Editorially Speaking: IT'S A PROBLEM IN ENERGY We find it difficult to dismiss as unimportant the epi- demic of disobedience which has been breaking out recently in schools hereabouts. We have hesitated to comment on the matter until now, because we felt we were ill-equipped to reach any solution, but a week of conversations with young people, a few parents and several school officials has encouraged us to submit a few conclusions. First, the evidence: ITEM: In Wilkes-Barre the student body of a high school, irate because the school board presumed to replace a popular substitute teacher, marched defiantly out of the school and along central city streets to the supervising principal's office where it submitted its demands en masse. ITEM: In Dallas the pupils of the high school planned to conduct a “Senior Skip Day”, when all stu- dents who wished would cut an entire afternoon’s class- es. The scheme fizzled when the swift action of school officials frightened the less enthusiastic skippers. ITEM: high school, stole master In Plymouth three boys broke into the copies of an approaching examination and, before they were exposed and ex- pelled, were selling the questions for a modest sum per set. ITEM: In one school, where a trustful entepreneur installed a nickel record-playing machine, or “Jook- Box”, the collector, turning up after several weeks for his loot, found about $2 in coins and a little more than $4 in slugs. We are willing to believe that there was no element of viciousness about any of these involved were likable youngsters, of good families. they did was silly, but not criminal. Most of the pupils What If the four incidents incidents. had not come so close together, any one might have been dismissed airily as an amusing prank. : On the other hand there ‘nerly or reasonable about any of these outbursts. was nothing honorable, man- We can sympathize with rebellion when it has a cause, but with the possible exception of the case of the substitute teacher, the motives behind these incidents were purely selfish. If these things were caused by an appetite for thrills, playing hookey seems a rather cheap adventure in a world crowded with op- portunities for bravery and nobility. It is easy to prove that these explosions of juvenile effervescence were characterized by a common disrespect for order, lack of appreciation for a free education, dis- courtesy toward older and wiser persons and, in two in- stances, downright dishonesty. It is more difficult to fix the responsibility and direct such energy into more constructive channels. Scolding the erring pupils provides poor satisfaction. It is scarcely more reasonable to throw the responsibility upon the teachers. Both pupils and teachers must share the blame, but the real hope for an answer to the puzzle rests with parents, not as individuals, but as a group. With the development of the public school system, the parent has found it easier to evade his share of the respon- sibility for the education of his offspring. Parents forget that education is a process which cannot be confined in a school room. During every waking moment, impressionable youth is being subjected to the process of education, in school, at home, in church, at the soda fountain, at the din- ner table, on the street, at the basketball game, everywhere. What he or she becomes is the mass result of the never-end- ing impacts of experiences. You cannot throttle the energy which drives youth to- ward new experiences. All you can hope to do is to direct it into more admirable outlets than student strikes, exam- ination thefts, “Senior Skip Days”, and counterfeiting nickels. The facilities for fun in Dallas are limited. If the energy of youth is to be directed, if an environment conducive to the growth of honor, virtue and intellect is to be provid- ed, the community must awaken to its responsibility. There must be places where young people can use up their energy, under proper su- pervision, and on a slim budget. The churches, the borough offi- cials and the school officials must work together in providing recrea- tion and opportunities for the men- tal development of young people. We need a library, a swimming pool, regulated coasting areas, ping pong tournaments, a Little Theatre, a community hall and more, and the answer is not that ‘such things cost too much money.” Procrasti- nation will demand a higher price in sacrifice of character and ideals. As for the youngsters themselves, we suggest they devote some of their excess energy to the task of helping their elders to achieve some of these objectives promptly. We'd like to have some letters from these young people, offering suggestions. Old Street Car Station Is Being Remodelled The old street car station on Main Street, Dallas, was leased this week by Howard and Rpssell DeRemer, who will establish [The Only Radio Shop in the building. Part”of the structure will be re as a wait- ing room for bus patrons. It will be repainted inside and out, Both of the young men who are starting the business are well known here. How- ard is a recent graduate of the Coyne Electrical School. CENTERMORELAND BABY IS NAMED FOR YOUNG MOTION PICTURE STAR Mr. and Mrs. George Schoon- over of Centermoreland have named their one-month-old baby daughter Gloria Jean, not only because they like Gloria dean Schoonover, Scranton’s child star, but because it’s a pretty name anyway. The Centermoreland Schoon- overs are no relatives of the Scranton Schoonovers, but they enjoyed Gloria Jean’s perform- ance in “The Under Pup” and so the baby, born January 11, will bear the young star’s name. The Scranton Gloria Jean was a guest last week at Presi- dent Roosevelt’s 58th birthday party. POST SCRIPTS Pencil Marks on Brittle Copy Paper: The expose that never won a Pulitzer prize . . . stumbling over dead cows in a freight car with a politician who believed the cattle were tubercular getting tar on a good pair of trousers climbing to the roof of a shack at 4 a. m. to watch cows be- ing slaughtered . . . writing our stor- ies for a week on a typewriter plant- ed back of the men’s toilet because city officials were trying to sub- poena us . . . the disillusionment when nobody became excited over our disclosures . . . riding in a pho- tographer’s ancient Ford to White Haven to celebrate somebody's 100th birthday anniversary ...shov- ing stones under the wheels when the car stalled going up a steep hill . running back down the hill af- ter a tire that had spun off the wheel , . . gulping at Dan Hart's speech . . . “May the Autumn of your life be long and may every falling leaf sing sweet melodies of what has gone” . . . Using the same line in a speech we wrote for the President of a graduating class to deliver at commencement . . . it was the second year we had written the President’s oration . . . interviewing Esther J. Cantor, then “Miss Wilkes- Barre”, now June Clayworth of the movies. —— OUR FAVORITE STORY . . . about the mongrel and the poodle we used to see every morning at 2 when we walked home . . . one morning the mongrel was in the gutter, dead, and the poodle was sitting beside him cocking his head and pawing the carcass . . . when we came near the poodle growled and bared his teeth . . . protecting his dead pal . . . ‘at dawn the police came and shot the poodle and threw both carcasses on the dump . . pleasant memories of Galli-Curci . . . how we tried to escape the assign- ment because we'd been out in the rain all afternoon . . . our shoes were muddy and our pants were baggy . . . how she postponed her dinner to talk to us . .. how aghast we were when she walked into the room, gave us the only big chair, (Continued on Page 8) MORE THAN A NEWSPAPER, A COMMUNITY INSTITUTION Tue Darras Post Vol. 50 League Declares Quarrel Ended; Dissolves Unit Lahr's Group Takes New Name; Smalley Invites Members Into Branch 22 The State Executive Committee of the American Progressive League washed its hands this week of any responsibility for the actions of the group formerly known as Carver- ton Branch, No. 28, of the League, which has withdrawn from the par- ent body and changed its name to the United Citizens’ League. “I hope this is the last we hear’ of this matter,” commented Robert J. Smalley, State secretary, in an- nouncing that the branch, which has been engaged in a fight with Kingston Township Branch, No. 22,(: - * for several months over territorial rights, had severed its connections with the League. In a formal statement to The Post, Mr. Smalley said: “Withdrawal of the Carverton- Franklin Township Branch, No. 28, from the League, and their decision to become known as the United Cit- izens’ League, divorce that branch from any participation in the activ- ities of the American Progressive League, Inc. “The State Executive Committee will no longer be responsible for the actions of the group formerly known as Branch 28, which is now non-ex- istent, the only recognized branch of the League being the Kingston Township Branch, No. 22. All debts of the former Branch 28 must be referred to the new organization known as the United Citizens’ League. “The State Executive Committee urges all members of the expelled branch who wish to remain in the Progressive League to. attend the meetings of Kingston Township Branch, No. 22, every Wednesday night. They will be accepted for membership if they make request to Paul Hughey, president of Branch 22, or to Jesse Jones, secretary, at any of their meetings.” The quarrel began when Branch 28, headed by Herbert Lahr, began meeting in Kingston Township, which the League insisted was the exclusive membership territory of Branch 22. Mr. Lahr claimed his group could find no meeting place in its own membership area. Dallas Escapes Meningitis Scare No Cases Here, Despite Great Number Nearby Although Luzerne County’s year- old epidemic of cerebro-spinal men- ingitis, which has taken 13 deaths -| among 33 cases this year, has been taking its toll throughout the coun- ty, not one case has been reported in the Dallas area since the first outbreak last winter. John Yaple, State health officer, commented on the unusual situation this week. The last case of spinal meningitis in this section was more than two years ago. A case of in- fantile paralysis was reported sever- al months ago, but it was mild. There are only three cases of con- tagion now in the area covered by Mr. Yaple, one case of scarlet fever and two cases of whooping cough. The nearest spinal meningitis case to Dallas was reported last Fall at Sweet Valley. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1940 QUICK ON THE DRAW Add Woolbert, Jr. who plays the part of “Lucky” Woolbert, a gun-slinging young out- cast, in “West of the Rio”, the play {to be produced by Dr. Henry M. Laing Fire Company on March 7 and 8 in Dallas Borough High School. Well known for his athletic prowess, Mr. Woolbert will doff his uniform for sombrero, chaps and a holstered six-gun. Transplant Town To Justify Title Drama Is Now West Of The Rio, Not The Pecos A frantic search for a new title for the play to be produced by Dr. Henry M. Laing Fire Company on March 7 and 8 came to an end this week, but the committee almost had to apply for a WPA project to change the course of the Rio Grande for the sake of theatrical honesty. The original title, “West of the Pecos”, was dropped in a flurry of embarrassment after Roswell Mur- ray tipped the amateur play-writers off to the fact that Zand®rey had used that title for one of his novels. The only other river that didn’t sound like an Indian herb medi- cine was the Rio Grande, but that river, alas, is Southwest of Texas. Then someone, poring over maps, discovered that in one place the Rio Grande actually makes a dip, and that there is one tiny bit of Texas which is really “West of the Rio.” It was good enough for the committee. That was the title printed on the tickets and posters which went out this week and Sun- down, the cowtown in the play, was moved to South Texas. Mrs. Harold Rood, director, be- gan rehearsing her cast on Mon- day night. Arthur Dungey, chair- man of the ticket committee, began distributing tickets on Tuesday. Cal- vin McHose, chairman of the gen- eral committee, will make a report on the progress of plans at the reg- ular meeting of the fire company tonight in the hose house. No 'Hookey Playing’ In Dallas This Week Chief of Police Walter Covert, who had an eye peeled all week for any recurrence of the “hookey playing” episode which Dallas Borough school officials nipped in the bud last week, reported there were no cases of tru- ancy uncovered this week. There were a number of absences, but they were excused by illness. Chief Covert has been making the round of likely places along Main Street every day on the look-out for tru- ants. ‘ flooded this section after Walter Winchell, close friend of J. Edgar Hoover, FBI chief, broadcast last Sunday night his prediction that an arrest in the year-old case is im- minent. G-Man’s Presence Confirmed State police and the district at- torney promptly ridiculed Winchell’s : forecast, but newspapermen uncov- ered enough information to satisfy them that an FBI investigator came to this section about three weeks ago from the Philadelphia branch to make a study of the case. FBI Chief Hoover declined to comment on the reports. He did not deny them, however. It was near Keelersburg, 12 miles from Dallas, that the pretty Sunday school teacher's body was found, a few days after her disappearance from her home in Kingston in De- cember, 1938. The investigator who visited there made no attempt to hide his identity, residents said. There was no inkling of what had happened to arouse the investiga- tion from its lethargy. The clue may have come over the tapped tel- ephone wire to the home of William Martin, an uncle of the murdered girl. Police denied that, too, but a close friend of the Martins told a different story. He said the phone was tapped shortly after the girl dis- appeared. Since then, authorities have listened in on many of the No. 6 Tip Sent Police To Dallas Through such calls police received a number of tips, all of them use- less until now. One call sent police | ©. to an address in Scranton, but the night. man named as the criminal was dead. Another one was from a wo- man who described a man she saw on the morning Miss Martin disap- | declared. peared, standing at Kingston Corn- ers talking to a girl who resembled the newspaper photos of the victim. Another call sent police to Honey- suckle Inn, near Dallas, only to find that for the last five years the old inn has been the home of a Wilkes- Barre newspaperman whose reputa- tion is beyond reproach. Many of the stories circulated this week, such as the one which had the Martins receiving 32 calls from the murderer, were obviously false. Another fantasy had Attorney Miner Aylesworth of Sweet Valley receiving a letter from the FBI, ask- co-operation. Aylesworth, who assured The Post he has no connection with the Mar- tin case, couldn’t even suggest how the story might have originated. Year-old Murder Mystery Is Revived As Police Deny Winchell's Forecast; FBI Agent Playing Lone Hand In Case Week In State Rumors that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has decided to in- tervene in the unsolved Margaret Martin murder mystery were confirmed yesterday by reliable reports from the Centermoreland and Keelersburg sections concerning a man who displayed the credentials of an FBI agent | | in questioning residents there during the last two weeks. | Tight-lipped police, who adopted a policy of denying everything, were i| of little help in squashing the rumors, many of them sheer fantasy, which calls made by fanatics or sympa- thetic friends. Attorney CIVIC PROGRAM FOR 1940 More community spirit in the Dallas area. A concrete highway from Dallas to Tunkhannock. Centralization of police and fire protection. Better fire protection and lower insurance rates. More sidewalks. $1,400,000 Spent For Relief Each Carson Sees Job Drive As Solution To Vicious Unemployment Problem auditorium on employment, relief and taxes.” Luzerne County. Council Studies Fire Protection Supervisors Invited To Conference On Problem commissioners will be held on Fri- day, March 16, to discuss the re- Co. for funds to maintain the vol- unteer company. Harry Ohlman, chairman of a addressed council at its meeting on Wednesday night, asking for co- operation of the two governing bod- ies in sharing the cost of fire pro- tection. At the same meeting council ex- tended an invitation to Robert Hall Craig, general manager of Dallas- Shavertown Water Co., to confer with council next Thursday at 2 to discuss steps necessary to supply fire plugs and a volume of water adequate for fire protection. At the request of Wilkes-Barre City, council agreed to certify an amount up to $150 in case any needy person from the borough is sent to the Wilkes-Barre Contagious Hospital. A committee from Daddow-Isaacs Post, American Legion, having as members John Thomas, Paul Shav- er and Joseph Adametz, asked council for $100 a year to pay rent for rooms for the club’s meetings. Council appropriated 50 for the pur- pose. Secretary William Niemeyer was instructed to ask Dr. W, F. Davi- son if the State Board of Health can take over the duties of the Borough Board of Health. Netherlands Ready For Nazis, Dutch Visitor Declares Blkemade Is Making Tulip-Selling Tour If Germany's military strategy is to strike the Allies through the Netherlands, she may find that her delay has been fatal. Unprepared last September, the Netherlands are now ready to hurl back any Nazi attack, according to George Alke- made of the Hague, Holland, whose annual tulip-selling trip brought him to this section this week. A vivacious, tall, blonde man, whose English, thanks to 20 years’ of visiting the United States, has scarcely any accent, Mynherr Alke- made has been in Germany, England, .| France and Italy within the last four months. He reached this country in mid-January, arriving aboard the Italian liner, Rex, after a trip through Belgium, France and Italy. Since September, Mr. Alkemade says, the Neitherlands has flooded great areas along the border, laid down fortifications and constructed tank traps. It has been a costly plan, because the engineers have had to destroy houses and forests which lay in the path of the forti- fications. In Hague, where Mr. Alkemade lives, 15 batteries of anti-aircraft guns maintain constant vigilance. Dutch planes are grounded after dark, but alien planes fly over oc- casionally and the guns chatter fre- quently, sometimes with tragic re- sults for trespassing fliers. Mr. Alkemade has personal knowledge of one German plane which was shot down. The pilot was given a military funeral and his coffin taken to the border, where it was met by a guard of goose-stepping Germans. Mr. Alkemade is proud of the lack of censorship in the Neitherlands. He ccmpares its unfettered press with that of United States. In ad- dition, the Hollanders get news broadcasts from most neighboring countries, so Mr. Alkemade, who speaks English, French and Ger- man, besides his native tongue, has enjoyed varied viewpoints on the war's progress. He believes the English radic is most truthful. He left home on December 27 and Saw Funeral For Nazi Ace Shot Down Over Holland at the Belgian frontier he was sub- jected to the first of a series of thorough examinations. Because of troop movements, he found train ac- comodations bad, with trains run- ning as much as 10 hours behind schedule. He reached Paris during a blackout. In Italy, he found every- thing humming, a condition which strengthened his opinion that ‘“Mus- solini is Europe's smartest diplo- mat”. The trip from Genoa to New York was uneventful, except for the contraband inspection at Gibral- tar by British navy officers. Mr. Alkemade, who will be here until May, is planning on returning to Europe by air. He has been making his trips to this country to sell bulbs for 20 years, usually making a trip a year. Half an hour after he landed, he bought the automobile which he uses to cover the country, Some of the bulbs he sells have brought prices as high as $4,000 a bulb. A conference of Dallas Borough | councilmen and Dallas Township | thrashed his 130 committee named by the firemen, | James Parkinson, would be two people in the hos- 39, wife’s brother. two children, The reached home. On Wednes- George Coles” Skull Fractured In Fall George Coles, 85, Dallas R. D. 3, was admitted to General Hospital at 11 Wednesday morning, suffering from a possible fracture of the skull. He received the injury when he fell down a flight of stairs at his home. Dallas Township Bonds Sold To Emma Clark Twenty $1,000-dollar bonds, au- thorized by Dailas Township voters last November to finance construc- tion of a high school annex, have been sold to Emma Clark of Kings- ton, whose bid was $1,001 per bond. Wife-Beater Gets One YearInJail Lake Man's Brutal ny : Engers Policemen, Judge A burly Harvey's “ake man who quest of Dr. Henry M. Laing Fire | her body and bruised her so she had to be treated at General Hospital was fined $25 and sentenced to a year in the County Prison on Wed-!}e halted,” “You're lucky your wife isn't my id Judge B. R. Jones told |opportunities. “or there Parkinson was arrested on Tues- day night by Chief of Police Ira C. Stevenson and Assistant Chief Fred Swanson of Harvey's Lake police. When Swanson, who arrived at the Parkinson home first, reached the scene he found Mrs. nude, lying in a pool of blood on Spots of blood about the room gave evidence of the brutal- ity of the beating she had under- Parkinson, “The room was like a slaughter- On Sunday night, Chief Stevenson said, Parkinson had beaten his wife and in turn been thrashed by his The brother, who lives in Alden, came to the Lake again Tuesday night and took the aged 3 and 8, to|f 3 ; Wyoming, to the home of Mrs. Park- | in this section. inson’s mother. moved to Harvey’s Lake from Wyo- ming last October and lived in the Sunset section. Parkinsons Parkinson had been paid on Tues- day, but had no money when he He was under the influence of liquor, Chief Stevenson 2,500 New Jobs Found have been filed. ployed in the county.” Luzerne County alone. Relief ex- -pound wife, broke | penditures in the state in that tizg { her nose, stripped her clothes irois!are six times the total asse a in Luzerne County. private payrolls.” and repay it in easy installments. Women’s Help Sought paying positions. A challenge to the men and women of the Dallas section to A buzz which fol- {help Governor lowed the usual ring signalled to the Martins that the connection had been made and occasionally they heard an unknown voice on the wire after the conversation had been Arthur H. James find a solution to a problem which is costing Penn- sylvania taxpayers $1,400,000 a week was delivered by Wil- liam P. Carson of Philadelphia in his address at the Rotary Club’s Job Mobilization Rally in Dallas Borough High School Wednesday “Pennsylvania has within it- self the power to lift itself out of the depression,” Mr. Carson “The answer to this crying need is the Job Mobili- zation Campaign—a statewide ef- fort to create job opportunities for the unemployed and thus cut un- In emphasizing the necessity for swift action, Mr. Carson, who is manager of financial relations for the Federal Housing Administration and a member of the State job committee, gave a graphic analysis of the unemployment situation in “On November 15, 1939, when the Job Mobilization Campaign started,” he said, “there were 55,195 persons, including 15,945 employables, on re- lief in Luzerne County. There still are 51, 622 persons, including 14,- 687 employables, on relief in the county, and it costs the taxpayers $119,731 a week to support them. “Through ‘efforts of the county committee, 2.500 job opportunities have been created in the county in the seven weeks for which reports This is 3.4 per cent of the total number of unem- In the last seven years, Mr. Car- son said, a total of $36,007,730 has been spent for general assistance in uation ui 11 +e taxable real estate “If this vicious cycle of unem- ployment, relief and taxation is to declared Mr. Carson, “men and women of the State must do their part to create new job That is the purpose of Governor James’ Job Mobilization Campaign, which, with the help of 10,000 volunteers in allep of the State, is utilizing every means | of putting people back to work on He urged his audience to encour- age modernization and renovising of homes as one means of providing employment and explained how such improvements can be financed under the FHA plan, which enables the home-owner to borrow money Miss Ann Grall, who is associated with the women’s division of the house,” Chief Stevenson comment-|county Job Committee, explained ed. Parkinson showed argument at first, but the obvious anger of the policemen silenced him and he sub- mitted to arrest peacefully and was locked up over night. day he was given a hearing before Squire Henry Davis and then taken to court for trial. how housewives can help by em- ploying domestics. There is a dearth of trained domestic help, she said, and women who take untrained girls in their homes and teach them will be performing a great service, and preparing the girls for better~ C. A. Albert, chairman of the meeting, introduced M. E. Kuchta, chairman of Rotary’s Job Mobiliza- tion Committee, and a number of the women who are working with Mrs. G. A. A. Kuehn and Mrs. Hen- ny Disque in the women’s division Reunion With Rives When Rives Matthews became editor and pub- lisher of The Somerset News of Princess Anne, Md., about a year ago he regretfully suspended his weekly column in The Post, so he could devote all his time to his new venture. Under Mr. Matthews’ editorship, The News has blossomed bravely, and this week the inimitable writings of the crusading Mr. Matthews appear again in The Post. His column, “Ricochets”, joins the select company of Edith Blez, javie aiche, Jo Serra and F. R. Turner today on Page Three.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers