Forest City – Agostine Francati, a well-known Italian resident of this place is either in serious danger from the well-known and infamous Black Hand organization or some of his Italian friends, in an effort to perpetrate a joke, are laying themselves liable to severe punishment. Mr. Francati is one of the town’s most industrious and law abiding citizens. He is night watchman at the Clinton colliery, a man of exemplary habits, and a leader among his countrymen. It would appear that his industry and apparent prosperity have aroused the cupidity of someone and an effort is being made to extort some of his hard earned savings. Yesterday he received a letter, post marked Dunmore, purporting to be from the “Black Hand.” It was written in Italian and at the end was a bold drawing of the back of a man’s hand, and underneath were crossed bones. To one side appeared the figure of a man with a pistol pointing at it, drawn on one side and on the other another hand, dripping with blood. The transcribed letter read: You are going to have trouble of your own. You are working all the time and you must have plenty of money. A letter has come from Italy which says to take your life if you don’t pay $500. If you pay you will be let out of this. If you don’t pay your life is gone. Anywhere you go we will find you with our members. You received another letter and did not pay any attention to it. Now make up your mind; either the money or your life. The hand served as a signature and within was written: “From this hand nobody escapes. It has been baptized with blood.”
New State Road – The State Highway Department has given assurances that an improved state road, starting at the New York state line and proceeding via Choconut, St. Josephs, Birchardville and Rushville, where it will connect with the state road leading to Wyalusing, will be given immediate attention early this year. It is said that the road from Montrose to St. Josephs, to connect with same, will probably be built the following year, which will give a better and shorter route to Binghamton.
Kingsley - Located on the line of the D. L. & W. railroad’s cut-off operations, Kingsley was treated to a sort of eruption of Vesuvius Saturday last, when three and one-half tons of dynamite were exploded in “one shot.” This great blast was used to loosen earth and rock in a cut on the line between lands of P. M. Wilmarth and Augustus Tiffany, but the convulsion of earth and rock were confined to the areas desired and while the vibrations were plainly felt all over the town, no windows were broken, nor debris hurled about. Some of the blasting however, has given the people of Kingsley some thrills. The other day a small blast, using only three pounds of dynamite, hurled rocks through the windows of the residence of P. M. Wilmarth and others, but fortunately no one was injured.
Hop Bottom – Some men are born great, others achieve greatness, but “Charley” Miller had a postoffice plum dropped right into his lap—at least he is holding down the job until a successor to E. C. Tingley, deceased, is formally named and confirmed by the Senate. While a lot of patriotic, self-sacrificing citizens, are pursuing the postoffice bee, losing time, money, shoe leather and in some instances their very reputations in many places of the country, Mr. Miller had the position thrust upon him. “Charley” wasn’t looking for the job either and didn’t want it—for he has two Guernsey cows and several White Leghorn hens whose toilets cannot be well neglected, which keeps Charley pretty “gosh darn” busy. But Mr. Miller had to take the job, for he was the one man thoroughly equipped to discharge its duties on short notice, for he was Hop Bottom’s postmaster for many, many years when “Can” Stone was the big figure in Republican politics and before the “wicked” Democrats came into power.
Oakley, Harford Twp. – The whistle on the D. L. & W. bridge is heard no more as the final work on the bridge is now completed and one of the largest concrete bridges in this state is built.
Montrose – News comes that Elijah Sherman, an old time Montroser, has struck it rich out in Idaho. Elijah claimed that he knew where the gold was and tried to raise a company in Montrose to develop a claim he held out there, but found nobody willing to go in with him. ALSO Wm. L. Smith, a highly esteemed citizen, succumbed to pneumonia, Jan. 11, at his home on Drinker street. His age was 54 years. The deceased was a son of the late W. W. Smith, and upon the death of his father, succeeded him for several years in the furniture and undertaking business and later selling the business to the late J. E. O’Brien.
Thompson – J. F. Potter, Thompson’s genial constable, was over to the County Seat Monday to make his quarterly returns, driving the 25 miles in three and one half hours—we know, because we asked him as to time and distance. Mr. Potter found some snow drifts.
Harford – Six inches of snow fell here last night and people are using sleighs, but with the rain falling in torrents it looks as though they would soon go back to wagons.
Williams’ Pond – Mrs. Ralph Morrison and children have returned to their home in Protection, Kan., after an extended visit with her brother, Guy Lewis.
Forest Lake – Mr. and Mrs. Fred L. Booth and daughter have returned to their home at Forest Lake after spending some weeks with relatives at Gainesville, Fla. Mr. Booth says the country is all right to visit, but sand and mosquitoes are not to his liking. The night before Christmas, he complains, a sheet was all the bed covering needed, and he had a homesick longing for blankets and sleighbells.
Dimock – It is rumored that the temperance people have bought the Dolan House, with the intention of running a temperance hotel
West Auburn – It is fully realized by the West Auburn Telephone Co. that party line service is largely dependent for its efficiency and satisfaction upon the person using a line. In a neighborhood where the people are courteous, considerate and tactful in the use of language, always observing the golden rule, the telephone is a great blessing. But where people are rude, impolite selfish and unkind it is just the reverse. There are three general sources of difficulties on a party line, viz: “Monopolizing the line” with resulting delay and inconvenience to others; listening on the line when others are talking, which makes it almost impossible for the persons talking to make themselves heard, and leaving the receiver off the hook, which throws out of service all other telephones on a party line. These are sources of service trouble which we earnestly urge party line subscribers to avoid. We mention these things because we want every neighborhood covered by our lines to receive the greatest benefit from the service.
News Briefs: “It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary” seems to be as popular here as it is in the trenches. Every schoolboy is whistling it, and every Victrola owner plays it on his machine. Gamble, the Victrola man, says he sold 26 records in four days of this piece alone. An order for 10 of these records was unfilled, as the factory cannot supply the demand. ALSO The Story Hour, which is conducted Saturday afternoons at the library, forms a popular attraction for the young children. Parents who wish to be freed from the care of their children, for a short time on that afternoon, find here congenial surroundings and also may know that the children are receiving useful instruction, given in an entertaining manner. The ladies in charge of the story hour welcome all children who have not already become regular attendants.
During a jury selection last week, I encountered a first-time experience in terms of a juror’s answer to a standard question. Even after doing many jury selections and trials over the past 15 years as a prosecutor, I know that the every trial process is invariably different and unpredictable – and every litigator knows that no matter how much experience you have in the courtroom, you never stop learning. Every person is different – which means every juror is different – so every jury is different.
During jury selection, the attorneys get a brief glimpse into the perspectives of the jurors - and then the attorneys have to make judgment calls based upon those limited experiences as to whether a particular person can be a fair and impartial juror. Overall, I am always impressed with the commitment that jurors demonstrate in their service – as well as the sacrifices they make to accomplish their service. It is a difficult task - but important and even sacred in the framework of the Constitutional protections that every American citizen is afforded.
The standard jury questionnaire includes a catchall question as to whether there is any reason that the juror could not serve in a fair and impartial manner. Last week, a juror noted concerns over the reliability of eyewitness testimony. I had never had a juror make such an observation – but I was aware that there were some studies out there about how people perceive things in traumatic situations. In the jury selection process, we hashed out the issues surrounding the credibility of eyewitness testimony – and the juror concluded that he could be a fair and impartial juror.
The conversation took me back to my criminal law class in law school – the professor described a scenario that one of his colleagues had conducted – namely an assault by a perpetrator that occurred in the middle of the class. The assailant entered quickly through a side door, struck the law professor, and then ran out of the class. No one had time to react – and then the students were isolated to give a description of the attacker. The next day the students were told that it was a ploy – and they reviewed the different descriptions provided for the attackers. Predictably, they varied widely – some were very accurate while others were not – but all the students had been very certain about their descriptions of the assailant. The professor noted that the point of the exercise was simple – you need to be careful with eyewitness testimony.
In my experience, every witness is different simply based on their personalities. Some people are more observant than others – some people remember things better than others – some people are more diligent than others in preserving their observations with notes and things of that nature. I cannot recall ever running into an eyewitness whose account was totally wrong – but I have certainly encountered different witnesses to the same event that remember things differently.
I am always impressed with witnesses who are able to pick out offenders from photo lineups. Given the computer program that the police use to create the photo lineups, a victim or eyewitness is given an array of photographs of persons with very similar traits – hair color, build, eye color, age – and it is pretty amazing when a witness can pick out the person with certainty. Generally, that is what occurs with the witnesses that I have encountered. We have had witnesses who will tell us that a person resembled several people on the lineup array, but they will not commit to a particular person. In the times when they have known, they selected the right person – and I cannot recall a time when a victim or a witness selected the wrong person in a photo array.
I always tell jurors that people experience and perceive things differently – so it is unreasonable for people to expect perfect memories – especially when dealing with traumatic and criminal events. As a prosecutor, the goal would be to provide an evidentiary framework that supports the eyewitness testimony – buttressing and bolstering it. There are times all you have is the eyewitness testimony – and jurors have to assess the credibility of that testimony based upon their observations of the witness – and the facts provided such as the vantage point of the witness, the distance, the lighting, the time period for observation, and things of that nature.
The mere fact that people do not observe things perfectly does not disqualify a witness – it simply means they are human. But, as evidenced by the juror this past week, there is a growing trend out there seeking to discredit eyewitness testimony as unreliable. Frankly, this is a dangerous trend – it throws the baby out with the bathwater – and likewise undercuts the common sense embodied in a 12-person jury that can weigh and assess the credibility of not only an eyewitness, but all of the evidence. To put it bluntly, the Commonwealth has to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt unanimously to 12 different jurors – and if there are problems with the witness, the jury will spot them pretty quickly.
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/.
Are Pill Organizers Good Or Bad?
Bill, 57, was asked by his pharmacist why his refills were about 2 weeks overdue. Bill replied, “I am on 6 different medications, 3 of them for my heart. Some are once a day, some are twice a day. It’s hard to remember whether or not I’ve taken my pills.” This problem is not uncommon. Studies have shown that approximately 50% of those on prescription medications do not take them as directed. Skipping a dose here and there may appear to be a minor offense. But from a health standpoint, every time you forget a dose, that drug’s blood level goes down and you are at risk for worsening the condition for which you were prescribed the drug. To jeopardize the situation even further, a change in the appearance of a pill can confuse people who take their medications based on color and/or shape. Says Bill, “One month a pill is green and round, and the next month it is white and square. It really throws me off.”
Pill organizers can be a good way to keep track of your medications. Most of them are weekly in that you fill them for the week on Saturday night. (Remember when you had more fun things to do on a Saturday night?). Many organizers are available with 7-day slots (you can get 2 organizers: one for your morning meds and one for your evening meds). Some have 4 daily slots: morning, noon, evening and bedtime. Some have alarms that remind you that your pill is due. It depends on how much you want to spend and what your needs are. Type “pill organizers” into Google and a wide range of choices pop up.
Are pill organizers sometimes not good? Many medications are inherently unstable from a chemical standpoint. Often, you will see desiccants in your bottle – those cylindrical or packets of silica gel that keep the medication dry and potent. Ask your pharmacist whether your prescription should have a desiccant included in the vial. Thyroid medications and some hormones are especially sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity. If they are taken out of their container without the desiccant, they may deteriorate as the week goes on and may not work as well.
As you would guess, medication, whether in pharmacy vials or pill organizers, should not be stored in adverse conditions. That means not on the TV, not in the fridge and certainly not in the freezer. One person I knew kept his heart medication on the dashboard of his truck – bad! Don’t shove pills on your pockets because your body temperature will hasten their deterioration. But back to getting organized, if you cannot remember to fill your pill organizer, have someone else do it for you. Sometimes even the pharmacist or a technician can do that for you. Just ask.
As the pharmacist explained to Bill about his 3 blood pressure drugs, pill organizers equal better clinical outcomes which means blood pressure is controlled and any other damage hypertension does to his organs is minimized. The next month Bill came into the pharmacy and told the pharmacist that he did not miss one dose of his meds all month because of the pill organizer he purchased. His physician was happier also because his blood pressure and heart rate were vastly improved.
Ron Gasbarro, PharmD is a pharmacist, medical writer, and principal at Rx-Press.com. Write him at ron@rx-press.com.
