publish this, my last will and | testament, in order, as_iusify as 1) OW hOW-T0 distribute my interest! and holdings to those who survive me. | “That part of my estate which is known as Time, having been mine | merely for life, and being irre- | ~vocable and non-transferable, is no | longer at my disposal; but except | / for thjis possession all else in the | wold I now proceed to devise and bequeath: | “Item: To young men, I bequeath | and devise ambition, courage and | onesty; to young women, charm, sensitivity and honor; to those who are no longer children, I bequeath | emory, that they may constantly live their youth over again and again; and to my most beloved friends, the old ones, I leave the contentment of old age, the respect of their children, and the blessing | of wisdom, to be theirs, in entirety, | until they fall asleep. “Item: The lust for power I be- | queath to Adolf Hitler and Joseph | Stalin, with the assurance -that it| will, eventually, cause them as much misery as they have created for | | me. “Item: My holidays, I bequeath ! and devise as follows: To patriots, I give Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays; to all small boys, Inde- pendence Day; to warriors, Memor- | ial Day; to humorous columnists | and the Presidents of the United States, share and share alike, ! Thanksgiving Day; to John L. Lewis and William Green, Labor Day; to all children, Christmas; to bibulous folk, New Year's Eve. “Item: I bequeath to the United States of America what is left of democracy and I charge this lega- tee with the preservation and per- fection of democracy until such time as it will be safe elsewhere in the world. “Item: The Rome-Berlin axis, slightly fractured, I bequeath to Be- nito Mussolini, with the suggestion that he hang it in plain sight as a warning against future embarras- sing entanglements, “Item: The stars, all leafy bowers and the music of the waltz I leave to lovers, together with anything else which falls with the eminent domain of romance. “Item: All Saturdays during the school term and the entire months of July and August I bequeath to (Continued on Page 8) children, subject to certain privi- among elderly persons in this sec- tion, but the support was never crystallized until last Spring, when a small group organized a club, The membership now is just a few short of 100 and the meetings every other Tuesday night draw about 30 per- sons. The officers who have led the campaign to enlist local people in Dr. Townsend's campaign to make his plan a law are Stanley Doll, president, P. P, Vosburg, vice-pres- ident; William Myers, treasurer, and Jesse Franklin, secretary. Would Pension Elderly Far from being a pension pro- gram the Townsend Plan has been broadened in recent years to in- clude many economic factors which were not a part of it originally. Basically, according to the local club, it provides for retirement of the estimated 10,000 persons in the United tSates who are now 60 years of age er nlder. A transaction ta of 2 per 1d be levi. a37ann L business in the natig®~“"ine receipts New Bus Schedule Brings Protest Change Slights Families Along Upper Road A new bus schedule, which leaves the Mt. Greenwood section without service on Sundays and holidays, brought protests from residents of that area this week, particularly Iromy<persdis™ Mo, unaware of tlie change, which became effective Jan- uary 1, braved Monday's near-zero weather to wait for buses which never came. Under the new schedule the first north-bound bus leaves Wilkes- Barre for Dallas at 4:50. The last bus from the Public Square leaves at 2 a. m. The first bus from Dal- las will leave at 4:05 and the last bus at 1:10 a Twelve ST: Ra x : ps be di + : which eduled dally on Wak: tR e distributed among the aged, who will be required to place the pension back in circulation within 30 days. days along the upper road will be eliminated on Sundays and holidays. Buses will leave Harvey's Lake They are informed that milk will go up one cent a quart be- cause the drought has in- creased the dairyman’s costs. They may even wonder, once in a while, why they have to pay as much for a quart of milk they buy at the store as they do for a quart delivered by a milkman in a shiny truck at their door. But the average person never bothers to add all these things up. and so he goes on, year in and year out, paying as much as four cents more than he should for his quart of milk—the price of his indiffer- ence to a major American problem. The farmers are organized. After years of taking their medicine si- i lently, farmers in the Dallas area { are mobilizing right now under the banner of the Milk Producers’ As- sociation of Northeastern Pennsyl- vania. The dealers are organized. Bat- teries of attorneys and lobbyists are ready to arise at the slightest threat to the considerable invest- ment the dairy companies have made in plants and trucks. The milkmen are organized. Their unions see that the men who de- Year In, Year Out, The Consumer Pays More Than He Should For Milk, Because He Ignores A Problem (This is the first of a series of articles discussing factors which control the cost of milk. The Post is eager to publish contributions representing different viewpoints. article will appear in an early issue.) In a vague sort of a way, most people who read news- papers know that there is a milk problem. They see newsreels of farmers who, having milked their cows, proceed to dump the milk in country lanes. They réad that Americans are, for some reason, not con- suming as much milk as thev need for health and stamina. Another liver your morning bottle of milk get what they consider to be a fair wage. Even the State has its finger in the pie—the powerful Milk Control Commission, which hears petitions from dairymen and dealers and de- cides from the evidence how much each is to receive and how much the consumer is to pay, All He Does Is Pay Only the consumer—who pays the bill—has no organization. He seems content, probably because no one has ever impressed upon him the magnitude of the problem he has been ignoring. Quite likely, he is not even aware that the milk business in United States is even bigger than the 2,- 000,000,000 automobile business or the $2,800,000,000 meat-packing in- dustry. The farmer, the dealer and the doesn’t know that milk brings in the biggest single chunk of all farm income, 19 per cent of all cash far- mers receive. If he interested himself, the con- sumer might learn that the per capita consumption of milk in the United States is about 170 quarts a (Continued on Page 8) Methodists Adopt Intensve Plan Members Bids Pastors In BRdvancing Church Cause Thirty Methodist churches in the Wilkes-Barre District will conduct ax | Adomiee Meetings” this week and next as part-of a churclmszde pro- gram to achieve progress througn lan intensive program arising from | the suggestion of church members, Church, Wilkes-Barre, will be guest Townsendites claim the retire- ment of 10,000 persons will not only leave jobs open for young un- employed men and women but, as a result of the pensions, will in- jiezenss purchasing power and thus stimulate business. Critics of the plan charge it is not sound eco- nomically. Township Seeks Otfer On Bonds School Board Will Open Bids On January 29 A bond issue of $20,000, author- ized by the voters last November, has been offered for bid by Dallas Township School District, which has fixed Monday night, January 29, at the date for opening and studying offers. Twenty bonds, each of $1,000 par value, with three per cent interest payable semi-annually, will be sold. The issue will be dated February 1, 1940, and bonds will become due on each February 1 for 20 years. picnic grounds daily at 6:50, 7:50 and 9:10 a. m. and 1:10, 3:50 and 5:10 p. m, The trip from Harvey's Lake will take 30 minutes and the trip into Wilkes-Barre from Dallas 35 minutes, according to the new schedule. Card To Neighbor Travels 3,000 Miles Two days before Christmas Burt Jones of Pioneer Avenue, Dallas Township, mailed a Christmas card to his next-door neighbor, Floyd Sanders. Six days later Mr. Sanders re- ceived the card. It had been sent to Dallas, Texas, and returned, travel- ling over 3,000 miles to go 100 feet. The detour was not without pre- cedent, however. Mail to Dallas, Pa., is so often misdirected to Dal- las, Tex., and vice versad that it has ceased to be a joke. S. Cul- bert, express agent at the Lehigh Valley station, keeps a Dallas, Tex. phone directory hanging on the wall for reference, so often does he receive shipments which should have gone to Texas. speaker on Tuesday night at 7:30 at ithe “Advance Meeting” at Dallas | Methodist Church, where Rev. Francis E. Freeman is pastor. Fol- lowing Rev. Dr. Smith’s talk, the meeting will be divided into three groups, for discussion. John Durbin will lead the group which will discuss “What We Can Do to Enlarge Church and Sunday School Attendance During Lent”. Mrs. Laura Patterson will have charge of a second group, which will discuss “How We Can Increase World Service Interest in Giving During Lent”. The third discussion. “What Items Should Be In Our Evangelistic Program During Lent”, will be led by a member to be an- nounced later. The discussion groups will report to a general meeting at 8:30 and committees will be named to follow up suggestions. Dr, Smith will de- liver the closing words from 9 to 9:30, during which period there will be a consecration service. The re- ports of such district meetings will be carried to Binghamton, where there will be an all-day meeting of representatives from all parts of the conference on January 22. hae. was retained as| . NE fe: | president of council Other—~gficl Dr. Verne L. Smith of Central cals reappointed were William of | Council Retains 11 Officials Clark Again President; Roberts, Ill, Is Absent All borough officers were re- elected when Dallas council re- organized on Wednesday night and two additional special policemen were elected to be on call for ermergencies. Peter D. ~ Niemeyer, secretary; Ralph Brickel, treasurer; William Schmoll, road supervisor; J. T. Jeter, borough en- gineer; A. L. Turner, solicitor; Wal- ter Covert, chief of police. Grover Jones and Carl Deutch are the new special policemen. Other special policemen are Joseph Jewell, Leonard Harvey, James Water Service Restored After Tank Explodes No Shortage, Warhola Promises; Fragment Sheared Five-Inch Tree The destruction of Shaver- town Water Company’s 5,000- gallon storage tank, which ex- ploded on New Year’s Day, will cause no shortage of water to consumers in that section, according to assurance given yesterday by Leslie Warhola, manager of the util- ity. Full service was restored within a few hours after the big reservoir blew to bits on Monday afternoon and contin- ued, without any complaints, through the week. The tank was constructed primarily as a reser- voir for a reserve supply in dry weather, Mr. Warhola said. Completing his investigation, the Maurice Girton, School Principal, Dies Suddenly Body Will Be On View This Afternoon At 2 In School Auditorium Maurice J. Girton, super- vising principal of Dallas Township schools for the last 12 years, died suddenly at 3:30 yesterday morning at his home on Overbrook Avenue of L heart attack. he news of his passing shocked the entire community and evoked an outpouring of tributes to the kindliness, the ‘sympathy and the conscien- | tious character of the soft- i voiced educator who has won such sincere respect from his pupils, his associates and townsfolk. The body, which will be at Brickel's funeral parlor this morn- ing for those who wish to view it, will be moved to the Dallas Town- | utility head expressed the opinion ship High School auditorium this yesterday that the explosion was| afternoon, where it will rest in caused by the freezing of an air|state, flanked by a guard from the release valve or a check vent, or'faculty and student body, from 2 both. The tank, which is situated | to 4, as sorrowing friends file be- near Mt. Greenwood Road, above!fore the coffin. Jacob Laux’s was about 20 feet| Services will be held tomorrow long and eight feet in diameter. It was constructed of metal, about 3/8 of an inch thick. Houses in the vicinity were shaken when the tank exploded with a deafening report, which was heard by persons two miles away. Jagged pieces of metal were found 200 feet away. One whizzing frag- ment sheared a five-inch apple tree owned by Harry Ritts, No other property damage was reported, Mr. Warhola said. The explosion occured about 4:30 p. m. Mr. Warhola began the work of restoring service immediately and by 9:30 all consumers had an adequate supply. Local Child Dies Of Rare Ailment Thomas Karns Victim Of Lymphatic Leukemia Thomas A. Karns, 2, son of Mr. and Mrs. Irvin Karns, Davenport Street, Dallas, died at 2:12 Wed- rmsday morning of acute lymphatic Leukerif diseases world. been discovere came here to observe are said to “eat” the red corp cles. The boy had been ill for about Gansel and Ralph Eipper. Burgess Herbert A, Smith was voted a salary of $50 a year. The wages of William Schmoll, formerly 60 cents an hour were fixed at $1,200 a year. James Ayre, William Davis and Joseph MacVeigh, all councilmen re-elected last November, were in- stalled by Burgess Smith, who al- so administered the oath to other officials. . Jack Roberts, the fourth new councilman, was unable to be present because of illness. The finance committee will meet Saturday afternoon to discuss a tentative budget. Joseph MacVeigh is chairman of the committee, Up Go Paper Prices Both daily newspapers in Scran- ton have increased the price of their newspapers from two to three cents a copy. | two months. Services were held at the house at 7:30 last night. The body has | been taken to Dillsburg, near Har- | risburg, the home of Mrs. Karns’ | parents, where services will be held | this afternoon. Interment will be at i Dillsburg. The boy is survived by his mother and father and two sisters, Mar- garet and Patricia. 32.535 Inches Of Rain Fell Here During 1939 The rain fall for this section dur- ing 1939 was 32.55 inches accord- ing to Scranton-Spring Brook Water Co. rain fell, of which nearly half, .92 of an inch, fell on December 20. Mean temperature for December was 35.7 degrees. January 6: Keelersburg Regains Composure As Police Withdraw; Margaret Martin's Slayer Still Free . . . UNITED MINE WORKERS, 40,- 000 STRONG, BEHIND MOVE TO END NEWSPAPER STRIKE HEADLINES OF 1939 Significant News Of Last Year, Taken From The Files Of The Post. Ground Is Broken At Lehman As Work Starts On New $10,000 High School. January 13: Dallas School Board Threatens To Sink New Well Be- cause Of Inadequate Water Service . . . Marilla Martin, 59, Dies At East Dallas . . . Thief Takes 40-Gallon Tank, Motor And Pump From Har- vey’s Lake Boat House. January 20: NINE TRAINS CAR- RY COUNTY DELEGATION WHICH | SEES ARTHUR H., JAMES INAUG- | URATED AS GOVERNOR . . . Ex- breaker Boy Outlines Recovery Plan And Asks Co-operation Of La- bor And ‘Capital . . . Mrs. A. Ri Holcomb Passes 84th Birthday, Says She ‘Feels Too Young To Be So old”. Lee Tracy, Shavertown Movie Star, Spends Two Days Here On Return From London . . . John C. Wilson, 86, Dies At Dallas Township . . Observers Retire From Conferences on Valley's Strike. February 3: Russell F. Weaver, Trucksville, Captured After Three- Mile, Break-neck Chase Through Scranton Streets, Pleads Guilty To Charge Of Disorderly Conduct; Fin- ed $100 . . . BURGLARS SMASH DISPLAY WINDOW, TAKE MER- CHANDISE WORTH $100 FROM ROBERTS JEWELRY STORE, DAL- LAS . . . Weird-looking “What-is-it” Puzzles Centermoreland’s Farmers. February 10: Dallas School Direc- ors Slash Per Capita Tax From $5 $2 . . . Bail-jumping Lyle Gordy, imore, Provides Iron-clad Alibi lear Timself In Martin Murder ery . . . Mrs. Charles White- January 27: Sub-Zero Weather Rides Into Dallas On Wings Of G.. . FIFTEEN INCHES OF SN! FALL WITHIN TWO WEEKS sell - Re-elected President Of Dallas Junior Woman’s Club . . . Francis Drake, 8, Injured While Coasting. February 17: DISTRICT ATTOR- NEY PROBES ‘PAYROLL PADDING’ CHARGES . . . Says State Highway Department Lists Were “Padded” In Luzerne County During Bitter 1938 Election Campaign . . . Civic Groups Lay Plans For Building Community Center. February 24: SEVEN WPA WORK- ERS IN HOSPITAL AFTER TRUCK COLLIDES WITH STREET CAR AT FERNBROOX . . . Flood Danger In Valley Passes As River Reaches 24- foot Crest . . . Public Utility Com- mission Prepares To Act On Com- plaint Of Consumers Against Dallas Water Company = Dr. G.-R. Swartz Leaves To Study At Neuro- logical Institute Of New York Medi- cal Center. March 3: Community Center Plan Makes No Headway At Joint Ses- session Of Dallas Borough And Dal- las Township Officials . . . REAL ES- TATE CONTINUES RISE HERE DES- PITE DROP ELSEWHERE IN COUN- TY . . . Sherman Hildebrant Gets First Air Flight On His 72nd Birth- day . . . Mrs. Kate Wilson, 87, Dies Five Weeks After Daughter. March 10: The Post Goes Neo- Dynamic . . . Snowfall Arrives Three Days After Dallas Gets First Light- ning Of Year . .. Grand Jury Probe Of Election Graft On Highways Opens . . . Esther Honeywell Weds Andrew Race. March 17: Myrtle Martin Named Monroe Township Tax Collector. . . . Alderson Drama Group Wins Place In Finals At State Farm Show . . . American Legion Faces Great Task In Future, Judge John S. Fine Tells Daddow-Isaacs Post. March 24: VALLEY NEWSPA- PERS, CLOSED BY STRIKE, PRE- PARE TO PUBLISH . . . Peter Davis, Alderson, Dies In Hospital; Three Others Injured After Crash On Lu- zerne-Dallas Highway . . . Irked By Delays, New Committee Investi- gates Possibility Of Municipal Own- ership Of Water Plant In Dallas... First Christian Church, Sweet Val- ley, Burns Last Note On New Church. March 31: Answer Filed By Dallas Water Company Indicating Demands May Bring Rate Increase . . . Lu- zerne Protests State's Failure To Keep Promise To Pave Main and Bennett Streets . Six-month Newspaper Strike Prolonged By Printers’ Demand For Protection Against Possibility Of Merger . . . Herbert R. Culp Dies At % April 7: Budget Bugs Dallas School-Board Ags LAS WAT COMPA ITS PG; vate to LIED ed f : 2 the most puzzling character, one of his faculty mem- hown to The medid¥i| bt No cure far the disease has’ ever and specialists who he child con- | others, Mr, Girton preferred to per- fessed their inability tos halt the|form them himself and somehow, ailment, in which white corpuscles |despite the burden of responsibili- a, “ties he assumed, he managed to do In December 2.11 inches of | (Saturday) afternoon at 1 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Shaver- town. Rev. Herbert E. Frankfort will officiate. Brief services will be held later at Bloomsburg, where Mr. Gir- ton will be buried. =~ 7 A native of Hemlock Township, near Bloomsburg, Mr. Girton was the son of Mr. and Mrs. S. M; Gir- ton. He was educated at'Blooms- burg Normal School and Pennsyl- vania State College, where: he: re- ceived his B. S. degree.’ Came Here In 1928 | He began teaching in . 1911 at Buckhorn, and in- his sezoad; year was named supervising principal. After four years ai Buckhorn he went to Pottsgrove as supervising principal, where he taught six years, also as supervising, principal, ; be- fore accepting his post at. Dallas Township in 1928, Ta He was a member of the Penn- sylvania State - Education. Associa- tion and the National Education Association, a member of Blocoms- burg Lodge, F. & A. M. and of Shavertown Lutheran Church. His outstanding characteristics were his sympathy and his kindli- ness. Commenting on Mr. Girton’s pes. said yesterday, “He came near- er to being a man than anyone 1 Know.” Rather than delegate dutd svery job well. His school was a madi smo operation and both the teac s and his pupils idolized him for his goss and his sympa- thetic interest in“their problems. As an unusual administrator, he was known for the keen interest he had in the financial welfare Othe school district and events. His influence was apparent in every phase of school life and his passing leaves a vacancy which it will be difficult to fill. Surviving him are his widow, his father, S. M. Girton of Danville R. (Continued on Page 8) How Long Will You Remember . . . when Slovakia se- ceded from Czecho-Slo- vakia and became an in- dependent state under German protectorate. « . . how long it took Germany to capture War- saw. : +. the datz on avhich s XI'died. « « « . how many men Joe Louis fought in 1939. . + . when the first Yan- kee Clipper flew across the Atlantic. . . . when Russia invad- ed Finland. . . . how many men died in the ill-fated Squalus. . who won the Na- tional League pennant. John D. Grant’s illus- | trated Chronology of 1939 on Page Six, supplem gs inn the loca 1 Pin ¢ Aon in . athletie~.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers