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COLUMNS: SOUTH GIBSON: A destructive fire visited here Monday night, eight buildings, including a majority of the business places, being destroyed. The fire was discovered in the hardware of Chamberlin & Davis, of which W. A. Chamberlin and C. W. Davis are proprietors, and there being no fire protection except a bucket brigade (the women united with the men in forming a bucket line to the nearest water), the flames rapidly spread to adjoining buildings. In less than an hour the buildings were burned to the ground. Scores of men from all over the surrounding country, summoned by telephone, were doing what they could to remove the contents. With the exception of the contents of the barns burned, nearly all the movable goods in the other buildings were removed. The structures burned were the hardware store of Chamberlin & Davis and the general store of G. G. McNamara. In the McNamara building was also the postoffice and the millinery store of Mrs. Hattie Morgan. Davis and McNamara both lost their dwelling and barn and the R. Carpenter barn, owned by the Timothy Carpenter estate, was also destroyed. In this barn B. D. Reynolds had stored his household goods, on which there was no insurance. The fire originated, it is believed, from a lantern in the Chamberlin & Davis store. RUSH: A piece of a needle, measuring half an inch long, worked up in the arm of Leon Granger one evening this week, so that it was quite easily drawn out by Dr. Hickok with the aid of a pair of nippers. This broken needle entered his breast when a babe. It was very rusty when taken out. FOREST LAKE: C. A. Hine, of Binghamton, has been spending a few days at the home of Miss Edith Horton for the purpose of continuing her study of the Leschetitzky method of piano playing. Mr. Hine has studied in both America and abroad with some of the best teachers of the day, and under his instruction Miss Horton bids fair to become one of our best local teachers. LYNN: Workmen are busy on the new coal chutes being erected by Brown and Fassett in connection with their feed mill at Springville, which will be much appreciated by people in this place. HOP BOTTOM: Our minister in the Universalist church has his vacation this month. Hard to tell when the church bells ring or when it is Sunday. The milk wagons run all the forenoon and then there is the noise of the heavy trains by day and night, and Sunday visitors going to and fro. What a change from fifty years ago! LITTLE MEADOWS: Four little boys from New York City are boarding with Mrs. Lillian Hall and enjoying the delights of the farm. SOUTH HARFORD: E. W. Harding had a nice pig killed by an automobile Thursday. MONTROSE: Clarence McKeeby, the handsome “Devil” of the Democrat office, was over to Binghamton Monday to see the elephants in Barnum & Bailey’s circus eat hay with their tails. Clarence says that there are buildings in Binghamton that are four stories high. ALSO, sheriff and Mrs. H. S. Conklin have set a pattern in the way of setting flowers, shrubs and vines, about the jail, for all future sheriffs to follow, of they will, and it will keep them busy. The jail’s somber look is taken away by them and a scene of rare beauty exhibited instead. ELK LAKE: Dr. W. E. Kelly and family, who have been spending their vacation at their cottage here, returned to their home in Susquehanna on Monday. FOREST CITY: The Wayne and Susquehanna county commissioners will meet here today to arrange for the building of the long-discussed bridge. The commissioners have been waiting two years for the Erie company, and the railroad has announced that it is willing to take action. The bridge is to cross the river here and connect in Clinton township in Wayne. SHANNON HILL, AUBURN TWP.: John Rafferty, a highly respected citizen of this place, died July 31. He had been in very poor health for many months and was recently taken worse with kidney trouble, from which he suffered intensely until the end came. He leaves five grown-up children. DIMOCK: All Women’s Christian Temperance Union members and all who are interested in the cause of temperance are urged to be present at the Dimock Camp Meeting, Tuesday, the 15th. ALSO, some of the finest huckleberries are raised by J. F. Warnock, on his farm here. This huckleberry patch seems to be truly an exotic, for there is not another huckleberry grown within perhaps 25 or 35 miles of Mr. Warnock’s, excepting a few at North Pond, on Breton Lindsey’s farm, near the shore of the lake. LENOX: The estate of C. D. Manning, deceased, was sold Thursday, the 27th, at public sale. Consideration $3,500 and was purchased by his brother, Atty. J. J. Manning and nephew, Cornelius Manning, of Scranton. SPRINGVILLE: Mrs. Nick Titman has been sick for a few days with tonsillitis. Mr. Titman has recently purchased a Reo auto. Our little village can boast of having more automobiles than many places a good deal larger. UNIONDALE: The Uniondale cornet band was at Lewis Lake, half a day, and rendered excellent music. They speak many nice things about our boys and they well deserve it. GLENWOOD: The Grangers held their picnic on Potter’s Island, last Saturday. A large crowd was in attendance. FAIRDALE/SPRINGVILLE: The baseball game between Springville and Fairdale was one of the best games of the season and was chuck full of exciting situations. Ray Chase pitched a rattling good game for Springville, but his support was not good, which was reflected in the score. Blaine Sterling, as pitcher, also did great work for the Fairdale boys, and he had good support all around. The score was 13 to 8 in favor of Fairdale. The feature of the game was a home run by Christie Curran, who batted out a fly into deep center. NEWS BRIEF: Claiming she is the widow of five husbands, all of whom fought in the Civil War, a woman of Walton county, Georgia, has applied to the pension department for five pensions amounting to $60 a month. From the Desk of the D.A.
Several months ago, I had a heated debate with a Tea Party friend about the debt ceiling debate. The issue was whether it should be raised at all - and the Tea Party friend was adamant that no increase in debt ceiling should be permitted. It was time to draw a line in the sand and force Washington to face reality and come up out of the rabbit hole. In my best condescending and superior tone, I spouted eloquently about the full faith and credit of the United States, the potential financial ruin if we defaulted on our debt, and the need to raise the debt ceiling to avoid a total economic collapse. I chastised my Tea Party friend for his “extreme” views and how detrimental such views might be for the next election cycle. In the end, I predicted that the debt ceiling would be raised, but I also promised him that the Republicans in Congress would make sure that significant spending cuts were made prior to any further debt increase. In other words, we need to raise the debt ceiling now, but a plan will emerge that assures that we can avoid the endless cycle of constantly borrowing more and more money. I felt pretty good about myself - as I was clearly the rational and erudite solution to my rabid and fuming Tea Party friend. Well, we now know who was right and who was wrong. To my Tea Party friend, I can only say mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. You were right and I was painfully wrong. We got the debt ceiling increased with only one assurance, namely the United States of America will have to borrow more money in 2013 and then again time and again after that date. The can was kicked down the road one more time - but each kick is getting a little harder and harder to make. Where were the spending cuts? We are told that over $2 trillion in cuts were made and our political ruling class expects us to celebrate this amazing fiscal austerity. They must think that we are total idiots. The $2 trillion in cuts is spread out over ten years and covers fictional budgets that have not even been proposed as of this date. Even assuming that they come to fruition, the cuts only reduce the yearly deficit - not eliminate it or even come close to eliminating it. We know that we are on track to borrow somewhere between another $5 and $10 trillion over the next 10 years, i.e., the debt will continue to grow and the debt ceiling will be raised again and again until we can no longer borrow (or print) more money. There is no end is sight - and we did not even put in place a blueprint of a plan to move us in the right fiscal direction. I sit here feeling more than a little betrayed and aggravated that neither political party is willing to make the hard decisions that need to be made - and the decisions only get harder to make the longer we wait. Both political parties are out there campaigning already for the next presidential election cycle, yet no one is speaking the plain and simple truth. I am tired of pandering politicians pinning this group against that group, promising that the government will solve every problem, and asking for financial contributions to their campaigns so that they can save America from the other political party. I am starved for leadership - not slick commercials aimed at marketing a product and not solving a problem. A few months ago, I had faith that our political establishment would do the right thing. I knew that the debt ceiling would be raised and I accepted that it was necessary. I was so certain that the political ruling class collectively would have been woken up by the 2010 election. After all, it happened in the 1990s - the Republicans and Democrats got together following a historic election and moved the country in the right direction and actually balanced the budget. The historic blueprint was there in front of them - all they had to do was copy it. It was this confidence that led me to argue with Tea Party friend that his efforts were being counterproductive and destructive to the good fight. In the end, the minor concessions that were made in the debt ceiling debacle can be directly attributed to the Tea Party efforts. As a reward for preaching fiscal sanity, some politicians are now referring to the Tea Party movement as “terrorists.” Another politician indicated that the Tea Party was making it impossible to spend any money - though the politician seems to miss the point that there is no money to spend. Not so long ago, I was one of those alleged wise voices cautioning my own Tea Party friend about his “extreme” position. How could I have been so wrong? Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. 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
I wouldn't describe your brother as someone who has lost his enthusiasm. I would say he is just less excitable, mellower. There is scientific evidence that we do chill out as we get older. I think that's probably a good thing. Being at ease has become more important to me than being wildly entertained. I like sitting in a rocking chair more than I used to. Dr. Karen Faith Berman and other scientists at the National Institute of Mental Health conducted a study about this subject. The study appeared in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers found evidence that older brains don't respond to rewards as strongly as younger brains do. The main difference was the way older brains responded to dopamine, a neurotransmitter or messenger. As a chemical messenger, dopamine is similar to adrenaline. Dopamine affects brain processes that control movement, emotional response, and the ability to experience pleasure and pain. Regulation of dopamine plays a crucial role in our mental and physical health. Neurons - or nerve cells - containing dopamine are clustered in the midbrain area. In Parkinson's disease, the dopamine-transmitting neurons in this area die. As a result, the brains of people with Parkinson's disease contain almost no dopamine. Dr. Berman said the results of her study “may explain anecdotal evidence that older people are mellower, that they may not get the same highs from certain experiences, but they may not get the same lows, either.” The researchers performed brain scans on two groups - one in their 60s, the other in their 20s - as they played a virtual slot machine on a computer. The researchers found differences between the groups when they won at the slot machine and when they just anticipated winning. The researchers said that the differences were seen in how much dopamine was produced, which parts of the brain responded to it and how much they responded. When a reward was anticipated, the researchers said, three parts of a reward center in the brain lighted up in the younger group, but only one in the older group. Does this mean older people are not as happy as younger ones? There's evidence that the opposite is true. In a recent column, I reported on the phenomenon. A Gallup telephone poll of 340,000 people across the nation showed that happiness comes with age. The telephone survey included people between 18 and 85. The survey showed that people start out at age 18 feeling pretty good. However, they feel progressively worse until they hit 50. At that point, people begin getting happier as they age. By the time they are 85, they are even more satisfied with themselves than they were at 18. If you would like to read more columns, “How to be a Healthy Geezer” is available at www.healthygeezer.com. Library Chitchat No Chitchat This Week Rock Doc
Out of sight, out of mind. (At my age, alas, I no longer live within the confines of that dictum. I can forget, misplace, and overlook things that are smack in front of my face. But I digress.) What many folks can’t see they can indeed overlook. And all too many Americans have never seen what happens to the water that flows down the kitchen sink and out of the house. But with each load of laundry or flush of the toilet, we create wastewater that’s mingled together and heads toward treatment plants. The average American makes 100 gallons of wastewater per day. While it’s natural to think that sewage water is icky, it’s also a fact that sewage is natural - and it’s even interesting from a biological point of view. I’ve toured a couple of sewage treatment plants, and I’ve taken college students through one of them. As a geologist, I have long noted that such facilities are typically built on floodplains. That’s partly so sewage can flow by the force of gravity down to them from surrounding houses and schools, and partly because their large pools for processing water require flat areas. Of course, when a river floods the sewage treatment plant can be inundated, one of the greatest disadvantages to putting them in floodplains. Treatment plants start to process sewage by blowing air bubbles through it. Oxygen in the bubbles helps sewage decay, an important first step in treatment. Sewage next enters tanks where sediment or sludge can accumulate on the bottom and scum on the top. The sludge is processed in tanks called digesters. The area around the digesters is often the smelliest part of the plant. (And I do mean pungent!) Digesters use heat and bacteria to break down the fundamental essence of our poop. One goal is to get rid of microorganisms that would cause disease. The solids that emerge from the digesters are often sent to landfills but are sometimes used as fertilizer. Another product of treatment plants is methane gas that’s created in the digesters. Methane is the main ingredient of what the utility company sells you as “natural gas.” A few treatment plants make use of the methane, burning it for heat or to generate electricity. The liquid portion of wastewater is often filtered through sand. This helps get rid of bacteria and fine solid particles still lingering in the water. In some places carbon filtration is used, a step that helps remove fine organic particles. Finally, chlorine is often added to kill remaining microorganisms. Those of us who exercise in swimming pools and snort chlorine up our noses know that it’s a serious chemical. So all remnants of chlorine in the water must be neutralized before the treated water flows into a river. If you want an indoor toilet where you don’t have a hookup to a municipal wastewater system, you can create your own little disposal system in the form of a septic tank. Inside the tank are bacteria that can live without oxygen. Septic systems are far from perfect, but they do help break down sewage. Water flows from the tank out under the soil, usually via a bed of gravel. For the non-traditional, it’s also possible to have indoor convenience with what’s called a composting toilet. I had such a toilet for several years in a travel trailer, and it worked well for me. I had quite an animated conversation about that toilet at a sewage treatment plant one day. The supervisor of the plant and I both shared an interest in how sewage is broken down by microorganisms. (You meet good people at treatment plants.) Lately my water bill roughly doubled - and yours may have, too. What’s at issue is better handling of storm water run-off from streets and parking lots. Such water contains oil and the like, at least in trace amounts. As you wash a greasy frying pan tonight or start a load of laundry, take just a moment to consider that the water that leaves your home goes back to the Earth. We face different choices about water treatment, but the condition water is in when it reaches local rivers is our ultimately our responsibility. 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 Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences at Washington State University. EARTH TALK No EarthTalk This Week Barnes-Kasson Corner No Barnes-Kasson Corner This Week
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It is always difficult to admit when you are wrong. My Latin teacher in high school used to make us stand up after making a mistake and say: mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. If you are not a fan of Latin, this phrase generally means: my fault, my fault, my greatest fault. He loved to make sure that we accepted responsibility for our mistakes - and it was a good life lesson for young kids. Too often, we make mistakes and fail to make amends.
Q. I gave my 81-year-old brother a birthday present recently. As he opened it, a brief smile crossed his face. It was funny to me because I recalled that, when he was a kid, he would tear open presents and jump out of his skin. Does enthusiasm wane as we age?
What Happens To Water When We’re Done with It