Editorially Speaking: PROTECTION AT LAST FOR THE WPA WORKER In view of the possibility that Luzerne County may re- ceive 22,000 WPA jobs before next month’s Primary Elec- tion, Col. Philip Matthews’ communique to WPA Admin- istrators and Supervisors regarding political activity de- serves close attention locally. In advising WPA project workers to take no active part in future elections, Colonel Matthews, who is WPA Administrator in Pennsylvania, was merely fulfilling the intention of the Appropriation Act of 1939, under which WPA operates, and the new Hatch Act. Under these laws persons who solicit political funds from WPA workers, promise WPA employment as reward for political activity or threaten to discharge any worker because of political affiliation can be fined or imprisoned. It will not be an easy thing to eliminate from WPA the political stigma it has carried too long, but the effort is worth while, because WPA, or some substitute, may be a permanent national fixture. No thinking person has ever criticized the theory of WPA, but most people agree that in its experimental stage it has harbored a great many evils. As a political force, WPA has played an important part in the political history of the United States in recent years. Its record has been an unsavory one, despite earnest and re- peated efforts to clean it up. The abuses have been not so much at the top, we believe, as at the broad base of the pyramid—in the small communities—where control is most difficult. Because of this, the workers themselves, the men and women who are most likely to about the protection the new be victimized, must know all legislation gives to them. If you are a WPA worker you must be ready to answer any politician who tries to side-step the protection Colonel Matthews has promised you. You must know that you have the right as American citizens to vote for whomever you please. You are mot under obligation to support any candidate for any office. No one can take your job cal reason, if you abide by the law. away from you for any politi- You do mot have to give money to any candidate, or for any political campaign. Anyone asking you for a political donation is violating the law. If anyone promises you a better WPA job in return for your support he is violating the law. If anyone threatens to get you fired for any political reason, he is violating the law. Any such violations should be reported at once. You must not talk politics on the job or on the project site or during project working hours. Your supervisors are forbidden by law to attempt to in- fluence you politically at any time. The WPA is not supporting any candidate for any office. The WPA does not have a “preferred list” or a “black list”. You do not owe your WPA job to politics; you need not fear losing it because of politics, unless you violate these rules. POST SCRIPTS If, from the plays we know, we were to select the scene which is our | favorite, we should, without hesita- | tion, take the fifth act of ‘Cyrano de Bergerac”. That, you will re- member, is the one in which the gallant Cyrano, hiding his cracked skull beneath his white-plumed | hat, comes to a convent park in) Paris to speak with Roxane before death comes for him. Religion, the mother of all drama, has been a fertile field for play- wrights, and a great many drama- tists, before and since Edmond Rostand, have drawn upon the at- mosphere of the convent for back- ground material. Morris Gest did it in 1926 with his cathedral-like settings for “The Miracle”. But there was something austere and chill about Gest’s magnificent spec- tacle. Perhaps people expect a convent to be like that. Rostand, we think, knew better. He made Roxane’s convent warm and human and sympathetic, He asked the stage designer to give him a grassy clearing under an enormous tree, against a back-, ground of autumn foliage. Through the network of arched branches the audience sees the door of an old chapel, glimpses of bright lawn and shaded walks, masses of shrub- bery and bits of sky. It is late October. Now and then a brightly- colored leaf flutters slowly down. “They know how to die,” Cyrano, soon to face death gallantly under that very tree, remarks. Like arpeggio notes in a lovely melody, the nuns are secondary to the dominant theme, but it is their gracious and naive charm which gives the scene its breathless quality. Sister Claire, it seems, has looked in a mirror at her new cap (twice!), and Sister Marthe has stolen a plum from & tart and Mother Marguerite, her eyes twinkling, is warning them severely that she will tell Monsieur de Cyrano, whose delight it is to tease them by declaring boldly that he ate meat on Friday (when really he has had no food for two days) or by insisting that nuns are gay. est Mother Marguerite and her charges seemed such thoroughly delightful persons, .and Rostand seemed to be writing with such authority, that after we had seen “Cyrano de Bergerac” two or three times we wanted very much to meet the modern counterparts of those characters, a wish complicated somewhat by the fact that in the (Continued on Page 8) ‘Musicians Ready For 3rd Concert Dallas Township Band Wins New Recognition The third annual concert of Dallas Township high school band will be presented Friday night, April 12, at i 8 in the school, under the direction of Mrs. Ralph Haley. Aside from the concert selections there will be a number of unique features, including a demonstration of baton twirling by Catherine O’- Boyle, instrumental solos, selections by the beginners’ band and selec- tions by the girls’ high school chorus. Two members of the Dallas Township high school band— Dorothy Gries, clarinetist, and Thomas Adolph, snare drummer— have been selected to play in the Northeastern District band for the Pennsylvania State Music Associa- tion at East Stroudsburg on April 4, 5 and 6. Utility Office Pleasant In Its New Spring Dress In keeping with Spring, the of- fice of Commonwealth Telephone Co. on Church Street, Dallas, has blossomed out in a new coat of cream and green which brought compliments from visitors to the utility this week. The new paint brightens the interior considerably and reflects the good taste of M. E. Kuchta, manager of the com- pany. Tur Darras Post: MORE THAN A NEWSPAPER, A COMMUNITY INSTITUTION Vol. 50 FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 1940 No. 131 5 1. More community spirit in the Dallas area. A concrete highway from Dallas to Tunkhannock. Centralization of police and fire protection. 4, Better fire protection and lower insurance rates. More sidewalks. CIVIC PROGRAM FOR 1940 Move To Abandon Lake Post Office Dies Under Fire Armitage’s Resignation Brings Mention Of Delaney As Successor The likelihood that Alder- son, Harvey's Lake, will retain its post office, which, accord- ing to reports several weeks ago, was to have been aban- doned, became apparent this week, but several important changes in personnel are ex- pected. When it was learned early this month that the post office department was considering the abandonment of the Alder- son post office and placing that section under the juris- “diction of the Dallas office lake resi- dents protested vigorously. Since then, it is understood, the department has decided to main- tain the office, making a change, however, in the R. F. D. route, Armitage Will Resign George Armitage, postmaster at Alderson, will resign because of ill health and go on a pension, it was reported this week. Since the Al- derson office is a fourth class dis- trict no examinations will be held to select his successor, who will be ap- pointed in Washington, D. C. A number of prominent Lake residents have applied for the posi- tion. The name of Peter Delaney, Democratic leader at the Lake, was mentioned prominently this week as a likely candidate for Armitage’s job. } Harry Allen, R. F. D. mailman for the last 17 years, also will resign and it was learned on good author- ity this week that one of the rural free delivery carriers from the Dallas office will take over Mr. Allen’s route. The vacant Dallas job will then be divided among the two remaining carriers, who will cover sections of it in addition to their own routes, Boats Bound For Valley Apparently ordered as a precau- tion against flood which might fol- low a quick thaw, a number of boats were trucked through Dallas yesterday, bound for Wyoming Val- ley. Bucket Brigade Saves Dwelling Noxen Home Theatened By Radio Short Circuit A bucket brigade formed hurried- ly after a neighbor had discovered flames in the home of Joseph Strok- er, near the post office in Noxen, about 6 Wednesday night confined damage to the living room and dining room of the dwelling. The Strokers were away when the fire was discovered and volun- teers had to break a window to gain entrance. Chief of Police Ira C. Stevenson of Harvey's Lake, who took the Lake apparatus to Noxen in response to a call, said the fire was started by a short circuit in the radio. When the Lake truck arrived the bucket brigade had the flames un- der control. Chief Stevenson esti- mated the damage at $300. The firemen extinguished the blaze completely within an hour after its discovery. The Strokers learned about the fire when they returned home about 10. TT"S AJINX! DAVIS AGREES AFTER MIX-UP IN AUTOMOBILES In the face of weighty evidence to the contrary, Dick Major persists that his automobile is not a jinx, but there is a little less confidence in his voice after what happened last Saturday night. Most of Dick’s cronies cross the street when they see Dick’s car in their path, but Al Davis, Dallas basketball star, had no reason to be suspicious, so when Dick asked him to take the car on an errand Al generously acquiesced. The Major equipage was, Al knew, a blue 1932 Chevrolet coupe. He spotted it on Main Street, Dallas. The keys were in it, as Dick had said. So Al drove away in a flurry of flapping fenders and clashing gears. The errand took no more than 10 minutes and soon Al was back on Main Street. But as he was pass- ing Chief of Police Walter Covert, Al heard a shrill whistle blast. A careful, and law-abiding driver, Davis knew he was innocent of any violation, but apparently Chief Co- vert and his worried-looking com- panion were waving at Davis. Al Stopped. “What's the idea of taking this man’s car?” Chief Covert wanted to know. Stunned, Al looked over the car he’d been driving. In every detail, it answered the description of Dick's automobile. Then, down the street, he saw a second blue 1932 Chevro- let coupe. That, Chief Covert ex- plained, was the car Al should have taken. After paying 10c to the stranger for the gasoline consumed, Al re- tired from the confusing scene to report to Mr. Major that his car had again upheld its ominous rep- utation. 38,000 POUND PLANE TO FLY 4 MILES UP Built to streak through the rarefied sub-stratosphere, nearly four miles above the earth, this biggest of all twin-motored transports will carry 36 passengers at 210 miles an hour. Artificial air pressure will be pumped into the cabin to maintain an interior atmospheric condition as though it were flying at an altitude of 6,000 feet. C. A. Frantz, Who Opened First Store Here 41 Years Ago, To Retire April 1 Has Made 10,000 Trips To Wilkes-Barre Market For Produce; Titman Will Manage Renovized Store Forty-one years to the day from the morning he opened his first store in Dallas, C. A. Frantz, business man, banker and civic leader, will retire next Monday, turning store over to his son-in-law,Harold Titman. In the future the business, which has seen Dallas grow from a cluster of buildings strung along a rutted Main Street to a modern resident- ial suburb, will be known as Titman’s Cash Store. Mr. Tit- man has been a member of the store staff for a number of years and is equipped by experience to operate it under the new policy. It was 41 years ago that Mr. Frantz rented the Ira Shaver store building which is the present loca- tion of his business. He began in a small way, with just one helper. By hard work and close attention to business, the volume increased so that in 1908 he built the present building. The increased facilities gave opportunity for a wider range of merchandise and the expansion proved a wise one. The increase in population of the trading ‘area, to- gether with the service given its customers, made it necessary in 1917 to build a 36-foot addition to the rear. Daily Trip To Market One of the features that has been outstanding in the operation of the business has been the service in the fresh produce department. Almost every day for two score years, first by horse and wagon and later by truck, Mr. Frantz visited the Wilkes- Barre market and brought to his store a wide assortment of produce personally selected. He estimates that during the time he has oper- ated his store, he has made more than 10,000 trips for that purpose. He expressed his appreciation for the friendly reception received dur- ing his business life from the people of Dallas and vicinity. Mr. Frantz’s retirement from business was de- cided upon because he believes that after more than forty years of con- tinuous activity, he has earned some of the rest and relaxation that he has denied himself. He has been president of the First National Bank of Dallas for seven years and will give that institution more of his time and attention. Beyond that he plans to busy himself with some of the things that he has always wanted to do but never seemed to have the time. Under Mr. Titman’s direction the building is being completely reno- vated and improved. The meat de- partment will be brought into the main store room and to accommo- date it a new modern refrigeration unit is being installed combining the best features for the preservation and display of meat produce. The store arrangement is being changed so as to make the stock accessible to the customers, Shelving and counters are being installed in keep- ing with the modern trend toward easy shopping by access to price- marked merchandise. Operating on a cash basis, the store will be able to offer merchandise at a price con- sistent with quality and reasonable service. ‘Jitterbugs’ In Pig Pen Farmer Snavely Garber of Lan- caster has put a radio in his pig- pen. He says the music keeps sows from killing new born pigs—one of a farmer's gravest problems. Red Cross Opens Drive On Monday Mrs. Oliver Delighted By Response To Appeal About 30 public-spirited men and women from Dallas Borough and to-house canvass in the two muni- cipalities next Monday in the an- nual Roll Call of Wyoming Valley Chapter, American Red Cross. The lieutenants named this week by Mrs. Kenneth Oliver, chairman ‘of the drive here, will receive their final instructions at a tea Saturday afternoon at 2 in Hotel Sterling. The drive will continue until April 15. Delighted with the response from men and women asked to shoulder i the responsibility of soliciting funds, Mrs. Oliver said yesterday she felt sure other members of the commun- ity would be as generous with their contributions as the volunteer workers are with their time. She emphasized the special need for support this year because of the tremendous task the Red Cross faces in its war relief work. Assisting Mrs. Oliver will be Miss {Betty Gregson, Mrs, Harold Shiber, Mrs. Dan Richards, Mrs. John Yaple, Mrs. R.: L. Brickel, Mrs. L. L. Richardson, Mrs. Fred Eck, Mrs. Howard Caperoon, Mrs. John Nich- olson, Miss Betty Brecknridge, Mrs. Gerald Detmore, Mrs, Charles Max- well, Mrs. Charles Stookey, Mrs. Grover Jones, Mrs. Ralph Antrim, Mrs. Ray Shiber, Mrs. Lee Scott, Mrs. Leonard Machell, Miss Antonia Kozemchak, Mrs. Fred Hughey, Mrs. Charles Reigle, Mrs. Charles Jones, Mrs. Thomas Robinson, Mrs. Stanley Davis, Miss Agnes Wall, Ronald Doll, T. A. Williammee, Carl Schlingman and M. E. Kuchta. Dallas Township will begin a house- : Senior Class Dance Seven-Inch Fall Of Snow Blankets Dallas In Slush ‘Onion Snow’ Concludes Winter, Old Timers Say, Quick Thaw Dangerous A seven-inch fall of snow, which was mixed intermittent- ly with cold rain, turned to ankle-deep slush yesterday as a warm rain sent the mercury up into the fifties. The storm, arriving one week after Spring, created a serious motoring hazard Wed- nesday afternoon before the plows and cinder-laden trucks of the State Highway Depart- ment reached here. Along the Dal- las-Luzerne highway there were ! several minor skidding accidents and in Dallas motorists had trouble climbing the hills. By nightfall, though;’ full crews from the State Highway Department were on duty and traffic was able to move safely, if cautiously. At the Huntsville filter plant, where a record of rainfall is kept, the snowfall measured seven inches. Snow and rain brought a precipita- tion of .93 of an inch, a fall not calculated to bring any serious threat of floods along the Susque- hanna unless there is a sudden and unbroken thaw. M. E. Kuchta, manager of Com- monwealth Telephone Co., said the clinging snow had caused no trouble on his company’s lines. The storm dashed hopes for Spring weather and after it became evident that a deep fall could be expected people accepted it as a sort of joke. At one point in the early evening a number of ordinar- ily dignified business men on Main Street, Dallas, enjoyed a snowball, battle. : In the midst of the storm, Warren A. Cope, fire warden, v*o was vis- iting Grove: ones in Dallas, re- ceived a call to rush to a forest fire on West Nanticoke mountain, The Senior Class of Dallas Town- ship will sponsor farmer and mod- ern dances on: Monday night at the high school. The Westward Ho gang will play. Pastoral Changes Expected Nearby Several Transfers May Be Made By Conference Several changes in the pastoral $100,000 School ToBe Accepted By Lehman Board Formal Dedication Of New Building Scheduled For Saturday Afternoon Lehman Township’s new $100,000 junior-senior high school—reported as one of the finest rural school set-ups in Pennsylvania—will be dedicat- ed formally tomorrow (Satur- day) afternoon at 2 during ex- ercises in the school auditor- ium. 3 Later in the afternoon and in the evening visitors will be conducted on guided tours of the 15-room building, where 226 pupils from the seventh to 12th grades, inclusive, study subjects represented in the wide range be- tween table manners and acetylene welding. > The school, which was started in December, 1939, and partially occu- pied last September, symbolizes the progress in rural education since the days of the Little Red School House. Within its walls Lehman boys and girls, draw, cook, build cabinets, forge metal, experiment with chem- icals, watch moving pictures, learn business, study agriculture, sew and set tables. The speakers at the dedicatory exercises tomorrow afternoon will include Walter E. Chamberlain, president of the Parent-Teacher As- sociation; Ami P. Cope, superinten- dent of Luzerne County schools; Wesley Davies, assistant superin- tendent, and H. Austin Snyder, su- pervising principal of Lehman Town- ship schools. Nuss To Accept Building The presentation of the building will be made by Fred Mack, the architect, and Jokn J. Gibbons, the contractor. Charles N, Nuss, pres- ident of the school board, will de- liver the acceptance. Delegations from the Lake-Lehman Taxpayers’ Association and Daddow-Isaacs Post, American Legion, will present flags, which will be accepted, on behalf of the district, by William Naugle, vice president of the school board. The musical program will include selections by the high school band and a trumpet solo by Joseph Clous- er, supervisor of music. Rev. S. Gajewski, pastor of Lady of Mt, Carmel Church, Silkworth, will in- voke divine blessing and Rev. C. Duane Butler, pastor of Lehman Methodist Church, will give the benediction. Six tours of the building, -