Herrick Twp. – James W. Lyon, of Guelph, Canada is endowing the Lyon Street cemetery with $1000 to be used in keeping this burial ground in good condition. The cemetery has been permitted to go into decay and as his relatives and loved ones are buried there, Mr. Lyon is taking this laudable means to perpetuate the memory of the dead. The money is to be invested and the income alone used in keeping up the little cemetery. Mr. Lyon was born in Herrick, April 24, 1848, and received his early education there, afterward becoming a school teacher at Brackney. He established a publishing house at Guelph, after becoming a book canvasser in this country. He is now president of the Guelph Radial and Junction Railway Co., which eventually will give electric railway service to 240 municipalities.
Thompson – J. E. Blain, celebrated as the first publisher of views of the Lackawanna cutoff bridge in book form, who is a par excellence printer, will soon become associated with the Wayne County Citizen, published at Honesdale, one of the best inland papers in the state.
Susquehanna – E. G. Foote, H. E. Taylor and R. H. Donlin, while in this place on Tuesday, visited the Matt H. Shay, the Erie’s famous monster freight locomotive. They aver it an object worth seeing when visiting the “cliff dwelling” village. ALSO While Mrs. Wm. A. Skinner and two sons were out for a walk from their cottage near Columbian Grove, a large rattlesnake was discovered near the State road back of the cottage of Prof. Killian. A neighbor was called who dispatched his snakeship, who measured more than three feet in length, sporting twelve rattles.
Forest City – Saturday, the 19th of June, was a red letter day in the life of John Prokopovitsh, the well-known hotel man. On that day, forty years ago, in the year 1875, he landed in New York from the old country. He went to Eberville, hear Hazleton, where he secured employment in the mines as a laborer, working from August 4, 1877, until January 15, 1882, for the Cox company, when he started in business in Freeland. Nineteen years ago he came to Forest City where he has met with considerable success. In honor of the occasion Mr. Prokopovitsh entertained a number of relatives on Saturday, besides the members of his immediate family.
Montrose – The county commissioners have erected a large fountain some, 20 feet high, in Monument Square. The fountain is of plated bronze, a spray being thrown from the top and dropping into successive basins falls into a pool at the base, some 12 ft. across. It is an attractive work of art, being ornamented with floral designs and rams’ heads. A portion of the fountain was broken in transit and this has delayed its final completion until the desired part arrives. It adds to the beauty of this attractive park.
Silver Lake – An attractive advertisement for Camp Red Cloud, Silver Lake, Pa., appears in the New York “Sun.” The camp, for young boys only, is located on the beautiful estate of Rev. J. Townsend Russell, at Silver Lake, where fine woodlands, hills and vales abound. On this estate are 50 registered Jersey cattle, 3,000 chickens, and extensive flower and vegetable gardens. Attractive booklets of Camp Red Cloud have been sent out this season by Mr. Willard H. Cobb, of New York.
Fairdale, Jessup Twp. – Lightning struck the residence of Edgar W. Bolles during the shower Tuesday afternoon. The bolt entered the roof, passing through the house to the cellar. No damage, other than splintering the woodwork was caused, the lightning not setting fire to the house. Considerable hail accompanied the shower and some damage was done to growing crops. In places where the hail fell from the roofs of buildings it could be gathered by the pailfull. An old barn, near Edward Arnold’s farm, was blown down during the high wind that prevailed.
Clifford – A couple of scrub nines played a rattling good game of base ball at Royal on Saturday afternoon to the tune of 8 to 6, after 12 innings. Of course the Clifford boys were on the winning side.
Hallstead – Some of the State road employees are making a much needed improvement on the Hallstead-Susquehanna road, by the filling in of the highway between the river and Harmony bridges. Because of this low piece of road, much trouble and inconvenience is caused by flooding and ice by high water, rendering the remainder of an otherwise good road useless for through travel. This road has been placed, this season, in fine condition being widened, better sluices put in, etc., and consequently, a much greater amount of travel comes over it than formerly.
Little Meadows – Edward Butler, Eugene Hartigan, Misses Stella and Lyda Bergin, motored to Middletown Center last week to attend the dance given by the base ball team.
Jackson – Beginning this week Geo. Birdsall, of Susquehanna, will peddle meat here every Monday.
S. Ararat – Miss Martha Shaver, who is quite poorly, was kindly remembered on Tuesday of this week when 16 of her neighbors met at her home and papered her sitting room and kitchen and did other needed work. A bountiful dinner was prepared and all were glad when the clock struck twelve. Miss Shaver wishes to thank all who assisted her in time of need, trusting they will be rewarded for their kindness shown her.
Forest Lake Twp. – As foreshadowing the place the auto truck may soon occupy on the farms in this county, we are going to tell of a little modern “hauling” seen in Montrose the other day. It seems that Robert H. Hillis had purchased a lot of hay of Charles Ely, on what is known as the “Isaac Melhuish farm” in this place, beyond Birchardville, but as teams were so busy on the farms, Mr. Hillis could not get it to Montrose and the loss of a sale seemed possible. Then he conceived the idea of using gasoline power to do the work, and sent for George Haldeman, of Springville, with his big truck, and the hay was carted to Montrose in short order and placed in the cars. Friday, Mr. Haldeman made three trips, making 101 miles of actual travel, bringing up seven tons of hay, loading it alone, also placing it in the car and “doubling” back to Birchardville with feed. Whither are we drifting?
Springville – The hotel barns have been repainted and look much improved. Since Landlord Fiske took possession he has made several improvements on the property which add both to its value as well as appearance.
Glenwood, Lenox Twp. – After spending four score years of life, Michael Caden was called by death, Saturday, about noon, June 12, at his home here. Mr. Caden was born in Ireland, came to this country with his parents when a small child and had resided in that locality ever since. He married Miss Mary McCarty fifty-five years ago; was the father of fourteen children, nine of whom are living. His wife is also living.
News Brief: An exchange hands out the following cyclonic wisdom: “Early to bed and early to rise, cut the weeds and swat the flies, mind your own business and tell me no lies, don’t get gay, and deceive your wives, pay your debts, use enterprise and buy from the stores that advertise.”
Do you know what the Magna Carta is? You probably learned about it in school – but years have a way of erasing unused information from our biological hard drive. If you are like me, then your mind tends to “clean” itself out automatically without prior notice let alone approval – learning is only part of the process, and probably the easier part, while retention tends to be the real challenge. Well, the Magna Carta just celebrated its 800th birthday – it was signed by King John on June 15, 1215.
To put this into some kind of perspective, King John was fighting a civil war with his English barons – King John was the very unpopular brother of King Richard. If you have ever watched Robin Hood, then Prince John would have been the monarch that Robin Hood was opposing until good King Richard returned from the crusades. The Barons were unhappy with King John for a variety of reasons – primarily monetary. King John had been levying excessive taxes in order to wage a war in France to regain ancestral lands – which ended in defeat and more taxes to pay for compensation agreed to as part of the peace agreement with France. As a result, the Barons were being required to pay more and more to the Crown – resulting in increasing debt for the Barons – and the decision to arm and challenge the King.
King John attempted to organize opposition to the Barons – including recruiting French mercenaries, but his position was tenuous. With a large army facing him, King John was faced with certain defeat or capitulation to the demands of the rebelling nobility. The Archbishop of Canterbury worked with the Barons and drafted the Magna Carta (“Great Charter”), and the final product went further than simply addressing the complaints of the nobility against the Crown.
The Magna Carta became one of the first restraints on government itself. For instance, it contained the first guarantee to a jury trial – prohibiting the arrest and incarceration of any person without “lawful judgment of his peers.” It created the right of habeas corpus – that a person cannot be held unless there is some violation of the law to support the detention. In other words, the King could no longer simply incarcerate a person based upon the King’s word alone. Further, it limited the amount of fine that could be imposed against a person – the fine had to be reasonably related to the severity of the offense committed. These provisions ended up appearing in our Bill of Rights.
While a great deal of the Magna Carta dealt with the relationship between the Crown and the nobility, it remains a huge step in the recognition that government could be limited by some overarching principles of justice and fairness. Another provision of the Magna Carta prohibited the levying of taxes without the consent of the governed, i.e., the nobility had to consent to the taxation. This concept was later expanded and the Founding Fathers would have referred to as “no taxation without representation.” Another provision provided for the freedom of the Church from governmental interference – which was later adopted and embodied in the First Amendment.
King John immediately wrote to Pope Innocent III, contending that he was coerced and forced into signing the Magna Carta by his barons, and, nine days after it was signed, the Pope declared it void and opined that it was “a shameful and demeaning agreement, forced upon the King by violence and fear.” Shortly after King John’s death, the Magna Carta was reinstated, and subsequent monarchs continued to build upon the rights and guarantees first provided in that document. It was the Magna Carta that our Founding Fathers would have been referencing when they decried the Crown’s denial of their rights as English citizens – and, as noted, the Founding Fathers embedded some of Magna Carta’s guarantees into our Constitution.
There are rare historical events that reverberate through the centuries – and the Magna Carta remains one of the most influential and important moments in the history of Western Civilization even 800 years later.
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.
How to be a guinea pig for the pharmaceutical industry
Brad is 45 and was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 10 years ago. He is not controlled with respect to his diet or weight, and is on a slew of medications for his disease. The other night, he saw a TV ad for a “new breakthrough” in diabetes management. “Once a day dosing puts you back on track – blah, blah – ask your doctor if it’s right for you.” But the ad’s real message is aimed at uncontrolled, frustrated diabetics like Brad. Says the ad, “Although this drug is not for weight loss, it may help you lose weight.” That’s all Brad needed to hear. Another reason not to make lifestyle changes. Another reason not to join the gym. Another pill will save him.
Doctors have a lot on their plate. They squeeze in many patients on any given day and, therefore, have only a few minutes to spend with each of them, regardless of their needs. So when a patient like Brad comes in, who does not help himself to control his health, some doctors find it easier to scribble out a prescription for whatever is new and is requested by the patient. Why not? After all, drug companies give freebee cards and other incentives to both patients and doctors. What’s the harm if the drug is paid for, the patient is happy, and the doctor can briskly move on to the next patient?
Medications are approved for market via the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA requires that the drug manufacturer must perform several levels of clinical studies on the proposed drug: Phase 1 studies, involving less than 80 people, test for safety. Phase 2 studies, involving 100 to 300 people, assess the drug’s effectiveness. Phase 3 studies, which include 1,000 to 3,000 subjects, gather data on side effects and other information that will allow the drug to be used safely. Once that final hurdle has been cleared, the drug is ready for the millions of people out there.
According to the American Diabetes Association, 30 million Americans have diabetes mellitus. Let’s say 3 million diabetics (10%) are prescribed this spanking new drug. That means, if the Phase 3 studies include 3,000 people, the potential patient population is 1000 times more than the Phase 3 study that green-lighted FDA approval. However, once the drug is dispersed among millions of patients, the more rare side effects rear their ugly heads. Because manufacturers are now required to collect Phase 4 information – post-marketing data which includes all the unusual side effects uncovered once the drug is on the market for a few years – they rely on the general patient population to report what they have experienced in terms of unexpected dangers. So, while the Phase 3 studies did not report an incidence of, let’s say, bleeding abnormalities or cancer, the Phase 4 studies may show that bleeding was seen in 1% of patients (or 10,000 patients) and cancer is 0.5% of patients (5,000 patients). Whoops! It’s too late if you are one of the guinea pigs who grabbed the drug before all the facts came in.
Brad wanted to know whether or not this drug was safe. The pharmacist explained to Brad that recent history is replete with drugs initially approved as “safe” only to be recalled because of possible life-threatening safety reasons: big moneymakers like Vioxx, Avandia, Fen-Phen, Meridia, to name a few. How do defective drugs make it onto the market? Pharmaceutical companies are a multibillion dollar business in the United States. Many of these companies will go to less than scrupulous lengths to insure the profits keep rolling in. Some streamline their testing, omit key facts, and pressure FDA officials. Although a government agency, the FDA has never had the best reputation for follow up studies. Symptoms sometimes need time to emerge – longer than the length of the clinical study used to approve it. Thus, without follow up studies, damage can be done to patients who are taking the drug without the manufacturer knowing about it before selling it.
Brad was now convinced that adding another pill to his diabetes regimen was not the answer. The work was hard and the hill was steep, but once Brad lost the first 5 pounds – it took 2 weeks, he said – he was motivated enough to change his lifestyle and not change his medication regimen based on the claims of a TV ad.
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.
