A letter from the Kingston Township Board of Supervisors was read at the recent Harveys Lake Borough Council meeting. It asked that the borough consider joining other Back Mountain communities in the creation of a Back Mountain Water Commis- sion. The commission would deal with local water problems and the local water companies. The Lake council decided to table the letter for future consideration, with their solicitor, Joseph Kasper, reminding them that it would mean “another authority’. Mr. Kasper’s statement was symbolic of the bitterness that still exists between council and the Harveys Lake Municipal Authority. We hope that the bitterness will not stand in the way of council’s performance of their jobs. We hope that they will not brush off the Kingston Township proposal, or any other similar proposals, simply because those proposals would call for the estab- lishment of an authority-type set-up. For them to blame the troubles that have existed between council and the authority at Harveys Lake wholly upon the authority system of government would be foolishly simplistic, and would mean that they are not ready to share part of the blame for the borough’s problems. Their former chairman, Tom Cadwalader, re- signed acknowledging that he had to accept some of the blame. And, we remind council, he left with the hope that his resignation would put a stop to the bitterness that had existed in that:community. Past bickerings are history now. They should be forgotten, so that council can move ahead, open- minded, with the business at hand. Those Commercials We would be the first to kick and scream if we were deprived of audio-visual pleasure. But every now and then the ridiculous, inane and downright corny seem to pile up in sight and sound over the airways. And, with tongue in cheek, we feel impelled to note a few that might amuse or vex you also. Good for a starter is that potion that mothers and wives take regularly that makes them ‘‘incredible”’ (this used to be a good word; now it is worn and frayed from constant usage). In this particular commercial, the daughter, who looks as old as her mother, coyly puts her head on mommy’s shoulder and the little woman shyly asks her husband if he thinks he’ll keep her. Those children with one cavity are getting boring. If they could just have two for a change of pace it would be helpful. Too, somebody An the household forgot to do their homework—these youngsters dash right in and interrupt their papas at the most crucial moments. od - That nasal spray that worked such wonders—the simple ‘‘wow’’ to convey the miracle of easy brea- thing has got to be the understatement of the year. Those sexy gals, selling everything from shaving cream to fuel oil, are a dime a dozen and their ‘eroticism is waning. The rude woman with the dog food on the elevator is unpleasant, but we’d rather have her than the Irish dishwasher and the detergent boys who con- stantly push their brands upon protesting women. The vigorous application of the chapstick on the window washer and horizontal football player are killing. And if there’s ever been anything but an ‘“‘otter- mobile’’ over the airways, we haven’t heard it. Must the ad men always say ‘““‘carmel’’ (as in the California seaside resort) when they sell candy bars? There’s another syllable in there, and that pronunciation is given first—look in the dictionary if you don’t believe us. Those grandmas and grandpas taking laxatives have got to go too. There’s got to be some better projection of the medicine, as well as the senior citizens, than this medium. But saying all of this, not viciously, but half in jest, there are still the charming seaside ‘“‘let’s make tomorrow together’ gems and the soft drink commercial about the young man in the athletic park befriending the boy standing on the sidelines with “more love than anyone I know.”’ And the be- guiling children in the ‘‘peanut butter eater’s pea- nut butter.” We said that right, didn’t we? ¢ alin ee di —=Dottie Beckham Cop fol Notes by William Ecenbarger The overseers of the Pennsylvania I tery have a problem thal has plagued porno- graphers for years: To as continuing success, there must be continuing innova- lion—yel there are only so many variations possible on the basic theme. Since it was launched seme 18 months ago. there have been four different versions of the lottery. three of which still are in opera- tion. In addition, there is a “‘sudden million- aire’ adjunct to the regular lottery, and now there is talk of give-aways (0 spur lagging summer sales. The goal of the lottery stewards is a . steady $3 million ‘a week in gross sales—a figure that has been reached and even. sur- passed several times, Whenever sales have dropped significantly below the $3 million plateau, something new has been added to re- verse the downward (rend. Although there was a new (wist added just last May (the ‘Winner's Choice’’ game), sales have now sagged to the $2.5 million a week level. and another major lottery innova- ition can be expected before fall. The unbroken trend toward novelly na- turally raises the question of where the lot- iery is headed. There are only so many ways that Arabic numerals can be manipulated in- ierestingly in the lottery formal. Most of the western world has had the lot- iery longer than Pennsylvania, and if foreign experience is any guide, it won't be too long before the state will be running public gaming pools on professional sports. The pools are immensely popular in Europe and South America, where most of the beiting is done on soccer and rugby. In the United States. almost anyone who wants can play a weekly pool card on college and profes- sional football games, bul the beneficiary of ihe system is organized crime rather than the government. A typical pool bet allows the player to select from three to 20 games from a list, with TRB from Washington If you think food prices are ever coming down to where they were in the 60's, they aren't; forget it. That’s because the world is going through one of the greatest economic changes in history. For one thing, the Greal Protein War has started, and it will last as long as we can see. It’s filled with ironies: well-fed nations are scrambling to eat better, and hungry nations io eal at all. Just as the US discovers that it mus! import oil or see its cars stall, poorer nations, with expanding populations, discover they must import food or starve. When we get this’sorted out the world will be a different place. Right now. probably a third of the 3.6 bil- lion people on earth go to bed hungry at night. Population is zooming. And the Protein War has started. which means stiffer competition for available food supplies. There is restless- ness even in well-off countries (the northern tier of industrial nations in Europe, including the Soviets, as well as Japan). The United States is richest, of course, but its lead has shrunk surprisingly with the devaluation of the dollar. On some technical counts West Germany and Sweden suddenly have a higher wealth per person than the US. They are bid- ding up world food prices and you see the re- sult in the supermarket. It will take time to gel used lo these changed relationships be- cause political concepts lag a decade or so be- hind economic realities. This is terrible news for the have-not na- tions. Higher world food prices come for some of them just as their populations go over the Rustlings by Russ Williams I've already had three landlords, and none have been my favorite people. Now the shortage of housing due to the flood has brought out the worst in the one I thought was the best of a bad trio. There are four apartments in his build- ing. When someone moved out recently, he of- fered it at the same price, $125. He claims to have had about 80 callers. Needless {0 say he rented it quickly. Soon another apartment was vacated. He upped the price by $25 and again had new ten- ants before you could say ‘‘voluntary price controls?’ Now he gives me a lease to sign. We never had a lease before. It went like this. (Or something like this.) “*Whereas there are no places for you to move if we don’t achieve agreement, and whereas. even if you could find a place, a move at this time would be a general pain in the back side, this indenture is, therefore. made the first of July, in the year of our Lord, one tHousand nine hundred and 73. “It is understood that the true intent and meaning of this lease is that the second floor, rear apartment is leased for the term of ten years. and that neither the condition of the premises. nor any other excuse, whatsoever, at all, (and no *‘funnsies’’), shall excuse or re- lease the tenant from paying the full sum of $12,000. the whole rent for the term above spe- cified. “Ti is hereby covenanted and agreed be- 2 AE the sizes of the payoff determined by the number of games picked. The opposing teams are ‘‘equalized’’ by ‘spreads’ points fo underdogs and take them away from favorites. State Revenue Secretary Robert P. Kane believes Pennsylvania will legalize pool bet- iing on professional sports in five {0 10 years. He sees it as the ultimate lottery innovation because it allows direct participation by the betior. x “With pools you inject the element of let- ing the player attempt to outwit the system with his own ability,” says Kane. ‘He may say to himself, ‘I know the Steelers can beat the Kagles by more than two touchdowns’ and bel aceordingly. You don’t have thal latitude with the lottery. The player is at the mercy of the compuler. Kane says’ the newest lollery game, “Winner's Choice,” is a step toward betting pools because for the first time it provides for a degree of direct participation by the beltor. He ciles recent studies showing that for every dollar the government can make with a lottery, seven can be made with gaming pools. Pennsylvania, never a Ua in gamb- ling matters, probably will ii Be the first slate to legalize gaming pools. Up in New Hampshire, where the lottery was reborn as a state enterprise in 1964, the establishment of a pool already is under active consideration. Give critical point; when a failed monsoon may turn hunger to famine. Lester R. Brown, -of the Overseas Development Council, an authority on food, says the level of world re- serves in comparison to demand is now far for protein is under way. It comes now in meal or soy beans. People can live on starchy foods for a while, they can survive on bananas. But ultimately they need protein. ient lo handle the situation now developing, or whether they have any concept of it. You would think they would guess right once in a while but they never seem (0. Here are ex- amples. Last January President Nixon issued his annual economic report and his advisers of- fered this extraordinary boast (page 63): “By the end of 1972 the American anti-inflation policy had become the marvel of the rest of the world. Largely because of this change the rest of the world is willing to hold increasing amounts of dollars.” Six months later the “marvel” of the ‘‘anti-inflationary” dollar has produced a world crisis. Here is another example. Russia last year had a bad harvest and the US grain sur- plus was the only one in the world. Moscow was in and out of the American market with a purchase of 16 million tons of our wheat and feed grains before the bumbling Department of Agriculture could wink (though the big grain exporters knew what was happening). We actually paid export subsidies to help Moscow grab one-quarter of our entire wheat crop off cheap; the best example of the US playing Santa Claus since the Marshall plan. Of course it kept US farmer happy for Mr. Nixon's re-election. We held the price of wheal for the Russian at about $1.65 a busHel and it has since risen in the US to about $3. You can see the result in the supermarket. Americans like to get their protein in the form of a sizzling steak. The cattle are fatten- ed on grain; in meat, milk and eggs we con- year: The have-nol countries can’t afford that luxury; they rarely, get meat at all, and use grain directly, around 400 pounds per person: per year. As (he Protein War goes on the US will probably eat less meat too. This reporter has a romantic feeling about farming; somebody should write a poem to that black, rich humus in Towa that goes down 10 feel or more. (On my grand- father’s farm in New Hampshire, the topsoil in places went down about an inch before you hit granite.) Well, the US will export $10 bil- lion worth of wheat, corn, soybean and other foods this year from that soil. It is one of the ‘few places where the US has a big competi- live advantage. The administration slapped a lemporary embargo on export of crops, lo curb food prices al home but it hardly seems possible that restrictions can last: food ex- ports are needed to meet the balance-of-pay- ments deficit. Will the US donate enough food to keep the teaming have-not masses alive if a famine comes in the Protein War? Of course not. It probably lacks the power even if it wanted to. \ wheal and rice seems about played out: America’s 50 million acres of reserve crop- land are now pretty largely in production and the world of table-grade fish, according to some marine biologists is close to the maxi- mum sustainable limit, which is why mari- , lime countries are rushing (o extend off shore boundaries. Of course new sources of protein may be discovered, or new ly opened up, but just at present the outloo®is grim. Studies in Congress show'(igat the United States has a lot of hungry pe®¥le within its own borders. Some 24.5 million are officially designated ‘‘poor” (i.e. ‘‘yearly income less than three times the cost of minimal diet”). They could use more protein, too. Income dis- tribution in America is violently unequal. A CBS documentary on the social security sys- tem last month contrasted one aspect of this with the situation in Germany; in Germany, for example, people get the equivalent of 100 percent free health compared to only about 42 percent in America. Mr. Nixon and HEW sec- retary Casper Weinberger think the Ameri- can ratio is too high and should be cut back to save the dollar. The odd thing is that it’s the dollar that’s in trouble in the world, and it’s the German mark, supporting all the Ger, social wel- fare programs, that is the § any- where. Something is screwy here, some- where. mises or any part thereof, or in any way wig- gle out of the full payment of ten years rent, even if the building should burn down, fall down. be knocked down for a highway or parking lot, or otherwise be made uninhabit- able. The lessee shall -neither wiggle nor wrangle his way oul of full payment if he should (1) be required to move away from the area; (2) be hit by a truck and die; (3) be- come unemployed; (4) go crazy; (5) come up with any other excuse, feeble or otherwise. “If payments are even a day late, the les- sor has the right to enter the lessee’s premis- es and repossess and enjoy il as his estate. And said partly of the second part hereby waives and relinquishes all rights and claims to any of the few laws that do exist to aid the renter from the unfair practices of landlords. “Said lessee also agrees. keeping in mind thal life on the streets can he hard, and that winter is around the corner. that should legal action be necessary to collect from him, he waives the right of appeal and will pay all court costs and attorney fees of the lessor. win or lose: and further waives the right to any defense whatsoever. “And it is further agreed, that the pre- mises above specified are rented in their pre- sent condition, with the distinct understand- ing that the lessor shall not be put to any ex- pense for repairs. even if the water pipes, heating units, and electrical systems, which the lessee probably knows nothing about. should prove to be totally lacking and-or faulty. : “If the lessee shall become embarrassed. ! { a sheriff's sale becomes necessary, then the rent for the balance of the term shiall at once become due and payable. and shal be the first thing paid from the proceeds of the sheriff's sale; any law. usage or custom to the contrary be damned. j “It is further agreed that the lessor is not responsible for any harm done to the lessee on the premises or off. even if the harm Was due to his neglect, with the possible exéeption, under certain circumstances. maybe), when the landlord willfully inflicts harm by! unpro- 3 voked shotgun blast. ¢ “In witness whereof, the lessee dpes lay down all his belongings, pride, security, and everything that might belong to a mi{an, be- sides his carcass (which the lessee is fully re- sponsible for disposing of should he die'on the the lessor's property). everything in the hands of the lessor. as above mentioned in THE Pa: 18612. Entered as second class matter at the po’ per year. Call 675-5211 for subscriptions. The officers of Greenstreet News Co. are Edward! president; and Doris Mallin, secretary-treasurery, Mrs. T. M. B. Hicks, editor Emeritus J. R. Freeman, managing editor / & Doris R. Mallin, editor . Dan Koze, advertising manager Sylvia Cutler, advertising sales ihis document.” And then, below all that, I'm supposed to sign my name. The indenture papers pro- bably read something like my lease! I confess that the term of my lease was only one year, and that I exaggerated in some other areas as well. But I really feel that I did an excellent job of capturing the general drift and basic meaning of the document. I won't sign it. Yes. I will. If he'll sign my simple little lease, written in the style of hisgsile-minded lawyer: : § “IL. the lessor, party of the first part, agree 10 accept payment a month in ad- vance.,as before, and acknowledge the lessee’s signing of my duly submitted lease, by waiving all rights and resources that that ridiculous document lays claim to.” p. oa he RE
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers