The Dallas post. (Dallas, Pa.) 19??-200?, January 19, 1961, Image 2

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    TION A — PAGE 2
HE DALLAS POST Established 1889
“More Than A Newspaper, A Community Institution
Now In Its Tlst Year”
Member Audit Bureau of Circulations
Member Pennsylvania Newspaper Publishers Association
National Editorial Association
The Post is sent free to all Back Mountain patients in local
- Hospitals. « If you are a patient ask your nurse for it.
We will not be responsible for the return of unsolicited manu-
scripts, photographs and editorial matter unless self - addressed,
stamped envelope is enclosed, and in no case will this material be
held for more than 30 days.
National display advertising rates 84c per column inch.
Transient rates 80c. 3
Political advertising $1.10 per inch.
Preferred position additional 10c per inch. Advertising deadline
Monday 5 P.M. :
Advertising copy received after Monday 5 P.M. will be charged
at 85¢ per column inch. ;
Classified rates 5¢ per word. Minimum if charged $1.00.
Unless paid for at advertising rates, we can give no assurance
that announcements of plays, parties, rummage sales or any affair
for raising money will appear in a specific issue.
Preference will in all instances be given‘to editorial matter which
has not previously appeared in publication.
Entered as second-class matter at the post office at Dallas,
Pa. under the Act of March 3, 1879. Subscription rates: $4.00 a
year; $2.50 six months. No subscriptions accepted for less than
six months. Out-of-State subscriptions: $4.50 a year; $2.75 six
months or less. Back issues, more than one week old, 15c.
When requesting a chunge of address subscribers are asked
to give their old as well as new address.
Allow two weeks for changes of address or new subscription
to be placed on mailing list.
Single copies at a rate of 10c each, can be obtained every
Thursday morning at following newsstands: Dallas—Berts Drug
Store, Dixon’s Restaurant, Helen's Restaurant, Gosart’s Market;
Shavertown—Evans Drug Store, Hall’s Drug Store; Trucksville—
Gregory’s Store, Trucksville Drugs; Idetown—Cave’s Store; Har-
veys Lake—Marie’s Store; Sweet Valley—Adams Grocery;
Lehman—Moore’s Store; Noxen—Scouten’s Store; Shawanese—
Puterbaugh’s Store; Fernbrook-—Bogdon’s Store, Bunney’s Store,
Orchard Farm Restaurant.
Editor and Publisher— HOWARD W. RISLEY
Associate Publisher— ROBERT F. BACHMAN
Associate Editors~—MYRA ZEISER RISLEYMRS T. M. B. HICKS
Sports—JAMES LOHMAN
Advertising—TLOUISE C. MARKS
Photographs—JAMES KOZEMCHAK
Circulation—DORIS MALLIN
Editorially Speaking:
Costs Of Tax Collection Must Be Cut
Along with increased taxes for school purposes in
all Back Mountain communities, the costs of tax collee-
tion have risen considerably in the past four years.
Since the collectors in this area are paid on a percent-
age basis every increase in the millage rate for State,
County Municipality and Schools means a similar increase
in the tax collector's take.
This is a problem faced in many rapidly expanding
suburban communities throughout the: State.
In the Harrisburg area, for example, “there are a
dozen boroughs and townships where,” according to the
- Harrisburg Patriot, “tax collectors are now making from
$10,000 to $25,000 a year.”
Municipal officials and school directors should take
a good hard lock at the rates they are paying out and act
accordingly. 3
Fortunately something can be done about it! This
is brought to the attention of the community this week
in a letter to THE POST written by John Cashmark of
Trucksville.
It is a letter that everyone who is interested in some
economy in government should read.
: In a nut shell here is what has happened and here is
what can be done about it.
The costs of tax collection for Dallas Union School
District—comnosed of Dallas Borough, Kingston, Dallas
and Franklin Townships—have now risen to about $19,600
a year. This is a sizeable sum and considerably higher
than when the taxpayers of Dallas Borough, as an example,
were paying (8.7 mills instead of the current 105.1 mills
plus $10 per capita and personal property taxes.
The present rates for tax collection in various sub-
divisions making up the Union District are: 5 percent in
Dallas Borough; 4 percent, until the penalty period when
the rate rises to 5%, in Dallas Township; 4 percent in
Kingston Township, and a low of 3 percent in Franklin
Township.
It would probably be the better part of sense to have
/ all of the taxes for the Union District collected by one tax
receiver at a lower percentage rate. This would automat-
ically lower the costs of collection and at the same time
give an adequate return to the collector.
Unfortunately a law passed in 1956 prevents the
School Board from appointing one collector or any other
collector than those duly elected.
There is, however, another way out. The School Boards
and municipalities can cut the percentage they pay
for tax collections. This would seem to be fair. Local
tax collectors believe this is right for it costs them no
more time to write 65 or 100 mills on their tax cards than
it does to write in 25 mills.
But if school boards and municipalities are going to
take action officials of these districts will have to move
fast. The law stipulates that the only time taxing dis-
. tricts can slash rates whether the collectors like it not is
every four years when the collection posts are up for
election.
This is one of those years and according to State
fiscal experts the deadline is March 10, less than two
months from now.
What does the law provide for taxing districts that
wish to slash present commission rates?
Borough Councils and Township Supervisors, ir. pay-
( ment for municipal taxes collected, must hold to a percent-
age basis. The upper limit is 5 percent of taxes collected,
except in first class townships where the compensation
cannot exceed $10,000. There is no lower limit.
School districts are permitted under the School Code
to pay on/a percentage or salary basis. The upper limit
is five percent or its equivalent in salary. There is no
lower limit.
County Commissioners also pay on a percentage
basis. They are faced with a different problem since they
deal with many tax collectors.
According to Section 36.1 of the Local Tax Collection
Law the deadline for changing the percentage rate is
“10 days prior to the last day fixed by law for candidates
to withdraw their names from nomination previous to
the day for municipal elections.”
The Primary is fixed as the third Tuesday in May.
This year it will be May 10. Candidates must file for
nomination no later than 64 days before the Primary.
That would be March 13. They have seven days after
filing to withdraw. The last day for that ig March 20 and
so the deadline for action to reduce the costs of tax collec-
tion is March 10..
SUCCESSFUL
INVESTING...
Q. 1 keep hearing about the need
for diversification, but how can a
small investor diversify when real
diversification would mean holding
only one or two shares of each
stock ?
A. You are correct in thinking
that diversification of this sort is
carrying a good thing too far. If
diversification strikes you as a good
thing, do it as you go along. In a
reasonable time you'll come to a
fair approximation of it. There is
more than one kind of diversifica-
tion and one variety of it can be
started even with a small portfolio.
That is diversification by objectives,
splitting your investments up into
stocks with good stability and secur-
ity of return and those with smaller
réturn, but greater prospects of
capital gains. High-grade stocks
can be found in both categories, so
that as a beginning investor you will
not be neglecting the basic objective
of protecting the principal.
Q. Is it a good sign when the
officers and directors of a company
hold substantial amounts of stock in
that company ?
“A. Tt often is, but such holdings
alone are not a signal to buy the
stock. On the surface, substantial
share ownership by management
argues that those in best position to
know the future direction of the
company think that it’s on the way
up. But such ownership should be
studied against the background of
sales, earnings and dividends over
a period of years. The nature of
stock-option plans, if in existence,
should also be studied. In some in-
stances, notably in the case of rela-
tively new companies, a large man-
agement interest reflects the fact
that those who started the company
are still in, the saddle and this may
have no bearing on the investment
quality of the stock. y
Editor’s note: Questions on invest-
ment may be addressed to the
author of this column in cate of this
newspaper. Those of general inter-
est will be answered in this column.
It will be understood that no ques-
tions can be answered by mail.
| Looking at
-V
With GEORGE A. end
EDITH ANN BURKE
Complete Coverage of the Presi-
dential Inauguration will be carried
by ABC-TV. Bill Shadel, ABC com-
mentator, will serve as anchor man
for the coverage, which will be pro-
vided by more than 20 cameras at
the Capitol and along the parade
route, plus pooled camera positions
where space limitations do not per-
mit ABC-TV to have its own cam-
eras.
Coverage is expected to ‘include
the President-elect’s departure from
his Georgetown home, his arrival at
the White house where he will be
joined ' by President Eisenhower,
their ride to the Capitol, the prepar-
ations for the ceremonies and the
ceremonies themselves,
Following a brief luncheon at the
Capitol, President Kennedy will take
his place at the head of the parade
and lead it up Pennsylvania Avenue
to the White House. There he will
take his position in the reviewing
stand to review the entire parade,
which is expected to last more than
two hours.
ABC-TV cameras and commenta-
tors along with the other networks
will keep the President in view
through-out the program, except
when he is waiting in the Capitol for
the ceremonies to begin and during
a portion of the luncheon.
Inauguration sidelights — David
Brinkley, who will be covering Inau-
gural festivities for NBC-TV reports
that not all of our Presidents went
to their Inauguration in long pants.
In fact, the commentator reports, it
wasn’t until 1825 and the Inaugura-
tion of John Quincy Adams that
our Presidents decided against the
knee breeches for full-length trou-
sers.
One of the most ornate Inaugura-
tions was Washington’s second Inau-
gural. President Washington rode
behind a team of six silvery horses.
He was dressed in a black velvet
suit, had long black silk stockings,
sported diamond buckles on ‘his
knees and shoes, and carried a plain
cocked hat.in his hand. Two at-
tendents with long white wands
cleared a path for him.
Thoughts On Leaving—How does
the outgoing President feel on In-
auguration Day—having a world of
responsibility one minute and vir-
tually none the next.
One commentator has some an-
swers ready.
Ray ‘Scherer traveled with Harry
S. Truman on his train trip back to
Missouri the day he became a for-
mer President. As White House cor-
respondent, he has covered Dwight
D. Eisenhower throughout the eight
years of his administration.
On the train trip back to Inde-
pendence, citizen Truman was “any-
thing but aloof,” Scherer recalls.
“He kept coming through the Pull-
man car that we half-dozen report-
ers occupied and talking to us—as
if he didn't want to cut him self
loose from the outside world too
suddenly.
“The next morning when he asked
him what was the first thing he had
done on reaching his home as an ex-
President; Mr. Truman said: I
carried the grips up to the attic.”
Somehow that remark told the story
more precisely than anything else
THE DALLAS POST, THURSDAY, JANUARY 19 1961
Of course the big historical Indian
story of this area is the Battle of
Wyoming and following Massacre | appointed to command, started from {
July 3, 1778. Since this is almost a
household word to native residents,
any account in the column would be
superfluous. The numerous histor-
ical markers along route 309 north-
ward awake an interest in events not
so well known.
It is said the Susquehannocks,
called by the French Andastes, had
about forty villages along the river.
In the early 1600's the Iriquois
started down the river and gradually |
drove them out. There was a village
at Tunkhannock reported in 1756
with a hundred Indians and prob-
ably smaller villages at Mehoopany
and Meshoppen. Wyalusing was an
important Indian place and Tioga
Point more so.
and Indian force which attacked the
Wyoming Valley congregated near
Tunkhannock and left their canoes
in the vicinity a few days before they
struck.
On September 14 following the
Massacre, Captain Spalding with
fifty-eight men and Captain John
i Franklin with twelve men, mostly
valley residents returned after the |
battle, marched down the river to
Shickshinny, then across the moun-
tains to Muncy, joining Col. Thomas
Hartley in a punitive expedition.
Swimming rivers at midnight, mak-
ing long hard marches, and fighting
along the way, they struck and
burned Queen Ester’s Town, near
Tioga Point, on September 27. They
arrived at Wyalusing at 11 o'clock
the following night. The next day
they ran: into an Indian force on
a hill about four miles south of
Wyalusing and, defeated them, but
this did not stop sporadic raids on
both branches of the Susquehanna,
‘in one of which Frances Slocum was
captured right in Wilkes-Barre.
On March 28, 1779 about 250
Indians attacked Fort Wyoming,
burned some barns, and carried off
about fifty cattle. The Congress
belatedly decided to do something
and authorized a real army move
against the Iroquois, not only as a
punitive measure but to prevent
TAX FACTS FOR THE
Rambling Around
Bu The Oldtimer — D. A. Waters
The combined Tory |
A
| their aid to the British.
| Major General John ' Sullivan,
| Easton and assembled his army at
| Wilkes-Barre where for five weeks
| supplies were accumulated. Event-
| ually the following were organized
| and ready to go: Proctor’'s Pennsyl-
vania Artillery, Poor’s New Hamp-
| shire. Brigade, Maxwell's New Jersey
| Brigade, the 11th. Pennsylvania
| Continentals, a German regiment,
and Schotts Independent Corps. The
troops furnished by Pennsylvania
were comparatively few in number
| causing much criticism. The army
| had eight pieces of artillery and am-
| munition, salt meat, flour, other
| supplies and baggage, loaded into
| 214 boats and on 1220 pack horses.
| A heard of 600 cattle was driven
along for fresh meat. The whole
| army made a line about two miles
| long on the march and in a day
| made only the distance we make
{now in a few minutes. The route
| was along the river, requiring three
| days to Tunkhannock and seven to
| Sheshequin. A Fort was built at
| Tioga called Fort Sullivan. Here
| General James (Clinton joined with
additional troops from New York.
The Indian town of Chemung was
easily taken but the Indians put up a
fight on a hill near Newtown about
fifteen miles from Tioga. About two
hundred and fifty Tories, under the
same John Butler, who had com-
manded them at Wyoming, assisted
the Indians but they were soundly
defeated. The Indians assembled for
a two-day council at Queen Cath-
erine’s Town near Montour Falls
and decided to abandon everything
and flee to Fort Niagara. This town
had thirty or forty good houses with
fine cornfields and orchards. All
through the Finger Lakes country
were found laid out towns of good
houses, barns, stacks of hay, horses
and cattle, fine gardens in which
were growing onions, peas, beans,
squashes, potatoes, turnips, cab-
bages, cucumbers and melons. The
orchards contained apples, peaches,
and pears. In all about forty towns
were destroyed, also the orchards
and growing crops.
HOMEOWNER NO. 1
THEFT, DAMAGE AND DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY
(The following article is the first in a series of four articles
on income tax filing prepared for this newspaper by the
Committee on Taxation of the Pennsylvania Institute of
Certified Public Accountants and in cooperation with the
local district office of the Internal Revenue Service.)
All of us at some time have been confronted with a loss.
Possibly a minor loss, such as a youngster losing the store
money on an ‘errand after school, or a more serious one of
having your home burglarized.
Webster defines loss as an act or fact of losing, especially
an unintentional parting with something of value. The Internal |
Revenue Service accepts this definition. However, for a loss
to be deductible for tax purposes, it must be sustained during
the taxable year and must arise from fire, storm, theft or other
casualty. By other casualty, we can assume that it would in-
clude such losses similar to those arising from fire or storm, if
occasioned by natural or other
external forces in an event due
to some sudden, unexpected or unusual cause.
Theft Losses
For a loss by theft to be deductible, two questions must
be answered. Was the property actually stolen and, what is the
amount of the loss? The mere act of mis-laying a diamond ring,
| or losing a wallet containing money are not to be considered as
losses deductible for tax purposes. However, having your
camera stolen from your locked car is a loss by theft. In order
to substantiate your claim of loss, a copy of the information
furnished to the police reporting the theft should be retained.
Also the newspaper clippings of the incident should be kept.
The amount of the loss is best
or other receipt for payment
supported by a cancelled check
and an appraisal of the lost
article. Actually, the amount is measured by the fair market
value of the property at the time of the theft, but not in ex-
cess of its cost, reduced by any insurance received.
At the time of preparing their income tax returns, many
taxpayers forget about the damage to trees and shrubs caused
by storms and other natural forces during the year. The amount
of the loss is the difference between the fair market value of
the whole property before and
after the damage. It should be
emphasized that restoration cost is not to be accepted as a
measure of loss. Another type of loss that is occasionally for-
gotten or mistaken as not being deductible is one that arises
from damage in an automobile collision. The amount of loss
is the difference between the
market value before and after
the accident, not in excess of its cost, reduced by any insurance
proceeds.
Losses discussed to this point have all had one point in
common, i.e., suddenness. There are occasions where a casualty
can happen over a period of time and still be an allowable loss,
for instance, damage caused by termites. An example of such
deductible loss would be the case where the property was free
from termites when acquired,
but less than a year later in-
festation was discovered and the destroyed property replaced
or repaired.
In order for any loss to be deductible, the property involved
must be owned by the taxpayer claiming the loss. :
To summarize, we can say that in the event of loss, you
must be prepared to support the deduction by evidencing the
following:
1. Nature of incident.
2. Ownership of property.
3. Description of property.
4. Cost or appraisal,
5. Fair market value before and after casualty.
6. Insurance recovery. :
You can get additional information on casualty and theft
deductions from the instruction booklet issued by the Internal
Revenue Service each year.
Harry Truman could have said.”
Scherer says that President Eisen-
hower walked out on the North Por-
tico of the White House the other
day, watched the work going for-
ward on the reviewing stand and
remarked “I feel like the fellow in
jail who is watching his scaffold
being built.” :
Scherer reports that the President
will maintain a permanent apart-
ment in Washington to keep in
touch with domestic and interna-
tional problems, He will also begin
work on another volume of memoirs
which will take him from his presi-
dency of Columbia University
through his post-war assignment in
Europe and his two terms in the
White House. :
He and Mrs. Eisenhower would
part of (Africa, perhaps Australia
and New Zealand. Travel will be by
sea.
Classified Ads
Get Quick Results
like to travel to Japan, Scandinavia, |
~ ONLY
YESTERDAY
| Ten and Twenty Years Age
In The Dallas Post
IT , HAPPENED 30 YEARS AGO:
Va traffic accident near Harter’s
Dairy injured three persons, one
| seriously. Jean Dixon, 24, had a
leg amputated, and lost the other
foot. - The car in which she was a
passenger skidded = on the ice,
crashed into a Ford driven by Wil-
liam A. Austin of Beaumont. Richard
Puterbaugh of Shavertown, driving
another Ford, crashed into the
wreckage.
Frank W. Moore, 64, died at his
home in Idetown.
Editor of the Twin Falls Daily
News, Idaho, pays a tribute to Macy
| Hoover, formerly of Dallas, who died
December 5, citing his outstanding
and owner of the Gregg Business
College at Twin Falls.
Twelve inch ice is providing
heavy freight traffic, as harvesters
find good cutting weather at Moun-
tain Springs.
George IS. Baer, lifelong resident
of Hunlock Creek is buried at Oak-
dale.
Game Commission has purchased
and released 156 raccoons. Thous-
ands of live rabbits are being
shipped in from Missouri.
Mrs. James Patton, Noxen, suf-
fered a fatal heart attack, aged 71.
Sixty free tickets to the Himmler
Theatre will be given away by the
Dallas Post.
The shortest route between Wash-
ington, D. C., and Ottawa, Canada,
runs directly through Dallas.
Game law prosecutions are at an
all-time high as families in need of
food hunt out of season.
IT HAPPENED 20 YEARS AGO:
All First National directors are
reelected, and C. A. Frantz retains
the presidency.
/ Influenza is sweeping Idetown and
Lehman.
Dallas firemen will produce a
show written by Fred Kiefer and
John Heffernan, ‘Let Us
Council.”
William Bennett, Trucksville
school director died of a heart attack
following pneumonia. $
Mrs. Alice Weaver, daughter of
pioneer settlers of Vernon, is dead
at 75.
Mrs. Ada B. Holcomb, Huntsville,
is celebrating her 86th birthday.
Elizabeth Niehmeyer of Dallas
of Baltimore January 11.
Entries for the 25th annual Penn-
sylvania Farm Show are breaking
all records. 3
Benjamin F.. Winters of Loyalville
died at his home, aged 61. er
v/ Free Methodist Church in Trucks-
ville was damaged by an overheated
furnace pipe. Shavertown, Trucks-
ville and Dallas responded to the
alarm.
Fred Kehrle of Factoryville, area
dog-catcher, issues a last warning to
owners of unlicensed dogs.
Wp skating at Harveys Lake.
AND 10 YEARS AGO: 5 ivi. 7a
vA public forum is to be held on
school jointure at Kingston Town-
ship: high school January 23. The
Citizens Committee will answer
questions.
Charles Hemenway writes up the
Farm Show, listing local winners:
Ralph Sands, yearling heifers; Hill-
side Farms, shorthorns. i
Ducks flock to White Lake, where
there'is some open water. og:
Grace Barrall heads the model in-
stallation of FHA at the Farm Show
in Harrisburg. Grace is president
of Lehman and Luzerne County
FHA.
Kenneth Hughes, four year old son
of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Hughes,
Trucksville, is recovering slowly
‘after a sledding accident.
Mrs. Nellie Blizzard, 80, died at
her home in Noxen after along ill-
ness.
Mrs. Sarah Jane Ball, mother of
Mrs. Lloyd Kear, died at Minersville.
Leona (Cigarski, Chase, became the
bride of Carl A. Aston, of Hunlock
Creek.
Ruth Wilson Laurence, Massa-
chusetts, is wed to John Durbin, a
former resident of Dallas.
SAFETY VALVE
CALLING CARDS
To the people of Dallas Twp.,
Our deep appreciation to all of
you nice folks in the Dallas area for
your warm welcome and many
kindnesses to us newcomers to this
beautiful country.
But please—won’t you keep your
dogs at home? Our back yard
seems to be a public meeting place
(and comfort station) for all the
dogs in Luzerne county. Our own
pet, in accordance with the local
ordinance, is confined on a short
rope, a rope which he breaks al-
most daily in his pantic efforts to
run loose with his “visitors.” Call-
ing cards” of the latter can be
buried in the snow — but I shudder
to think of the spring and summer
months, when we will want to use
our yard and patio for other things
besides a way side rest for stray
dogs.
~
New resident
Hislops Remarried
Louise Williams Hislop and Robert
Wayne Hislop, Franklin Street, Dal-
las, were remarried in Dallas Metho-
‘dist Church on Friday, January 6.
Rev. Russell Lawry performed the
ceremony in Dallas Methodist
Church. :
contribution to education as fcunder |
Take |
became the bride of Edward Jones |
/
nn
DALLAS, PENNSYLVANIA
From
the office at the Dallas Post.
We've been changing things
you'd better drop around to see
“Does it make any difference
that they were invisible.
This desk is right in the lime
is no concealment. : :
“I see you roll your socks,”
flanked on one side by a filing ca
case.
gores to afford a little ease.
tion. 2
rolled socks.”
“and I seem to.detect a slight sli
ination.”
“How DO you hold them up,
do it with thumbtacks.”
Pillar To Post . gh
There are some odd sidelights to the recent upheaval around
The next morning I came in and demonstrated.
“That, Howard,” I disillusioned him,
ST
Howard called up late Saturday afternoon.
around a little, he confided,” and
how you like it.”
whether I like it or not?”
“You'll have a lot more room. Come and have a look.” :
Inspection proved that I did have more room. Right in the
middle of a lobby, with traffic tramping past. c
On Monday, when I took over the new desk, I found I was going
to have to trim my sails. No more hunching down over the type-
writer and ignoring the cash customers at the counter on the grounds
-light (whatever that is) and there
8
In fact, there is no concealment, period. For anything. :
I was beating out a spot of copy with smoke spiralling up fi pm
the typewriter, when Howard glanced in my direction. ;
he announced blithely.
“I'm the flapper type,” I responded, whisking down my shire”
Then I readjusted my typewriter table so that it faced the wall,
binet, on the other by a tall book-
It's these modern short skirts, tight all the way down, with no
But you never know how they look, until you arrange a group
of women for a photograph, or chance to ‘sit just below the head
_ table, which seldom hag a long enough tablecloth to cover the situa-
“See? No
“Well, ' well,” he responded in a congratulatory tone of voice,
mming of the waist-line, too.”
Mis a figment of the imag-
then?” he wanted to know.
“That, Howard, is my little secret, but I'll let you in on it. I :
Homes
Homes on wheels have grown up
since the first Reo Speed-Wagon in
1924 tailored a truck body to ac-
commodate four passengers, for eat-
.| ing and sleeping, with wings that
let down at night to form two
double beds, and adjusted during
the day to form backs for the
couches. :
None of the amenities were con-
sidered. ‘There was a small gasoline
powered stove, but everything re-
quiring water was left up to the
filling stations. :
The sixty-foot monsters that tour
the nation’s highways at the present
day, or establish themselves perma-
nently in trailer courts are a far
cry from the home-made jobs that
succeeded the Reo Speed-Wagons.
Some of the trailers. .come .in
sections, - to be “put together ‘upon
arrival, simulating a modern house
with a gently peaked roof. One
such trailer may bbe seen at the trail-
er park near Dallas Outdoor Theatre.
‘A ‘morning ‘call on’ Mrs. Stanley
Farr at White Birch Trailer Court
was illuminating. BAR
Mrs. Farr much prefers living in ‘a
trailer to living in a house. Trailers
have changed a lot since the: first
one ‘she lived in at Chattanooga,
Tennessee, while - her husband ‘was
engaged in construction work at.the
air ‘force |base shortly after Pearl
Harbor was attacked... ..
The couple had three children, and
three children looked like a whole
herd in ja thirty-foot trailer; In
those days, there was no. water, no
disposal plant. Construction work-
ers’ trailers, parked in a farm’ yard
at great ‘profit. to’ the farmer, had
access “to a. fairly substantial Chic
Sale. Trailer owners carried, water
by the bucket, and. if a child upset
the bucket, it classified as a catas-
trophe. | i : HAY
~The Farr trailer had a couch at
either end, and a gasoline stove that
had to be pumped up. Trailers had
not yet taken on the modern look.
A great many were carpentered to
order and built short enough so
the car and taking off. Most modern
trailers require truck service.
The Farrs abandoned trailer living
when ‘they moved to their home on
Lehigh Street in Trucksville. For
sixteen years they gave not another
thought to trailers. :
And then they dropped in at the
White Birch Trailer Camp for a
visit. :
The fifty and sixty foot trailers
were modern and delightfully liv:
able. equipped with small furnaces,
efficiently engineered kitchen and
bath, plenty of privacy, beautifully
decorated, and with every cubic inch
of space cleverly utilized.
Three years ago they moved to
White Birch.
A look out of the glass-louvered
windows showed a number of small
children playing around. . Space be-
tween trailers showed lopsided
snowmen. A two-year old sat down
hard on the slippery road, and
roared. His mother rescued him.
“How does it work, having small
children in a trailer? Aren’t they
under foot all the time? And how
is it possible to keep up with the
laundry 2" : Eh 0:
Mrs. Farr knew the answer to that
one. ‘‘Aren’t small children under
foot all the time anyway, no matter
how big the house is? It’s easier
to keep track of them if they can’t
get too far away. And as for the
laundry, many of these trailers have
combination washers and dryers.”
“How about you? Do you have
a washer?”
“No, I do things the easy way. I
take my laundry to the Laundromat,
and while I shop, it washes itself,
and while T shop a little more, it
dries in the big cylinder.”
There is space at the White Birch
for twenty-four trailers. There is
a certain amount of moving in and
out, but a surprising number of
trailers stay put. There's one man,
a retired baker, who used to spend
On Wheels Have Grown
Into Modern House Trailers
there was no problem in hitching |
# He is con-
ut for an invita-
somebody's trailer
‘bake some nice fresh
ke cheese blintzes. - His
pment isn’t large ‘enough
him, as he has one of the
r trailers. 3
e number of small children is
going to be augmented shortly.
Babies are very much the thing at
the trailer court, and neighbors keep
a solicitous eye on expectant moth-
res. : :
“How. about water freezing in the
pipes during zero weather? 1 see
all the trailers are sitting up on their
wheels, and there is an airspace
beneath. : 3
“We've never had any frozen
pipes. There’s an electrically heated
tape wound around the pipes, that
| we switch on in really cold weather
to keep the pipes warm. They
think of everything around here.”
“How's the water supply, 7” °
“It’s marvelous. And sewagg. is
taken care of in large septic ca
Mrs. Farr explained about the
Hislop trailer. © : !
“It came in two long secs,
and was slid onto its foundation and
‘bolted together. But it didn’t all
come at the same time. Coming in
from the factory, the second section
was struck by a tornado and rolled
over on the road. There was quite
a gap of time in there, before it
could be reconditioned and continu
‘its overland haul.” ’
“Bolted together side by side, the
two sections make a house fifty feet
long and’ twenty feet wide, with a
large living room at one end. A
‘room that would normally be used
‘ag a bedroom, has been turned into
an office. : ; :
‘One thing was puzzling: How did
the manufacturers arrange matters
so that the open sections of the
large living room did not collect
dust and road grime on the trip
east? : Sh a
© Both sections were protectedffith
plastic. When they pulled slowly
| into the parking lot in the wake of
a huge truck, they looked as if they
had been gift-wrapped. The trggfer,
inside and out, is as clean as a new
pin. g : 3 g/
The trailer court gets together for
picnics in the summer, minds each
others babies, cooperates in giving
people lifts into town, and is gen-
uinely sorry when nice neighbors
move away. z
The dairy and the cleaning estab-
lishment and the bakery truck
makes deliveries. The school = bus
stops at the driveway. 8.4
In summer, folks enjoy their
shaded patios, and in winter they
are cozy with small furnaces which
cost far less to operate than even
the most modest of furnaces in the
most modest of houses. As
This may explain why so kz
young married couples, and so ¥gny
elderly couples, live in trailers,
Tt costs less, with no diminotion of
comfort, and it is convenient.
If a man is transferred, his house
is ready to go with him, and there
is no mighty upheaval of moving.
There is always another trailer
court at the end of the line, and
another set of interesting neighbors.
Mrs. Alvin A. Shaffer
Is Showing Improvement
Mrs. Alvin A. Shaffer is making
good progress after returning home
from Nesbitt Memorial Hospital
where she was treated after suffer-
ing a stroke on the night of De-
cember 20. A well-liked member
of the cafeteria staff at Westmore-
land High School, Dolly wishes to
thank the many students, mem-
bers of the faculty and friends who
‘sent her lovely flowers and cards
during her hospital stay.
She still has little grip in her
left hand but she has been able to
walk out on the porch three days
this week.
¢
PEATE ANNAN
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A TE SR SERED
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