a Se Editorially Speaking: ~ What Price Carelessness? Tuesday, September 11, marks the first anniversary of the tragic troop train wreck which saddened the entire area served by the 109th Field Artillery and brought death to the doors of two Back Mountain homes. The Harding home in Trucksville was doubly bereaved, with Clyde Harding and his young nephew Donny Zeiker both crushed beneath the grinding wheels of the mon- strous Diesel. Larry Luzenski was the third young boy to pay the frightful cost of war in the making. Injured were the Daubert twins, Dal and Dean; Fran- cis Quare, vho spent painful weeks in hospital with an in- jured back; and Karl Metzger, less seriously wounded. A moment's carelessness, a moment’s inattention to sig- nals, a moment’s blankness of mind on the part of the en- gineer, and the horrible nightmare was reality. Out of. the morning mist roared the flyer, rushing upon the stalled troop train. One moment the countryside was at peace, an instant later a shambles of twisted wreckage and broken bodies, the morning air shrieking with blood and agony. : The dreadful price of one moment of irresponsibility on the part of one man was the life’s blood of thirty-three fine young men and the empty hearts of their loved ones. FROM. PILLAR TO POST By Mes. T. M. B. Hicks, Jr. We know now why a weeping willow is so named, and it has nothing to do with the long sweeping twigs. Our weeping willow really weeps, not in visible droplets but in a sticky mist which coats the clothesline and contaminates the sheets. ; Anyhow, it wept until last Saturday. Since the weekend, we are fresh out of weeping on. ttn) : . The kind of aphis th f Girl Scouts Need Leaders weeping willows runs to a rich magenta bloodstream. Crush one Nineteen Troops Include Four New of the small black pests, and you get red-inked. They drop down your neck and move briefly ‘and ticklishly before dissolving. Bring in the wash, and you bring in a horde of tiny black bugs which cement themselves to the sheets when exposed to the heat of the Girl Scout leaders, assistant ironing machine. Thus cemented, | |.;40rs and committee women are needed in the Dallas District, it was announced at Tuesday night's district meeting at the home of Mr, Harris Haycox, chairman. With rapid growth of population in the area four new troops formed during the past year, bringing the they never wash off again, and number to-19. There is need for your housekeeping is questioned with raised eyebrows, added personnel to handle expan- sion. Maybe those aphis are some poor relation of the fabulous Cochineal, worth its weight in gold for its rich crimson dye. When we were a small child, we drew upon us the hoots of our fifth grade class- mates by remarking that Mamma | All committees need additional members, and two entire new troop committees are needed. A new leader is needed for Dal- las Brownies, upon resignation of Mrs. Charles Flack, last year's leader, who has been appointed colored candy red with bugs. It was the teacher who saved the day by explaining about Cochineal, but we were regarded with averted chairman of the Service Committee for the District. Two Brownie troops are contemplated. Danas needs an assistant leader eyes for a long time, and our “of- fers of home-made candy greeted for the Senior troop headed 'by Mrs. Stefan Hellersperk and a with shudders. We no longer have the weeping willow. ; But we still have the aphis. We leader for Mrs. Jack Barnes’ inter- mediate Troop 149. : With resignation of Mrs. Calvin Hall, Shavertown’s Intermediate ask: d Ell Robbins, “hen he dvds ped around Sunday afternoon to Troop 66 leader, replacement is necessary. deliver the current Fin, Fur and Feather column, what would hap- pen to the aphis, and if they would In Trucksville, a large Brownie troop has been divided to form two, the second led by Mrs. Rob- eventually die of starvation. ert Williams, assisted by Mrs. Low- Not at all, said Bill, they would simply get off the cut branches ther Brown and Mrs. Clayton John- son. and riddled leaves, and go else- There are two new troops in where, either on the lilac bushes or the grape vines. So maybe we have invented a new bush, a weep- Idetown, the intermediates headed by Mrs. J. Calkins, Brownies by Ethel Ide. ing lilac. Some of the aphis, however, are New Carverton Senior Troop is led by Mrs. Edgar Sutton, ge Susan Thess ake fis ones Democrats Make Up A New Slate burner on a load of cut twigs when Rising Phoenix-like out of the the tree first came down. Those that escaped are wandering around ashes of its Borough slate which last week was all but consumed by the yard, climbing as high as pos- sible on the willow stump and the bird feeder fastened atop, and wav- ing their feelers in a frustrated | mass withdrawals, the Democratic Party will present a full slate of candidates for Borough office in the November election. % fashion. But at least they aren’t overhead This week the! Executive Com- mittee of the party approved the any longer, and are within cozy following new slate: for Council, shooting distance of the spray nozzle. The corner of the house looks a bit bare, and cutting down the John E. Roberts, Dallas dairyman and former councilman; William Watchulonis, S & S Clothing co. machinist; Frank McGarry, truck- tree reveals a few spots we missed when painting, but we no longer er; Robert Brown, First National Bank teller. feel drizzly when we go. into the For school director it approved back yard. And the kitchen is loads lighter. We never did like weeping wil- Donald Clark, cement salesman, and Richard Ash, adjutant Daddow Isaacs Post American Legion. lows. We think the proper place for a willow to weep is along the edge of a small creek, there the aphis can float downstream. Commenting on the slate Robert Brown said, “in spite of obstacles placed in our way by the County Republican organization, we are Bill asked if we ever saw ants herding the aphis, and we said going to give voters an opportunity to choose between two groups of not exactly, but that we had ob- candidates in this election. We served with unbelief a large ant think that is the American way as milking an aphis. This was on the Pacific Coast where anything can opposed to dictatorship whether from the Republican Party organi- be expected to happen. The stalk of the Century Plant was covered with green aphis, and large black ants were present in numbers. One ant started strok- ing an aphis, his gestures soothing though expectant. The aphis re- laxed all over under the massage, and a crystal drop began to form. When the drop grew to drinking size, the ant lapped it up and settled down to stroke another aphid. i : , zation or from other groups.” I saw it, but I still don’t really There are fifty to sixty registered believe it. Democrats in the Borough, and there will be more next time if we can continue to give ‘them good candidates, Kingston Township In Kingston Township the Coun- Local Poet Composes Semi-Sacred Song Mother Virginia, head of Trucks- y p th : ville Convalescent Home, has re-|ty Democratic organization will cently published words and music throw its full weight behind the to a semi-sacred song which is |candidacies of Martin Bilbow for well into its third printing and is the six-year term and Ted Hinkle going well in the music stores. She | for the four-year term as Supervi- plans to have a recording made of | sors. Its two other write-in candi- “Teach Me To Say the Rosary”.|dates Daniel Shaver and William The words are nostalgic, the music | Mannear received | both nomina- simple and effective. tions for School Director. Many of her poems are in the In Dallas Township, the Party hands of the New York publishers, | will not present a slate but will and a book of collected work will | support the candidacy of Charles The Darras Post MORE THAN A NEWSPAPER, A COMMUNITY INSTITUTION Vol. 61, No. 37 Local Students May Compete In Poem, Essay, For Pennsylvania Week High School students of the area will have opportunity to enter a Pennsylvania Week contest, sub- mitting an essay on ‘“Pennsylvania’s Contribution to Freedom,” or a poem, limited to four stanzas, on “Pennsylvania.” Contestants must have material ready by October 11. Faculty of high schools will select one essay and one poem to submit to final judges from Wilkes and King’s Colleges. There will be cash awards for first, second and third prize win- ners, and presentations ' will be made at graduation time. County Federation of Women’s Clubs is working in collaboration with Colonel Thomas Atherton, chairman of Pennsylvania Week. Specifications and rules have been placed with supervising prin- cipals, George Taylor, Lake-Noxen Schools; James Martin, Dallas Borough-Kingston Township; Lester B. Squier, Lehman-Jackson; and Raymond E. Kuhnert, Dallas- Franklin Townships. Daddow-Isaacs Post Sponsors Oratory Executive Committee, Daddow- Isaacs Post, American Legion, met at the Legion Home Monday for the first time under the new Comman- der Robert A. Williams, Others of the committee present included 1st Vice-Commander Wil- liam Baker, Jr. 2nd Vice-Com- mander Harold LaBar, Adjutant Richard Ash, Service Officer Frank Ferry, Chaplain Paul Shaver, His- torian Thomas E. Reese, and Acti- vities Chairman Edward Buckley. Program for the coming year was discussed, including a series of ten dances to be held weekly. J It was further decided to prompt students of the Back Mountain Re= gion to participate in the American to 12th grades. Robert Moore will handle arrangements with the schools. given winners for each school as well as to the final winner in the Back Mountain Area, who in turn will ‘compete for Luzerne County District championship. The Nation- al winner receives a $4,000 college scholarship as well as other prizes. Mother of Local Men Dies At Eighty-One Mrs. Sallie Kitchin Wagner, 81, died Tuesday at Nesbitt Hospital. Mrs. Wagner, widow of the late George Wagner, County Clerk of Courts, is believed to have been the first woman to hold State or County office in the United States. Mrs. Wagner was appointed to fill the unexpired term of her husband by the late Gov. William Sproul, thirteen days after the final passage of the woman's suffrage amend- ment. Born in White Haven, she lived in Wilkes-Barre until her death. She leaves the following chil- dren: Mrs. Gerald N. Saunders, Kingston; J. Lear Wagner, Shaver- town, attache in the Auditor Gen- eral’s Office; Charles W. Wagner, Dallas RFD, engineer with Glen Alden Coal Co., John M. Wagner, Shavertown, Hudson Coal Co. fore- man; G. Harold Wagner, formerly of Dallas, now Bear Creek Village, former Auditor General and State Treasurer, and Dorothy A. Wagner at home.. Borough Township PTA To Meet Monday Night First meeting of Dallas Borough- Kingston Township P. T. A. will be held in the Borough Building audi- torium Monday evening at 8 o'clock. President Leslie Barstow will con- duct the business meeting after which there will be a tour of the building in order that parents may see improvements made during the summer and get acquainted with the teachers. Committee heads appointed: hos- tess, Mrs. D. Robertson; member- ship, Mrs. Harold Smith; procedure book, Mrs. Alfred Gibbs; circulation, cation, Mrs. Louise Colwell; public- ity, Mrs. L. L. Richardson; ways and- means, Mrs. Michael Strub; program, Mrs. Victor Cross; legis- lature, Walter Black;" playground, W. E. McQuilkin. Since this is the first meeting of the new school year, all parents are urged to attend. Refreshments will be served by sixth grade par- soon be published. Roberts for School Director. / ents. Legion National Oratorical Contest }§ for high school students in thé 9th, Medals and" Certificates will be |} Mrs. W. E. McQuilkin; parent edu- |’ FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1951 Dallas-Kingston Have No Under-Age Children, Beaumont, Tentative Ten All Back Mountain Supervising | Principals have :wiewed Harris- burg’s ruling on permission to ac- cept under-age children with mixed feelings. They realize that a line drawn between one child born on a certain day, and another on the day following, works a seeming hardship on both child and parents. But they also realize that the line must be drawn some where, and that a trend to accept younger pupils will necessarily lower stan- dards of education. All principals have warned par- ents of the dangers involved in placing too-young children with an older age group. They have all used their best discretion in the Lake Township has taken four children who have passed the tests given by Dr. Inez Husted, and may consider two or three more. With a registration of fifty first-graders out of thé 640 student body, there is a crowded condition which will be dealt with after Friday night's school board meeting. All principals concur in believing that tthe current trend to lower the age of admission is dangerous, and that the trend should be rather to make it higher. The di- rective, issued at so late a date that its proper study was not pos- sible before the opening of school, has worked hardship on parents and needless distress to children matter, interpreting the word | who have been incapable of pas- “May” in the directive as seems |sing an examination. It has re- best for their pdrticular com- | sulted in frustration and hurt feel- munity. 1 ings, a condition which every prin- Raymond Kuhnert, Supervising Principal of Dallas-Township, has accepted three children under the new ruling. All three passed psy- chological tests given by Dr. Inez Husted at the Luzerne County Office. Four others who were per- mitted to take the tests did not pass them, so were ineligible, Charles James and James Martin, Dallas Borough-Kingston Township joint schools, studied the situation and decided that no under-age children should be considered, and the school board passed a vote to that effect. ; Lester Squier, Lehman-Jackson schools, is considering one child whose application has recently been received, but has discouraged sev- eral parents who discussed the mat- ter with him, leaving them with the conviction that their children were better off with one more year of added experiences and playtime before beginning schoel. At Noxen, one child who had a summer examination of mental ap- titude in advance of the directive, has been admitted. Two more ap- plicants will take psychological tests shortly. cipal interviewed has deplored. At Beaumont, William A. Austin has tentatively accepted ten child- ren of under the usual age, and expects a visit from the school psychologist of Wyoming County by the end of September. He feels that of the ten, there will be some who will remain, and that it would handicap these children to thrust them into strange surroundings after the rest of the first grade had settled down to work. Both Mr. and ‘Mrs. Austin state that though there will be stum- bling blocks in putting the ruling into smooth action, there are com- pensating features. The bright side of the coin is that children of legal admission age who are not of even five year mentality, may now be refused admission as beginners until their mental age has caught up with their bodies. They both view the directive with equanimity, though they concur with the other schools that too young a child will inevitably become a follower in- stead of a leader, and suggest that all parents accept this responsi- bility with their eyes fully open. Former Superintendent and Successor OTIS L. MOORE JOHN D. GRIFFITH John D. Griffith, superintendent of Fernbrook Park Plant of Blooms- burg Mills since its opening three years ago, has been made superin- tendent of the parent plant at Bloomsburg. He started his new duties on Monday. Otis L. Moore, a native of Gas- tonia, N. C., has been appointed to succeed him. Both Mr. and Mrs. Griffith and daughter, Dianne have made many friends =~ here since establishing their home on Franklin Street, Shavertown, who will wish them well in their new location. Both have been active in community life. Mr. Moore, a textile engineer, has a background of experience with Marshall Field and Co., Bur- lington Mills Corporation and Rob- bins Mills Inc. He is a graduate of North Carolina State College with a B, S. in Textile Manufactur- ing. He also studied at Wake For- est College and Johns Hopkins Un- iversity. Mrs. Moore, who is the former Margaret Ellis, was born in Mats- yama, Japan, the daughter of med- ical missionaries. She was reared in Tabriz, Iran, and attended school in Geneva, Switzerland. She is a graduate of Wooster College and Columbia University. They have two children, John Franklin, 5, and Kathleen McNiece, 3. The community joins in extend- ing a cordial welcome to Mr. and Mrs. Moore and their family. Plans Tuesday Supper Executive Board, Dallas Junior Woman's Club, will meet Tuesday evening at 6:30 at the home of Mrs. Sherman Harter, Trucksville, for a covered dish supper and bus- iness meeting. Forty-Four Dallas Area Students Enrolled At Seminary Day School Paget, Dolores Lundy, Dallas. Susan, Barbara and Marjorie Smith, Dale Roddy, Shrine View; Edward and Herbert Atkins, De- Munds Road; Richard and Fred Ruggles, Penny Ruggles, Kathleen, Caddy and Scott Brooks, Barney Schooley, James Davies, Idetown; John Bugbee, Christy Shafer, Mar- shall Nunlist, Fred Kirkendall, Shavertown. Tommy and Jane Graham, Sha- ron Hunt, Robert Baker, Greg Har- ris, Julie VanBlarcom, Trucksville; Liza Harvey, Jane and Mary Dod- son, Faith Edwards, Huntsville. Susanne Tvede, Nancy Valentine, Lehman; Mariellen Daw, Harveys Lake. ; Showing a twenty percent in- crease in enrollment over last year in its pre-primary and intermediate departments, Wyoming Seminary Day School opened this week with forty-four Back Mountain students enrolled. Enrollment yesterday was 213 of which about twenty percent are from the Back Mountain area. All grades except the eighth have two sections and the average section is composed of thirteen students. Enrolled from this area are: Jessie Guthrie Conyngham, Chase; David Hall, Shrine View; Cathy Horn, Carol Durkin, Eddie Durkin, Jimmy, John and Becky Uhl, Pat- sy Sanders, Butch Reese, Douglas 8 Cents Per Copy—Eight Pages Bank Will Open Friday Evenings Daily Hours Will Be 8 A. M. Until 2 P. M. Starting October 1 First National Bank of Dallas will be open Mon- day through Friday from 8 A. M. until 2 P. M. and on Friday eve- nings from 5 P. M. until 8 P. M. The Bank will not be open on Saturdays.. This decision was taken Wednes- day at a meeting of Board of Di- rectors who have felt for some- time that many persons whose oc- cupations are in Wyoming Valley would like to do their banking be- fore leaving for work. The Bank has formerly opened at 9 A. M. The new banking hours on Friday evening will also be of greater con- veniences to customers who are now unable to do their banking until after closing hours. The decision to remain closed on Saturdays is in keeping with! the policy of all other area banks. The directors also voted for the second year to pay their quota of $488 to the Community «+ Welfare Federation Campaign which opens shortly. The quota is based upon a percentage of deposits at the close of the previous bank year. Engler Boys Get Leave Before Station Transfer Two sons of Mr. and Mrs, John C. Engler, Davenport Street, Dallas, both in the Transportation Corps, US Army, are in ‘the news this week. ’ William, a sergeant, recently sta tioned in Norfolk, Virginia, is home on a 20-day leave before being transferred to Fort Lawton, Wash- ington. William was in Europe during World War II. John L. Engler, who has been in Greenland connected with the building of the mammoth airfield, is expected home shortly for a leave. He is already en route. Mrs. Charles Nuss To Report October 1" = Mrs. Charles Nuss, Lehman, will report on her trip to Camp Edith Macy, Girl Scout International Friendship Conference, at Dallas District Council Meeting, October 1, 8 P.M,, in Carverton Methodist Church. Mrs. Nuss wil lintroduce new songs and games to the Council. Carverton Troop Committee will serve refreshments. Shavertown PTA To Hear Guest Speaker Monday Shavertown PTA will have as guest speaker for the opening meeting Monday evening, Elfed (Vid) Jones, principal of the Boyd Dodson school in Wilkes-Barre. Meeting will start promptly at 8, with newly elected president Charles Eberle Jr. in the chair. Art Exhibit At Penn Power And Light For information of the art-minded in the Back Mountain, Penn Power and Light Company is sponsoring an art exhibit and tea on Sunday 2-5, in its Wilkes-Barre building, 36 N. Main Street. The exhibit comes from Lehigh Art Alliance, Allentown and Beth- lehem, and includes oils and water colors - in modernistic, surrealistic, contemporary, and primitive pic- tures. Joint School Has 1,459 Fourteen hundred and fifty-nine: students are now enrolled in Tunk- hannock Joint Schools. Fourteen of these are in special classes. The Joint School does not admit chil- dren to the first grade who will not be six years of age on Feb- uary. 1, 1952. Condition Serious Former State Senator Cyrus B. Tyler of Meshoppen is in serious condition at Tyler Memorial Hos- pital following a stroke suffered at his home last Saturday night. Install New Engine A new $8,500 six-cylinder 200 horsepower Diesel engine has been installed at the John Sheehan well being drilled at Mehoopany. Buys Another Hotel Sterling Hotels System, has an- nounced the purchase of the Ham- ilton Hotel in Allentown. The Hamilton, is the sixth hotel in the Sterling System, which is one of 14 organizations comprising Sor- doni Enterprises, owned by Sena- Andrew J. Sordoni, president of | BOX SCORE Back Mountain Highway Deaths and ia Serious Accidents Since V-J Day Hospitalized Killed ° 10 TO 5 8 3 1 N TOWNSHIP 5 2 12 Best In State Acres Furnish Grass For 27 Cattle The 1951 Pennslyvania Green Pastures Contest was won by Frank Brown, Wyoming County farmer, living near Tunkhannock. His championship pasture of 23 acres is furnishing abundant graz- Upon returning from the service, Mr. Brown purchased his farm which was in a rather run-down condition. By following the best farming practices and assistance of the Veteran's Training and the Agriculture Conservation Program, he developed his farm into one of the garden spots in his area. Tech- nical assistance and other valuable information was given by the Soil Conservation Service and the Coun- ty Extension Agent. Part of his pasture was seeded with a mixture of 1 pound of Ladino and 6 pounds orchard grass. The remain- der was seeded to 10 pounds al- falfa, 10 pounds brome grass, and 1 pound of Ladino clover. Two tons of lime per acre were thor- oughly mixed with the soil in pre- paring the seedbed. 400 to 600 per acre of 0-14-7 and 0-14-14 ferti- lizer were applied to the nurse crops and the pasture mixture at time of seeding. In order to main- tain this high-producing pasture he has been applying a ton of lime per acre every four years and 600 pounds of 0-14-14 fertilizer each year. The excess pasture during the flush period has been used for grass silage. ams In order properly to maintain his pasture and keep it producing a high quality of grasses and legumes, the pasture plots are divided into four areas. Each area is clipped immediately after moving the cat- = tle on to, a new area. gE The judges who selected this pas-- eutered ¢ Ni test were: : Ralph Graham, Member of the New Hampshire State PMA Com-. mittee; Joseph Blandford, Chair- man of the Maryland State PMA Committee; Robett Howard, Chair- man of the New York State PMA Committee. Ap Te The judges’ comment regarding this prize-winning pasture was that it was an outstanding exam- ple of proper land treatment, pas- ture management and fine results that are obtained from making use of assistance such as: that given under the Agriculture Conservation Program. sYdong 82¢ farms ing Supervisors Complete ~~ New Meeting Room : Kingston Township Supervisors have completed their new office in the Township Building on Carver- ton Road and will henceforth hold all of their meetings there. lar meetings are on the first Wed- nesday of the month. At" their meeting last week the Supervisors ordered eighty 35-mile speed limit signs which will be posted on the Township's five miles Ch Wyoming County : Green Pasture Frank Brown's 23 3 Regu- a of highways, including all State Highways and Memorial Highway. Arthur F. Smith, secretary, said od the Supervisors have instructed all - i police officers to enforce strictly the 35-mile limits just as soon as the signs are erected. - —&s HOUSEHOLDERS ARE ASKED TO NUMBER THEIR HOUSES The long forgotten idea of street delivery of mail has come to the fore again and Borough Secretary James Be- secker advises all Borough householders to have their homes numbered at once. Those who do not know, or have no numbers for their houses, may obtain this infor- mation by calling Borough Engineer John Jeter evenings after 6. Some months ago the Post- office Department gave every indication that street delivery of mail would start within a few weeks in Dallas Borough and parts of Dallas Township. Since that time the idea has bogged down somewhere be- tween here and Washington but is now being discussed again. Within a few weeks Borough Council is expected to have new street signs erected on all ed Borough streets so that if and ) tor Sordoni. when the Postoffice Depart- ment decides .to act the Borough will be ready. = — B= ing for his dairy herd of 27 cattle. 4 1 lad ture as the winner of the 1951 con * «&
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers