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73 YEARS A NEWSPAPER ; \ TWO EASY TO REMEMBER
(Oldest Business Institution : Telephone Numbers
} Back of the Mountain ' ’ 674-5856 674.7876
TEN CENTS PER COPY—FOURTEEN PAGES VOL. 75, NO. 6 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1963
MORE THAN A NEWSPAPER, A COMMUNITY INSTITUTION
Local Suburban Areas Seen
Unfit For Unification Now
Board Reelects
David Schooley
To Presidency
1962 Buction Head
Dick Demmy Takes
Place on Board
David Schooley was reelected
president of Back Mountain Mem-
orial Library Association at the an-
nual meeting Thursday night in the
Library Annex. Reelected also were
Homer Moyer, treasurer, and Mrs.
Fred Howell, secretary.
Durelle Scott replaced Mrs. Thom-
as Heffernan as vice president.
Richard Demmy, 1962 Library
Auction chairman, was elected to
the board, and prior election of
Richard Patterson, to replace Mrs.
Stanley S. Davies, was confirmed.
Reelected for three year terms as
directors were Mrs. Hanford Eck-
man, Homer Moyer, Mrs. Charles
Frantz, Mrs. Paul Gross, Robert
Bachman, and Ralph Hazeltine.
Mr. Schooley warmly commended
Mrs. Albert Jones for her efficiency
as acting librarian since the resig-
nation and subsequent death of Mrs.
Prosper Wirt.
Mrs. Jones outlined the expans-
ion of the main library to take in
the second floor, crediting the Key
Club, Library Volunteers, staff, and
for their help in |
Open House was
d 9.
hth netted 641.35 at
tion. State aid ap-
LOT $2,488, forty percent
0 earmarked for children’s
b¥ ts, has already been partially
sp .nt.
Total circulation for the year was
68,034, with a notable increase as
soon as Dallas Borough school
children were once more permitted
to visit the Library.
Mrs. W. H. Smith reported on
Story Hour; Stefan Hellersperk on
Building. and Grounds; Mrs. Thom-
as Heffernan on Volunteers; Fred
Eck, Finance; Mrs. Fred Howell on
schools; Ralph Hazeltine, expansion;
Robert Bachman, Public Relations;
Mrs. Piul Gross, House; Mrs. Eck-
man, Friénds ot the # brary; Mss.
Charlés Frantz; Cultural Activities.
Dick ‘Demmy repofrted a gross of
$23,888} net of $16,569, for the 1962
Auction.
Mitchell Jenkins presided during
the first part of the meeting, Mr.
Schooley having been delayed.
Taking the chair, Mr. Schooley
paid a tribute to the late Howard
W. Risley, saying that nobody could
‘estimate his contribution to the Li- |
brary and to the Annual Auction.
A resolution, published two weeks
ago in the Dallas Post, was spread
upon the minutes.
Mrs. Jenkins, retiring president
of the Book Club, and Mrs. Paul
Gross, recently installed president,
poured from a table gay with red
tapers and silver candelabra.
Attending, in addition to those
already named, were: Miss Frances |
Dorrance, Fred Howell, Albert Jon-
es, Mr. and Mrs. A. D. Hutchison,
Frank Slaff, Mesdames Mae Town-
end, Dana Crump, Homer Moyer,
and Harold Titman.
Receives Promotion
JOHN T. CALLAHAN
| tures and anticipated
Present Validity Of
Issue Questionable
“That either Back Mountain or
i Mountaintop area should be inter-
preted as our recommended settings
for municipal consolidation is iron-
ic”, says Raymond Carmon, Penn-
sylvania Economy League Central
Division Director, whose firm re-
cently completed a three-page re-
port on local government in this
area.
“Our report not only shows that
feasibility of consolidation is still
under study’, he continued, “but
shows it to be legally impossible,
unless the borough were to annex
the townships.”
Purpose of the Economy League's
studies, the director pointed out, is
solely to investigate areas of possi-
ble economic cooperation between
adjoining jurisdictions such as
Dallas Borough, Township, and
Kingston Township,
A similar study is being made in
the Mountaintop complex of seven
townships.
Neither study recommends con-
solidation, and, in fact, the League
has found such an endeavor would
be geographically and economically
impractical at this time. Total pop-
ulation in the three local units con-
cerned is 12,089 in an area of 36.4
square miles.
The Pennsylvania Economy
League is a non-partisan, nonprofit,
private research organization, which
seeks areas of economic progress
in local government, when invited
to do so by political and civic
leaders.
In the case of Luzerne County’s
two suburban areas, the Central
Division found it convenient to do
research on its own since the test
area was close to the office, dis-
tributing reports to some 70 civic
leaders in this area.
The League's Harrisburg office
operates on the state level, testing
budgets and plans, and many of ‘its:
officials ultimately are picked for
administrative jobs for the govern-
ment.
Although the report. offers no
specific areas of cooperation; Car-
mon suggested as examples road-
repair and water control. Lecal
control of such facilities in the
Mountaintop area is even more
femal Lhan dn the Back Maeuntain.
Clearly, the director noted; local
politicians are not going to be en-
| thusiastic about the idea of political
| unity among their communities un-
til utilities, services, taxes and bud-
| gets enjoy equal footing in each
| jurisdiction.
Certain municipalities would not
i touch others’ finances with a ten
foot pole.
A detailed study of all expendi-
income in
each municipality would be in or-
der, before predicting any feasible
political unions, and the first step,
the chairman noted, would be in-
formal meetings between commun-
ity ‘administrative and civic leaders
to discuss possible cooperation.
In any case, he said, referring to
recent mysterious rumors of im-
pending political consolidation, “It
will take a lot more study and
knowledge before any solution can
be offered.”
Less reserved, but equally well-
informed sources estimated ten to
twenty years as the time it would
take for Dallas Borough, Township,
and Kingston Township to become
a political unity.
Still unanswered was the ques-
tion: How did political consolida-
tion ‘of our communities become a
vital concern at this time?
It could be established that some
motion was given to recent discus-
| sion by the Economy League's study
and an interesting interpretation of
that study by a Wilkes-Barre news-
paper. Budgets were recently drawn
up for all townships and boroughs,
and there too was stimulus for talk
about inefficiency and amateurism
in small government.
er's alarm over such inefficiency
was somewhat disproportionate to
the increase, if any, of such in-
efficiency over last year.
Similar clamor has been raised
recently in Mountaintop for con-
solidation of townships, and the
climate is such there that certain
bodies eventually may well merge.
Two have already collaborated on
adjacent zoning, and the Economy
Promoted from salesman to sales
manager of Whitesell Brothers
Building Supplies, West Dallas, is
John T. Callahan, 35, Oak Hill, the
firm announced today.
The new manager, who started
with Whitesell Brothers September,
1953, is a former resident of Wilkes-
Barre Township, and a graduate of
St. Mary's High School. He has
completed courses in estimating and
selling given by Johns Manville and
Pennsylvania State University.
A veteran, Callahan is married to
the former Joan Pechkis, Edwards-
ville, and they have two children,
Richard, 7, and Nancy, 5.
Ruxiliary Meeting
Harveys Lake American Legion
Auxiliary Unit 967 will meet Tues-
day, 8 p.m., at the home of presi-
dent Mrs. Ethel Engelman, Noxen.
League finds that a step in the
right direction,
No evidence exists, however, to
indicate that ‘consolidation’ in any
form is an issue related to present
public concern except as an aca-
demic point.
A survey taken in the wake of
subject showed area political and
civic leaders cautious about the
idea without funther elaboration.
Time and study were popular fac-
tors. No one was against the idea
if, in time, the issue became a real-
ity.
In the meantime, many people
expressed dissatisfaction, mostly
unprintable, with some character-
istics attributed last week to area
volunteer’ fire organizations by a
Wilkes-Barre newspaper in an en-
deavor to show how consolidation
of companies would reduce ineffic-
However, the degree of the pap- |
recently revived discussion of the
Teams To Vie For
Family’s Benefit
Dallas and Lake-Lehman High
Schools will meet Thursday, Feb-
ruary 14 in a wrestling match for
the benefit of ex-wrestler Freddie
Hennebaul's family, Mr. and Mrs.
Walter Hennebaul, Schoolhouse
Road, Harveys Lake.
Aim, according to Dallag High
School assistant principal Thomas
Jenkins, is to make it a little easier
for the Hennebauls to visit Fred
at Johnstown Rehabilitation Center,
where he is recovering from a par-
alyzing accident in a match with
Tunkhannock January 4, 1961.
Sponsored by the Athletic Coun-
cil, the meet between the teams,
both of which are of equal stand-
ing, is intended as a separate token
from the Freddie Hennebaul Fund,
says Mr.
At present, there is no provision
for family visits within the terms
of the fund, all proceeds going di-
rectly to cover medical expenses.
An equally serious expense, the
Council feels, is costs of transporta-
tion of family visitors, for the
eighteen year old wrestler's morale.
This match will try to fill that gap.
Fred returned home this Christ-
mas for the first time since his
injury.
At Johnstown Rehabilitation
Center, where he was transferred
this fall from Geisinger Medical |
Center, Danville, the boy is making |
notable progress. He gets therapy
for the frayed nerves in his neck
every day, and is keeping up with
his school work. ;
The week after the injury, as Fred
lay in Geisinger’s Constant Care
Ward, more than 100 students,
friends and parents, including those
of Gail Bedford, his opponent, met
at Lehman High School to set up
Jenkins. | home of her mother, Mrs. Sites, at
Chimney Fire
Destroys Home
Noxen, Kunkle, Lake,
Battle Noxen Blaze
A chimney fire, the third in Nox-
en in a week, caused total destruc-
{tion of a two-story frame home
across from the Noxen Clinic early
Thursday morning.
Wednesday evening at 8, three
fire companies, Noxen, Kunkle and
Harveys Lake, answered the first
alarm, battling a blaze which start-
| ed around a chimney in an up-
stairs bedroom.
At 10:30, the fire apparently out,
firemen went home, and Mrs, Wilce
Thompson, who lived alone in the
house since the death last year of
her husband, was taken to the
Harveys Lake to spend the night.
At 1:30, John Lyons spotted a
blaze again, and telephoned the
three fire companies. Breaking of
a window to gain entrance provid-
ed draft, and the entire house
went up like a torch,
Hose-lines were strung along the
main street to Bowman's Creek,
and nearby homes wet down for
protection. Battling the blaze itself
was futile from the start. A little
furniture was saved, all clothing
was lost.
The two other chimney fires oc-
curred during the daytime, one at
the home of Lena Dotter, Main
road, the other at the John Byrnes
home on Island Road. Both were
quickly = extinguished by Noxen
firemen, ' y
Steal Carverton Dog
A female beagle hound was stolen
from the front yard of Russell
the Fred Hennebaul Recovery Trust
Fund. :
Ugly Wreck,
Grim warnings of icy danger are
these cars awaiting the wrecker in
a puddle of shattered debris after
colliding head-on Thursday night
several hundred yards north of the
drive-in on Tunkhannock highway,
injuring four, one critically.
Drivers were Mrs. May Getz,
Plattsburg, still “serious” at Nesbitt
Hospital, after being pinned in the
station wagon, and Dr. Walter Mo-
kychic, 46, Shavertown, physician at
Noxen Clinic, now in “fair” condi-
tion.
Mrs. Getz. received compound |
fracture of both legs, fractured jaw, |
Honeywell, /Jr., Mt. Olivet Road,
Carverton Saturday morning.
Yielding Four Hurt,
and laceration of the chin. The
doctor suffered cuts on the head,
and rib, chest, and knee injuries.
Mrs. Fred Getz, 27, Plattsburg,
daughter-in-law of Mrs. May Getz,
and Elizabeth Robinson, 18, her
sister, all employees of Melody Shoe
Factory; Wilkes-Barre, passengers in
the station wagon, are also recover-
ing at the hospital from severe in-
juries. Mrs. Getz was cut badly in
the left eye where her head hit the
windshield, and on the right knee,
and Miss Robinson suffered head in-
juries, lacerated elbow and fractured
nose.
Flack Backs Block
To School Bill
Senator Harold Flack has lined
up with fellow Senators Stroup,
Hawbaker, Scott, Propert, Keller
and Bell in pushing for a mora-
torium on Act 561, concerning
school district reorganization.
‘Senator Flack, states, “The act
is set up as a hodge-podge bill with
the identity of its various school
districts being lost, is presenting
a problem to many school districts
of the state, particularly those lo-
cated in the western sector,
“Many children must travel fifty
to seventy five miles to reach their
institutions of learning.”
The bill may well present the
biggest challenge of the current
| session to legislators. There is
| strong opposition from the Demo-
| cratic bloc.
| Enacted in 1961, Reorganization
{ Act calls for consolidation of school
| districts into units of at least 4,000
pupils with some exceptions made
to permit 2500 pupil units in rural
areas. It would set up350 districts
instead of the present 2000.
The bill would become effective
July 1, 1965. It does not apply to
school districts of Philadelphia and
Pittsburgh.
Republican Floor Leader James
S. Berger states, “The act was de-
veloped by theorists who have fail-
ed to convince the people of Penn-
sylvania that it is the answer to
the educational problems of the
state.”
Mattress Fire Out
Dr. Henry M. Laing Fire Com-
pany extinguished a mattress fire
Monday afternoon around 3 at the
home of Edward Burke, Goss
Manor. Assistant Chief William
Berti said, in another five minutes
the fire would have spread over
much of the house.
One “Serious’
On impact the Getz car caught
fire, which would have spread over
both hopeless wrecks but for quick-
thinking of Edward Alusick, Chemi-
cal] Leaman Truck Line, who stopped
| his rig as close as was safe and’
doused the blaze with his truck fire
extinguisher. He said it surely
would have consumed both cars in
| another minute. Alusick was behind
| Dr. Mokychic’s car in the south-
bound lane. Police have not de-
| termined the cause of the accident.
The . two cars were at rest against
I each other in the north-bound lane.
| Dallas and Kingston Township
’. Scars Route 309
we
rel ?
taurant, Mooretown, showed this
one, which he shot with 20-gauge
shot-gun across the highway from
Steele’s, around work at Common-
wealth Telephone Company late
John Steele, 24, Steele’s Res-
ambulances took all victims to the
hospital, and were staffed by Ray
Titus, Don Bulford, and Les Tinsley,
and Marvin Yeust, William Pugh,
William Kreischer, and Harry Smith
respectively.
Investigating were Police Chief
Frank Lange, Assistant Chief Stan-
ley Gardiner, Patrolman William
Hersh, and state police.
Mrs. May Getz is the wife of the
late John “Jack” Getz, former own-
Embulance Calls
Dallas ambulance made the fol-
lowing calls this week: Thursday,
Mrs. M. S. Weidner, to Wyoming
Valley Hospital, Ray Titus, Jack
Stanley, Cliff Foss, and Art Parrish
attending.
Thursday, Mrs. Mildred Getz and
Elizabeth Robinson. See page one
story.
Friday, Harold Allabaugh, Gen-
eral Hospital; Lane Jarrett and
Tony Zachary attending.
Saturday, Irene Makar, Mercy
Hospital; Robert Block, Les Tinsley,
and Tony Zachary attending.
Baby Badly Burned
When Fryer Upsets
Faith Jean Besteder, sixteen-
month old granddaughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Karl Besteder, Sr., Center More-
land, was seriously burned January
7 when an electric french-fryer over-
turned in the kitchen of her par-
ents’ home in Birmingham, Ala-
bama. She is in fair condition at
Carraway Methodist Hospital, Bir-
mingham, suffering from second and
third degree burns over 75 percent
of her body. wi
Kar] Besteder, Jr. is employed
as a ticket agent by United Airlines,
transferred from Harrisburg in De-
cember.
iency.
“What got me was that “just
striving to get along bit,” said one
assistant fire chief, referring to a
description, rather unfortunately
worded in that paper, of the al-
legedly chaotic state of Back Mount-
ain emergency crews,
~ Release Big Rabbit-
With possibility of promoting
if they get bored, Game Warden Ed Gdosky and Conservation Com-
mitteeman Malcolm Nelson release two more of the impressive live-
trap catch.
the state, in an endeavor to clear
Catch On Open Land
a limitless number of rabbit-races
Three hundred more animals than last year were caught in the
Back Mountain area by ten area trappers.
Traps were provided by
urban and suburban lands of rab-
bits who would rather be in the country anyway
FOUR VICTIMS OF HEAD-ON
IMPROVING AT HOSPITAL;
ENDANGERED EYE SAVED
All four Dallas area victims
of a head-on crash on Tunk-
hannock Highway Thursday
night are improving at Nesbitt
Hospital, according to Dr.
Lester Saidman, including Mrs.
May Getz, originally “critical,”
and the doctor’s colleague, Dr:
Walter Mokychic.
Both were drivers of cars
which collided in the north-
bound lane.
Mrs. Getz is now listed ‘“‘seri-
ous,” Dr. Mokychic — “fair,”
Mrs. Fred Getz — “fair,” and
Elizabeth Robinson — good.”
The doctor said the sight of
Mrs. Getz’s eye, cut on impact
with the windshield, will be re-
stored.
Area Falls Prey To
Garbage Litter-Bug
Dallas area is prey to an invete-
rate litter-bug who throws garbage
anywhere in Dallas Township, and
preferably on the road, according
to Police Chief Frank Lange.
Since summer the garbage-throw-
er has been increasing his evil
ways, and has become intolerable.
Chief Lange says he will prosecute
the party to the full extent of the
law.
He reports the road coated with
| garbage near Huntsville Dam, and
roads in Fernbrook and Ellsworth
Hilf.
Bags Albino Squirrel Near Mooretown
a
last month.
Edwardsville taxidermist Paul
Koval, who stuffed this one,
said he has seen 'one other in his
forty years at work — thirty-five
years ago. The albino is pure white
with red eyes.
Gensel Prevails
Despite Attack
Board Threatens To
Close Chase Road
Above and beyond a mysterious
petition for his removal from office
as Assistant Chief of Police of Jack-
son Township, Roland . Gensel’ pre-
vailed to another term at the
pervisors' ‘meeting Tuesday night.
Gensel called the move spite,”
and attributed it to his petition to
the court early last fall to reject
his earlier application for appoint-
ment of an assistant constable. He
was unanimously reappointed.
As his first chore of the year
1963, Gensel was directed to advise
the State Highway Department
through the AAA that he would,
as constable, . close . Huntsville-
Chase Road unless a particularly
vicious ice-clog were removed with-
in 48 hours.
The ice was frozen in a perilous
crust across the road in front of
Arthur Houck's residence, near
Huntsville Christian Church. It
| reportedly came from an overflow
| resulting from placement of con-
| crete in a drain pipe. 3
: Held over from the January
| meeting was a petition of 134
names, demanding the appointment
| of a new assistant police chief. No
reason was given on the document,
and no one appeared at the recent
meeting to stand behind it.
Chief of Police Robert Cooper
termed the petition “the silliest
er of Mason's Villa, Kunkle. A son, | thing I ever heard of,” -and en-
John Chesney, Philadelphia, has |dorsed Gensel as a ‘fine, upstand-
come up to help the family. ing officer.”
The chief said he had talked to
some of the signers of the paper,
= gu | and they had admitted they did not
know what they were signing.
Referring to the move as “spite,”
Gensel pointed out that the petition
was first offered at a meeting in
which he was not present, but re-
ceived thin support at the present
session.
All bills were ordered paid, and
all reports approved.
For the Back Mountain Police
Association, Herbert Updyke in-
vited supervisors president Elmer
Laskowski, Wesley Lamoreaux, and
Hal Bertram, and secretary-treas-
urer Ed Jeffery to the next meeting
of that group.
Rough Highway Job.
Will Dissuade Bids
Construction of the new Dallas-
Luzerne Highway will be enough
of a headache, so that most con-
tractors, although able to put up
bond, do not want the job anyway,
according to sources in Harrisburg.
Bids will be resolicited next
month, it has been announced,
following rejection of that of Cen-
tral Pennsylvania Construction
Company, Hazleton, as too high.
Factors acting as a deterrent to
bidding, it is claimed, will be main-
tenance of traffic flow, proximity
of railroad tracks to roadbed, prox-
imity of a thirty-six inch water
main, and problem of disposing of
excavated soil and rock. Nearest
dumping ground is the lower end
of Bunker Hill, four miles away.
The lone bidder, Central Con-
struction, was rejected by the High-
way Department, although some
highway officials felt it reasonable. |
Spearhead Plan
For Community
Center In Area
Dallas Club Invites
Service Groups To
Consider Proposal
Dallas Woman's Club, senior and
junior divisions, spearheaded a
proposal for a community building
to serve all organizations in the
Back Mountain, meeting with rep-
resentatives from service club
groups Thursday night at Irem
Country Club.
At the council table in the sun-
room, gathered delegates from Dal-
las Rotary, Dallas Lions, Dallas Ki-
wanis, American Legion, PTA Coun-
cil, Architects Association, YMCA,
Dallas Women of Rotary, Women
of Kiwanis, Back Mountain Protec-
tive Association, Dallas Junior
High School PTA, Eastern Star.
Chairman of the community
project, Mrs. Francis Ambrose, in
stating the need felt by many or-
ganizations for more adequate
housing for their meetings and ac-
tivities, launched a trial balloon.
Why could not all organizations
adopt a common goal, a community
building ?
It was suggested that each dele-
gate go back to the parent club,
and outline the obvious advantages.
Young folks, said Mrs. Ambrose,
need a pleasant place in which to
hold dances, play pool and ping-
pong. An eye to the future suggests
the possibility of an indoor swim-
ming pool; a clinic for first aid and
well babies; a kitchen for serving
| of meals to service clubs; meeting
rooms of varying sizes.
Organizations must now pay for
meeting space. The Library is no
longer practical for a large group,
though small groups are still meet=
ing in the Annex.
The library itself, said Mrs. Am-
brose, might well join with a com-
munity effort, throwing annual auc-
tion receipts toward a larger pro-
ject while gaining for itself a more
modern home.
Dallas Lions, represented by
Richard Myers and Russell DeRem-
er, the smallest group organized in
the Back Mountain, went on record
as heartily in favor of the project,
citing an instance where a club of
only twenty members had sponsor-
ed. such a project, with other or-
ganizations * getting on. the “band
wagon. It could be done, they
agreed.
Rodda, said that in their opinion, a
consolidation of municipal entities
would have to be the first step, be-
fore merging an activity program.
Congratulations were extended to
the American Legion for starting a
program of teenage dances, a bar-
rier against troubles experienced in
many communities where young
Merrill Faegenburg asked if in
actuality each organization was
considering erecting a building, or
was it wishful thinking? ‘I'm a
salesman,” he explained, “and soon-
er or later, in any sales talk, the
ugly question’ of cost rears its head.
What is it going to cost?”
Until each organization stated its
needs, it was explained, nobody
would have any idea what a com-
munity building would cost.
Mrs. George McCutcheon said
young folks need activities and
equipment.
Mr. Rodda suggested a poll of
organizations. Mrs. Ambrose re-
plied that this was already in the
i making, that each . organization
could report back February 28,
when another meeting would be
held to discuss the project.
There are 300 Eastern Star mem-
bers, Mrs. Mildred Lutes contribut-
ed. What meeting room could be
large enough for that membership
and for Rainbow Girls? William
Cutten said the school auditorium
was not used to capacity, that the
tax-payers are paying for the new
school. Mrs. Ambrose said on the
contrary, the new high school is
already outgrown.
James Alexander: What plans
could be made for maingenance ?
Dr. Budd Schooley: for needs of
future citizens, you can't estimate
in terms simply of a price tag.
Dr. Schooley sketched the begin-
nings of the community Building
project. Proposal to embark on the
program came almost simultaneous-
ly with Pearl Harbor Day, which
effectively sidetracked any such
idea. After the War, the proposition
was again considered, failed to win
support.
Many sites had. been considered;
Castle Inn; the former Broom Fac-
tory, now Regina Hall; a section of
Goss Manor; the plot of land re-
cently acquired by Trinity Presby-
terian Church.
Dr. Schooley offered an acreage
a little way. beyond Kunkle, far
from the present center of popula-
tion, but conceivably centrally lo-
cated with population increase.
Transportation was seen to be a
problem by Mr. Faegenburg.
Mr. Rodda said two questions had
to be answered by each group be-
fore any estimate of cost or practi-
cality could be made: What are the
needs for each individual organiza-
tion ?; and what other needs for the
community at large does each
(Continued on Page 2 A)
/
A number of men, including Paul
folks get their kicks out of rumbles. ¥’