Hop Bottom – The jury in the case of Mrs. Clara Rose, on trial, charged with attempting to take the life of her husband, Jerome Rose, returned a verdict to find the defendant guilty on all five counts of the indictment. The case was one of the most sensational in the history of crime in Susquehanna county. The testimony was that the woman, with the aid of at least one male companion, had endeavored to put her husband, Jerome Rose, to death by throwing dynamite at him as he was leaving his home. The evidence offered at the trial was that the defendant had been enamored with Abe VanHousen, said to be a frequent visitor at the house, and the claim was made by the commonwealth that the two had planned the death of Jerome in order to give her freedom to marry her lover. Rose received severe bodily injuries and suffered the loss of an eye as a result of the explosion. The fuse was fixed by Leon Granger, who was told by Mrs. Rose that if he did not assist in the dynamiting she would blow his brains out and at the point of a revolver he assisted in the act. The defense rested without submitting any evidence.

Springville – The second number of the Entertainment Course comes Tuesday evening, November 18. It is a humorous lecture, “Brain Sells,” by Harry Bowser. Those who cherish good humor, along with that which elevates and makes better, come and be made to do better with what you have. ALSO It is reported that A. E Rodney has purchased the Brush property and intends opening a barber shop and pool room, having sold out at South Montrose. ALSO, in Ainey, the annual Oyster dinner of Battery H, First Pa. Light Artillery, will be held at the home of Dyer Taylor, at Lynn station, Nov. 26. All old soldiers and their wives are cordially invited.

Ararat Summit - Mrs. Neal, “optician,” of Susquehanna, has been stopping with Mrs. George Avery, recently, and drives out among the people testing and fitting their eyes with glasses. Also Miss Nora Brown, teacher, has purchased the M. E. Church organ for the “Aldrich School.” Her brother, Mr. Brown, was in town and took the organ from the church to the school house. A new organ, which has been ordered for the church, is expected soon.

S. Harford – A dance was held at Floyd Carey’s Friday night. Refreshments consisting of cake, sandwiches and coffee were served. Everyone reports a fine time. The following were present: Lee Grinnell and wife, Harold Green, Will Robinson and family, Wm. Hadsel, E. C. Conrad, Mr. and Mrs. Chas. Fargo and family, Roy Craft, Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Tiffany, Clair Tompkins, Ward Carey, Oscar Conrad, William Cook, Grover Lawrence, L. J. Conrad, Oliver Payne, John Felton, Leon Hall, Florence Green, Viola Green, Mildred Green, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Gow, Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Oakley.

Susquehanna – Susquehanna presents quite a metropolitan appearance these days, having its main street beautifully paved with white brick, and are proudly boasting of being the first town in the county to have a paved street. The street was opened last Friday and in the evening a celebration was held, in the form of a citizens’ and firemen’s parade, which showed marked enthusiasm in the progressiveness of their town.

East Kingsley – Mrs. E. E. Titus, accompanied by Mrs. E. E. Finn, of Clifford, attended the World’s Convention of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, at Brooklyn, New York. Mrs. B. M. Jeffers also attended. The temperance cause received a new impetus, not only in our own nation, but all over the world, for there were 24 delegates present from foreign countries who take the inspiration back to their homes.

Gibson – Last Friday, some of the friends and neighbors of E. G. Lamb made him a bee to finish digging his potatoes. Over seventy bushels were dug and put in the cellar. Surely a friend in need is a friend indeed.

Carbondale – While Detective Wilson was delivering a lecture in the Baptist church, Friday night, a mob of about 2000 angry people gathered in the street, bombarding the church with stones and other missiles, until every window was in ruins. After the lecture Wilson made his escape by running through the back streets, while several men received the thumps intended for him. The nature of the lecture is not thoroughly known, as the audience was admitted by card and all press men were forbidden to enter. [Reported later that the lecture was on anti-Catholicism.]

Glenwood – Dr. Ainey, of Brooklyn, examined the school children, under the authority of the late act of the legislature. He has been appointed the medical inspector for this township. The state is recognizing that much of the crime is due to some defect in the man’s physical condition, and it is going to see that the child is improved mentally and physically.

New Milford – Knapp & Fell, the new proprietors of the depot restaurant, are open for business.

Forest City – Paul Zupancich and Miss Matilda Drobne were married at 9 o’clock Monday morning in St. Joseph’s church by the pastor, Rev. Joseph Tomscic. They were attended by Frank Grablavic and Miss Louisa Skubic. ALSO The banns of marriage were read for the first time at close of service in St. Agnes church between Joseph Connelly and Miss Olive Morgan and between John Mulligan and Miss Nellie Watts, of Vandling. ALSO The telephone girls in Pennsylvania, under the new law, get one day out of seven, but the pay will be cut one dollar.

Jackson – A stock company has been formed to build a town hall to replace the one recently destroyed by fire. Outside the school house and churches, Jackson has no pubic hall in which meetings can be held.

Montrose – Complaint has been made by some of the citizens of the town of serious damage done by lawless boys the night of Hallowe’en. In one case a fence around a property was torn down and destroyed, entailing considerable expense in its repair. Stones in the sidewalk were broken, etc. Tallow candles were used in smearing windows in business places, a composition very difficult to remove. Innocent fun is well enough, but damage to property should not be tolerated. We need a crusade for sane Hallowe’en as well as a sane Fourth.

News Brief: A law passed in 1905 prohibits the throwing of waste papers, sweepings, ashes, household waste, nails, or rubbish of any kind, into any street, in any city, borough or township in the State of Pennsylvania. The penalty is a fine of $10 and in default of payment a fine imprisonment in county jail for ten days.

I received a letter from a reader which raised a question about the extent to which people are allowed to disparage our government. In particular, the reader saw a commercial for a business entity called “Ameristar Tax Centers,” which included the claim that the “IRS can cheat you out of money.” Apparently, this business was promising that they would make sure the “cheating” IRS did not steal your hard-earned money.

The reader phrased the query as follows: “The IRS is our government. Isn’t saying something like that considered slander? I know people say things like that all the time; and I know that there is not always a lot of truth in advertising, but I did not think you could put an ad on TV saying something like that without proof or repercussions. Can they just say that on TV?”

I was actually surprised by the reader’s letter as the IRS was the last government agency I expected anyone to be worried about being slandered. While both essential and necessary, tax collection services generally are not particularly popular with the general population. Still, the reader raised an interesting point – and one that has been debated for centuries in this country as to the extent to which the First Amendment protects the ability of individuals to criticize their government without fear of government retribution. Even though we now know that the IRS was targeting many conservative groups for their ideological views and philosophies, we still want to collectively believe that our government will not target us simply because we criticize the government - even if it turns out that our criticisms turn out to be false. Given some of the stuff that I have written here, I certainly cling to the hope that my government will not retaliate against me for my words.

As to the IRS cheating people, it seems to be a false claim. The IRS plainly is constrained in its collection of taxes by the law itself. There may be legitimate disputes over whether a particular tax is owed – but an IRS agent will not show up on your doorstep making stuff up in order to swindle you out of your money. In fact, given that we self-report much of our income for income tax purposes, the IRS is not actively involved in drafting your income tax return, reporting your income or paying your taxes.

So, the claim that the IRS “can cheat you out of money” is plainly not a true assertion – it is an advertising technique to appeal to the general distrust and dislike of the IRS itself. When viewed in that context, the statement is plainly permissible as it is not fraudulent, deceptive or otherwise constructed to mislead people. It may not be a true statement is the purest sense of the word, but from an advertising perspective, people understand what the vendor is hawking – help in making sure that the IRS does not get any more of your money than that required by law.

The bigger question is whether people should be able to make such an advertising claim without fear of government penalty. The First Amendment protecting freedom of speech (and religion) was not the first amendment by mere chance; rather, the Founders viewed free speech as the cornerstone of the fledging Republic. In their day, when the Founders discussed free speech, it was primarily political speech that they were seeking to protect – and most particularly political speech that was critical of government itself. But even the very essence of the First Amendment, political speech, found itself challenged in the Republic’s earliest years.

When President John Adams signed the Sedition Act in 1798, the federal government prohibited public speech that was critical of the government, i.e., no person could “write, print, utter or publish . . . any false scandalous and malicious writing” that was critical of the government itself. If a person violated the Sedition Act, it was a criminal offense with the potential for a fine or imprisonment. The federal government actually imprisoned newspaper editors for printing editorials that were “malicious or slanderous.” The Sedition Act was something of a political tool to punish and silence the opposition party – and it led Thomas Jefferson and James Madison to encourage the individual state government to declare the Sedition Act unconstitutional, i.e., the first wave of state nullification challenges that I wrote about a few weeks back.

The Sedition Act was allowed to die a natural death – by its own terms it was only effective until 1800 – and Congress never renewed it. Still, the attempt by the federal government left a lasting impact upon the young Union, contributed to the death of the Federalist political party and sowed the seeds of state nullification. When I read the reader’s letter, my first thoughts went back to the Sedition Act itself and I wondered whether the general public opinion in America was changing. While I understood the reader’s concerns about false attacks on our government, I was still left with one question: Could we be transforming into a society where something like the Sedition Act would be supported as a means to silence government critics? It is a chilling thought.

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/.

“Since golden October declined into somber November, And the apples were gathered and stored. And the land became brown sharp points of death in a waste of water and mud.”~T.S. Eliot

The World Series may be over, but there is no time like the present to read some Baseball-themed murder mysteries. And you may get a chance to do just that if you stop in to the Hallstead/Great Bend Library Branch and take a chance (or two, three, or maybe a half dozen?) on a beautiful autumn-colored gift basket, packed with a set of suspense-filled “Mickey Rawlings Baseball Mysteries” set in and out of the stadiums by well-known Author Troy Soos. These wonderful volumes have been generously donated to the Hallstead/Great Bend Library Branch by the Kensington Publishing Corp. in New York. To give you an idea of the nail biting mystery reading you have in store, I’m listing the titles, and tempting you even more with a synopsis of each—so, don’t delay—remember you can’t win if you don’t play! All proceeds will go to the Hallstead/Great Bend Library Branch to help purchase needed items for the Library.

“Murder at Fenway Park” It is 1912. Mickey Rawlings finally made it to the majors. But what a welcome! No sooner does Rawlings set foot inside the confines of the green monster before he’s fingered for the monstrous murder of teammate Red Corriden. Mickey must trade his baseball cap for a sleuthing cap to help to clear his name.

“The Cincinnati Red Stalkings” brings us to the year, 1921 and Mickey Rawlings is now a journeyman infielder and is a member of the Cincinnati Reds. You may remember their winning the 1919 World Series against the Chicago Black Sox. Oliver Perrimen is a die-hard Reds fan who creates a memorabilia exhibit of the undefeated 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, Before the exhibit can go on tour, someone kills Oliver and Mickey once again dons his sleuthing cap but has an angry girlfriend and breaking and entering to contend with in this game of life..his life!

“Hanging Curve”1922 and utility infielder Mickey Rawlings is now warming the bench for the St. Louis Browns, as well as, due to lack of play, sneaking off to play incognito in the semi-pros. The only reason they aren't in the majors is because of their team color--black. When the star pitcher of the Negro East St. Louis Cubs is found lynched after a win, Rawlings is determined to do everything he can to track down the killer and prevent a repeat of the deadly race riots of 1917.

“Hunting a Detroit Tiger” It’s 1920, and Mickey Rawlings has found a spot on the Detroit roster with a .250 average and 20 stolen bases. These are respectable numbers for a utility infielder, but doesn’t exempt him from being put in a lineup for murder, Mickey admits he was at a player’s union rally in Fraternity Hall, but he insists he had nothing to do with the bullet that shot organizer Emmett Siever. Will he be able to convince everyone of his innocence?.

“Murder at Wrigley Field” It’s 1918. Our Nation wages war against Germany, utility infielder Mickey Rawlings has been traded to the Chicago Cubs. He’s batting respectably and the Cubs are in first place. Just when everything seems to be going right, and Mickey feels secure, his best friend, a rookie named Willie Kaiser is shot dead right on the diamond! Could it have been an accident? Or is this another in a series of events with an anti-war undercurrent? Mickey makes it his business to find out the truth, and it takes him from silent movies to the stockyards, hoping to solve the case before the killer figures he should be next on the list.

“Murder at Ebbets Field” In this sizzling, suspense-filled volume, Mickey vows to do whatever he can to help his New York Giants beat the Brooklyn Dodgers and get into the World Series. That could mean having a bit part in a movie starring the glamorous Florence Hampton. What he doesn’t anticipate is Florence being found dead on the beach after a night of partying. Since he has a knack for solving murders as well as talent on the diamond, he decides he just can’t ignore the crime, and he also put his priorities in perspective, especially in the game of life.

Again, many thanks to the Kensington Publishing Corp. for this wonderful series that some lucky patron will win.

More exciting news—a popular Children’s Author/Illustrator is coming to Montrose! The Susquehanna County Library in Montrose proudly presents author and illustrator Lee Harper! Lee will be visiting the Montrose location on Saturday, November 16th at 10am. Please mark this on your calendar so you can meet Lee, learn what inspires him to write, listen to a story and you may even be able to try your hand at illustration! This is a fun event for all age groups. A hardcover copy of the Author’s “Turkey Surprise” or “Turkey Clause”will be given to each child that attends. This event has been generously underwritten by Cabot Oil & Gas Corp, Pump-N-Pantry and Resource Environmental Management, Inc.

The Susquehanna Branch Book Club will meet on November 21st at 4:00pm to discuss November’s title--“Second Glance” by Jodi Picoult--an intricate tale of love, haunting memories, and renewal, “Second Glance” begins in current-day Comtosook,Vermont, where an old man puts a piece of land up for sale and unintentionally raises protest from the local Abenaki Indian tribe, with supernatural repercussions. Please make a note that there will be no meeting in December—the December selection will be discussed at the January 2014 meeting.

While you have your calendar in hand mark down the dates for the 2013 Pottery and Art Sale and the Library Book Sale and Gift Boutique--Wednesday, November 27th, Friday, November 29th and Saturday, November 30th, 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday, December 1st , 10 am to 4pm. Please note, this is being held at a new location—the Montrose VFW, on Route 706, Admission is free. Bring a friend, bring a neighbor, who knows, you may get some of your Christmas shopping done..and help the Library provide the programs and services you have come to enjoy!

Don’t forget to find us on “Facebook”: (Susquehanna County Library) and look us up on “Pinterest” for lots of interesting nooks and crannies to explore and now, if you “Tweet”, follow us on Twitter (@susqcolib) to check out event information, local scoops and much more.

As the turkey-shaped gravy boat and antique platter (big enough for a 22 lb. or larger bird) come out of hiding in the cupboard, I leave you with this thought:

“Fallen leaves lying on the grass in the November sun bring more happiness than the daffodils” ~Cyril Connolly

Winter Squash—Thankfulness—Construction Paper Turkeys

ENJOY!!!