Harford - The 51st anniversary of Co. H., 4th Penn’a Reserves, was held at the home of Capt. A. T. Sweet, in Harford, June 14, 1912. The four surviving comrades from Montrose, J. P. Gay, C. S. Gay, R. S. Searle and M. H. VanScoten; and C. A. Kenyon, of New Milford, were present. These are eight survivors of this company, all being present but two, John Anderson, of Nebraska, and W. K. Trippler, of Brooklyn, NY. Three adopted brothers of this company also survive, namely, Perry Sweet, of Alford; J. W. Adams and O. M. Doloway, of Brooklyn. Emma Shadduck Jewett was also present at the reunion. Since the last reunion, June 13, 1911, the following comrades have answered to the last roll call—John L. Smith, Johnson City, Tenn., Dec., 1911; George E. Woodruff, Montrose, Mar. 28, 1912; and George Brotzman, West Auburn, June 4, 1912.

Also – The subject of the sermon Sunday evening in the Congregational church will be, “Liquor in Dry Territory.”

Montrose - “Myths and Legends of the Flowers,” by Skinner, “Astronomy in a Nutshell,” by Serviss, and “Color-Photography,” by Johnson, are three new books added to the public library, since the last report. ALSO A “Tea House” opens tomorrow at the old Country Club house, under competent management. It is called “The Bluebird,” and auto parties and little parties of friends who wish dainty refreshments will be served at moderate prices.

Alford - J. M. Decker was a visitor in town on Monday. Mr. Decker is much interested ion the contemplated cut off of the Lackawanna railroad. The new line will run through about two miles of his land, and will also go directly through his residence property and his home itself. Mr. Decker claims damages to his property to the amount of $25,000, which the railroad company will not allow. It will probably be contested in the local courts before a settlement is reached.

St. Joseph - Miss Margaret Sweeney, a teacher in the Indian Government School at Carlisle, PA., is spending the summer with her sister, Miss Anastasia Sweeney, at their home—Indian Spring Farm, at St. Joseph, PA. Also Thomas E. O’Connell, a New York policeman and formerly a resident of St. Joseph, died Monday, June 17, in the Holy Family Hospital in Brooklyn, NY, where he has been confined since Jan. 20 as a result of an heroic attempt to save a would-be suicide from the East River. O’Connell, who was considered one of the strongest swimmers on the New York police force, jumped into the East River to save a man who had attempted to drown himself. When the two came together a terrible struggle ensued. The unknown got O’Connell by the throat but he fought clear. The man was so strong and heavy, however, that O’Connell. who was fast losing his own strength, could do nothing. The man finally sank and O’Connell was rescued, revived and removed to the Flower Hospital in a serious condition. Here a complication of diseases set in and he lingered until Monday morning. The deceased was a son of James O’Connell, of St. Joseph, and was 27 years of age. Six brothers and one sister survive, namely, Michael, William, Matthew, Frank, James, Charles and Mary.

Gibson - Mrs. W. H. Estabrook entertained on her birthday her children—Hiland and wife, of Gibson; Wm. C. Tiffany and family of Harford; Mrs. B. M. Moore and daughter Nina, of Hopbottom; Mrs. George C. Pritchard and daughter Maxine, of Syracuse; Mr. & Mrs. George Justice, of Allentown. ALSO Mrs. Henry Breese, of Canton, Bradford Co., and Mrs. Nettie Olin, of Thompson, are guests of their parents, Mr. & Mrs. S. J. Estabrook.

Auburn 4 Corners - An accident occurred last week which was nearly a parallel to the man who sat on a limb and sawed the limb between himself and the tree. G. W. Bunnell, while peeling bark, had occasion to fall a small birch tree across a ravine. The center of the tree remained about ten feet above the banks of the creek. Mr. Bunnell crawled out and chopped the tree near the center, and was much surprised when he fell to the bank below, striking in a sitting posture and then taking a headlong plunge into the creek, straining his side and otherwise injuring him. We hope for his speedy recovery.

Susquehanna - The Canawacta Water Co. will supply the Erie shops with water the first of the week while the latter company is making repairs.

Franklin Forks - Edward Conklin, 76 years old, went hunting and shot 8 woodchucks with 7 shots, and brought them to the house and dressed them for dinner.

Forest City - Jacob Kretchek, a former well known resident of this place, who acted as high constable for a time, and who has been spending the past year with Mrs. Kretchek in Lithuania, Russia, the land of their birth, is again on the high seas, on his way back to America. Mr. Kretcheck went to Russia for the benefit of his health and we understand is much improved. While sojourning in the land of the Czar, he kept in touch with Forest City affairs through the columns of the News, which he received weekly during the greater part of his stay.

Clifford - Oney T. Rounds, of this township, received notice from Highway Commissioner Bigelow of his appointment as a Highway Superintendent, under the new State Highway department. He will have jurisdiction of the state highways in Susquehanna and Wayne counties. Mr. Rounds has been a supervisor of Clifford township for several terms and is a practical road builder.

West Auburn - George Brotzman died on June 14, 1912, aged 81 years. He served in Co. A, 151st Pa. Volunteers, and was severely wounded at the Bttle of Gettysburg, July 1, 1863. He re-enlisted March 18, 1864, in Co. H, 4th Pa. Reserves. He was a prisoner of war with Lee’s army at his surrender at Appomattox and was discharged May 31, 1865. He was a great sufferer from cardiac dropsy and was helpless for six months prior to his death. He leaves an invalid wife and three sons. His funeral was attended by three of his old comrades from Montrose - J. P. Gay, C. S. Gay and M. H. VanScoten, who were honorary pall bearers. Following a pact made between Mr. VanScoten and the deceased, twenty years ago, that the one surviving should pronounce a eulogy over the bier of the one fist summoned, Mr. VanScoten very eloquently discharged this obligation, paying an eloquent tribute to his dead comrade. Much sympathy is expressed for Mrs. Brotzman. She is in very poor health and a cripple, having broken her hip in the early spring, but it was not set on account of her advanced age, 87 years.

News Brief: Local automobilists are growling because they have to pay 17 ½ cents per gallon for gasoline at wholesale. They are not made any happier when the representative of the Atlantic Refining Co. comes around and tells them if the company could use the tank recently erected here they would deliver gasoline at 13 ½ cents.

My 4-year old daughter and I recently made our way through “Alice in Wonderland.” It was a condensed version designed for younger kids with some nice illustrations and she seemed to enjoy it. We would read a chapter each night before bed and slowly plodded through it to the end, which was the only part that made any sense to me, i.e., Alice waking up to realize that she had a crazy dream. While my daughter enjoyed it, she also had moments of not understanding what was happening in the book. With that particular book, I had no way to answer her questions because I had no idea what was going on in the book either. I suspect that she probably understood more about the book than I did – or she could at least come up with explanations that made sense in her mind as to why things were happening. Kids are pretty good at that kind of stuff as their minds are not yet fixed with the rules that dictate logic and reason.

On the other hand, it seems that our own world is slowly turning into a “Wonderland” where our rulers periodically scream “off with their heads” without cause or provocation. Last week, I wrote about New York Governor Andrew Cuomo moving to “decriminalize” marijuana. If you missed the column, he is not seeking to “legalize” it, but simply to reduce the penalties such that the possession of marijuana would not show up on your criminal history. You would still pay a fine and it would still be unlawful to possess it, it simply would no longer be a “crime.” You say tomato, I say tomato – well, that does not work well in the written world, but I think you get the point.

Following up on Governor Cuomo’s efforts, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomburg has moved to prohibit the sale of “supersize” sugary sodas in New York City restaurants and theaters. What is a “supersize” soda? The Queen of Hearts has declared that no subject shall consume any sugary beverage from a container that holds over 16 ounces. To demonstrate his wisdom, the Mayor has also declared that there will be no prohibition against refilling your original container – so you can actually consume 500 ounces of sugary soda if you so desire, but you have to burn off some of those calories by going back up to the soda fountain for your endless refills.

Apparently, there is no prohibition against having numerous 16 ounce containers – you simply cannot combine them into one giant container. So, you could purchase two 16 ounce sodas separately, but you could not “bundle” them for 32 ounce “Big Gulp.” The Board that is looking into implementing this regulation decided that they could do a little better than the Queen of Hearts. The Mad Hatter suggested that they should look into getting rid of that giant tub of popcorn you can get at the movie theater as popcorn is not much better than soda, and the March Hare piped in that milk was also a dangerous calorie ridden, fat-laden drink that needed sharper regulations. Through it all, the White Rabbit was smoking a joint and screaming that we needed to “decriminalize” marijuana, and the caterpillar smoking from the hookah was nodding his head sagely. Be careful about eating from the caterpillar’s mushroom, however, as I hear it makes you get really big!

Well. . . . I made up the stuff about the marijuana, but the rest is the truth. As you read this column, the New York City Board of Health is moving forward on the large sugary soda ban by opening up a period for public comment on the proposed regulation. At that meeting, one member of the Board suggested that popcorn was not much better than soda, while another one suggested regulating high calorie milk drinks. There is a really bizarre paradox brewing here. If this proposed regulation goes into effect, you will be permitted to purchase cigarettes in New York City, but not a glass of soda pop that exceeds 16 ounces. As the Governor is moving to “decriminalize” marijuana, the Mayor is moving to abolish the Big Gulp.

The Queen of Hearts will need a whole new deck of cards to enforce the supersize sugary drink prohibition. And all of the arguments that the “legalizing” drug crowd makes about marijuana apply with even greater force to supersized soda pops. How much are we going to spend on cup size checkpoints? Are we going to fill our jails with sugar addicts? Are sugary sodas any more dangerous than Twinkies, donuts, cookies, candies, buttery popcorn or milkshakes? The irony of all of this is that many of the same people fighting to “decriminalize” marijuana are seeking to outlaw the sugary sodas. In fact, Mayor Bloomberg was praising Governor Cuomo’s effort to “decriminalize” marijuana possession, while advocating his prohibition to eliminate the Big Gulp from his city limits.

I can just see the Cheshire Cat giving Alice directions and telling her about the people who live in the woods, and the Cheshire Cat admits to Alice that “we’re all mad here.” The only difference is that Alice woke up and returned to reality. We are stuck and the only question is what will happen next in our Wonderland.

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/.