Auto Buses and Good Roads: Auto omnibuses are becoming more numerous in the country districts. W. D. Minkler, of Little Meadows, has purchased a “bus” and is making two weekly trips and return to Binghamton from that place. Mr. Minkler’s enterprise is greatly appreciated, for the car is filled each trip. A canopy top is provided so that in case of storm the passengers are protected. A “bus” line has also been started between Franklin Forks and Binghamton, making regular trips Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, leaving at 7 a.m. and returning at 7 p.m. The fare for a return trip, we are informed, is 90 cents. Also About 100 men were ready to work on the township roads on “Good Roads Day,” but the heavy showers prevented any effective work. Many of the committees have decided already to continue to work on the roads to which they were assigned and many are working today. All are enthusiastic and the spirit shown augurs well for the future

Susquehanna – George Baumann, assistant yardmaster in the Erie’s Oklahoma yards, was internally injured, had a leg fractured in two places, and was badly bruised and lacerated about the body on Wednesday morning, May 26. He was engaged in switching freight cars when he fell under a car and was rolled over the ties for several car lengths before the train could be stopped. He is in the Barnes Memorial Hospital in a critical condition. Also – Our town will be visited by a circus this Friday afternoon and evening. The school will close in the afternoon so that the children can attend.

Clifford Twp. – “Fern Hall,” at Crystal Lake, one of the principal summer resorts in Northeastern Pennsylvania for many years, was sold recently at an executor’s sale, John A. Law, of Pittston, being the purchaser. The price paid was $20,800. Mr. Law is a relative of the Johnson family, which owned the hotel and a farm of nearly two hundred acres.

Forest Lake – Dr. C. W. Brodhead and Register and Recorder M. E. Birchard, are both having attractive summer cottages erected on the shores of Forest Lake.

Gibson – Misses Lela Craft and Thelma Tompkins are attending Summer Normal at Montrose. These girls are among our most talented young people and we know they will make good teachers. We shall miss them in our church and Sunday school, Miss Craft being organist in the Sunday school and Miss Tompkins one of the leading soprano singers in the choir of the M. E. Church.

Elk Lake – Mrs. Emma Young lost a very valuable cow last week.

Alford – Perry Sweet, of Clark’s Summit, was a caller on Tuesday. Mr. Sweet, who resided here until the Lackawanna railroad literally forced him from his home and appropriated his property, on which to lay their tracks for the cut-off, settled with the company the day previous, receiving $4,500, the largest settlement yet made by the Lackawanna in their condemnation proceedings. Attorney C. L. VanScoten was Mr. Sweet’s lawyer.

Heart Lake – Photographer and Mrs. S. J. Roper were callers in Montrose on Monday. Mr. Roper and family are to locate at Great Bend, the coming summer, where he is erecting a studio.

Lindaville, Brooklyn Twp. – W. G. Thornton, a veteran of the Civil War, received a wound at Chancellorsville on May 3, 1863. A ball entered his left hip, penetrating the socket, where it still remains. The wound has constantly discharged during all these years, and although giving pain and discomfort he accepts his misfortune as part of the lot of a soldier. Mr. Thornton has a fine property at Lindaville, but owing to advancing years, [he] desires to sell to some younger man, who wants to conduct an up-to-date poultry farm, and move to town.

Dimock – Dimock is advertising their “sane 4th,” when they anticipate the completion of their community building and hope to make the day an eventful one. The people of that vicinity are elated at having secured Hon. W. D. B. Ainey as the orator of the day.

Lawsville – Miss Gertrude Southworth, a teacher in the high school at Thompson, is spending her vacation at her home here. Miss Bertha Southworth serves ice cream in the rooms over the postoffice on Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons and evenings.

Kingsley – A very pleasant social event was held here last Saturday evening, when the ladies of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union met in the basement of the Universalist church and, after a short business session, they entertained the Men’s Bible class, who held their meeting at the same time in the room above. Cake and ice cream were served and later all adjourned to the room above, where a pleasing program was rendered by the ladies, interspersed with fine singing by the men. Much credit is due the ladies for the success of the entertainment.

Forest City – M. J. Walsh has added to his Forest City-Carbondale auto service a new Ford with a bus body. This makes three machines he now has at his command. Anyone who has not figured it out will be surprised at the mileage covered in a month’s run in this service. Sixteen round trips of fourteen miles are made daily, a total of 225 or 6720 miles a month.

Montrose – “A Misunderstanding.” It was stated in last week’s Republican that a picked town team defeated M. H. S. and that the M. H. S. team tried in vain to win. But this was not the case as M. H. S. merely took the so-called town team on for a practice game and if they had wished to pitch Captain Furey the entire game the town team would have looked like a bunch of rookies…….M. H. S. Scribe. Also Sunday was a quiet day here, very few automobiles being seen. The many heavy rains had made the roads very heavy, particularly in town, where there is heavy shade, and the sun cannot get in to dry up the mud. It is needless to say there were many people greatly disappointed in being obligated to remain at home.

Dimock – Mrs. Daniel Crossen, of Bridgewater Twp., visited her sister in Scranton and made stops in Tunkhannock and Springville on the way home. The next day she stopped at Dimock, where she taught school in the summer of 1872, finding but one family that was there at that time—Thomas Williams and wife. Mrs. Crossen says she had thirty scholars at Dimock, received ten dollars per month, and “boarded round,” and did not get “the parlor bed in the northeast corner,” either. “Surely the world do move.”

New Milford – A bridge gang of the Lackawanna railroad is erecting a new steel bridge over the creek on the site of the old tower. The old freight house has been torn down and the tracks at the bridge have been raised about two feet. It is rumored that the depot will be raised about the same distance.

Over the past 16 years, I have met and spoken with so many crime victims – each is different in their own way, each reacts to being victimized differently, and each copes with the stress, pain, fear and loss differently.  As part of the sentencing process, victims have the right to address the Court – some speak and others write out statements – and I am amazed by the power of the words that victims find to describe the impact that a criminal act had on their lives.  The following is a statement that I received in a domestic violence case – and I believed that it was important to share as too many people never really understand domestic violence.  Too many people blame the victim, wonder at why she did not leave, or simply dismiss the abuse as exaggerated, fictional or drama.  While each domestic violence victim endures different things, this particular victim’s words capture some of the terrible essence of domestic violence:

When I was a child, I was told the Boogie Man didn’t exist.   But last year, I saw him.  He rousted me from a deep sleep, smelling of beer, and irate that I didn’t want to watch a movie with him.  He looked like the man I loved, that had time after time just crawled into bed, hugged me and fell asleep with me in his arms.  What had happened to that man?  The man who merely 4 hours ago, I discussed our wedding plans with?

Yes, he was drunk – again.  A trend my family had noticed, but had decided that since he going to be a part of our family, we’d (my brothers, mother, father) offered to send him to rehab.  His behavior – the stale beer breath, anger, let me know that tonight was the night to leave and call them to come “talk him down,” as my brother, the counsellor, says.

But when I tried to use the phone, the man used those once-safe arms to throw me on the floor and slam my hand into it over and over.  I was betrayed & terrified by both his blank look and his viciousness.  I screamed.  I wondered why he’d be so cruel – I’m a writer, and the snap of my knuckles and wrist from the blows contradicted every time he praised a story I’d written.

The attack continued.  As he dug his 280 pounds into my back, as he tried to get me spread-eagle on the floor, the only thing he said, in a matter-of-fact-tone, was “You’re acting crazy, and this is how we treat crazy people.”  It was so terrifying, my brain’s primitive fight-or flight response kicked in.  The only thing in my mind was, “RUN.”

I fought to escape.  I shrieked in pain.  I screamed for help, I told him how much he was hurting me.  He said nothing.  He did nothing.  He was perfectly calm and impervious to anything I did.  When I would run for the car, he’d systematically pull me out and drag me back into the house.  I say systematically because he was like a robot – apathetic to my pleas; unconcerned about my screams for help; not caring if the neighbors heard me.

I have never felt more alone.  I was stuck in his hell.  Like in Dante’s “Inferno,” he was Satan, and I had replaced Judas as someone for him to toy with… to chew on at will.

After I finally got away, I witnessed the last terror.  Hiding in the State Troopers’ car, I saw that he had put back on his human mask and was joking with the Troopers about me “stealing” his car.  He texted me, asking if I was in hand cuffs, he was laughing with the same Troopers who’d just helped me with my keys and bags because of my badly bruised and swollen hand.  I was so shaken, I could hardly speak, and he was doing a comedy routine as if nothing had happened.

My injuries were severe – and severe enough to fear that he could find me and finish what he had started and I could not run away.  I was left with a badly damaged spine, and a body that felt like broken eggshells.  Though I was now home with supportive family & friends, I was utterly ashamed.  I told no one.  The “if onlys” and “what ifs” ruled my thoughts – and my nightmares.  Every night, I’d relive the beating.  Some nights, he’d kill me.  Some nights, I’d wake up in puddles of sweat or urine.  My brain still dissects the attack.  PTSD is the diagnosis.

My back is still badly damaged, in need of more surgery.  I still go to therapy, and though it’s easier to talk about, I still react to “triggers.”  I still carry shame.  I have healed, and I will continue to heal, but I fear for other women, because the monster I saw that night was cold, calculating, and unafraid of consequences.

And if I was a child, I would use this as evidence that the Boogie Man does exist.  He sneaks into your bed, and he hurts you without empathy or remorse.  And if you look at his face, you’ll see it’s nonhuman; blank – as if he is just doing his job: to terrorize.

I have stopped waiting for an apology or for any acknowledgement of fault.  I don’t blame the alcohol, but I know it played a big factor.  Though you, Judge, are the expert, I humbly ask that you make his sentence tough, something that can get him off this path. 

For the sake of any woman who he may encounter – make him get into counseling: psychological, anger, AND alcohol counseling and testing, or alcohol abstinence.

Don’t let the smile fool you, too.

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.

Why doesn’t my Viagra work?

Rob, 45, came into the pharmacy very annoyed. He got the pharmacist alone and said to him, “Hey, I bought these Viagra tablets for $35 apiece and they don’t seem to work. Do you think they are expired?” The pharmacist told him they were not out of date. He proceeded to counsel him on whether he was taking his erective dysfunction medication properly.

The pharmacist told Rob that these are not “magic pills” in that they do not produce an erection just because you took one. Rather, the pharmacist explained, that one has to be in the mood to have sex. One can’t simply take one, go to bed and doze off expecting the pill to do the work for him. This is how these drugs work: During an erection, blood flows quickly into the penis, which increases its length, width, and firmness. If the "in" vessels (arteries) are too narrow or if blood drains too quickly through the "out" vessels (veins), men may have trouble achieving or maintaining an erection, says Arnold Aigen, MD, a urologist with Camino Medical Group in California. Viagra, or any other ED drug, which increases inflow, may not be strong enough to work its charm if the arteries are too narrow.

Also, the absorption into one’s bloodstream can be hampered by a fatty meal in your stomach. So, if you just went out for a double cheeseburger and fries which put you in such a good mood, you thought you would pop a blue pill, you may be disappointed. For a better result, take the ED drug between meals, rather than after a high-fat, high calorie meal. Also, if you are partial to such heavy meals, know that if you are overweight, that by itself can contribute to impotency.

Is the timing right? Stressful, exhausting days may do nothing to champion your cause. Having a good relationship with your partner may make the situation easier. Communication is key. With or without an ED drug, you can still be affectionate and/or get up and watch a favorite movie, happily consuming popcorn and herbal teas.

Is the dose right for you? ED drugs come in a variety of doses. One person may need more than the next guy. Consult with your pharmacist or doctor. Also, note that these pills are often the same price no matter how many milligrams they contain. For example, you can get a prescription for one of the drugs, cut it in half and see if it works. You might just as well save some money as well as enjoy other aspecys of your life.

Roy was very relieved to get these pointers from the pharmacist. Just hearing them took the pressure of his attempted performances. Roy vowed to return home, put on his favorite mood music and just relax with his wife. Anything can happen and it will all be good!

Ron Gasbarro, PharmD is a registered pharmacist, medical writer, and principal at Rx-Press.com. Write him with any ideas or comments at ron@rx-press.com.