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COLUMNS: HALLSTEAD: Fire broke out at 11:45 Sunday night in the residence of Mrs. Thomas Lahey, a widow, living on Railroad street, back of the old Lackawanna yards, and one boy, Richard, aged 7, was burned to death. John Maher and John Downey risked their lives in attempting to find the boy, and Maher was quite badly burned about the face and head in the several attempts made. Railroad men occupied the boarding house conducted by Mrs. Leahy. Fireman Ernest Spence, of Montrose, was a boarder and he said the little boy who met such a sad fate was a great favorite with the railroad men and was usually waiting for them on their return from trips. He was a bright little fellow and all who knew him feel the loss secondary only to that of the immediate relatives. TAYLOR HOLLOW, FOREST LAKE: There was a public sale at the home of Mrs. J. D. Taylor, Tuesday. That in itself was nothing extraordinary, as sales are of frequent occurrence. But the dinner that Mrs. Taylor presented was certainly remarkable and men present who have been attending sales all their lives said they never saw anything to equal it at a sale before. There were several kinds of meat, potatoes, two or three kinds of sauce, pickles, biscuit, bread, several kinds of cake, &c., two kinds of cookies, apple pie, coffee, tea, milk and as the sale bills say, “other articles too numerous to mention.” Mrs. Taylor was assisted by several ladies in her neighborhood and they must all be model housewives. “You gave too much for the money,” (25 cents) we said to Mrs. Taylor, and her reply was, “well, I didn’t want to feel that the men who came to the sale were stinted.” They were not; more likely foundered, we judge; the way Auctioneer Cox, Attorney Allen, L. B. Hawley and a lot of other good farmers laid away the grub, was a caution to all people who are planning for a sale dinner in the future. BROOKLYN: The spring so far has been a remarkable one for maple products. The snow in the woods has kept the roots of the trees warm and the result has been a good run of sap. DIMOCK: Selden Bunnell now drives the stage from East Rush to Dimock, a distance of ten miles making the round trip the same day. CLIFFORD: Mrs. Wines Bennett died Saturday noon, March 19, 1910, after a few days sickness of la grippe and old age. Mrs. Bennett was a highly esteemed old lady and was 86 years of age. She leaves to mourn her loss one daughter, six sons and one brother. Her funeral was largely attended, interment in the Clifford cemetery. ARARAT: We are glad that A. L. Bowell made Eli Avery open the roads so Mrs. H. M. Davis can get out because we know that she has much to tell, for Square [Sauire?] Shayer married her daughter, Leona, one day last week. She will tell you more about it in the next paper. HOWARD HILL, LIBERTY TWP.: I. H. Travis and wife were in Hallstead, Friday. Mr. Travis is having a bad time with his hand; last December, while butchering hogs, he had the misfortune to run the hog hook into his hand leaving a bad sore and it does not heal up. ALSO - C. D. Berg is suffering with the affliction of Job. MONTROSE: Cooley & Son have a striking new automobile advertisement to-day. They have recently received a carload of the famous Reo touring cars and they made one nice sale even before he got them fairly on exhibition. A. W. Lyons, having got his discriminating eye upon one of the fine machines - could not resist. Messrs. Cooley are very fortunate in getting a fair allotment of cars, for they inform us that, normally, the Reo output is 10,000 autos, but they already have orders for 15,000 machines - more than they can possibly deliver. LYNN: The mustache craze has struck our town. All of the young men who are able are letting them rush. Those that are not are using charcoal instead. In Springville, at Ed Brown’s, his son, Paul, has been sick a long time with typhoid fever and it was reported some time since that the fever had left him, but Sunday night a message came over the phone that he was suffering a severe hemorrhage. Dr. Diller, being sick, his wife, who is a trained nurse, went down and succeeded in checking it. The young man, however, is in a precarious condition. HOPBOTTOM: Tuesday evening the Hopbottom basket ball team defeated the Montrose team by a score of 25-10. The Hopbottom team is about the speediest bunch of players, as they have played together for four years. JACKSON: A few evenings ago Jackson had a mad dog scare. Rev. Mr. Brush, pastor of the Baptist church, relates that while milking his cows a large white and brown hound with a broken tail ran into his barn, yelping and biting at everything. It grabbed one of his rubbers and tore it from his foot. After the dog ran out of the barn and into the road, the minister telephoned O. C. Wakefield, a neighboring farmer, to be on the lookout for a mad dog. The dog reached Wakefield’s farm and ran into the barn yelping and snapping. The cattle stampeded. The dog then went to the kitchen of the farm house and into the cellar and out again. All of the dog’s moves were so quick that Mr. Wakefield could not capture it. When the farmer went into the house to get his shotgun the dog ran down the road, heading for Susquehanna. It is not known who owns the dog nor where it came from. SOUTH NEW MILFORD: A boarder at Mr. Decker’s left suddenly and took a new watch, suit of clothes nearly new, pair of shoes, new shirt, $2 cap and some other things valued at $45. No clue as to his whereabouts. SUSQUEHANNA: Monday the bankruptcy sale of the machinery, stock, patents, etc., of the Susquehanna Metal Manufacturing company was held at the plant on Erie avenue. The entire stock and equipment was bid in by William A. Skinner, representing the local bondholders. Tuesday work was commenced, cleaning the plant preparatory to reopening in April. The plant will be entirely in charge of local people, who will now control all the patents formerly owned by the old company, which includes the making of gum machines and other articles. RUSH: Uzal LaRue has purchased the Shoemaker mills and the Theodore Otis farm and has taken possession of the same. FOREST CITY: J. G. Wescott has purchased a small farm near Elkdale from the Lowry estate and will, within a month, move his family to that place. He will probably go into the chicken business. Mr. Wescott has been a resident of this town for a great many years and has been an exceedingly active member of the community. He has held several borough offices. His departure from town will be regretted by many people.
From the Desk of the D.A. In the fall of 2008, Tunkhannock High School administrators discovered that nude (or semi-nude) pictures of high school students were circulating via cellular phones in the school. The school district turned it over to the Wyoming County District Attorney’s Office, and it was discovered that 13 girls and 3 boys had been involved in this activity, now commonly known as “sexting.” Given the nature of the photographs, the District Attorney determined that the juveniles could have been charged with the possession of child pornography. In an innovative approach to this problem, the District Attorney and the juvenile probation department created an educational program for the juveniles. Rather than filing a juvenile petition against them, the District Attorney suggested that the juveniles enroll and complete the educational program. The District Attorney sent out formal letters to the parents of the juveniles offering them the choice of enrolling in the educational program, or, if they refused enrollment, then a formal juvenile petition would be filed alleging felony offenses for the possession of child pornography. Most of the juveniles opted to pursue the educational program. Another small group refused the educational option and contacted the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The ACLU filed a federal action seeking an injunction to stop the District Attorney from filing any charges against the juveniles who refused to participate in the educational program. The petition was successful at the District Court level and an injunction was issued against the District Attorney barring any prosecution of the juvenile. Recently, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the decision to enjoin the District Attorney from filing any formal juvenile proceedings against the non-participating juveniles. In essence, the Third Circuit determined that any subsequent juvenile petition filed after the refusal to participate in the educational program would be a retaliatory act by the prosecutor. In other words, the prosecutor would be retaliating against the juvenile for exercising a constitutional right, i.e., the First Amendment right to not associate or attend this voluntary educational program. In the end, the Third Circuit was convinced that there simply was not probable cause to support the charges against the non-participating juveniles, i.e., there was not enough evidence as to the remaining juveniles to proceed with a juvenile prosecution. In the absence of probable cause to support the charges, the Third Circuit concluded that the only motivation to proceed would be impermissible retaliation. It is difficult to understate the potential implications that arise from this decision. Generally speaking, federal courts avoid interfering in the discretionary decisions of state officials. The Third Circuit addressed this issue as well and wanted to assure the public that this case presented rare circumstances that required federal intervention. In a concluding footnote, the Third Circuit stated: “This decision does not open the door to federal courts serving as a screening mechanism for state prosecutions. Before us is the unique circumstance of a prosecutor revealing unequivocally that a prosecution would be brought solely in response to a potential defendant’s exercise of a constitutional right.” In the end, the use of diversionary programs, such as educational programs, remain important and essential tools in the juvenile justice system. These diversion programs assure that juvenile offenders receive educational and rehabilitative action aimed at avoiding future misconduct without the need for saddling a juvenile offender with a permanent record. While some juvenile offenders may attempt to use this Wyoming County case as a litigation tool, the problem with the Wyoming County approach had nothing to do with the educational program; rather, it was the prosecutorial attempt to coerce a juvenile into the program where there was insufficient evidence to support any criminal charges. Please submit any questions, concerns, or comments to Susquehanna County District Attorney’s Office, P.O. Box 218, Montrose, Pennsylvania 18801 or at our website www.SusquehannaCounty-DA.org or discuss this and all articles at http://dadesk.blogspot.com/.
The Healthy Geezer Q. I was racing down the cellar stairs a few days ago when I slipped and fell on my tailbone. I’ve had pain ever since. What should I do about it? The coccyx - or tailbone - is made up of three to five vertebrae at the lower end of the spine. Most people have a coccyx of four of these spinal bones. The coccyx functions as an attachment site for muscles, tendons and ligaments. Coccyx comes from the Greek word for cuckoo. The coccyx’s shape is like the beak of a cuckoo. The human coccyx is considered a vestige of what was once a tail. Most coccyx injuries are bruises and ligament strains. The coccyx rarely breaks. The most common tailbone injuries occur from falling on a hard surface. Women suffer most coccyx injuries because the female pelvis is broader and the coccyx is more exposed than it is in males. Pain in the coccyx is called coccydynia. Coccydynia can occur in children and adults. Degenerative changes of the coccyx seem to increase with age. Usually, the cause for coccydynia is not known. Among the common known causes are falls, prolonged sitting, medical procedures such as colonoscopy, and childbirth. Substantial pressure may be placed on the coccyx as the baby descends through the mother's pelvis. The pain is felt in a variety of circumstances. The most common distress comes from sitting on a hard surface. There can be intense pain when getting up from a seat. Bowel movements and sex can also produce pain. Coccyx pain is treated in a variety of ways: * Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to reduce pain and inflammation. These include ibuprofen, naproxen and aspirin. * A customized seating cushion that shifts pressure away from the tailbone. * Physical therapy that might include exercise to stretch ligaments and strengthen muscles in the tailbone area. * Heat, massage and ultrasound. * Injections of local anesthetics into the coccyx are sometimes given for continuing pain. * Manipulation to move the coccyx back into its proper position. * Surgery to remove the coccyx is recommended only in very severe cases. There is a high risk that surgery won’t alleviate pain. Coccyx pain can be especially taxing because substantial relief may not come for months. However, most cases of traumatic coccyx injury get better within several weeks. With a long siege of pain, you may develop depression and anxiety. This emotional distress should be treated as soon as it is recognized. If you have a question, please write to fred@healthygeezer.com.
Library Chitchat I have frequently invited you to make regular visits to either the Main Library in Montrose or one of the branches in Forest City, Susquehanna or Hallstead-Great Bend. However, if you live in some of the outlying areas of the county, you might want to try one of the eight public deposit stations throughout the county. Many years ago the Susquehanna County Library had a library-on-wheels known as the bookmobile that traveled around to the more remote locations and afforded residents the opportunity to peruse its collection and borrow books. Now the Outreach Services Department of the Susquehanna Library brings the books to you. The Outreach Services Department also supplies books to seven locations catering to senior citizens. Some of the places you can find deposit stations are Springville, Rush, Thompson, and Starrucca. Books are changed at these locations every eight weeks. In addition, we have five kiosk computers in places like Outright Sales in Little Meadows and the Choconut Market on 267 in Choconut. The Outreach Department also runs a program called Books by Mail. For a fee of $35 per year to cover postage, you can have books and any available item in the Library’s collection mailed directly to your home. For full list of all the deposit stations, kiosks, and additional information on the Books by Mail program go to our website www.susqcolibrary.org and click on Outreach Services. Remember it is the goal of the Susquehanna County Library to be your resource for lifetime learning.
Rock Doc
Gold In Them Thar’ Hot Springs Twenty-five years ago I was spending my summers beside sulfur-belching hot springs in northern California. The hot springs were not as big as Yellowstone’s. Most were just a few feet across, one or two about a dozen feet wide. None of them were truly boiling, but they were hot to the touch and gases bubbled vigorously out of them. To add to the general ambience of roasting sulfur, air temperatures in that part of California each July and August are in the 100-degree range, and in addition to sulfur, the hot springs carried a lot of mercury, arsenic and other toxic metals. Any normal person would have fled the scene. But I loved it all, because in addition to the hellish aspect of the hot springs, they carried trace amounts of gold in their waters. That meant they precipitated meaningful amounts of gold where the waters cooled. That’s all pretty unusual in this world. In fact, it’s the only place I knew where gold makes it all the way to the surface of the Earth in such low temperature waters. Memories and images of those summers crowded my mind recently as I was learning about something else that’s unique to certain hot springs, namely those that are more acid and higher temperature. Yellowstone has some like these, with pH values down to 1 and even 0 (amazing, but true). If you have been to Yellowstone, these are the “ugly” and stinky hot springs and mud pots to the north of the main lake. It’s natural to think nothing could live in the conditions of such spring water. But the Yellowstone hot springs have a host of “archaeal” organisms living in them. That name means they are single cell creatures that, like bacteria, have no nucleus, but they are even more primitive than bacteria. One kind of archaeal organism is Sulfolobus solfataricus. (Yes, I know microbiologists love names that can look intimidating at first. But just concentrate on the fact the ‘sulf’ and ‘solf’ syllables suggests a love of sulfur, and the ‘lob’ syllable suggests a lobe-like shape for the microbe when you look at it under the microscope.) Sulfolobus solfataricus live in Yellowstone’s hot springs and elsewhere in the world, too. Professor Cynthia Haseltine of Washington State University and her graduate students study the creatures in question. And she’s trying to teach me a little about them, because of my old interest in hot springs. (And, I suspect, because she’s interested in “my” hot springs that can transport mercury and gold. But we’ll get to that.) But already I’ve been in for big surprises. In middle age, I thought I knew the basics of life. But it turns out I’m really woefully ignorant. Haseltine’s microscopic “bugs” can fuel themselves in two radically different ways. Like you and me, they can eat carbon and nutrients and live on that. But they can also make a living off carbon dioxide and sulfur. I knew little bugs could do the carbon dioxide and sulfur diet, but I didn’t know they could switch back and forth to “our” sort of eating, too, when it suits them. “But that makes sense in evolutionary terms,” Haseltine says. “If a microbe is living in the hot spring with sulfur and carbon dioxide available, it can grow - but that’s slow growth. But then if leaves fall into the hot spring in the fall, Sulfolobus solfataricus can ‘switch’ and make a living and grow more quickly using the leaves as fuel.” Back to me in California, crouching over the hot springs that carried gold. All the work we did in that project tried to explain gold transport without respect to living creatures. But what excited both Professor Haseltine and this Rock Head in talking to each other is the possibility that some Sulfolobus organism is not just present in the spring - Haseltine is sure it is - but that it may be interacting with the trace amounts of gold in the waters in ways that bring them to the surface. Imagine that: from eating sulfur to dead leaves to, just maybe, ingesting gold, too. That’s quite a bug. Dr. E. Kirsten Peters, a native of the rural Northwest, was trained as a geologist at Princeton and Harvard. Follow her on the web at rockdoc.wsu.edu and on Twitter @RockDocWSU. This column is a service of the College of Sciences at Washington State University.
What’s Bugging You? No What's Bugging You This Week
Dear Dolly, Is it too early to rake my flower beds to remove leaves and winter debris? Should I rake the mulch away from the flowers so they can get the spring sun? -Willa Dear Willa, Early spring is the perfect time to rake your flower beds. It is important to rake the old leaves and debris, before the tender shoots appear. This will make raking fast and easy, and you will avoid damaging any tender shoots. You may carefully rake the mulch to clean away debris and refresh the bed, with a few exceptions - you don't want to remove the mulch from your dormant plants. The spring sun is strong and will warm the plants through the mulch. Plants will push toward the warmth and work their way out. The mulch will continue to protect your plants through the normal spring temperature fluctuations. Your lawn will also benefit from a brisk raking this time of year. Don't forget to protect your skin with sunblock, and wear gloves to avoid blisters. All Transcript readers are welcome to submit their questions to Dear Dolly at deardolly570@yahoo.com.
EARTH TALK
Barnes-Kasson Corner No Barnes-Kasson Corner This Week
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