*PAGE4 THE POST EDITORIAL Sunday, July 30, 2006 STRANGE BUT TRUE * Have you been to an ATM lately? Getting frustrated by the amount of money you have to pay various institutions just to make use of that modern convenience? Here's some food for thought: It's estimated that in 2006, Americans will pay a total of $4.2 billion in ATM charges. ¢ |[t was actress Anita Loos who made the following observation: “It isn't that gentlemen really prefer blondes, it's just that we look dumber.” e |f you're a fan of science-fiction films - or of B movies - you might have seen the following movies: “Devil Girl From Mars,” “Samson Versus the Vampire Women,” “Revenge of the Teenage Vixens From Outer Space,” “Cat Women of the Moon,” “Invasion of the Bee Girls" and “Vampire Vixens From Venus.” Then again, maybe not. ¢ A law in North Carolina makes it illegal for dogs and cats to fight. It makes you wonder what the authorities do with offenders. e Scientists say that if all the ice in Antarctica were to melt, the world’s sea level would rise by 200 feet. ® Russia's Sakha Republic has the most widely varying temper- atures in the world. Nearly half of it lies within the Arctic Circle, where temperatures can plunge to nearly 100 degrees below zero. However, during the summer some parts of the region can reach highs of 100 degrees or more. ® The space suits used by NASA's astronauts have 12 layers and weigh a total of 280 pounds when on Earth. * The original Morse Code used dots and spaces rather than dots and dashes. ® eo 0 Thought for the Day: “Dating means doing a lot of fun things you will never do again if you get married. The fun stops with marriage because you're trying to save money for when you split up your property.” - Dave Barry (c) 2006 King Features Synd., Inc. MOMENTS IN TIME The History Channel * On Aug. 2,1876, “Wild Bill" Hickok, one of the greatest gunfight- ers of the American West, is murdered while playing poker in Dead- wood, S.D. Hickok held a pair of black aces and black eights when he died, a combination that has since become known as the Dead Man's Hand. ® On Aug. 6, 1890, at Auburn Prison in New York, William Kemmler becomes the first person to be executed by electrocution. A charge of 700 volts was delivered for 17 seconds before the current failed. Inventor George Westinghouse, an innovator of the use of electricity, remarked, “They would have done better with an ax.” * On Aug. 4,1901, legendary jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong is born in New Orleans. Armstrong's innovative music established the instrumental solo as the backbone of jazz. Among his many hits were “Blueberry Hill” and “What a Wonderful World." ® On July 31,1930, the radio mystery program “The Shadow" first airs. The show featured a crime-fighting superhero, the Shadow, and became famous for its trademark opening line: “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows ..." ® On Aug. 3,1958, the U.S. nuclear submarine Nautilus makes the first undersea voyage to the geographic North Pole. The Nautilus dived at Point Barrow, Alaska, and traveled nearly 1,000 miles under the Arctic ice cap to reach the North Pole. It then steamed to Iceland, pioneering a shorter route to the Atlantic and Europe. ® On Aug. 5,1962, movie actress Marilyn Monroe is found dead in her Brentwood home in Los Angeles. She was discovered face down on her bed with a telephone in one hand. An autopsy found a fatal amount of sedatives in her system, and her death was ruled probable suicide. ® On Aug. 1,1971, the “Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour" debuts. The hit show, featuring music and comedy routines, was set apart from similar shows by the sarcastic banter between diminutive Sonny and his statuesque wife, Cher. (c) 2006 King Features Synd., Inc. POLICE DOG TO PRESENT PROGRAM AT LIBRARY Dallas police officer Brian Feeney and his dog Macko will present at special program at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Aug.1on the grounds of the Back Mountain Memo- rial Library. The event is part of the library's Claws, Scales and Tales reading program. The event will be held weather permitting. Feeney and Macko will be introduced and the officer will explain how Macko was trained to become a police dog. Macko will also show off his bomb-sniffing abilities. Those who attend are asked to bring blankets or lawn chairs to the program. If Macko and Officer Feeney are unexpect- edly called to work, the program will be res- cheduled. To register or for more informa- tion, call the library at 675-182. THE POST TIMES®LEADER Community Newspaper Group 15 N. Main St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18711 ® 570-675-5211 thepost@leader.net David C. Konopki EDITOR Erika Calvert ADVERTISING savor the pleasure of just being. Ys legs can be shaky but they're always getting stronger. And those legs are enough to nav q igate elders too busy savoring the grass to LIBRARY NOTES The Slightly Read Bookshop at the Back Mountain Memorial Library is holding a summer sale. All fiction books are 50 per- cent off and nonfiction and pa- perbacks are at special prices, too. So come out to the Farmers Market from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. each Saturday through Sept. 16 for some good eats. And come down to the bookshop from 10 am. to 3 p.m. for some good reads! ® 00 The members of Donuts and Discussion group are reminded to read and prepare “The Tale of Despereaux” for 11 a.m. Thurs- day, Aug. 10. All participants of the Young Adult Book Discussion Group are asked to read “Under the Per- simmon Tree” by Suzanne Fish- er Staples for discussion at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 14. Staples, who resides in Nicholson, cov- ered Afghanistan and Pakistan as a news reporter. She is the au- thor of many acclaimed books for young readers, including Shiva’s Fire, Dangerous Skies and the Newbery Award winning Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind. Teens participating in the “Re- lax and Read” program are re- minded they have until Aug. 15 to read and submit reviews for the program to win the $50 Tar- get gift certificate. ® oo 0 A Paws, Claws, Scales and Tales special program will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 1 on the library lawn (weather per- mitting). Dallas Police Officer Brian Feeney and his dog Macko will be introduced to the chil- dren and their parents. Officer Feeney will explain how Macko was trained as a police dog and Macko will show off his bomb- sniffing abilities. Participants are asked to bring blankets or lawn chairs to the program. If Macko and Officer Feeney are unexpectedly called to work, the program will be res- cheduled. Call the library at 675- 1182 to register. ® 00 The final party and program of Paws and Claws is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18 in the Chil- dren’s Room. Rebecca Lesko, en- vironmental education special- ist of the Endless Mountains Na- ture Center will bring her majes- tic birds to the library and Rule! The children will be able to view a live hawk, owl, and falcon up close and personal. Lesko ex- plained that raptors are birds with sharp talons and hooked beaks, but what do they rule? How? Where? Summer readers will learn the answers to these mysteries and many more dur- ing this fun, interactive program at the final party for summer reading. Certificates and prizes will be awarded and there will be re- freshments from McDonalds and cookies from Old Country Buffet. The winners of “name the dog” and “count dog bones” contests will be an- nounced, too Call the library and register. present the program Raptors 70 Years Ago July 31, 1936 POPULAR CONTRACTOR SUFFERS BROKEN LEG Merle Shaver, 39, of West Dal- las, a well-known painting con- tractor, suffered a compound fracture of the left leg yesterday about 8:30 , when he fell from the scaffold at the home of John Jr. Sul- livan, Huntsville Street, Dallas. The scaffold was only eight feet high, but Shaver fell on a concrete step which bent his leg over and broke the bone badly. ONLY YESTERDAY Being more than 100 miles from the Atlantic Ocean isn’t stopping Shavertown Sea Scouts from keeping abreast with what's going on in the briny deep. The first taste of maritime tac- tics for the local scouts came last March when a group of boys from Ship 231, Sea Scouts of Sha- vertown, spent long, sleepless hours assisting Coast Guard- smen and volunteer workers in rescue work during the Twin Floods in Wyoming Valley. The boys left Shavertown last Saturday morning and returned on Monday. Their visit to the Tucker was arranged by Captain Hageman of Keyport, a resident of Shavertown about 36 years ago and who is skipper of the man met the local group at Key- port and took them to Sandy Hook, where they secured the passes which admitted them to the government reservation. The Kiwanis Club of Mt. Greenwood will sponsor a gala carnival on the athletic field of Kingston Township High School on Saturday afternoon and eve- ning, August 22, as a means of raising $500 to finance its work in behalf of underprivileged chil- dren in this section. 60 Years Ago August 2, 1946 CARVERTON BARN DESTROYED BY LIGHTING A large barn on the farm of W.L Lemon at Carverton burned to the ground during the storm Wednesday after it was struck by a bolt of lightning. An automo- bile and a crop of hay were de- stroyed. Members of the family rescued a calf. Cows were in the pasture and farm machinery or- dinarily in the barn was in the fields. Though three calls were made for assistance, neighbors were unable to get fire apparatus. Wyoming pumper was being re- paired, West Wyoming Fire De- partment could not leave the two boroughs without protec- tion, and Trucksville Hose Com- pany driver was on a trip to a hospital when the call arrived. Horses with a total value of one million dollars will partici- pate in the second annual horse show which opens tonight at Irem Country Club. One horse to be exhibited, according to show officials, will be worth $30,000 and another has a value of $20,000. The show will be held tonight, Saturday afternoon and evening and Sunday afternoon. 50 Years Ago August 3, 1956 MCGARRY HOME BEING RAISED FOR NEW SCHOOL Preparation of the grounds ad- joining the present Gate of Heav- en School and church structure on Machell Avenue is already un- derway for erection of the $200,000 addition to the school. Several trees were cut down on Monday, and bids for demolition of the frame house occupied by the Frank McGarry family for the past eight years, were due Tuesday of this week. The new addition will give space for 800 pupils from first to eighth grades. The school start- ed with six grades in 1951, even- tually expanding seventh and eighth grades, making the younger grades in desperate need of more room. Jerry Miller, five month old son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Mill- er of Kunkle, will return to Nes- bitt Memorial Hospital in mid- August for further skin grafting, to repair damage done to tender tissues when he was seriously burned on May 22. He was dis- carded after five weeks of hospi- talization. On the critical list for a week, he made good progress after recovering from the shock of his narrow escape from being burned alive in the parking se- dan in front of the Dallas Hard- ware Store. Rescued from the inferno by Joe Lavelle, Dallas postal em- ployee, who was recently award- ed a citation from the govern- ment for his prompt action in saving the infant’s life without regard for his own injuries, the baby hovered between life and death for several days. 40 Years Ago August 4, 1966 WOMAN DIES WHILE WALKING ACROSS ROAD Another person died on Route 115 on Sunday when Mrs. Fran- cis Rozanski was fatally injured as she stood on the medial strip across from the entrance to Line- ar, Inc. In company with Edward Friel and James Langan, fellow pick- ets at the struck Fernbrook plant, the trio was going to their cars parked across the highway when they were struck by an 18- year-old Wilkes-Barre man. Po- lice report the highway had nev- er been busier than at the time of the mishap. Jerry Miller, 10, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Miller, Main Street, Dallas, is a patient at Shriners Hospital, Philadelphia. Many will recall the car fire which se- verely burned the child when he was an infant. Plastic surgery will be performed on his right hand and the right side of his head. 30 Years Ago August 5, 1976 DALLAS FIRE, AMBULANCE PLANS COUNTRY CARNIVAL Members of the Dallas Fire and Ambulance, Inc. have an- nounced their third annual “Country Carnival” will be held Labor Day weekend Sept. 4, 5, and 6. It will be held at the Back Mt. Library Auction Grounds. Grand prizes will include: micro- wave ovens, his and her watches, third model 760 rifle, and four black and white television sefs. For several months now, B Mountain Telephone Comp has been experiencing many problems in the Trucksville area. Employees have spent weeks in various sections of the commu- nity checking the lines and mak- ing adjustments and, in some cases installing new equipment. While working on the lines in the party’s home they came across a small, box-type piece of equipment —-a UHF-VHF ampli- fier which had been purchased and installed to provide a stron- ger signal and also enable the hookup of three additional tele- vision sets within the home. The equipment is illegal, barred by the cable company’s FCC li- cense. There is a $10,000 fine or five years jail time for the illegal use of an amplifier. This ampli- fier was affecting approximately 115 homes in the Trucksville 'ar- ea. } 20 Years Ago ) August 6, 1986 8 NUMBER OF CRIMES; LOW IN BACK MT. 1 Keeping in line with the state- wide trend, the number of sefi- ous crimes reported in the Back Mountain has decreased during the past year. Statistics released by the PA State Police départ- ment in Harrisburg shows that serious crimes reported in 198 have decreased by one percent from last year from 363,024 té 359,254. It was the fifth consec- utive year the numbers have de: creased, accounting for an 18.9 percent drop since 1980. Penn State Wilkes-Barre will observe its 70th anniversary dur- ing the 1986-1987 academic year and to celebrate, the campus is holding a yearlong series of spe- cial events. Kicking off the festiv- ities will be a birthday party with a giant cake and balloons Thurs- day, Sept. 18 that will begin on the campus in Lehman in t, P| afternoon, ending with a giant fireworks finale.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers