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COLUMNS: SUSQUEHANNA: Fred Langford, who conducts the Langford Hotel, while out in his new automobile last week, met with an accident which completely demolished the car, but fortunately the occupants were uninjured. They were on their way to Windsor when the auto struck a post which was placed there temporarily in making new roads. Mr. Langford has only had the car about six weeks. HOP BOTTOM: The Adams Orchestra of Factoryville will furnish music for the Hop Bottom High School Alumni banquet, April 22. Mr. Adams is becoming associated with the better class of musicians and his music is always tasteful and appropriate and is becoming popular. The musical part of the Alumni banquet will be a treat. HALLSTEAD: Mrs. Henry Smith was struck a glancing blow by an engine drawing passenger train, as it passed eastbound at the rate of 50 miles an hour in Great Bend. As a result she is now at the Moses Taylor Hospital, in Scranton, where it may be necessary to amputate the left leg. Her husband is suffering from a severe bruise and cut of the wrist, received from the engine as he was swinging Mrs. Smith from before the train to a place of safety. ALSO Willard Tillyou, an employee of the American Chair Manufacturing company dropped dead at his work in the factory Monday morning. He was about 55 years of age and is survived by his wife and several step children. KINGSLEY: Some one with a very epicurean taste made two or three attempts to steal some choice hams and bacon from J. J. Wagner on a recent night. Mr. Wagner was awakened by the barking of his dog, and it was a very fortunate “bark” too, for it scared away some one who was just upon the point of taking off with 13 choice hams and bacon which Mr. Wagner was curing in his smoke house. Mr. Wagner saw somebody making large tracks across the country, and his faithful dog followed the intruder across the hills, and had Mr. Wagner got hold of his double barrel shot gun, it would have been a different story. BROOKLYN: F. B. Miller returned from Toronto Veterinary College from which institution he has just graduated. Mr. Miller will practice his profession here in his hometown and vicinity. ARARAT: The house of Dallas Carpenter, at Burnwood, was burned so quickly Saturday evening that help could not save his invalid wife, who has been a victim of paralysis nearly a year and she was burned up. Sparks from the Erie engine, which ignited the straw that filled the cellar hatchway, is thought to be the cause of the fire. CARBONDALE: While endeavoring to reach a high note, while singing a solo in the Grace Episcopal church, Miss Minnie Smith struck her head against a lighted gas jet, igniting a large picture hat. Immediately the feathered plumage was a mass of flame, and cries of horror were heard throughout the church; but a panic was averted when the soloist coolly removed her headgear and handed it to one of the male members of the choir, who hurriedly carried it outside, but too late to save the Easter chanticleer. FOREST CITY: Frank Lavendowski, a bright young man who had charge of the jigs in the Forest City breaker was, on Friday, caught in the machinery and badly injured about the lower portions of his body. He was taken to Emergency hospital but expired in a few hours. He was 18 years and 6 months old. ALSO Aleck Mansfield, a well known citizen for 26 years, was instantly killed by a fall of rock in the old Slope. Deceased was born in Germany 56 years ago and came to Forest City in the early 80’s. UNIONDALE: Fishermen are plentiful but trout seem to be scarce. The drought killed many of the fish last fall, but the fish lies seem to have survived. They have come out of cold storage as fresh as when put in last spring. ALSO Dan Gibson has purchased the John Thomas farm of 30 acres in town. Price $3000. Dan is a hustler; he owns one-half the town now and is talking of buying the other half next week. NEW MILFORD: W. B. Phinney, proprietor of the Eagle Hotel, died at Glenmary Sanitarium, Owego, N.Y., last Saturday. The remains were brought home and the funeral was held from the house on Tuesday. HEART LAKE: Levi Campbell, of Binghamton, has purchased a lot at the Lake and will build a cottage in the near future. CHOCONUT: The managers of the Choconut Valley creamery expect to have it ready to open in a few days. They have been making repairs on the building, putting in a new concrete floor and doing some other repairing. AUBURN FOUR CORNERS: Under the auspices of the county W. C. T. U., Miss Hendrick, of Gould, N.Y., gave a very interesting and inspiring temperance address at the M. E. church, Monday evening. An effort is being made to organize a union in this place. MONTROSE: A chorus of 100 voices, accompanied by a 16 piece orchestra, will be heard in Mendelssohn’s, “Elijah,” his most famous musical composition, at the Palace Skating Rink on April 29th. Tickets are on sale for 50 cents each. Jenny Lind, the world famous soprano and personal friend of Mendelssohn, first sang it in 1845 and it appears that certain melodies, especially in “Hear ye, Israel,” were written having her wonderful voice in mind. NEWS BRIEF: President Taft was hissed while speaking before the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association at the Arlington hotel in Washington. It was a good sized hiss that started in the back of the auditorium and quickly spread to other parts. It came when Mr. Taft was giving his reason for opposing woman’s suffrage. Explaining his opposition to the suffrage movement, the president said: “If I could be sure that women as a class in the community, including all the intelligent women most desirable as political constituents, would exercise the franchise, I should be in favor of it. At present there is considerable doubt upon this point. In certain states which have tried it women’s suffrage has not been a failure. It has not made, I think, any substantial difference in politics. My impression is that the task before you in securing what you think ought to be granted in respect to political rights of women is not in convincing the men, but it is in convincing the majority of your own class of the wisdom of extending the suffrage to them and of their duty to exercise it.”
From the Desk of the D.A. I just read that a federal district court judge has issued an injunction prohibiting the continued practice of a National Day of Prayer - something that has officially been occurring as a result of Congressional action since 1952. Along predictably progressive revisionist thinking, the ruling contends that the National Day of Prayer violates the First Amendment Establishment Clause by endorsing a religious message. In her opinion, the judge stated: “A determination that the government may not endorse a religious message is not a determination that the message itself is harmful, unimportant, or undeserving of dissemination. Rather, it is part of the effort to carry out the Founders’ plan of preserving religious liberty to the fullest extent possible in a pluralistic society.” I have come to the conclusion that federal judges need mandatory education in American history. This particular judge believes that prohibiting any call for a national day of prayer was part of the “Founders’ plan.” What evidence is there to support this suggestion? The overwhelming evidence demonstrates that Presidents and Congress have been calling for national days of prayer from the inception of this Nation. As I noted in this column last year, on November 26, 1789, President George Washington called for the first national day of prayer and thanksgiving - and his call for this national day of prayer originated from a request of both houses of the Congress. In other words, one of the first official acts of our Founding Fathers was to recommend to the general public that they engage in a day of thanksgiving and prayer. Yet, according to the latest revisionist historian turned federal judge, the “Founders’ plan” was that no such national days of prayer exist in a “pluralistic society?” And exactly whose liberty is violated by a National Day of Prayer? Probably the bulk of the population does not even know that such a day exists - so it is hard to understand how their liberties have been infringed in any way. Moreover, the government has not endorsed any particular religious belief, it has not encouraged any particular form of prayer, nor has it specifically established a national religious ceremony. Further, the government has not forced, coerced or taken any affirmative steps to force a single person to pray, worship or otherwise believe any religious doctrine. Apparently, it is the mere governmental acceptance of the existence of a supreme being and the official suggestion that we should pray that offends some segment of our population - a segment that I would suggest would be, as a percentage, statistically insignificant, but a segment that now wields unbelievable power and control through a judicial system that has come loose of its constitutional restraints. Where will this nonsense lead? Will Congress be prohibited from opening its sessions with a prayer? Will the President be enjoined for uttering the word God in any speeches? Can a President call upon the nation to pray for victims and their families in times of tragedy such as 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina? What about an official request to pray for our troops risking their lives everyday for our safety and freedom? Can a public official utter the popular refrain of “God Bless America” in concluding a speech? Can we sing the National Anthem in its entirety as the final three verses contained repeated references to God? Can we continue to display the Declaration of Independence in a government museum? Will grave markers at Arlington cemetery be removed as being an endorsement of religion? Don’t think this last one is not possible, there is already litigation out there on this issue, and, at least one federal appellate court has determined that religious memorials to fallen soldiers on federal land must be removed as a violation of the Establishment Clause. And when they get done tearing every reference to God from our monuments, documents and history, what about those things that do not mention God, but have a clear religious connection? Do they need to be exterminated as well? Don’t think this is not possible, it is already happening. A high school in Everett, Washington, refused to allow a student band to perform the instrumental version of song “Ave Maria” because it sounded too religious. That’s right - no words, just music that sounded religious was more than the school administration could endure. One of the students sued contending that her right to expression - she prevailed at the district court level, but lost at the Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court recently refused to hear the appeal. So, now there is precedent out there that even instrumental music - without any words or reference to God - can be removed from our government institutions. What is the solution? We need to get involved in the political process, make sure that our voices are heard through the election process. It will be a long hard battle - but we cannot despair or give up. And the first and best place to start is the same place the Founding Fathers started - start with faith and prayer. 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 have a friend who is undergoing radiation treatments for cancer. I was wondering how this works. Doesn’t the radiation burn everything it touches? Radiation therapy kills cancer cells by damaging their genetic material. This process prevents the cells from growing. Radiation attacks all cells in a targeted area, but most healthy cells recover when treatment ends. When you are given radiation therapy - also called irradiation, radiotherapy or x-ray therapy - physicians attempt to protect the good cells by shielding them. They also limit dosage and spread out the treatments. About half of all cancer patients receive some type of radiation therapy, which uses ionizing radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. This therapy can be delivered from machines outside your body or from radioactive material inserted into your body. External radiation is the most common type used in this therapy. Internal radiation uses sealed implants in or near the tumor. Systemic radiation therapy employs unsealed radioactive materials that circulate throughout the body. In some cases more than one type of radiation is prescribed. External radiation uses a machine that directs high-energy rays into the tumor. Most external radiation is given over many weeks during outpatient visits. Internal radiation (also called brachytherapy) uses radioactive metal pellets, seeds, ribbons, wires, needles, capsules or tubes that are implanted. In some cases, patients may have to be admitted to a hospital for this procedure. Implants may be left in the patient temporarily or permanently. Radioactive drugs are used in systemic radiation. These drugs can be given by mouth or injection. Systemic radiation often requires a brief hospital stay. Radiation therapy may be used to treat almost every type of solid tumor and cancers of the blood (leukemia) and lymphatic system (lymphoma). The type of radiation used depends upon many circumstances, such as the type of cancer and its location. Radiation therapy also can be used to reduce pain from cancer. This is called palliative radiation therapy. Will radiation therapy make you radioactive? External radiation therapy will not make you radioactive. If you undergo internal radiation therapy, your body may give off a small amount of radiation briefly. If the radiation is in a temporary implant, you will be asked to stay in the hospital and may have to limit visitors during treatment. Permanent implants give off small doses of radiation over weeks. The radiation usually is confined to the treatment area; the risk of exposure to others is small. Sometimes doctors recommend that you protect the people around you if you have systemic radiation. With this type of therapy, radioactive materials can get into your body fluids. In most cases, safety precautions must be followed only the first few days after treatment. Over time the radiation becomes weaker and your body gets rid of it. If you have a question, please write to fred@healthygeezer.com.
Library Chitchat April is here with its promise of warmer weather and cheery daffodils. Soon we will all be thinking about being outdoors. No more sitting around reading books in front of a cozy fireplace. However, before you eliminate reading from your schedule, remember that one of your projects this spring is working in the garden. Planning a water garden for that perpetually wet spot in your lawn? Thinking about putting in some plants that are “deer resistant,” if there is any such thing? Perhaps one of your first stops should be your local library. Why buy when you can borrow? There are so many gardening books out there. I have discovered to my detriment that what looks good on the shelf in the bookstore doesn’t necessarily have the answers I want. Take a few hours and stop in your local library and review the gardening books available. You may find just the answers that you want without spending a cent. If you do find a book that you need in your permanent library, you will get a chance to review it before making a purchase. Then, when you have moved on to more advanced gardening and no longer need its advice, you can donate it back to the library for either circulation or sale at our annual Blueberry Festival. This is just one example of how visiting your library can help you enjoy the great outdoors in the months to come. Next, you can learn about fishing, camping, hiking, etc. Stop in today!
Rock Doc Listening For A Change When I walk on Sundays with my faithful mutt along the bottom of the Snake River Canyon, I usually hear only the wind in my ears. It’s surprising how loud a breeze can be in a human ear, and try as I might I’ve not found anything about breeze-sounds to be particularly interesting. Still, just to keep me awake, perhaps, Mother Nature punctuates the breeze sometimes with a snake’s rattle in the warmth of summer - and, of course, I do listen carefully for them. But springs are actually my favorite for listening in the canyon. Some Sunday afternoons the air is absolutely still. When that’s the case, I get a special treat: I literally hear the Earth falling apart. The sound comes from the rocks above my head. It starts as a little tink-tink murmur that is followed up by a tap-tap sound. Finally, the rock - usually no bigger than a piece of gravel - gets down near my level and I hear the swishing sound of it passing through the air as it reaches the ground. Occasionally the high tink-tink murmur sets off a small cascade of sounds. One tink-tink leads to two tap-taps which lead to a miniature rolling thunder of gravel coming down toward me and the railroad tracks on which I walk. Tink, tap, whoosh, smack. The rocks from above show me energy-of-motion, a kind of energy they briefly display in exchange for the energy-of-place they had when they were clinging higher onto the canyon wall. Once the new gravel is at our feet, everything grows quiet again. The dog looks at me, and I look at the dog. We continue on our walk because we like long walks - and perhaps because we are both a little dim, too, and don’t quite believe we could be smashed by a boulder following the same path as the gravel. One reason a lot of rocks are falling this time of year is what geologists call the freeze-thaw cycle. During the day, with the current mild winter here in the Northwest, temperatures along the Snake River are well above freezing. Moisture melts and penetrates into the cracks of the rocks and canyon walls. At night, the temperature can drop below freezing. Water expands as it freezes (most liquid substances don’t do that, but water is an exception). The water in the rock cracks expands as it becomes ice, and that expansion is a powerful force. The ice helps pop bits of rock out of the canyon wall, or at least loosen them so they are ready to fall. Little by little, a number of rocks are launched on their journey to tumble and fall below. The rocks and their different forms of energy are something scientists learned to understand in previous centuries. The energy-of-motion of the falling rocks and the energy-of-place of the rocks high on the canyon wall were the first part of the analysis. Next came the idea that to get the rock back to where it had once been, a lot of work would have to be done. (I’ll say it would be a lot of work - think of the dog and me having to scramble up the canyon wall to replace the gravel where it once had sat!) Detailed measurements of all kinds of energy work in the 1800s, plus analysis on chalkboards, made it clear that - no matter how careful and smart we are - we cannot replace the rocks to their prior positions in the canyon without putting in a little more energy than we can get out by their fall. That’s the bad news of what’s called the second law of thermodynamics of this sad and sorry world. In the words of t-shirts that undergraduate geeks like to wear on college campuses, “You can’t even break even.” Those are heavy thoughts, to be sure, to harbor on a spring’s Sunday afternoon walk. But they take my mind off fears of being beaned by boulders from above as I listen to the Earth change around me. 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, I have a mob of greedy cow birds at my feeder. What can I do to get them to move on? -Audrey Dear Audrey, Cowbirds used to follow the migration of buffalo herds in "pre European" America, before the buffalo were almost wiped out. They have adapted and now populate much of North America. Cowbirds are considered parasitic because the females lay their eggs in other birds nests. This has impacted already threatened species, but Audubon studies show little impact on non endangered species. There are no reliable, non lethal methods to get rid of cowbirds. Trapping is an acceptable method but is time consuming. They can be discouraged by using feeders with short perches and wire cages that make feeding more difficult. Cowbirds prefer ground feeding but once they find a feeder, they feast until the food is gone. I have a feeder with a perch that spins when a chipmunk gets on it. Unfortunately the cowbirds are so light weight, it doesn't react. I have had some success by removing the feeder for a couple of weeks and then reintroducing it. The small birds return quickly. When the cowbirds return, there are usually less of them. All Transcript readers are welcome to submit their questions to Dear Dolly at deardolly570@yahoo.com.
EARTH TALK No Earth Talk This Week
Barnes-Kasson Corner No Barnes-Kasson Corner This Week
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