ARI en e eo ce. live there. “Sparks were flying”, literally, on Wednesday evening, July 16, when the Dallas Kiwanis Club met at the new Fall Fair grounds for a picnic supper and work night. That was the evening of the tornado-like storm that did so much damage locally late that afternoon, and when the Kiwanians arrived at the fair site it was obvious it too had been touched. Trees were down in several places and electric and phone lines had been ripped to the ground. It took only: a moments ‘testing’ to ascertain they were ‘live’. Nevertheless a good turnout of Kiwanians assembled and enjoyed a picnic lunch arranged by Paul Selingo and ‘Link’ Linquist, after which the group drove stakes and erected a long area of fencing, carefully ‘avoiding the ‘hot’ area which was in its direct path. As with rock removal and tree branch sawing was required. The work accomplished, com- pliments the work being done every Tuesday night by volunteers from local Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions, and Jaycee groups to prepare the virgin territory for the September fair. Dallas Kiwanis plans to transfer another meeting date in August to the fairgrounds for whatever projects may be required at that time. Meanwhile President Paul Hession expressed hopes it would not be quite the ‘electrifying’ ex- perience of the recent work night. Representative to the Fall Fair committee, Reese Pelton, con- curred. of Lenin, Marx, and Engels. by Tom Mooney For Rosemary Crock, a College Misericordia music professor who vacationed with her husband in mainland China this year, the most memorable aspect of the trip was the extreme curiosity of the Chinese about non-Asians who enter their country. *‘We were watched even when we ate,” marvelled Rosemary. Hus band Linden Appel (Rosemary has kept her maiden name) likewise can’t get over the way their tour group, composed mainly of Ger- mans, attracted attention wherever we went in late May and early June. He can tell of trying to take a stroll in the evening only to discover that a veritable crowd is following behind, eager for the briefest glimpse of the foreigners. In a sense, the curiosity was mutual. Linden and Rosemary wanted for years to visit China, and at Christmas last year the op- portunity finally presented itself when a local travel agency proved able to arrange a trip for them. The Germans? Well, it seems that tour groups are usually made up of a single nationality, and there were a few places left over with a German crew. What they found put the lie to some popular myths about post- revolutionary China. It's not a land of blue-uniformed automatons spouting “‘anti-imperialist’ slogans as they rush from one wall poster to another, absorbing the daily party line. “You can feel an air of progress in the country,” said Linden, describing the building going on, the emphasis upon hard work, and the apparent absence (or at least downplaying) of overt political sloganeering. Their English-speaking guide in Peking, China’s capital city, Linden says, was looking forward to a promised hotel management program in the United States as preparation for assuming charge of a Hilton scheduled for opening in Peking in a few years. Still, though, China turns out to be quite different from anything most Americans have ever experienced. While a visitor to Japan can turn on a TV afternoons to find serials sponsored by detergents and bleaches or catch a rerun of “The Brady Bunch’ in the early evening, Linden and Rosemary can tell an hotel clerk that their television was broken, only to discover that it wasn’t yet time for the standard three hours of programming (7 to 10 p-m.). hit China yet. Industry is mostly manual, with pays very low--maybe $30 a month in U.S. money--and private ownership of cars is pretty much unknown. People ride their own bikes or jam onto overloaded busses, with traffic being composed mainly of trucks. Housing, accord- ing to Rosemary and Linden, is primitive and cramped, with a typical family dwelling consisting of little more than you can see from the street--just a couple of rooms and a little bit of furniture. The tour itself covered many of the major cities of China. From Hong Kong (a British protectorate and very westernized), Rosemary and Linden took a train to Canton, jetted to Chengdu, entrained again for Chungking, took a steamboat for Wuhan, hopped a train for Peking, and finally flew back to Canton and caught the train for Hong Kong. Total of time spent in the country was about two weeks. with them. Rosemary displays a 100-year-old little bowl and a hand- carved camel-bone bracelet, while Linden laughingly shows off a loose- fitting T-shirt that represents a good portion of a Chinese citizen's annual allotment of cotton. He can also tell about the fellow tourist who sent the department store manager into shock by trying to buy a dozen of them. But they really prefer to talk about the people--the ordinary people who saw the two tall foreigners as a wonderful opport- unity to practice English and learn something of how the outside world lives. “They were surprisingly open,” said Rosemary, describing her conversations. What she and Linden learned was that, although there is no evident repression, a citizen does need permission to travel within the country, and the government assigns you your job and your location. “They wondered how we get PAGE THREE jobs,” Rosemary continued. And they were also very curious about how we find mates.” Chinese men and women are customarily intro- duced to one another by go betweens who: set out to make matches. : Linden was moved by the way the people, having so little in the way of housing, “live much of their life on the sidewalk,” talking and wat- ching the passing scene--even doors. Some more intriguing discoveries involved nationality and food. The surprised to learn that there is no single “Chinese” type, for the country has more than 50 recog- nized ethnic groups, with some some customarily wearing turbans. Likewise, Chinese food turns out to be more varied than commonly thought. South China has given rise to ‘*Cantonese’”’ or largely rice- based dishes, while the wheat- growing north, centered on Peking, . prefers noodle-type dishes. And you'd better be warned that Szech- wan-style means hot and spicy. Is China trying to become “Their ‘moderinization drive’ is a big thing now,” he said, relating that the Hyatt and Intercontinental hotel chains have announced plans to enter Canton soon. Still, though, Rosemary and Linden found that nation to be virtually another world. They talk of a boat ride on the Yangtze River through beautiful, mist-shrouded gorges which they call ‘‘the real China,” and they note, contrary to popular belief, the Communist nation has maintained many buildings and monuments hearken- ing back to the dynasties of ancient times, even to the extent of beginning a major repair job on ‘‘great wall.” China is still not quite the easiest until a tour is available, although a VIP can get an individual invitation and guide. Yet Rosemary and Linden recommend it as a trip. Rosemary herself has been through most of Europe, and she and her husband took their Jiopeymaon in Ireland. WWE FREERIDE T CRE RE WE REWER EER weer REE EER A public hearing was held Thursday, July 17, by the Kingston Township Zoning-Hearing Board to use of the Laux building. Located at 94 N. Pioneer Avenue, the structure has been a metal machine shop since it was built in 1935. Paul Laux is selling the building and the sale is pending. There has been no closing or ownership change to date. Interested in pur- chasing the business is P.J. Bilbow who also runs Lyn-Weld in Hanover Township. Asking price for the business is reportgedly $125,000. The structure presently is the only industrial facility on the entire stretch of the residentially zoned Pioneer Avenue. However, there is a grocery store and a florist shop on the street. Hugh O'Connell of 65 N. Pioneer Avenue represented the neighbors opposed to the shop’s being used again as a metal shop. Witnesses were sworn in and each took a turn at testifying. One witness was asked before she testified as to the fee Atty. O’Connell is receiving for his work. She replied ‘‘he’s not charging us because he’s involved.” O’Connell’s first witness was his wife, Carol, who has four children and has resided there for eight years. Mrs. O'Connell told of the broken windows, neglect and disarray of the building and claimed the electric meter does not change, therefore she contends there is no electric usage in the building. She testified to the fact she never saw any production activity during the eight years she lived nearby. She described Pioneer Avenue as basically quiet, pleasant, what one would expect of the ‘country and suburban’ area. Frank Townend represented Grace and Pual Laux and proceeded to cross examine Mrs. O'Connell. Townend reminded her the O'Connell's had in fact pur- chased two homes on Pioneer Avenue, and if the factory was to disappear, ‘‘your property would increase in value’. Prior to that, Townend elicited from the witness that the factory was there when the homes were purchased. Mrs. O'Connell said the structure was there, but not operating. She said she was told it would never open again. All of the witnesses had pur- chased their homes with full knowledge of the existence of the ‘building, later testimony con- firmed. Gary Williams, 100 N. Pioneer Avenue, was called next by O'Connell. He resides next door to the Laux building, having pur- chased his home in June of 1977. He remodeled his home after pur- chasing, having been satisfied by asking bankers if the industrial facility would reopen. Townend interjected that this is double hearsay and not admissible. Williams offered Pioneer is very heavily travelled even though it has a 35 mph speed zone and residen- tial. Pioneer are two fold: to determine if trucks coming into the plant would increase traffic in a residential zone and if when they stopped at the metal shop, would traffic be tied up on Pioneer as before. It was emphasized by the parade of witnesses O'Connell gathered that the ‘‘flat bed tractor trailers” took a long time to unload in front of the building when the plant was in operation, sometimes causing traffic jams.’ Williams repled to O'Connell's inquiry that ‘yes’, there is a lack of water in the area. Williams also testified that no lights have been seen in the building for some time. William bought his home from Paul Laux. Frances Williams, wife of Gary Williams, said she is a' housewife homebound most of the time and has a chance to observe the building. There is no activity there, she said. As for the water pressure, she said it is ‘‘fair’” and oc- casionally good but there have been periods of no pressure.” O'Connell then noted the factory burden on the water system. He also pointed out there are no loading platforms at the building and all entrance is gained via Pioneer (Continued on page 4) Dallas Borough councilman Willard Newberry, chairman of the police committee, informed council last Tuesday that because the Dallas Fall Fair is going to be held paritally in the borough, the Leh- man Twp. police chief has asked that borough and Lehman Township police be sworn in to enable them to act in each municipality. The request fell on deaf ears as far as the mutual assistance being asked Solicitor John Morris if it would be possible to arrange for double coverage only for the time of the annual event. Morris will look into this. The solicitor revealed during the discussion that Lehman officials ‘‘at a meeting last Monday regarding the application showed a tremendous reluctance to issue even a temporary permit.” Nothing further was said of the mutual assistance request or the fall fair in general. The borough has issued a ‘letter of intent”, not a permit for the fair. The permit will be issued when the fair begins. In other police-related action, Dallas Township Chief Carl Miers will demonstrate the “speed check’ ‘device to the borough's council this week or at his earliest convenience. Police negotiations were held last Wednesday following the meeting. Report showed five thefts, one missing person, two bomb threats, one scattering rubbish on Main Street. There were 10 non-traffic (criminal) arrests. Anyone interested in serving on the zoning-hearing board may contact council chairman Harold Brobst. Dallas Village, a new develop- ment owned by Beulah and- Alvin The development has been ap- proved for building and the borough solicitor said he feels the request contained in the letter from the Rothstein’s lawyer is a ‘‘private matter’ until the homes are built. Bill Roberts, Franklin Street, asked the board to lower the speed limit on Franklin Street from the present 35 mph to a school zone of 15 mph before ‘‘children are hurt or killed.” He said he witnessed two incidents of near accidents in- volving children walking to school and back. It was then suggested the stretch from Huntsville Road to Rice Street be incorporated into a school zone. Chief Ed Lyons will look into the proposed reductions in yi Chairman Brobst agreed with Roberts that Franklin Street is a *‘bad street for the kids as there are no berms for kids to get off.” The borough’s occupational privilege tax collector, Don Wilkinson Agency, turned in a windfall of $8,072.99, all of whieh is the boroughs’ share. Secretary Ralph Garris enthused, it was a job well done. The figure represents all the levy collected in 1979. Things look rather bleak for the sewering of Powderhorn Drive extension. The $300,000 project cannot get off the ground without funds and the DER grants will not be forthtcoming, according to a letter from DAMA plant executive, Tom Bagley. Ralph Garris contacted Com- munity Development on another matter and asked about the possibility of a sewer grant. Garris was told they don’t think there is anything for Dallas Borough as far as sewers go, but have funds for recreation only at the present. It was revealed the residents of Hickory Road have retained an attorney regarding the sewage insufficiencies in the development. To date, the only communication the undientified attorney has had with John Morris is telling Morris at the courthouse that he'd give Morris a call. As of last Tuesday, Morris had not heard form the lawyer. Some persons in the recreatinn program will be told to stop ‘‘goi:.g over Kenneth Young’s head” iy! making decisions without Young's knowledge. According to reports at the meeting, an exhibitor ran out of fireworks and a member of the $300 worth which were shot off. Councilman Bill Berti said I thought this guy was really great for $200. Berti then found out the display cost more than twice that. Jerry Machell was particularly disturbed about some of the recrea- tion items being ‘‘out of line”. It was suggested Young tell his people not to make these decisions, such as painting lines on the basketball court and ordering additional fireworks. Berti rescinded his motion approving of these items after Machell and others told him Young was not aware of them. Otherwise, there was a great turnout for the fireworks display which was described as *‘beatutiful.” i
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers