PAGE 4 THE POST EDITORIAL Sunday, December 4, 2005 U.S. Postal Service holiday mailing tips Over miles. Over continents. Overnight. No matter where gifts are being shipped this holiday season, the U.S. Postal Service has a way to get them there. Santa won’t be the only one making deliveries on Christmas. Express Mail delivery to most major American cities is sched- uled for Christmas Day this year. The peak mailing day is ex- pected to be Monday, Dec. 19, when an estimated 280 million cards and letters will be mailed, nearly three times that of an aver- age day. The peak delivery day will be Wednesday, Dec. 21, fol- lowed closely by Wednesday, Dec. 14. Shipping options include: ¢ Express Mail service delivers overnight, guaranteed, 365 days a year to most U.S. cities. ® Priority Mail service delivers in two to three business days. The Postal Service also offers flat rate priority boxes and enve- lopes. Customers pay one price regardless of weight or destina- tion. ¢ Global Priority Mail service is designed for delivery in four to six days to more than 50 coun- tries. Economical way to send packages weighing up to 4 pounds.’ ¢ Global Express Mail service is guaranteed to be delivered in three to five days to nearly any- where in the world. Now availa- ble to businesses in the Pacific Rim through an agreement with postal administrations for Aus- tralia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, the United States and the Repub- lic of South Korea. e Global Express Guaranteed service delivers in one to three days to more than 190 countries. MILITARY ADDRESS TIPS ¢ Use the service member’s full name (with or without rank or rating), military organization or unit, and APO/FPO address. ® Do not include the country name in any part of the address. ® Programs that allowed the general public to send mail ad- dressed to “Any Service Mem- ber” are no longer available. INTERNATIONAL ADDRESSING TIPS ¢ Place the city or town name and the province or state name on the next line after the street address information. e Put foreign: postal codes, if known, in front of the city or town name and on the same line. ® Write the name of the foreign country in capital letters on the last line of the address. MOMENTS IN TIME The History Channel * On Dec. 10,1830, poet Emily Dickinson is born in Amherst, Mass. Although she wrote 1,775 poems, only seven were published in her lifetime. ® On Dec. 6,1907, in West Virginia's Marion County, an explosion in a network of mines Kills 361 coal miners - the worst mining disaster in American history. Nationwide, a total of 3,242 miners were killed in mine accidents in 1907. ® On Dec. 7,1925, future Tarzan actor Johnny Weissmuller sets the world record for the 150-yard freestyle swim. MGM later cast Weiss- muller to play the title role in “Tarzan the Ape Man" (1932). ® On Dec. 5, 1933, the 18th Amendment is repealed, bringing an end to the era of national prohibition of alcohol. Some states contin- ued Prohibition by maintaining statewide temperance laws. Mis- sissippi, the last dry state in the Union, ended Prohibition in 1966. * On Dec. 1,1941, Buick lowers its prices to reflect the absence of spare tires in its new cars. Widespread shortages caused by World War Il had led to many quotas and laws designed to conserve Amer- ica’s resources, including prohibiting spare tires in new cars. * On Dec. 9,1958, the right-wing John Birch Society is established. Founded with only I members, by the early 1960s its membership had grown to nearly 100,000. The Society remains active today, and its members seek “to expose a semi-secret international cabal whose members sit in the highest places of influence and power worldwide.” * On Dec. 8, 1969, at a news conference, President Richard Nixon says that the Vietnam War is ending. Nixon's pronouncement proved premature, however. In April 1970, he expanded the war by ordering U.S. and South Vietnamese troops to attack communist sanctuaries in Cambodia. (c) 2005 King Features Synd., Inc. STRANGE BUT TRUE * The invention of the electric light brought about many changes in society, but not all of them are obvious. For example, it's not very well known that people sleep less than they once did. Before 1910, people slept an average of nine hours a night, and since then it's been about seven and a half. Sleep researchers have shown in the laboratory that if people are deprived of electric light, they will go back to sleeping nine hours a night. ® Controversial radio personality Howard Stern was fired from his job as a college deejay. - ® This may seem like an odd question, but can you sing and cry at the same time? Someone can, evidently, because there's a word for it: chantepleure. * Famed conqueror Alexander the Great had quite an ego (per- haps unsurprisingly). He named a total of 20 cities after himself -- including Alexandria, Egypt -- and even named one after his horse, Bucephalus. * You may be surprised to learn that famed author John Stein- beck majored in marine biology when he was in college. * |[t was noted humorist and essayist P.J. O'Rourke who made the following sage observation: “Humor is a terrific tool for explaining things, especially when what you're explaining is frightening or dull and complicated.” ¢ Studies show that 40 percent of all tornadoes occur between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. * America is quite a watery country, so it seems. According the Coast Guard, the United States has 95,000 miles of shoreline, and there are 290,000 square miles of lakes, rivers and bays. * In ancient Greece, mushrooms were considered to be food only for the wealthy. * kk Thought for the Day: “A critic is a man created to praise greater men than himself, but he is never able to find them.” - R. Le Gallienne (c) 2005 King Features Synd., Inc. Patrick McHugh PUBLISHER ThE POST TIMES®LEADER Community Newspaper Group ® 15 N. Main St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18711 ® 570-675-5211 thepost@leader.net Erika Calvert ADVERTISING David C. Konopki EDITOR FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Like signal flags in a construction zone, these last golden leaves send a message that winter is drawing near. Be cautious, be warned - winter weather is just around the corner. And you don’t want to be caught just hanging around. Public invited to attend annual Open House at library The Back Mountain Me- morial Library will hold its an- nual Open House from 14 p.m. Wednes- day, Dec. 21 and Thursday, Dec. 22 at the li- brary on Huntsville Road in Dal- las. The public is welcome to at- tend and partake of refresh- ments. For more information, call the library at 675-1182. * % * In recognition of the holidays, CAROL KING LIBRARY NEWS the library will be closed on the following dates: Saturday, Dec. 24; Monday, Dec. 26; Saturday, Dec. 31; and Monday, Jan 2. A reminder to everyone who ordered fruit during the annual citrus fruit sale: pick-up hours are from 4-6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9; and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10. You can pick up the fruit at the library. * %* * Fred Krohle, manager of the Slightly Read Bookshop at the li- brary, needs volunteers to help to sort books. Anyone who can help should call the library at 675-1182. Fred suggests that you watch for the announcement of a pre- renovation clearance sale some time soon, and adds a request that donations of books not be left outside the bookshop door. Members of book discussion group No. 1 were expected to dis- cuss the book “Queen Noor” at our Nov. 12 meeting. Instead, discussion group member and in-house Middle East expert Iran Fahmy spoke about the history of the region and the problems which trouble it now. Members are reminded that our next meeting is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 27, 2006. The book is “The Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson. Carol King is a longtime volunteer at the Back Mountain Memorial Library. Her library news column appears every other week in The Post. 70 YEARS AGO Dec. 6, 1935 EARLY MAILING URGED BY POSTMASTER A plea for early shopping and early mail ing torelieve postmen and carriers ofthe annual last-minute rush was de- livered this week by Ge- orge T. Kin- kendall, Dallas postmaster. During holiday time, the vol- ume of mail in the local office in- creases approximately 200 per- cent and it is a physically impos- sibility to handle this great mass of mail efficiently and promptly ONLY YESTERDAY . within a few days. Therefore, to assure delivery of Christmas pre- sents, cards, and letters by Christmas Day, the public is urged to mail early. Only one local football player was selected on the West Side Squad which will play a team from East Side of the Susquehan- na River on Saturday in the an- nual Shrine game for crippled children. Ted Loveland, a King- ston Township High School star who was out of the Thanksgiv- ing Day game because of inju- ries, has been selected as one of the backfield men for the West Side team. Homer Nelson, former mem- ber of Dallas Borough High School’s faculty and coach of bor- ough athletic teams, visited friends in town last Friday. Mr. Nelson is teaching now at Co- chranton, near Meadville, his hometown, and is making inten- sive plans for a stiff basketball schedule. Basketball, not foot- ball, is the mot popular sport there. His football team had only two games on its schedule 60 Years Ago Dec. 7,1945 DALLAS BORO H.S. PRESENTING PLAY The senior class of Dallas Bor- ough High School will soon pre- sent its annual Senior Class Play entitled “Stranger in the Night,” a comedy mystery in three acts. The cast has been selected as follows: Elizabeth Stoner, Helen Stoekel, Mary Lou Race, Betty Wagner, Estella Ide, Dolores Stark, Harold Niemeyer, James Waters, Harold Shaver, Jack Ro- berts, Eugene McCarthy and Al- ice Pavlick. The chimes, a gift to Dallas Methodist Church by members of the Jessie Brickel class, will be dedicated and played for the first time at the Sunday evening ser- vice, 7:30. Mrs. Fred Welsh, pres- ident of the class will present the chimes in honor of their late teacher. Ray Shiber, president of Board of Trustees, will accept them. An illness causing 160 pupils and four teachers to be absent from their school at Lehman High School yesterday forced su- pervising principal Howard Hen- dricks to cancel all classes until Monday morning. All substitute teachers, with the exception of one, were reported to be ill. 50 YEARS AGO Dec. 2, 1955 SHOE POLISH LEADS FUND-RAISER A Back Mountain YMCA youth member may be asking you, in the next few weeks, to buy a can of shoe polish to help them raise in their effort to raise some funds to support the YM- CA’s program of World Service. Annually, all YMCA young- sters put forth a special effort to send such funds to the deserving and needy children around the world. Some years they sell soap, other years its candy or Christ- mas cards. But this year, it’s dif- ferent. Laddie, the devoted collie watch-dog which piloted bind Oliver Ellsworth from house to barn and around the Hays Hill place, was shot by a hunter Fri- day afternoon. Laddie was left ly- ing for dead in a ditch, his muz- zle pointed hopefully toward the house he was trying to reach when his strength failed. Dedication of a bronze plaque in memory of Mrs. Letha Byrne and Mrs. Catherine Engelman was made at a Noxen grade school assembly program Friday afternoon, Nov. 18. Noxen High School students attending the Lake Township building were dismissed at 2:30 p.m. and trans- ported by bus. 40 YEARS AGO Dec. 2, 1965 HAYFIELD HOUSE TO BE EXPANDED Back Mountain residents re- sponded by the hundred on Sat- urday to the invitation of Penn- sylvania Sate University’s main campus to view the mansion at Hayfield Farms, which will soon resound to the voices of students in its once quiet halls. In September 1966, Penn State hopes to have abandoned its outgrowth and outmoded quarters on North Washington Street in Wilkes-Barre and in- stall them at Hayfield House. The house’s acreage invites even further expansion. Members of the Holy Name Society of Gate of Heaven Church in Dallas and Our Lady of Victory Church scored a first on Sunday, Nov. 14, when they became the initial group to visit the inmates of Chase Correction- al Institution for a day of fellow- ship. It’s a sixth daughter for the Raymond Tag family, former res- ident of Huntsville Road. Jean Esther, a small package weigh- ing six and one quarter pounds, was delivered Sunday, Nov. 21, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 30 YEARS AGO Dec. 4, 1975 DALLAS TWP. TAXES REMAIN UNCHANGED A tentative budget released at Monday night's meeting of the Dallas Township board of super- visors left the tax rate at three mills. The $200,700 budget in- cluded an allocation of $27,000 as an “in and out” item ear- marked to pickup delinquent sewer rental fees in the town- ship. An additional $7,100 was also set aside in the budget for esti- mated 1976 delinquent fees. The ‘orchestra which will ac- company the chorus and soloists in Sunday’s concert by Wyoming Valley Oratirio Society is made » up of 42 professional instrumen- talists, the majority of them resi- dents of Luzerne and Lackawan- na counties, including a number from the Back Mountain. George Albright, associate di- rector and horticulturist at the Wilkes-Barre Area Vocational Technical School has begung work on an outdoor classroom The site is adjacent to the Vo- Tech School and makes an excel- lent site due to the diversity of the area. 20 YEARS AGO Dec. 4, 1985 DALLAS BAND WINS AWARDS The Dallas High School marching Band has had a year full of competition. Among that competition is a first placed among five Group II bands in Nanticoke where the Marching Mountaineers won Specialty Awards in music, marching, and percussion. The band also won first place among six Group II bands in the Arthritis Founda- tion Band Competition held in Wilkes-Barre. There, they re- ceived specialty awards for mu- sic and band front, while also so- so cited. loist Mark Steinkirchner was W “Love Came Down,” a cantata depicting the birth of Jesus, will be presented by the combined choirs of the Idetown and Leh- man United Methodist Church- es of Dallas. The choir is direct- ed by Shirley A. Mahle, with ac- companiment by Elaine St. Clair as pianist and Virginia Swanson as organist. Members of the Lake-Lehman Education Association voted to make a $1,000 donation to the Back Mountain Memorial Li- brary’s building campaign. Ac- cording to LLEA president Jane M. Morris, the association want- ed to do so in “recognition of the Back Mountain Memorial Li- brary’s importance and contribu- tion to the students in the Lake- Lehman School District.” State Lt. Governor Ted Wiate- rowski was the guest spe during a meeting of the B Mountain Kiwanis Club at the Irem Temple Country Club.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers