HE
“Complete Back Mountain News’
’
ALLAS~I-0OST
VOL. 82 NO. 30
THURSDAY, JULY 29, 1971
DALLAS, PA.
PHONE 675-5211
FIFTEEN CENTS
$2,150,181.19
PennDOT Reveals Sum
For X-Valley Property
Total expenditures to date by Pennsyl-
vania Department of Transportation for
properties along the right-of-way of the
proposed North Cross-Valley Express-
way is $2,150,181.19, according to Thomas
J. Harrington, district engineer. This
sung was expended to acquire 107 pro-
perties.
Properties which are currently in-
volved in litigation or for which boards of
review have been requested are not in-
cluded in the total figure of bought pro-
perties.
The largest sum paid for any one pro-
perty was $390,000. This went to King’s
College for its Scanlon Field property at
the intersection of Wyoming Avenue and
West Bennett Street, Kingston.
Atty. K.C. Marianelli received the
highest price paid to date for residential
property. PennDOT paid $74,408.74 for his
corner property at Park Place and
yo Avenue, Kingston.
vr. Harrington stated the full payment
to property owners could include such
figures as settlement for the residence,
land, supplementary payments, moving
costs and other expenses incurred with
settlement.
Further statistics were released by
John Ermel, PennDOT’s property
manager, Dunmore office.
A total of 27 properties have been
vacated. The breakdown includes: 60 re-
sidential owners, 63 residential tenants,
one business owner, 3 tenant businesses.
Ninety-nine owners are to be vacated in
the near future.
@ properties Gouglit anu vacated, 65
homies have been razed. Eight homes are
under contract to be demolished.
Gypsy Moths
No Threat
To Area-Yet
The devastation wreaked by gypsy
moths in other parts of Pennsylvania and
in,a number of states has not been found
ir™®this immediate area to date.
Associate county agent James Beard,
Luzerne County Agricultural Extension
Association, said defoliation is mostly to
tHe east of this area. “There are ab-
solutely no signs of defoliation in our
area, but it is expected that some 200,000
acres of forest lands will be ruined in the
state,”” Agent Beard stated.
The superintendents of two state parks
and one county park also declared they
had seen no evidence of gypsy moths in
their areas.
James Zambo, Frances Slocum State
Park head, replied to a query, ‘“Thank-
fully, we have seen no signs of pests or
the defoliation they cause. We have been
jerted to the problem, and shall take
iimediate steps should we find them in
the park.”
Having no camping facilities, Frances
Slocum Park is not as apt to have the
caterpillars brought in as are the other
parks.
At Moon Lake Park, Director Robert
Neff reported that all campers are given
pamphlets to keep them aware of the
problem. The literature is provided by
the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and
among other things tells campers how to
keep from transporting the destructive
moths from one area to another.
“Our maintenance personnel have seen
no evidence anywhere in our 600-acre
park. We don’t check every day, but
employes do keep their eyes open for
signs,’”’ Director Neff observed.
Posters on bulletin boards, booklets
given to campers, defoliation checks are
some of the things being done at Ricketts
Glen State Park to keep personnel and
park-users aware of the situation, stated
Superintendent Brent Semmel.
(continued on PAGE TEN)
As of the last count, Mr. Ermel said
over 100 claims have been settled.
Properties are being acquired by
PennDOT for construction of Section 1 of
North Cross-Valley Expressway, which
will run eventually, as proposed, from a
point near Luzerne-Courtdale to the in-
tersections of Routes 115 and 315 in the
vicinity of Veterans Administration
Hospital, Wilkes-Barre. The proposed
highway would facilitate travel for Back
Mountain residents.
PennDOT officials have stated the start
of construction on the expressway ‘‘is not
in the foreseeable future’, due to orders
from the U.S. Department of Transpor-
tation to study three alternate routes for
the highway, resulting from a new
emphasis on preserving open spaces and
recreational areas. Federal funds are in-
volved in the $32 million dollar project.
However, acquiring of properties is pro-
ceeding by PennDOT on the assumption
that the original proposed route will be
used.
Youth Treated
For Effects of
Drugs, Alcohol
A liquor and drug party involving
approximately 30 teenagers was detected
July 16 by Kingsinn T-ugshin Patolman
William Pugh.
The circumstances of the party and
how the alcoholic beverages and drugs
were obtained by the youths are still
under investigation by State Police, the
State Liquor Control Board, Luzerne
County Juvenile Police, and Kingston
Township Police.
One teen-age boy, believed to have
combined vodka and LSD, was taken to
Nesbitt Memorial Hospital, where he was
a patient until July 22. Reportedly, he
was the victim of what narcotics officer
Pugh termed a ‘‘bad trip’.
Said to be a parole violator, the 16-year-
old boy has been placed in detention at
the Juvenile Center, Wilkes-Barre.
Chief of Police Herbert Updyke ad-
mitted the party was held in the vicinity
of Shavertown in a private home, but said
the “exact location is not being revealed
because we’re still investigating”.
There is to be a preliminary conference
today at Kingston Township Municipal
Building between the boys and girls that
may be involved, their parents, and
juvenile authorities and local police.
Although several kinds of alcoholic
beverages were stolen from American
Legion Post 672, Memorial Highway,
Dallas, the same weekend, Sgt. Ray
Titus, Dallas Borough Police, stated, “To
the best of our knowledge, the person(s)
who stole the liquor are in no way in-
volved with the party in Shavertown.”
Sgt. Titus reported that 18 boftles of
liquor and $30 in cash were taken from
the Legion building. A glass in a north-
side door was broken. Two latches were
unhooked on the door, one by force. The
liquor was stored in locked cabinets,
which were pried open.
“We have a fingerprint, and also some
prints made by a sneaker-type shoe.”
reported Sgt. Titus. He added that the
burglar injured himself in entering the
building, as there was blood in a number
of places. Laboratory work was done by
Trooper Gene Centi of the State Police.
Concerning the youngsters at the party,
the names of all those who participated
are known by the police. Those seriously
involved will be petitioned into Juvenile
Court, Charles A. Adonizio, chief
probation officer said.
SCOTT SAFFIAN
No Arrests Yet
Arson Suspected
Five-thousand bales of hay were consumed—along
with several pieces of mechanical milking equip-
ment—when a fire destroyed the Basil Frantz farm
on Route 309 in Kunkle early Sunday morning.
as Barn
Destroyed in Kunkle Fire
Arson is suspected in a blaze which
. destroyed a barn in Kunkle owned by
Basil Frantz early Sunday morning and
in two other fires which gutted unoc-
cupied buildings in the Kunkle area
Wednesday and Thursday nights of the
previous week, an official of the Dr.
Henry M. Laing Fire Company told the
Dallas Post late Monday afternoon.
Called in to investigate the cir-
cumstances of the three fires was State
Fire Marshall Paul Cotter, who is being
assisted by Dallas Township Police and
officials from several Back Mountain fire
companies.
Fire Marshall Cotter indicated that
while the Frantz barn fire “may have
been accidental,” the absence of elec-
trical wires in the two other buildings
would definitely suggest arson. A fire the
night of July 22 leveled an unoccupied
dwelling on Route 309 near the entrance
SCOTT SAFFIAN
The headlights of several emergency vehicles
glisten against the rain soaked pavement as
firefighting operations are established along Route
309 in Kunkle. The origin of the barn fire is under
investigation by State and local fire marshalls.
LommaToAnnounce Sale
Ralph Lomma, president of National
Utilities, 305 Cherry St., Scranton, said
Tuesday that negotiations for purchasing
five Back Mountain water companies will
be completed this week.
“The parties involved conferred with
lawyers today (Tuesday) and
negotiations, except for a few minor
technicalities, have been completed.
When all technicalities have been cleared
away, we will make the announcement
and give the list of names of the water
companies,” stated Mr. Lomma.
To date, National Utilities has pur-
chased Rhodes Terrace Water Company
and Warden Place Water Company, both
at Harveys Lake, and Oak Hill Water
Company, Dallas.
road to the Irem Temple Country Club;
Wednesday night, a vacant house on the
Beaumont Road to Harveys Lake owned
by an individual identified only as
‘Rosenfeld’ was also consumed by flames
of a mysterious nature.
Although no arrests had been made as
of Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Cotter told the
Post that “we have our suspicions and
are checking out several reports and
leads.” Dallas Township Police Chief
“Pete” Lange acknowledged that several
young boys from the area were
questioned Sunday and Monday, but said
that he had ‘‘nothing definite” to report
following the interrogations.
The State Fire Marshall cautioned
would-be sleuths from drawing hasty
conclusions from the investigation
presently underway, pointing out that
arson ‘is a very serious crime.”’ A report
that a tan Volkswagen was seen fleeing
the scene of Sunday night’s fire was
dismissed by Mr. Cotter, who noted that
‘there are lots of Volkswagens in the
Back Mountain.”
Seven area fire companies responded
to the barn fire alarm shortly after 12
a.m. Sunday morning. A mechanical fail-
ure in the emergency telephone system
maintained by the Dr. Henry M. Laing
Fire Company resulted in the siren’s
sounding 18 times before it was finally
shut off.
Over 5,000 bales of hay stored in the
well-ventilated barn provided fuel for the
flames, and a heavy rainstorm did little
to squelch the fire. Firemen report that
battling the blaze would have been an
even trickier proposition than it was had
there been wind with the rain.
A ‘“‘deluge gun’ was credited by some
on-the-scene observers with containing
the fire in the vicinity of the barn
structure. Acquired by the Dallas fire
company two years ago, the deluge gun
utilized a large nozzle in pumping 350
gallons of water per minute onto the
blaze. “The gun knocked the intense heat
down,’ one fireman observed, ‘‘and let us
get close enough to fight the fire by more
conventional methods.” :
(continued on PAGE TEN)