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PAGE FOUR
EDITORIAL |
America the Beautiful
Northeastern Newspapers Inc. (Rich Cooper)
Earth Day, April 22
beg your pardon
The series of articles published in this newspaper
regarding the operation of public utilities in North-
eastern Pennsylvania, written by news director J. R.
Freeman, has brought mostly praise from our
readers.
However, one who isn’t pleased is Charles E.
Thomas Sr. of Harrisburg, a former chief legal coun-
sel of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission,
and more recently a lawyer for Pennsylvania Gas &
Water Co. Mr. Thomas has recently argued for rate
hikes for PG&W before the PUC.
Mr. Thomas telephoned to point out Mr. Free-
man’s charge of “conflict of interest’ was erroneous
in his case, at least, in that it has been 19 years since
Mr. Thomas was affiliated with the PUC. He was
insistent that he had violated no conflict of interest
laws, and we readily agree. Mr. Freeman should have
said it was years since Mr. Thomas was associated in
an official capacity with the PUC instead of “only
months.”
In dealing with conflict of interest, however, it is
law in the case of the Federal Government that some
lawyers may never again in their lifetime represent a
member of the private sector before the same
government agency he formerly represented, a fact
perhaps Mr. Thomas is not aware of. In any case, on
the federal level, which is far from strict enough, at
least two years is required before a former govern-
ment lawyer can represent a client before a govern-
ment agency in any legal capacity.
What is amazing is the fact that this newspaper
has not received any substantive rebuttal to a host of
more serious charges launched in the Freeman series
against PG&W and other utilities and government
agencies—neither from Mr. Thomas nor anyone else.
J.R.F.
a good example
The Massachusetts Legislature has set a fine
example in its law that instructs the attorney general
of Massachusetts to defend any boy from that state
who refuses to fight in Vietnam. The law tests the con-
stitutional statement giving Congress the sole right to
declare wars as opposed to presidential powers
developed from court precedents that give the Presi-
dent the right to act in foreign policy.
What is best about the law is its political motiva-
tion. For the first time a state is telling the Federal
government in effect, ‘‘we don’t like your lousy war
and won’t permit our residents to fight in it until the
war has at least some legitimacy in terms of national
approval.”
The Pennsylvania Legislature should follow suit
H.H.N.
1.2.3 o'clock,
4 o'clock rock
by Gene and Miriam Goffin
Kleinhans Music Hall went dark and a
voice boomed: ‘We'd like to say hello, wel-
come and oo-poppa-doo!’’ The Rock and Roll
Revival had hit Buffalo.
We had come to recapture our teenage
years—they looked so much better from 10
years’ distance. We expected to see a crowd
in their mid- and late-twenties there for the
‘same reason; half-thought they’d have DA’s
and leather jackets.
While the warmup group was playing a
medley of hits-of-groups-that-aren’t-here, all
the anachronisms started to hit us. Kleinhans
is one of the best halls in the world for acous-
tics and a clear view of the stage, but it’s not
the Brooklyn Paramount. At the least, the
Revival should have been at the Loew’s Buf-
falo—rock and roll concerts belong in
mouldering movie palaces.
The guy sitting in front of us actually did
have a DA, but most of the audience was in
their teens, well-dressed and respectfully
exuberant. They had come to witness living
history; to see acts they had only heard about.
The producers could have marched anybody
out there—this audience wouldn’t have known
it. Was this ancestor worship? Or, just pos-
sibly a funeral?
And then we saw what was missing in the
audience. There must be more than 100,000
Blacks in Buffalo—we could see two in the en-
tire balcony. This was supposed to be their
music, but we guess they know the difference
between the past and the present. 3
.M.C. came out on the stage again—we
" don’t know who he was; there wasn’t any pro-
gram. He reeled off a succession of fifties’
phrases, but most of the audience was bored.
They had never heard any of them before.
M.C. announced, ‘And here’s the bosses with
the hot sauces—the Coasters!!’’ The Coasters
used to have a tight act—both in their singing
and in those complex routines the backup
singers were required to enact. Somebody in
back of us said only two of the original
Coasters were left. Those two must have
undergon electroshock treatments, because
these didn’t look or sound like the Coasters we
remembered.
This was M.C.’s night for the ‘boss with
the hot sauce.” We counted it five times—two
for Chuck Berry alone. Bill Haley, the Man
Who Started It All, had brought his Comets,
curl and hot sauces. The curl sits further back
on Haley’s forehead than .it used to, but
there’s little change. We have a theory that
Haley recorded ‘Rock Around the Clock”
thinking it was a novelty tune, and when he
saw what was happening, decided to take it
over. Now he’s the captive.
The Comets came out in purple checked
tuxedos and black pants; Haley had a yellow
checked tux. All were wearing those hidden
black bow ties the young hero always wore in
Alan Freed movies. Haley and the Comets did
a commendable job in giving the audience
what it wanted, but real vitality was missing. :
How would you like to play “Shake, Rattle
and Roll,” “See You Later, Alligator’’ and
“Rock Around the Clock” for 15 years?
During the intermission, M.C. tried to
hawk some booklets on the “History of Rock
and Roll” at a buck apiece. We wondered
whether he would sell bon-bons next. He
didn’t.
The true troglodytes of the evening were
the Drifters. They knew what to do They
came out in red velvet pants and vests. They
still had the discipline—the routines in all
their absurdity were perfect; the songs hadn’t
changed. Somehow, the Drifters have main-
tained their vitality—probably at the expense .
of creative musical development—but for it,
they got a very sincere standing ovation.
We suppose part of the reason one goes to
arock and roll Revival is to laugh at it; to look
for mistakes. It’s easy music to laugh at. Most
of it wasn’t very good 10 years ago and it
sounds worse now. It’s music to be enjoyed,
not analyzed, but 10 years has made us ana-
lytical. We couldn’t change that.
Tir DALLAST0ST
A non-partisan, liberal, and progressive newspaper published every Thursday morn-
ing by Northeastern Newspapers Inc. from 41 Lehman Ave. Dallas, Pa. 18612.
Entered as second class matter at the post office at Dallas, Pa., under the Act of
March 3, 1869. Subscription within county, $5 a year. Out-of-county subscriptions,
$5.50 a year. Call 675-5211 for subscriptions.
The officers of Northeastern Newspapers Inc. are Henry H. Null 4th, president and
publisher; John L. Allen, vice president, advertising; J. R. Freeman, vice presi-
dent, news.
* Editor emeritus, Mrs. T. M. B. Hicks; managing editor, Doris R. Mallin; editor of
the editorial page, Shawn Murphy; advertising manager, Annabell Selingo.
only yesterday
FORTY YEARS AGO
C. W. Kunkle and William Brace suffered
a severe loss when their brooder house
burned to the ground with 400 chicks.
Census figures showed that Dallas had in-
creased in population by more than 100
percent during the previous ten years.
THIRTY YEARS AGO
Dallas Methodist Church opened a drive
"to raise $5700 to meet the proposed budget.
The Rev. Francis Freeman was pastor.
THE DALLAS POST, APRIL 23, 1970
off the
CUTt STUFF
by Bruce Hopkins
Spring is the time of year when a young
man’s fancy turns too. There’s something
about spring that makes me want to just hop
into my little convertible and drive for 947%
miles. In any direction.
Unfortunately, when I got into my car
today to drive all those miles, I had a flat tire.
But you know, I didn’t mind: It was a nice day
for tire-changing. Well, I mean, there are
some days when you really mind a flat tire,
but not a day like today was. As a matter of
fact, I even sang while I changed it. Then the
tire and I were both flat.
Spring is the time of year when you can
feel good because there’s a new beginning.
It’s time to start over and try again.
Spring is the time of year when things
begin to bud. And buds bring blossoms. And
blossoms always look hopeful. And hope
springs eternal.
Spring is the time of year when you wake
up feeling like you might actually make it
through the day because the more days you
make it through, the closer you'll be to
summer. And you don’t mind going outside in
the morning because you can see and feel and
smell the sunshine. And for a while you think
that maybe there’s not as much pollution in
the world as everybody lets on.
Spring is the time of year when rain
smells good. And it washes all the left-over
crud off of your car. And out of your mind.
And it leaves everything fresh.
Spring is the time of the year when you
ought to stick your head out of the hole in the
ground in which you've got it, and get on your
‘way. “Up, up, and away-ay . ..” Go find a
field somewhere and lie down in the grass and
listen to it growing. It’s a great feeling. Take
the time.
Pillar to Post:
And again, in the eyes of the watching
world, the country in which we are proud to
live launches a space craft toward the moon.
No veil of secrecy in case something
should go wrong, nothing to conceal.
For the world has a right to know when
events of such moment take place, it has a
by Hix
right to stand aghast when there is malfunc-
tion, it has a right to hold its breath as three
intrepid astronauts battle for their life far out
in the frozen wastes of space.
It has a right to go thankfully to bed as the
frail space vehicle fires its rockets at the ap-
pointed moment, heading it back toward
earth after disappearing behind the moon and
abandoning of necessity any thought of land-
ing on that hostile surface. It hears that oxy-
gen and water and fuel will hold out by a nar-
row margin if all goes well.
It has a right to feel deep concern. It has a
right to stand silently and wonder, knowing
full well that there is no turning back, that the
bomb which fell on Hiroshima has cata-
Banks Construction Co. was awarded the
contract for 5.61 miles of concrete between
Kunkle and Lutes Corner. Price $271,393.
The Red Cross Drive was over the top.
Barbara Oliver reported the drive had netted
$215.40.
Fire warden’s quarters were damaged as
thieves smashed windows in the cottage at the
base of the fire tower on Chestnut Ridge.
TWENTY YEARS AGO
A Town and Country YMCA was planned
“ ZE (GX MNRLES TRUEST ATE
IT'S TIME FOR MY iia ME GOODBYE, DAMN your
Spring is the time of the year when more
than any other time of the year you think that
maybe there just might be a possibility that
people will come together and understand and
love and live and laugh and as long as you
don’t go into my sixth period class you can go
on believing it. Well, the faculty room would
be a good place to avoid too.
Spring is a time of year when a sunset can
make you think of terribly sensual things. Go
ahead. And I sure hope there’s someone
around for you to share your sunsets with.
If not, run-out and find someone quick.
(“‘It doesn’t matter who you love or how you
love but that you love.””—Rod McKuen).
: Spring is the time of year when you like to
get away from everyone and everything for a
while and just celebrate your own self.
It’s nicer at this time of year to be lonely
alone than it is to be lonely with all those
people around.
Spring is the time of year when it’s nice to
think about lettin’ your hair grow down to
your ankles.
Spring is the time of year when suddenly
faith supercedes
"paulted us into an alien world, far removed
from the age of innocence, that we have
passed the point of no return.
That nations must continue to expend
their substance on keeping pace with a chang-
ing world, that the firmament is not as remote
as it was in the days of the Psalmist, and that
under control of the wrong ideology, it could
well rain death and destruction upon us all,
wiping what we are pleased to call civilization
from the face of the earth.
It has faith that the astronauts will land
_ safely in the icy waters of the South Pacific, _
where the first winds of winter are blowing
far below the equator, as spring comes on
gentle feet to our own land, and fields are
green with hope, buds swelling, the whole
magnificent pageant of the renewal of life
marching with banners, triumphant over the
death of winter.
It has faith that the recovery ship will be
in the right place at the right time, and that
communication systems will hold out. On the
recovery of these three astronauts may well
depend the future of our space program. It .
will go forward, no matter what happens, as it
went forward after three astronauts lost their
lives in a flash fire when an actual landing on
the moon was nothing more than a dream. It
will go forward, but it will go forward haunted
by memory, and by a chill realization that the
vast reaches of the sky and the dark depths of
the ocean are alien territory, lying in wait.
That man is exceedingly small in the cos-
mic scheme of things, and that there are more
things on heaven and earth than our limited
intelligence can compass, no matter how
great the strides of science.
am
to serve the Back Mountain area. A centrally
located place, possibly in Dallas, was being
sought. Lewis LeGrand was chairman of the
planning committee, assisted by Clyde
Cooper, Harry Ohlman, Stephen Davies,
Meade McMillen, and L. L. Richardson.
TEN YEARS AGO
A preliminary school budget for Dallas
indicated a 70-mill school tax might be neces-
sary.
The big question around town was
the right *
to write
the world begins to look brighter. But your
students don’t.
Spring is the time of year when¥Z can re-
member coming home from elementary
school and climbing to the top of the tallest
evergreen tree and swaying back and forth
and singing. I wonder if there are any ever-
green trees anymore? It’s spring again.
Spring is the time of year when I think of
running, jumping, skipping, dancing, leaping,
hopping, tumbling, tripping (the light fan-
tastic), gliding, grooving, moving. And other
verbs of action. Hey, could we maybe make
peace an action? Spring would be a good time
for everyone to go around peacing everybody:
Let’s go peace together, you wanna? I peace
you peace he she or it peaces we peace you
peace they peace. Bum, ba ba bum bum; ba
bum.
Spring is the time of year whep I think
about how beautiful it all could be. @hd I try
not to get depressed. If we could just not let
spring go by without noticing it. It’s here
people. Spring is here. Don’t let’s {gore it.
We need it. Desperately. Take th% time.
Peace.
the astronauts
Who was it who said “there are no athe-
ists in fox-holes?”’
Faith, the substance of things hoped | for,
the evidence of things unseen.
When a symbol dies, the earth grieves, in-
consolable.
A young President is assassinated and the
world goes into mourning. Thousands and
thousands of lives are lost each year on this
Nation’s highways, other thousands are lost
in the jungles of Vietnam, lusty young men
who have never attained the voting age. Their
parents grieve. The community. in which they
have lived Pauses for, a regretful 3 ment.
Life goes on.
The symbol of a man reaching for the
stars survives, enshrined in memory, forever
young. ]
To THE POST:
People in general are concerned and are
taking a more active part in combating pro-
jects which contribute to environmental pol-
lution than ever before. This is because they
are told more of the truth in exactly what i is
going on than ever before.
This letter is not intended to frighten any-
one, but simply to present some facts as well
as to perhaps stimulate a desire to participate
further and become better educated.
The Pennsylvania Electric Co., ja sub-
sidiary of the General Public I
plans to build a liquid metals fast breeder nu-
clear reactor for the generation of electrical
energy near the Susquehanna River on a site
in Wyoming County just above Meshoppen.
There is no plant of this same design or size in
operation in the United States. Thisad to be
the largest reactor of its kind and is currently
being designed by the North American Rock-
well Corp. The Pennsylvania Electric Co.
purchased the land some time ago and plans
to start construction in late 1970 or early 1971.
There is a very active group formed in the
area called the Citizens Committee on En-
vironmental Concerns. This committee is
chaired by Mrs. Sidney Daniels of 71 Warren
St., Tunkhannock. Mrs. Daniels has a large
file of information including books, lectures
and articles pertinent to nuclear power reac- .
tors. This information is available to all who
wish to avail themselves of it.
The basic purpose of the committee was
and is to stimulate people to beconi con-
cerned and to become knowledgeable of this
field so that a united intelligent decision can
be made to support or oppose the power pro-
ject.
TRACY B. HIBBARD
Meshoppen
whether or not pari-mutuel betting should be
permitted in Luzerne County and whether or
not a race track should be permitted in the
Back Mountain. When polled by The Dallas
Post, residents seemed split 50-50 on the issue.
Word was received of the death of G. Har-
old Wagner, 59, former State treasurer and
auditor, as well as a former Burgess of Dal-
las. He had been living in Ashville, N. C., at
las. He had been living in Ashville, N.C. sat
.the time of his death.
ET