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, -<here
pupils will be busy demonstrating
the equipment and going about
their daily work, will be conducted
appointments at Methodist Church-
es in the Dallas area are expected !
at the annual Wyoming Conference,
which will begin next Thursday at
Athens Methodist Church.
Clergymen at the seven local
Methodist Churches were busy this
week closing their records for the
year and preparing for their at-
tendance at the annual conference,
the most important meeting of the
Methodist calendar.
Among the matters to be discuss-
ed at this year’s meetings will be
the suggestion that the conference
be divided into three districts, in-
stead of four, as at present. The
conference will adjourn on Sunday
night, April 7, immediately after
pastoral appointments for the en-
suing year have been announced.
Since the war started the French
marriage rate has tripled and Bri-
tain’s is up 31 per cent. Germany's
matrimonial rate is just double nor-
mal.
Holding the reins over a hand-
some mare, Marvin H, Elston, 71-
year-old owner of Shady Side Farm,
Kunkle, saw time go into reverse
last Sunday afternoon when Dobbin
and his aristocratic brethren took
precedence over the automobile in
Wyoming Valley’s Easter parade.
Once known throughout this sec-
tion for his fine horses, Mr. Elston
was the patriarch among a group of
local horse fanciers who gave de-
lighted crowds along the route of
the novel parade of steeds and rigs
a show such as they had probably
never seen.
Mr. Elston was driving his valu-
able walk-trot mare before an un-
derslung rubber-tired rig which was
known 75 years ago as a ‘‘speed-
ster”. His sons, Ray and Walter,
made a fine appearance on their
five-gaited mares. In the speedster
with Mr. Elston was his son-in-law,
MARVIN ELSTON"S HORSES WIN
APPLAUSE IN EASTER PARADE
Ralph Hess of Kunkle.
William Corcoran, Dallas R. F. D.
carrier, had his prancing Kentucky-
bred mare, Golden Girl, in the par-
ade and it drew expressions of ad-
miration all along the route. Nor
man James had five horses from
his Harvey’s Lake Mohawk Club in
line. M. W, Corgan of Luzerne rode
in a rubber-tired buggy behind
“Smoky”, his little favorite. Mr,
and Mrs. Clarence Naylor of Trucks-
ville were in a four-passenger surrey
with brass oil lamps, and Edward
Hartman of Trucksville hitched his
five-gaited mare to a “fine harness”
buggy.
I. R. Elston, outstanding horse-
man and one of the men who pro-
moted the parade, won applause for
the pair of three-gaited Kentucky
horses which drew his glistening
speedster. Mr, Elston was accom-
from 3:30 on. The schedule: 3:30
to 3:45, 4 to 4:15, 4:30 to 4:45,
7:30 to 7:45, 8 to 8:15 and 8:30 to
845. The schedule of tours has been
planned to accommodate the crowds
expected and for the convenience
of those who might not be able to
attend if only one demonstration
were conducted. At supper time a
lunch will be served by the Senior
Class.
One of the most interesting things
visitors will see is the home eco-
nomics department, where girls
(Continued on Page 8)
It Was News
In Honolulu
Japan, China
New York City welcom-
ed him with wide open
arms.
Its newspapers pictured
him in more than 100
cartoons.
Every paper ran huge
photopanel layouts.
He was the subject of
special articles, editorials,
spot news stories and
comment by learned—if
bewildered—authors.
After he came home he
received clippings from
newspapers in China,
Honolulu, Japan, from
every language printable.
It was a big story when
John J. “Butch” McDev-
itt went to New York to
blow $1,200 in a day. It’s
still a good story, and it’s
never been told better
than in the series of ar-
ticles by javie aiche, now
running in The Post. An-
other installment appears
in Mr. aiche’s weekly col-
umn “Second Thoughts”
on Page 3 today.
panied by Donald Jones of Kingston.
cra
ard)