Silver Lake – John C. Mahoney, for many years a resident of Silver Lake, has been missing since Dec. 16th, and his friends are much worried about him. He had lived alone on his farm for many years but, as he was 70 years of age, a son in Buffalo prevailed upon him to come and live with him. The aged man went to Buffalo last fall, but in a letter to a friend it was seen that he greatly missed the old familiar scenes of the country, and the familiar faces, and was inclined to be melancholy and was very home sick. When his son’s family was away he left, with his trunk and personal belongings. It was found that on that day, Dec. 16, he checked a trunk and purchased a railroad ticket for Binghamton. The trunk was never called for. From that day, not a word has been heard from nor have the relatives been able to trace his movements. [Independent Republican, March 20, 1914 – John Mahoney, a Silver Lake man who disappeared from the home of his son at Buffalo, aged 72 years, was found imbedded in a huge cake of ice floating near the center of Erie Basin by the crew of a fire tug. Funeral and interment at St. Nicholas Catholic church in Buffalo.]
South Montrose – The South Montrose Mill Co., among their many large orders, have just filled an order of $1000 worth of their celebrated trunk slats to Sears, Roebuck & Co., being a whole car load.
Heart Lake/Fairdale – Samuel McKeeby died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Wm. Ward, at Heart Lake, Feb. 11, 1914, aged 67 years. He was an old soldier, being a member of Co. D., PA Cavalry. The funeral will be held Friday at 10 a.m. at Heart Lake, and burial in McKeeby cemetery, near Fairdale. Also The Mountain Ice Co. began running ice again. They have their large ice house two-thirds full.
Forest City – The Borough Council refused to meet Monday night. The Republicans are sparring for wind. They, the Council, stand three and three and our Republican friends want all the plums and the Democrats want their share. I, as a citizen, feel as they ought to come together and compromise and go on in business and cast their personal feelings aside and work for the benefit of the public in general. If they stand and look over the platform they put up before the citizens last November, and ask themselves if they are going to give it to the citizens at Forest City, or are they going to lay down on the job, or are they going to fool the public?
West Jackson – Skating is now in rage. A skating party nearly ever evening on some of the lakes or ponds is enjoyed by the young people.
Laurel Lake – The Snow Hollow school is progressing nicely under the supervision of Miss Florence McEnaney.
Little Meadows – Rev. J. R. Lynch has announced a dance in the hall on February 20th.
Also Frances Foster has gone to Union, N. Y., to work in a millinery store.
Montrose – While a sheriff’s sale of Gordon Depue’s personal property was in progress some things happened that were not down on Sheriff Reynold’s program, in which a rather savage looking revolver figured. It seems that Thos. F. Kelly had taken out an execution on Mr. Depue’s loose property. When the Sheriff appeared to dispose of the property Mr. Depue’s mother claimed the property as hers and was being told how the sale might be stayed when Gordon locked the door of the building. However the sale progressed and [when] some cement was sold to Kelly, Gordon drew a revolver and told Mr. Kelly to drop it or he would shoot. Kelly dropped the cement, hastily arriving at the conclusion, evidently, that good men were scarce. However, he later swore out a warrant for Mr. Depue’s arrest. The affair is most regrettable as Mr. Depue has been struggling under financial difficulties for some time. He has always been regarded as a very peaceful, law abiding citizen and a hard worker. Also Fred Risley, formerly of this place, is now proprietor of the Ten-Mile Tavern at Dickson City.
Springville – C. H. Young was in Montrose on Tuesday, coming up in a new Maxwell. Mr. Young says the Maxwell is a “12 months in the year car.” Also this is the 4th week that the school has been closed; they hope to be able to begin again a week from Monday, Feb. 16th. Measles have made a wide sweep; over 100 cases are under quarantine. It has nearly run its course for want of material. Miss Hazel Johnson, daughter of Lonie Johnson, has recovered and returned to her home at Union. Her mother is seriously ill, with little or no hope, of measles and pneumonia. The father and five small children have never had the disease. He has the sympathy of all.
Rush – L. W. Terry bought a very large tract of timber and also a 35 horse power boiler, style “L”. With new boiler he will be able to complete the work of marketing this large tract of timber. Ward Smith is the sawyer in charge. No hardwood lumber has been cut yet. Mr. Terry plans to shut down the mill during haying this summer. They offer $3 per thousand to haul to Montrose.
New Milford – Bert Crossley has built a large shed in connection with his mill for storing lumber. We understand he intends to put in another mill at this place. We hope the report is correct.
Elk Lake – The team of W. D. Titman was frightened while standing at Robinson’s feed store at South Montrose last Monday and ran away, being caught near Byron Robinson’s. None were injured but the wagon was badly damaged.
Franklin Forks – Ward Smith, who has operated a cut-glass works here for several years, has made plans to conduct a business on a larger scale in Syracuse, to which city he will soon remove. The many friends of the enterprising young man regret the removal of both himself and wife.
McKinney Mills – Because a cat had formed the bad habit of sucking eggs, it caused the loss of a hand to Miles Bennett. Mr. Bennett made the discovery that the feline was sucking eggs in the poultry house and hastened to his house for the shotgun, determined to end the cat’s life and the loss of eggs. Returning with the loaded gun, he slipped, and in falling threw his left hand over the muzzle of the weapon, the gun discharging and tearing the hand in a terrible manner. Drs. Merrill and Blair were hastily called and decided at once to amputate the injured member. For some years Bennett was a switchman in the Lackawanna yards at Hallstead and had been unfortunate in having both hands more or less crippled, having them caught between car bumpers at various times.
Philip Seymour Hoffman overdosed on heroin and ended his own life. He left behind him three small children – 10, 7 and 5 years of age – and the responsibility of now parenting those children are left solely to his estranged girlfriend. Hoffman had battled heroin addiction for over 25 years – and managed to spend a good portion of his adult life sober and successful – but he never escaped his demons. Those demons not only haunted him, but they hunted him, waiting patiently for a moment of weakness that could be exploited. Fame, money, success, beautiful children – none of these things were enough to save Hoffman from himself.
Johnny Cash also spent most of his adult-life battling drug addiction – and he sang a song later in his life called “The Beast in Me.” The song was written for and about Cash by his son-in-law, Nick Lowe. The lyrics include the following words: “The beast in me is caged by frail and fragile bars, restless by day and by night, rants and rages as the stars. God help the beast in me. The beast in me has had to learn to live with pain, and how to shelter from the rain, and in the twinkling of an eye, might have to be restrained. God help the beast in me.” The lyrics captured Cash’s personal battle with addiction – and how often the “beast” had gotten loose during Cash’s life. Hoffman had managed to cage his “beast” for 25 years of sobriety – but he could not keep it caged or restrained.
Why? In the criminal justice system, the plague of drug addiction is a constant – the driving force for a large percentage of all criminal activity. If we could eliminate the use of controlled substances, we would see a dramatic reduction in criminal activity. The addiction problem has no easy solution – no silver bullet, no magic antidote and no cure – it is a constant and daily battle. Hoffman’s death reminds us that the fight is never done.
Hoffman was not a typical drug addict – he had resources available to him that very few addicts ever get the opportunity to utilize. But all the money in the world is no guarantee of sobriety. Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist who treats heroin addicts, aptly described Hoffman’s death as follows: “No quirk of neurochemistry can make you rate getting high as more important than getting your kids through life. Only a disorder of character can do that. Mr. Hoffman loved heroin more than he loved any human being and more than he loved himself. That’s the sad truth. It’s the sad truth about every heroin addict . . . . I know what kind of damage Hoffman has done because I routinely pick up the pieces after addicts decimate their families.”
I was struck by these words because I have often asked myself the same question: How does an addict put anything above his or her children? But we see addicts going in and out of jail – and in and out of rehabilitation facilities – and they leave their children struggling in this chaotic storm. We see people who lose their children because of their refusals (or inability) to stop using controlled substances. Dr. Ablow is right – it is “the sad truth about every heroin addict,” and Hoffman confirms that wealth, fame, success offer no protection from the beast of addiction.
Dr. Ablow went further to state that Hoffman’s children have now “inherited his suffering.” As these precious children search for answers for having lost their father, the concept of addiction will be foreign to their little minds – and Dr. Ablow makes clear that most children end up blaming themselves for a parent’s destructive decisions. Dr. Ablow had these concluding thoughts about the generational impact of drug addiction and lethal overdoses: “They often wonder whether anything in life can be trusted, whether they can ever be safe from catastrophe. And that makes them vulnerable to depression and drug addiction and personality disorders, just like their dad was. Round and round and round.”
I remember a few years back and I was speaking to a judge who was retiring and I asked him how he had decided it was the right time. He said that he had first dealt with the parents, and then he had dealt with the children, but when the grandchildren started coming before him, his heart could not take it anymore. Round and round and round. After Hoffman’s death, I spoke with Tony Conarton, the Susquehanna County Coroner, for an update on the number of overdose deaths that he was encountering. In the first month of 2014, there were three drug overdose deaths in our small, rural county. Round and round and round.
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/.
“Hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.” ~Mother Teresa
Valentine’s Day brings many fond memories of years gone by. Do you remember decorating lunch bags as Valentine “Mailboxes” in grade school? And the excitement building as the big day drew near? When the red letter day finally arrived, experiencing the thrill of opening those tiny envelopes and discovering who gave you that “Special” one. The history of paper valentines is interesting and its introduction in America is one you might not be familiar with. The American tradition of sending valentines originated with a young paper-obsessed and romance-loving woman from New England. It was Esther Howland‘s vision plus her small business drive that heightened the prominence of Valentine’s Day in the United States and began the tradition of sharing beautiful cards to help mark this special occasion. Howland, born in 1828, and passing away in 1904,was a native of Worcester, Mass. and graduated from Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1847. Like many young women at that time, Esther wondered what she’d do in life. Her inspiration came from an ornate English valentine sent to her by a family friend. She loved the look of it, along with its sentiment. Coincidentally, Howland’s father owned the largest book and stationery store in Worcester, so she arranged to have valentine-making materials sent from England. The card giving tradition already had been established there, along with other places in Europe — especially Germany. Her materials order included paper lace, floral decorations, colorful paper. etc. Howland hand-crafted the first valentines and began to take orders for them. According to the American Antiquarian Society, she then began to recruit friends to help her keep up with the demand. She started to advertise in a Worcester newspaper in early 1850 for help. This effort led to an assembly line operation, turning what had been her home-based operation into a thriving business that grossed approximately $100,000 annually.
She retired in 1881 and sold her business to the George C. Whitney Company. That company later installed machinery to make lace embossed paper, eliminating the expensive need to order supplies from abroad. The company’s early valentines resembled the first hand-crafted ones produced by Howland. It doesn’t matter if it is the most expensive card in the rack or a hand-written note in crayon. What matters is that the thought comes from your heart. Information about Valentine’s Day and many other holidays is available at your local Branch Library—why not check them out today?
The members of the Susquehanna Branch Reading Group are reading “The Storyteller” by Jodi Picoult. This is a heart-tugging tale about loner/beloved baker, Sage Singer. The agony that Sage experiences when retired teacher, Josef Weber asks her for a favor, will have you turning pages until the end, and leave you wishing for more. The Reading Group will be meeting at 4:00 on February 20th, so mark this down on your calendar if you would like to join in the spirited discussion.
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 I count the days until Spring arrives, I leave you with this thought:
“There is no surprise more magical than the surprise of being loved. It is God's finger on man's shoulder. “ ~Charles Morgan
Red Roses—Amethysts—Heart-Shaped Chocolates
ENJOY!!
