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 * «&