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Issue Home September 27, 2005 Site Home

COLUMNS:
100 Years Ago
Along the Way...With P. Jay

From the Desk of the D.A.
The Healthy Geezer

Straight From Starrucca
Software Services


100 Years Ago

SUSQUEHANNA: Two men were killed and one fatally injured in a wreck of the east bound Wells Fargo Express No. 14, on the Erie last Sunday evening, here. The dead are Sam H. Hempstead, an Erie Detective agent of Clark’s Summit and Frank E. Robbins, an engineer. Bert Millenpaugh, a fireman, was seriously injured. The wreck, it is claimed, was due to the carelessness of a hostler, Geo. Barrows, who was in charge of two “dead” engines. The engines were supposed to have been sidetracked for the express but the hostler ran them out on the main track directly ahead of the express and a collision resulted. Engineer Robbins, who had been a faithful employee in the Erie Co. since 1866, was born at Auburn, Pa. in 1847. He was a man much respected by all who knew him. He belonged to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and to the Order of Masons. Mr. Robbins is well known in Montrose, where he has made frequent visits. A widow and children survive him. Detective Hempstead was riding in a baggage car when the shock came. He died shortly after while undergoing an operation in the City Hospital. AND: Attached to Erie Train #13 was a car conveying 20 young men from New York to the State reformatory at Elmira. They were in charge of two keepers and were a tough looking crowd of cigarette smokers. Each one was fastened to the car seat by a chain.

MONTROSE: Photographer E. D. Bronson has inaugurated a new feature in connection with his business—the making of souvenir post cards—and it’s bound to “take.” Post cards with local pictures photographed on them are always favorably received and as Mr. Bronson is putting out such a variety of handsome views the popularity of the fad is sure to increase. Already he is besieged with orders and is unable to keep the supply ahead of the demand. AND: The trains on the Lehigh Valley, it is announced, will commence running from the new depot on Sunday. The location of the recently erected and handsome depot makes it much more convenient and pleasant for passengers.

FOREST CITY: Atty. Gerritt E. Gardner has purchased from Atty. H. O. Watrous, of Carbondale, his law books and office furnishings located here and will come to Forest City Monday where he will follow his profession. Mr. Gardner is one of the county’s young men who has not “missed his calling.” Mr. Watrous has sold his Carbondale property and with his family will go west to reside the latter part of next month. AND: Mrs. W. J. Maxey and children came here Wednesday, where in the future they will reside, Mr. Maxey having been engaged in business for some time past. Montrose has been the home of Ex-Sheriff and Mrs. Maxey for nearly 6 years, continuing to live here after the expiration of his term of office.

HARFORD: Attendance at the fair yesterday is estimated at between 4,500 and 5,000 people, the gate receipts being $1,300.

Elk Lake: Dr. W. H. Conklin takes his vacation next week, so persons having aching molars should come here, stand on the sandy beach and give that long-drawn-out yell, you know so well, when your teeth are aching like—well, we can’t describe it. “Doc” will come to your relief (if a 4 lb. Bass is not tugging on the line) and he will remove the cause of your affliction painlessly (to him). AND: C. T. Lowe, the driver of the Auburn stage, will go on the excursion to Niagara Falls the 30th of this month. Mr. Lowe is breaking all records both for carrying freight, express and passengers—especially ladies. Canfield Estus will act in Mr. Lowe’s capacity as driver during his absence.

BROOKLYN: The Odd Fellow’s Hall has been moved upon the new foundation, about 18 ft. west of its former situation and was raised about 3 ft. higher than the wall on which it formerly rested. Frank Bunnell, of Dimock, did the moving.

RUSH: Mrs. G. W. Devine has placed a beautiful monument at her husband’s grave, in the Devine Ridge cemetery. When the old wall is removed and a nice fence put in its place, Devine Ridge cemetery will be a beautiful place.

LENOXVILLE: C. G. Stephens, Lenoxville’s hustling merchant, drove to Montrose in his auto, last Thursday, coming the 22 miles in an hour and a quarter.

KINGSLEY: G. W. B. Tiffany, of Lebanon, N.J., has purchased the mercantile business here, until lately conducted by P. M. Wilmarth. This is an old established stand and we wish Mr. Tiffany success. He formerly was a Harford boy, moving to New Jersey 9 years ago.

AUBURN: Reimel Bros. Are very busy skidding out logs preparatory for a sawmill, which they expect to have put in before long.

NEW MILFORD: At the home of Mr. And Mrs. Theron Grinnell, in the township, Sept. 20th occurred the marriage of their daughter, Mame and William Schooley, of Iowa City, Ia. Rev. William Usher of Harford officiated; after their wedding tour, they will make their home in Iowa City.

HOP BOTTOM: Mr. And Mrs. Loomis, of LaGrange, Ill., who came here last week to visit their son, E. M. Loomis, met with an accident Monday. While driving near Lindaville their horse became unmanageable and ran away. Mr. And Mrs. Loomis were badly bruised.

CLIFFORD: A good many of our citizens will move from here to Seabreeze, Florida. Those that have gone there write very favorably of that new town.

FLYNN, Middletown Twp.: The Triangle school is progressing nicely under the management of Miss Risely.

AND: T. Guiton has accepted the position of drawing the pupils to the Gillin school. AND: James Rourke runs a 4-horse team for passengers from Friendsville to Binghamton fair next week.

THOMPSON: Gurnsey B. Hubbard is with his mother this week. His brother L. L. Hubbard and his wife, of Scranton, were up over Sunday. Next week Gurnsey will return to his studies in Keuka College, near Penn Yan, N.Y. He expects to finish his course there this year.

Visit our website at www.susqcohistsoc.org for back issues of 100 Years Ago.

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Along the Way...With P. Jay

A fare that ain’t fair!

Last week, a Forest City woman called me and pointed out something I just could not believe. She is handicapped and has problems with what the guy on the television commercial says most of us take for granted –mobility.

She gets around by using a wheel chair and, although she does own an automobile, it is not in the best of condition and my first thought when we chatted was what would she do if her car broke down somewhere. She rides the Susquehanna County Transportation buses to her doctors’ appointments and when she needs to go to a clinic for blood work and for other medical needs and tests. Yes, the bus ride is free.

In case you did not know it, the Susquehanna County Transportation System is operated by the folks at Barnes-Kasson Hospital (BK) in Susquehanna Depot. The county contracts with BK and transportation funds that the county receives from state sources – primarily from the lottery – are forwarded to BK for operating expenses. I see nothing wrong with that.

However, what I do see totally wrong is the way we are treating handicapped people. I have never checked the stats on this but it does seem like this country spends more money on the indigent abroad than it does on those right here in the land of the free and the home of the broke. And, my friends, I think it is time to do something about it.

As I mentioned before I got carried away, the handicapped can get a free ride to their doctors, the hospital for tests, etc., or just about anywhere the bus travels, as long as the trip is medically related. Ready for the trump card. Good because here it comes. Handicapped people cannot ride the Susquehanna County Transportation buses if they are only going shopping for groceries or clothing. The senior citizens get to ride, say from Forest City to Carbondale for shopping and they pay 25 cents each way for the privilege. How about this. If handicapped people want to ride that same shopping bus with the seniors from Forest City to Carbondale, they must pay $11 each way. If they want to ride with the seniors to Scranton, the seniors would pay 50 cents each way, the handicapped, $24 each way.

And who do we blame for such a gross injustice? Well, don’t look towards Montrose because it isn’t the county’s fault. And don’t look north because it is not the fault of the Susquehanna County Transportation Agency either. No, my friends, the blame for the shabby treatment accorded our handicapped can be traced to Harrisburg and Washington. While they are busy lining their own pockets with pay raises and benefit packages, there are people in just about every state in the union dying because they cannot afford medicine, medical care and, in many, many instances, a loaf of bread.

Bob Iveson, who works for the Susquehanna County Transportation Agency, or whatever the proper name is, said the handicapped can ride the buses free if they are on medical assistance (MA). “They are only permitted to go on medical appointments when using MA,” Mr. Iveson told me. “They cannot ride the bus to go shopping unless they pay the full fare.” He said it is a state-run program and the county would be risking transportation appropriations if it did not follow state-enacted guidelines.

“Obviously we have to follow their guidelines,” Mr. Iveson added. “They tell us who we can and cannot transport. We cannot waive it for certain people.”

It strikes me as being somewhat strange that the American Medical Association campaigned so vigorously for the Americans with Disabilities Act, and yet it is not ready for another cause, putting the handicapped on the same free bus with senior citizens so they can shop for food and clothing. Especially in counties like Susquehanna where there is no public transportation. I urge all of my readers to call or write your state legislators and tell them to consider new legislation for the handicapped.

It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy than...

Jim McCusker of Union Dale, will be the next president of the Firemen’s Association of the State of Pennsylvania. Jim will take office on January 1, 2006 and his term will run through December 31. He is the second person from Susquehanna County to hold the honor. Charles Daly of Montrose was president in 1982. Congratulations Jim on a well deserved honor!

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From the Desk of the D.A.

In 1964, over thirty citizens in Queens, New York, heard the cries for help from a woman who was assaulted on three separate occasions, as the defendant continued to stalk her and eventually stabbed the victim to death. It was not until after the victim had died that a single person called the police. The police officer investigating the crime recited the facts as follows: “The assailant had three chances to kill this woman during a 35 minute period. He returned twice to complete the job. If we had been called when he first attacked, the woman might not be dead.”

Should there be a legal requirement to aid a victim of a crime? Should the failure to render aid result in arrests and convictions of the civilians who refused to intervene? These are difficult questions that occasionally surface after horrific crimes that could have been avoided even by a simple call to 911.

Several states have passed such laws. For instance, Rhode Island had a statute that provided that at the scene of an emergency, a person had to render aid provided such aid could be rendered without exposing the aiding party to any danger or peril. Wisconsin had a criminal statute that made it a crime for a person to fail to call the police when witnessing an assault.

In Pennsylvania, the Crimes Code contains no such provisions. The closest such statute is found in the Vehicle Code, which states that any person involved in a motor vehicle accident that results in an injury to a third party must “render to any person injured in the accident reasonable assistance, including the making of arrangements for carrying the injured person to a physician, surgeon or hospital for medical or surgical treatment if it is apparent that treatment is necessary or if requested by the injured person.” 75 Pa. C.S. § 3744(a).

There have been various cases in Pennsylvania discussing the duty to render aid, and the potential criminal consequences that arise from the any failure to give aid. For instance, in Commonwealth v. Konz, a wife failed to render medical aid to her diabetic husband, at his request, and he later died. The spouse was convicted of murder after a jury trial, and the verdict was appealed. The Pennsylvania Superior Court noted: “Courts have, in limited circumstances, departed from the longstanding common law rule that one human being is under no legal obligation to aid another human being. One such circumstance is where there exists a requisite status of relationship between the parties, as is present in the relationship between parent and child. . . . The inherent dependency of a child to obtain medical aid, i.e., the incapacity of a child to evaluate his condition and summon aid by himself, supports imposition of such a duty upon the parent.” In making the comparison between a child and a spouse, the court noted that where a spouse was “unwillingly rendered incompetent to evaluate the need for aid, or helpless to obtain it,” then the law imposed upon the healthy spouse the duty to obtain such aid. In Konz, however, the evidence demonstrated that the husband knowingly forewent his insulin treatments and did not want medical treatment, and, under such circumstances, the court determined that the spouse could not be guilty of homicide for refusing to intervene and seek such medical aid.

In another case, Commonwealth v. Pestinkas, two defendants, a husband and wife, were tried based upon the failure to provide food and medical treatment to the decedent while the decedent was in the defendants’ care. In affirming the murder conviction, the court concluded that because the defendants had agreed to provide care for the decedent, a legal duty had been created, and the failure to fulfill that legal duty of care would be sufficient to support a murder conviction.

In reviewing these cases and the common law, there generally is no criminal liability based upon the refusal to render aid to another citizen. There have been statutory attempts to expand the common law rule so as to compel fellow citizens to provide aid or compel citizens to contact police. These statutes are the exception to the rule, and, as in the incident in Queens in 1964, under Pennsylvania law, there is no legal duty that requires you to intervene to protect a fellow citizen. This is not to suggest that a moral duty may not exist, and, fortunately, most citizens follow a compass that sets both a legal and moral course of action. That is precisely why we have such a hard time understanding the incident that occurred in Queens in 1964.

Please submit any questions, concerns, or comments to Susquehanna County District Attorney’s Office, P.O. Box 218, Montrose, Pennsylvania 18801.

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The Healthy Geezer

Q. Is it true that farmers are more likely to get Parkinson disease?

Although genetics is very important in Parkinson disease (PD), many researchers believe that environmental exposures also increase a person's risk of developing the disease. There are studies that show that farmers and other agricultural workers have an increased risk of getting PD.

PD was first described in 1817 by Dr. James Parkinson, a British physician. It affects 1 in 100 people over the age of 60. It can also affect younger people. The average age of onset is 60. Research suggests that PD affects at least 500,000 people in the United States.

PD is a complex disorder of the central nervous system. It is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the United States, after Alzheimer's.

The defining symptoms of PD include tremor, slowness of movement, rigidity, and impaired balance and coordination. As these symptoms become more pronounced, patients may have difficulty walking, talking, or completing simple tasks. They also may experience depression, difficulty sleeping and other problems.

The progression of symptoms in PD may take 20 years or more. In some people, however, the disease progresses much more quickly.

In the early 1960s, scientists determined that the loss of brain cells was causing PD. The cells that were depleted produced dopamine, a chemical that helps control muscle activity. Today, PD is treated with drugs and surgery.

Medications for PD fall into three categories. The first includes drugs that increase the level of dopamine in the brain. The second category affects neurotransmitters in the body to ease some of the symptoms of the disease. The third category includes medications that help control the non-motor symptoms of the disease such as depression.

There are two commonly used surgical treatments for PD: pallidotomy and deep brain stimulation. Because these procedures are invasive, they are usually reserved for severely afflicted Parkinson's patients who do not get adequate relief from medications.

Surgeons discovered that, by removing or destroying parts of the brain that were “misfiring,” some of the symptoms of PD could be alleviated. One of these operations is pallidotomy.

Scientists have found that they can mimic the effects of pallidotomy by deep brain stimulation (DBS). With DBS, an electrode is implanted in the brain in a way that calms the abnormal neuronal firing. DBS is now the primary surgical intervention for PD.

A wide variety of complementary and supportive therapies may be used for PD. Among these therapies are standard rehabilitation techniques, which can help with problems such as gait and voice disorders, tremors and rigidity, and cognitive decline. Exercise may help people improve their mobility.

While Parkinson's is a complex disease, research has progressed a great deal in recent years. Halting the progression of PD, restoring lost function, and even preventing the disease are now considered realistic goals.

If you have a question, please write to fredcicetti@gmail.com.

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Straight From Starrucca

Last Saturday, Brigitte D’Agati, Joy Mead, Marie Swartz and I attended the picnic that Flo and Jim Wheatley hosted at their home in Hop Bottom. This was a thank you to all the people in the region who made sleeping bags for the homeless. Flo is the founder of “My Brother’s Keeper” and was featured in Readers’ Digest some time ago.

Barbara Pease, the new minister of the Thompson Charge of the Methodist Church held an open house at the parsonage for families and friends of the church on Sunday the 18th. Going from Starrucca were Joy Mead, Marie Swartz and Barbara Glover. They reported a pleasurable afternoon.

Also on Sunday the 18th, the men of the Baptist Church reversed roles and cooked and served breakfast to the ladies, which was a nice break for them. Herrick Center parishioners also enjoyed the meal.

By the time you read this, Harriet Gardner, a patient at Barnes-Kasson Hospital with a repaired hip, will probably be home. Hopefully her son, Kenny, a resident of Florida, will be there to greet her.

The following letter, written to  me recently, is in reply to one I sent him answering some questions concerning the Horace Glover family, especially the two sons, Clinton and Sluman, with whom he stayed back in the 1950s. At that time, Sluman was studying in Amsterdam and had purchased some gifts for his family and asked John Kunst, a native Hollander who was coming to US to college in Michigan to train for the ministry, if he would be kind enough to drop off his gifts in Starrucca. Sluman would alert his folks here where to meet his plane and he was to stay at their home for awhile on his way to Michigan. He realizes that most of the people with whom he made acquaintance are gone, but if any are still living, he wanted to thank them for their kindness to him while here.

As it happened, Clinton’s family, from Illinois, were staying at Shehawken Lake and Sluman, from Connecticut, was expected momentarily, so the first letter was delivered almost as soon as it got here.

Here’s the letter:

“Dear Mrs. Dickey, sister in the Lord,

Thank you so much for reacting to my letter to the editor, meant for Sluman and Clinton, tracing my roots back to Starrucca and the Horace S. Glover, Sr. family! What a stroke of luck that it landed by you in your box. You have filled in quite a few empty spots in my memory already, for instance the names of the two sons. I wasn’t 100% sure of Clinton’s name either, but now I am! Thank you! I also had in mind the Baptist Church, however, it was the Methodist Church, as you say. Good for you!

I am on the ministerial staff of the Durban North Methodist Church, here in the city, so, as I write you now, I feel the ties that bind us in Christian love and commitment.

Susquehanna, where the editor of the regional newspaper resides, I came to know via Clinton at that time with the Glovers, who took me around quite a bit, also to Binghamton, NY for instance. He really made a great effort to show me around the area there and was an excellent and unforgettable guide.

I had hoped that the editor would perhaps publish my letter in the paper, so that in that way I would be able to thank the many Starrucca residents who were so kind to me during those days of my stay there, long ago now. I realized that I would be speaking to the older generations, but be that as it may. However, as it is, my letter was first of all meant for the two Glover sons who became my friends and guardians in those days. And now they have received it from you. I will be looking forward with glee to hearing from them, filling in many more details, going back to the early 50s! I thank you profusely for passing the letter on to them. I want to let them know how I remember their wonderful parents, with great respect for their hospitality and kindness.

If you feel like writing something in your column about all this, please feel free. I leave that up to you entirely. May God bless you and keep you into His care.

Yours in our Lord’s service,

John G. Kunst (Rev.)

Senior Port Chaplain

Port of Durban

KwaZulu Natal

South Africa”

Cheerio!

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Software Services

Advanced Searching on Google

On Google there is a link called Advanced Search. Click on the link to show the special searches you can make. Notice you can also change the default of 10 sites per page so you can see up to 100 results at once. Here’s a little bit of information about the special searches next to Find the results:

With All the Words: This box is same as the regular search box. The search engine first returns sites that feature all of your keywords, then sites that only have some of your words. The words don’t have to be next to each other on the sites.

With Exact Phrase: This means keywords entered must appear together in the sites displayed. For example, you want to know more about the Erie Railroad. A search on erie railroad gives thousands of results. Entering erie railroad in this box gives fewer results where erie and railroad are always together. You can also get this result by placing quote marks around the words in the standard search box.

With at Least One of the Words: Adding words here allows you to expand your search in a controlled way. For example, you could enter in erie lackawanna in this box with railroad in the “all the words box” and get sites that had either of the “erie railroad” or “lackawanna railroad”. You could also enter the following in the standard search box: “erie railroad” OR “lackawanna railroad”.

Without the Words: This allows you to exclude results that contain certain words. For example, you are looking for Susquehanna county schools – not Susquehanna valley schools. Enter susquehanna schools in the top box and valley in the “Without the Words” box. This could also be entered on the standard search box as Susquehanna county schools –valley (be sure to put a space before the minus and no space after it).

Language: This option allows you to restrict the results to a language that you can read. Sometimes you will get search results with a lot of ??? where words should be. These are results that are in Japanese kangi or Russian letters. You can use the language restriction so that your search results do not contain these useless sites.

Occurrences: You can use this option to reduce your search results if you are using a search term that is also a common word or phrase. You can restrict the occurrence to “in the title” thus helping insure that your results reflect pages where your search term is the subject of the page.

Domain: If you find a site that seems like it contains the information you want, but is a large site, you can use this option to only search that site. For instance if you are looking for a recipe for pork that someone mentioned to you in reference to a study by the Stanford University you could enter www.stanford.edu in this field to restrict the search to the documents on that site only.

Links: If you find a useful page on the web, let’s say about the Erie RR, you might want to locate other pages that link to this page. If this page is right on the mark for what you are looking for, it stands to reason that pages that link to this page will be just as useful. So, cut the address of the useful page from your browser’s address bar and paste it into this field. You may want to try both the www.goodsite.com/erie.html and just www.goodsite.com.

Next time I’ll tell you how you can schedule programs to run automatically.

Lori Martin is owner of Martin Works, Inc. (http://www.MartinWorks.com), Susquehanna, PA.

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