Lawton, Rush Twp. - Frances E. Pickett was graduated with high honors from the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia. Miss Pickett, who is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G. L. Pickett, is a graduate of the Central State Normal School at Lock Haven. She taught in Lawton for two years and served as principal at the school at Thompson before her four year course at the Philadelphia institution. On July 1st Miss Pickett will commence a year’s internship at the Woman’s Medical Hospital and at the close of which period she will be ready to establish a practice of her own.

Heart Lake – Heart Lake Resort, this week, re-opened for the summer and the outlook for a successful season is most encouraging. Heart Lake, for many years, has stood out quite prominently as a pleasant place to spend a delightful summer, and the proprietors, Mack & Jenkins, aim to make all visitors, even to the children, feel at home while rusticating at the resort.

Auburn Twp. – Prof. Hamlin E. Cogswell, [a former resident] well-known throughout this section of the State, will be made director of music of schools of Washington, D. C. Prof. Cogswell has, for 23 years, served as a musical director in the normal schools of Pennsylvania, and his advancement is a worthy recognition of ability and faithfulness. He will have twelve assistants, and the position is regarded as one of the finest in the country.

Alford – Two hundred and fifty men, with their foremen, from Bath, N. Y., are putting the finishing touches on the Lackawanna cut off tracks here, leveling the stone ballast, etc. They are quartered in ten passenger coaches and several box cars, and came there recently from Clark’s Summit. The cut-off will be finished by Sept. 1. It is said that the Lackawanna will use the old tracks from Clarks-Summit to Foster after the cut-off is put in operation. The old road from Foster to Hallstead will be abandoned.

Hallstead – Col. Tompkins’ Wild West show and the Whitby Circus gave good performances here Thursday afternoon and evening. During the performance, in a big horseback dash, one of the lady riders was thrown from her horse and in the mix-up she was stepped on and quite severely bruised. She was removed to the dressing tent and Dr. Blair, who was in the audience, was called and attended her injuries. Dell Wolcott, son of N. A. Wolcott, of this place, is a member of the cowboy troupe traveling with the show, and he was busy all day greeting his many friends.

Montrose – The pastor and members of Zion African Methodist-Episcopal Church will give their annual entertainment at Colonial Hall, June 15, at which time Rev. Dr. Mason will deliver one of his famous lectures entitled, “Fifty Years of Freedom.” Dr. Mason is one of the most powerful orators before the public. There will also be a grand musical program rendered by some of the best talent in and out of town.

Dimock – Miss Isa Mills has long been Dimock’s faithful librarian and has done much to make that little village the pleasant place it is—a town of cheerful homes.

Springville – The M. E. church was beautifully decorated with flags and flowers Sunday morning and Rev. Kilpatrick delivered a fine memorial sermon. Only three war veterans were present—Ellas Titman and Miles Compton, of the Civil War, and Tennyson Messerole, of the Spanish-American war.

Brooklyn – Two gaily dressed automobiles, carrying old soldiers, found their way to Montrose Monday to celebrate Memorial Day. Also L. S. Ely is installing an up-to-date disposal plant to accommodate his buildings. Brooklyn is fast getting on the sanitary wagon, thanks to the State Board of Health.

Gibson – The community was greatly shocked to learn of the death of our esteemed townsman and neighbor, Herbert Ables, which occurred Saturday last. Mr. Ables was a man who will be greatly missed, not only in the home but in the community, as he was highly respected by all.

The family has the sincere sympathy of their many friends.

Lawton – Christie Curran is one of the county’s wide-a-wake teachers, instructing the young idea [of] how to shoot in the winter months, joins the “back to the soil movement” for the summer, when he tills his farm and collects the taxes for Rush township, as a “chinking” job.

Nicholson – The immense concrete viaduct or bridge, at Nicholson, is one of the wonders of the world and will attract sight-seers from all over the world. You will wish to see the bridge, of course, and then you will need one of the souvenir booklets to better understand how it was built and its real size. If you cannot see the bridge itself then you will wish a booklet surely. One hundred and eighty-nine thousand barrels of cement were used in mixing the concrete, and it is the largest re-enforced concrete bridge in the world. The booklets are on sale at the Democrat office, at 15 cents each, or mailed prepaid, 17 cents.

Auburn Twp. – Chas. Fuller, a veteran of the Civil War [Co. C, 203rd Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers], of Meshoppen, died May 20, 1915. Mr. Fuller was a native of Bridgewater township, Susquehanna county, and was 74 years of age. He had been in feeble health for some time and was a man highly regarded. He is survived by his widow and three sons: Fred E., late District Judge of Alaska; Arthur J., of Tunkhannock and Frank R., of Auburn township.

Forest City – “Out of the Ruins,” a three reel play, will be presented at the Family Theatre on Tuesday evening, June 15, in which P. H. O’Malia, Jr., a Forest City boy, is the principal character. The New York Evening Times says what Chaplin is to the comic world O’Malia is to the dramatic. Also What might easily have been a serious auto accident happened late last night at the Bowery bridge, at the county line. Two local young men were coming up the pave at a lively rate and a front wheel of their machine caught in a rail of the street car track at the Farrell hotel, causing the machine to skid badly. It crashed against the railing of the bridge and both young men were thrown from the car to the bed of the stream but neither were seriously hurt. The car was slightly damaged.

News Brief: It is said that every person saved from the Lusitania could swim. There is moral in the question and every boy and girl should learn to swim for when the art is attained it is never lost.

I received an email from a friend which contained a letter written by a drug addict to his or her parents – the friend saw it on social media and sent it to me because she knew that we deal with addicts every single day in the criminal justice system.  It was a very interesting – and even frustrating – read, but it was insightful as to how addicts think – even addicts who are in recovery.  I wanted to share some of it with you – I had to edit it for purposes of this column, but it provides a real glimpse into the mind of an addict that most of us never consider, let alone understand:

I don’t know if I was born an addict but I do know the first time I got high an addict was born.  You have to accept the fact that I think differently than you do.  See, you think I have a drug problem but I don’t, I have a living problem.  You think I use drugs but the reality is that drugs use me.  Drugs are for those of us that can’t handle reality.  To me, reality is a nice place to visit but I really don’t like living there.  Drugs make me feel alive and normal, but they also make me paranoid, incoherent and both destructive and pathetically and relentlessly self-destructive.  Then I would do unconscionable things in order to feel normal and alive again. Drugs gave me wings and then slowly took away my sky.  I looked to drugs for courage and they made me a coward.  You say that I had always been a sensitive, perceptive, joyful and exceptionally bright child, but on drugs I became unrecognizable.

Like all kids, when I was really young I used to think there was a monster in my closet and under my bed and you would come into my room and reassure me that there wasn’t one by opening the closet and looking under the bed. Now that I am older you can’t convince me of that anymore and it’s not your job to.  But since I found drugs I’ve come to the realization that there is a monster; but it’s not in my closet or under the bed but inside of me, and that if I can’t learn to ignore it, it will destroy me.

 I guess the best way to describe withdrawal is insufferable depression and acute anxiety — a drawn-out agony.  Some of the times I choose withdrawal because I didn’t want to use anymore, that I hated who I had become, but for the most part it was because I didn’t have a choice in the matter –I had run out of drugs. You would think that after experiencing the emotional and physical pain of withdrawal that I would never let myself go through that again – right?  See that’s how you see it, but to me it just became a part of my using and a consequence I was willing to pay. You may call that insanity – I call that life.

 I’ve been to enough meetings to know the readings by heart and one of the phrases that jumps out at me every time I hear it, is: “when we use drugs we are slowly committing suicide.”  The slow suicide of my using is not painless in the least; I feel the pain and can see the flame of my life getting fainter every time I use.

 There are a few things you can do if you really want to help me.  I know by telling you these things I’m actually cutting off my main money source –you.  I will never stop using as long as you keep giving me money or supporting me.  I can only stop using when I hit my bottom and only I can put down the shovel and quit digging.  When you bail me out, buy me a car, pay for my rent or give me money you aren’t helping me at all; you are only handing me the shovel again and telling me to keep digging.  You keep letting me come back home to live because you think you’re helping me out but, if your honest, you’ll realize that you are doing it for purely selfish reasons.  When you know I’m in the room next door you sleep better. The last thing I’ll confess to you is the real reason I steal from you. I steal from you because I’m counting on you not calling the cops on me.  I count on you not wanting me to go to jail; to have a criminal record.  I steal from you because you keep letting me move back home.

 You make the mistake of thinking that recovery is simply a matter of not drinking or using drugs.  And you consider a relapse a sign of complete failure and long periods of abstinence a complete success.  But these perceptions are too simplistic.  My life is anything but simple and I’m not just talking about my using drugs. The way my mind works, nothing is as easy as just doing it because my mind tries to convince me not to do it.  It doesn’t matter how simple of a task it is – even unloading the dishwasher is a mind struggle for me.  My mind also loves to make every little thing that goes wrong a major crisis.  Let me try to explain this in as simple terms as I possibly can.  Let’s say we both go outside in the morning and our cars don’t start. You go in and call a mechanic and I go in and call suicide prevention. I’m what they call a W.C.S person; which stands for worst case scenario.  They say a mind is a terrible thing to waste; well my mind is a terrible thing to listen to.  Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be – mine won’t let me be happy. My mind keeps reminding me that there is only 18 inches between a halo and a noose.

 Relapse isn’t a requirement but it does happen to quite a few addicts.  The hard truth is that if there were 50 addicts in their 1st meeting together, more of us will be dead in 5 years then will have 5 years clean.  The last time I relapsed it was because the bottom fell out faster than I could lower my standards.  It’s really difficult to solve a problem with the same mind that created it and God knows I’ve created a lot of problems for myself – and for you.  I hope someday you will realize that I am not a bad person trying to get good; I’m a sick person trying to get well.  I suffer from the disease of addiction.  If you believe this you won’t be so critical of me.  For a critic is just a person who goes onto the battlefield after the battle has been fought and shoots the survivors.  Believe me when I say this; I don’t want to be an addict as much as you wish you weren’t a parent of one.

I love you. Sincerely, Your Loved One Battling Addiction.

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.