ion HAL Si es RESET CEE = ER aap pre Falls. by Marie McCandless Falls is a village so small it is not listed in the Rand McNally World Atlas. By the same token, it has been all but ignored in accounts of the damages caused by the June flooding of the Sus- quehanna River, which loops right through the hamlet. Its residents, many of them year- round although there are also several riverbank summer cottages, suffered severely in the wild overflow of the river, with an estimated 100 families displaced when their homes were daggeed or destroyed. Most, WV not all, of the flood damage in Falls was on the vulnerable west bank. An aerial view of the river at Falls would show that the river’s path curves 20 the east just north of the vil ige, cradles it briefly, then jags back to the west again in its downstream travels to the Wyoming Valley. Thus when the waters ran over in June, the river seemed to be trying to straighten itself out-much as one would unkink a garden hose-and overran homes, cottages, small businesses and the Falls-Exeter Township Hose Company. Damage at the volunteer fire headquarters was so extensive that Falls Township Supervisor Eugene Dziak says the building ‘is ruined; a total loss.’’ Asst. Fire Chief Richard Wilbur told the Abington Journal that besides losing the hall itself, the volunteers have been too busy Half Complete Hunter Safety Less than half of the youngsters who will need hunter safety gdraining before hunting seasons” begin were certified during the first seven months of 1972, Pennsylvania Game Commission records show. About 18,000 youngsters completed a hunter safety training course between Jan. 1 and July 31. Last year, some 25,000 students received the instruction in the first seven months of the year. Over 63,000 youths completed the course during 1971, and another 40,000 adults accompanied their sons and daughters to the classes. Hunting seasons will be starting in another few weeks, mouryy for training sessions. Despite repeated Game Commission pleas for youths to enroll in classes, thousands have held off, expecting that someone will be waiting at the last minute to accommodate them. In order to qualify for a Pennsylvania hunting license, a person under the age of 16 years must present either (a) evidence that he held a hunting license in Pennsylvania or another state in a prior year, or (b) a certificate of competency cessfully completed a course of instruction in the safe handling of firearms and bows and arrows. with major flood cleanup to ready the grounds for the an- nual summer carnival. Can- cellation of the fair cost the unit its usual $2500-3000 profit. Mr. Wilbur said the company is “hurting pretty bad.”” What equipment wasn’t lost in the actual floodwaters has been worn out in the post-flood cleanup operations. Two pumpers are now out of service, one of them fairly new, after the volunteers heroically flushed river water and mud from countless homes and businesses until their motors and pump engines burned out. The cost to repair or replace these two trucks is now being calculated. When fire hose is used practically nonstop, as it has been since June 23 for this company, it does not dry out between uses. Any homeowner with a poorly ventilated, damp closet knows the result: mildew. The only solution is replacing the hose. Another curious loss for the volunteers, many of whom lost their own homes to the river waters, was the mysterious disappearance of boots and fire- men’s coats from the trucks. Mr. Wilbur theorized that homeowners cleaning up after the water receded removed the items from the trucks, which were parked outdoors after the firehall was flooded. Although the company has advertised for the return of the gear, it seems to be gone forever. Mr. Wilbur declines to put the company’s loss into terms of dollars and cents until an of- ficial estimate is prepared on both the building and the lost equipment. However, he hinted that it would be at least the price tag of a new fire truck, which can range between $18- 25,000. What can a small volunteer fire department do to overcome such ‘a staggering loss? The Falls-Exeter Township unit has applied for aid at the state level which can compensate for the lost equipment, but not the building; federal aid may be SHEETS ® Aluminum? ® Alsynite! ® Galvanized! available for the loss of the hall. But governmental aid goes only so far and would certainly not reimburse the firemen for the lost carnival revenue, which normally provides operating expenses. To raise money the company was able to contract a circus, which was in Falls for two shows last Sunday. But the expected profit from that was to be less than $500, definitely only a drop in the firemen’s bucket. Realizing that the fire company will need new equip- ment and a building, the depart- ment president, Larry Fortney, last week announced a fund drive for donations to restore the hose company to full operation. Contributors may address their gifts to: Falls Hose Fund, c-o Larry Fortney, president, RD 1, Falls, Pa. 18615. At least 88 families in Falls have something to be thankful for, after the river poured through their living rooms and over their gardens, ruining appliances and buckling floors. The 160 employees at the Clarks Summit garage of Penn DOT,acting on a suggestion from maintenance superinten- dent Carl Rock, have each contributed four hours’ worth of their pay toward those hardest hit by the flood in Falls. The total thus collected was $2622, which was divided into 88 envelopes along with a letter from’ Mr. Rock explaining that the money was a ‘‘small token” to express the sympathy and concern of the highway workers, who have seen the destruction of the river first- hand in helping repair roads in the flooded sectors. According to Mr. secretary, Jane O’Dell, Rock’s the sidered by Falls Taxpayers’ Association officials to have suffered the greatest losses in the village. A large ‘‘ther- mometer”’ was erected in the local Penn DOT garage to too are posted. Red Tape Stretches Page 11 by Doris Mallin Ten days have gone by since Sen. George McGovern visited the Wyoming Valley and talked with victims of the flood in Kingston and Wilkes-Barre, during which the public became Vincent Goulstone and his neighbors on Hamilton Avenue, Kingston. The problems of those people have not changed. But then Mr. Goulstone really didn’t expect that any amount of pub- licity would untie the knots in the red tape he has been un- winding since he first returned to his devastated home a week after the Susquehanna River overflowed its banks. His home was smashed beyond repair, structure crumbles more. Walls keep falling, the chimney has toppled, and the roof gets closer and closer to the ground. Only one narrow section of the back wall remains standing and it is leaning dangerously. In talking to Sen. McGovern last week, Mr. Goulstone grew emotional when he expressed his feelings. He talked about his losses and those of his neigh- bors’. He said his neighbor’s home was worth four times as much as his, and ‘I want him to get back what he had, and the same for me, only what I had.” The young man said he could ment was spending money on bombing Vietnam when they should be spending it on re- building ‘Wyoming Valley. He said the government should re- store the people whole, giving to them ‘no more and no less” than they had before the flood. He stood before an American flag hung upsidedown, the in- ternational sign of distress. But no aid has come. He still owes $5,800 on his mortgage and an additional $2,800 on a loan he took out to remodel. He owes medical bills. He cannot bear another mortgage. His home cannot be repaired but he can- not walk away and leave it to rebuild elsewhere. Only if a re- development authority - comes into the area, can he forsee any sort of solution to his problems. But even that is not going to put the Goulstones back where they were June 22. And in: the meantime, the Goulestones must find living quarters. They have gone re- peatedly to fill out applications. They applied immediately for a mobile home at Slocum Park, but have heard nothing. They applied at Rutter Avenue School, at the Mackin School, and the Jewish Synagogue. Still they have heard nothing. A few weeks ago the Goul- stones received a call from an unknown party at 1575 Wyoming Ave., Kingston, telling them to bring a letter and a doctor’s statement as proof of his son, Glen Michael’s, asthmatic con- dition. Glenn, 5%, suffers from asthma and must be considered when choosing a mobile home site. Mr. Goulstone took the necessary papers to the add- ress. Again, he has heard" nothing. ; Two weeks ago he went to the Wyoming Avenue address at which HUD is now located and inquired again as to the status of his application. He was told that the records were at the Jewish Synagogue and that he should go there. Tuesday afternoon, 10 weeks after the flood, Mr. Goulstone was still pretty much ‘‘in the dark’ as to when he would be located in a mobile home. He had received a call Saturday that HUD was putting a unit on his sister’s land in Larksville. That site, which had been specified on his first of eight applications, had been declared not feasible because it was solid rock. Later that day he received a call asking if they wanted their electricity turned on. Where? There is nothing on the land. When the Goulstone home be- gan to break up more, Vincent became concerned that a curious child or passerby might be trapped under falling debris. He asked a bulldozer operator working on the next street if he could push the structure over. The operator told him to write to his boss and request that the work be done. Finally, not knowing where else to turn, Mr. spoke to a State Policeman who took him to a HUD represent- ative directing work a few blocks away. The HUD repre- sentative came to the Goulstone home Saturday afternoon to ex- amine the damages. He assured Mr. Goulstone that the struc- 2 Mr. and Mrs. Michelle, ture would be bulldozed within ture would be bulldozed within two days and that a mobile home should be in his yard by Tuesday. He also said that he would contact him Sunday. " The HUD official neglected to make the call. No bulldozer arrived and there was no mobile home. Mr. Goulstone had not wanted cause when the flood waters re- ceded, they left tons of thick mud which has dried and the air is filled with dust every time a vehicle passes on the street which is seldom washed. But, the young father decided to grasp at this straw--there may not be another. Late Tues- day Mr. Goulstone was on his way to still “another place, the Kingston Borough Municipal Building, to sign another paper, a statement giving permission to take down the building which was once his home. And the Goulstones are still staying with his wife’s grandparents in Plymouth. It will soon be time for young Glen Michael to start school. He was to have entered the Rutter Avenue School this fall. But where will he be living? Livestock Inventory Indicates a Decline The semi-annual inventory of livestock by the Pennsylvania Crop Reporting Service shows calves and milk cows all have declined from a year earlier. Similarly, the breeding stock held on farms in the Common- wealth declined along with their off-spring. Beef cow numbers produced the only increase, by eight per- cent, to 108,000 during the past 12 months. : The totals as of June 1 are hogs and pigs, 560,000 (breeding stock 76,000); market calves, 786,000; lambs,111,000. The 1972 lamb crop in Pennsylvania is a record low. The estimated wool crop for all of 1972 in the Keystone state is 1,007,000 pounds. The weight is for raw fleece, before it is processed. The average weight per fleece in Pennsylvahja is 7.3 pounds, more than a pound off the U.S. average. ; Woop D FINISHERS Man to work in spray { room finishing kitchen cabinets, also MEN to gauge the progress of contribu- r tions, and now that the thank- The walls of the Goulstone home at 532 Hamilton Ave., Kingston P ° ou notes are coming back from have almost completely collapsed. Except for this small section i Hiv Falls is they at the rear of the structure, the roof and remaining inside par- e n nsy va n ia titions would be reduced to rubble. 000000000000000000600( SCENES — '72 CLOSE OUT ON Aluminum Patio Awnings F"'} ALUMINUM PATIO Geel SEN ‘A complete, pictorial record of Pennsylvania's worst AWNINGS x ® natural disaster, 48 pages, some in color, of the most ; ) amazing flood scenes (statewide) ever published. ® ORDER A COPY NOW ; *Y Nome or CE iN : Address oan a Nd Te SL ng ‘sq. i] —— J Gi Ysa he or mr De LU UCR i aaa ee eae SPECIAL ON ® TRAILER PATIO AWNINGS : ge Number of Copies i... tas, cls Li $ ; ALUMINUM 4 Completely i n sp 9 5. pg [Installed STORM WINDOWS Alt ! $1.00 per copy plus 30¢ for postage and handling. Checks or | Total Wan Ares ‘Buy 5 Windows $ 85 (3 money orders payable to Pennsylvania Mirror. 10g Ey &et 2 FREE 16 C3 ‘Phone oo n 8 71. 3 9 94 UNITE ALUMINUM "CY Mail to Pennsylvania Mirror PRODUCTS Bg oh aT PO. 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Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers