Montrose – A Farm Bureau was organized here with the Hon. E. E. Jones, of Harford, chosen as President. Although the day was stormy, over 30 were present, representing every section of Susquehanna County. Also an aeronautical association was formed at the High school for the study of aeroplanes and air currents. A three foot model of a Curtiss aeroplane has been purchased and will be assembled by the members of the association. With the growing interest and advance in aeronautics, we believe the young men are taking up a branch of study which will be more profitable in the future than our more sanguine imaginations now anticipate.

Springville – D. E. Tuttle expects to leave for Detroit about Dec. 1, where he has a position in the Maxwell motor shops. We shall be sorry to lose him.

West Auburn – Allen Jayne has been very busy with a force of men harvesting his fine apple crop, the result of modern, up-to-date methods of pruning, spraying, etc.

Flynn, Middletown Twp. – James Conboy is about to take the agency for the Studebaker car. His territory will include the western half of Susquehanna county and the eastern half of Bradford.

Lawsville – Thomas Kanane, of Silver Lake township, was thrown from his wagon as he was returning from Lawsville creamery, his team becoming frightened by an automobile near the residence of Fred Bailey. He received several bruises and a general shaking up. The team was caught by Mr. Bailey.

Gelatt – William Cole died at his home here on Tuesday, Sept. 28, after a short illness. The funeral was held here on Saturday afternoon at 1 o’clock, with burial in the Manzer cemetery. The Sons of Veterans had charge of the services at the grave. He is survived by his wife, Mary, one son, Dr. David Cole, of Gelatt, and one daughter, of Colorado. He was a member of Myron French Post and was esteemed by all who knew him. [Corp. William H. Cole was a member of Co. B, 143rd Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers.]

Hopbottom – Alonzo Bell, one of our oldest residents, died at the home of his grandson, Duane Bell, in Lenox, on Oct. 4. Interment in the Tower cemetery at Lenox. Also the M. E. church was packed Monday evening with listeners to the discourse delivered by Rev. Ackley on the subject, “Beef or Booze.” Public thought seems to be springing into a more lively interest in this all-important subject of temperance, and right thinking people are hoping that some good fruit may result from this awakening.

South Montrose – Homer B. Shay has bought a small farm east of this place, of Frank Dill, and took possession last week. It was the old home of Mrs. Shay’s grandfather, Orville Hancock, deceased, and the buildings were built by him some 35 years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Dill will start for their new home in Montana, where they will engage in farming on a much larger scale.

Rush – G. S. Shoemaker, of Hallstead, and Charles W. Lung, of Lyons, Mich., were welcome callers on Saturday, en route to Rush, where they intended visiting old scenes of their boyhood days, and the graves of their parents. Mr. Lung lived in this county in his youth, being at one time employed on the farm now occupied by Samuel S. Horton. He was one of the sons of Susquehanna county who responded to President Lincoln’s call for volunteers—enlisting in Co. D, 50th Pa. Volunteers, under the late Captain Dr. G. Z. Dimock, and was on a transport bound from New York, for the South, which was so nearly wrecked by a storm. The late H. C. Burgess was one of his comrades-in-arms.

Brooklyn – Miss Frances Craver has entered the Oral School in Scranton to train for a teacher of the deaf.

Gibson – Gibson was the center of attraction on the evening of Sept. 28, it being the occasion of two weddings. At the home of the bride’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. H. Yeomans, occurred the marriage of Miss Edna to Tracey Bailey. Rev. Jones, the bride’s pastor, performing the ceremony. The same evening, at 8 P.M., at the Universalist parsonage, the ceremony, uniting in marriage Carl VanDuzen and Sadie Potter, of Harford, was performed by Rev. R. S. Kellerman.

Alford – A. W. Richardson, who had acetylene lights placed in his buildings recently, is now making extensive improvements on his barn, and is to have a heating plant installed in his home.

New Milford – O. C. Whitney is building a new factory on the site of the evaporating plant that burned about two years ago and will manufacture fruit crates for the southern trade. Mr. Whitney has been in the south for some time buying fruit and vegetables and is familiar with the conditions. The new enterprise for New Milford should be welcomed and encouraged as it doubtless will be.

Forest City – The wedding this afternoon of Miss Ruth Owens, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Owens, of this place, and Cecil A. Resseguie, of S. Gibson, marked the happy culmination of a romance. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Mr. Sacett, a close friend of the bride, at the home of her parents. Miss Hazel Resseguie , the groom’s sister was the bridesmaid and Herbert Horton was best man. The bride and her attendant were gowned in white silk charmuse, trimmed in real lace, with picture hats. After the wedding dinner was served, the couple left on the 3:56 train for New York and other points of interest.

News Brief: The Phillies and the Red Sox will battle for the world’s baseball title at National Park in Philadelphia. A tremendous crowd is expected, as it has been announced that President Wilson will attend. A thought for the day: Forget all gossip as soon as you hear it; forget to do anyone an injury, but remember to do everyone a kindness.

The murder of Jackson Pepper, continued from the week of Oct. 1, 2015 – The arrival of the midnight prisoner [Shew] at the jail was sufficient to set gossip afloat, and it was known that the work in capturing Smith [Eagan], if successful, must be done quickly. Mr. Ainey and his brother, Charles, started for Windsor, where they arrived about midnight and where Smith’s [Eagan’s] adopted father, Catlin Smith, lives being one of the most respected citizens of that town. However Mr. Smith had not seen James in over a month. Next they went to Coventry to the home of Kern Eagan, brother of James, and found that James was at another house where he was living with his wife and mother-in-law. This was the first intimation that James was married, and it was soon ascertained that he married a daughter of Mrs. Streeter on the Monday before his arrest. At the home, a girl in short dress, and who appeared to be not over 13 or 14 years of age, but who proved to be the wife of James Eagan, was asked where he was and was told that he was at the barn, several rods away. Here he was captured, without resistance. Thinking that he was being arrested for the stealing of Susie Graham’s household goods, he said that he would prefer to go to Susquehanna direct, rather than go to the jail in Norwich, because he thought he could readily clear himself of the theft charge. The return trip to Susquehanna was uneventful and likewise from Susquehanna to Montrose. Early Monday morning, after a carriage ride of 86 miles, Smith [Eagan] was turned over to Sheriff Deuel. Both men waived a hearing on the charge of stealing Susie Graham’s household goods, but later in the day warrants were served upon them for the murder of Jackson Pepper. Rumors of confession are rife, the latest story being that both of the accused have given their version of the crime. (To be continued next week. The above article is a murder mystery that took place in 1898 in Rush Twp., Susquehanna County, brought to you in conjunction with “Susquehanna County Reads” program. See details on the Library website. The Scavenger Hunt in the museum is now on. The museum will be open during regular hours.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month – and domestic violence is one of those things that people still seem to try to ignore, or even when confronted with the reality, some people tend to justify it or minimize the behavior.  Over the past 16 years as a prosecutor, I have been amazed at just how many times abusers defend their behavior – and how often family members defend the abuser and attack the victim.  While domestic violence can and does occur in all kinds of domestic relationships, the statistics demonstrate that domestic abusers are most often males while the victims are usually females. 

Domestic abuse takes all kinds of forms – emotional, psychological physical and sexual – and statistics also warn us that domestic abuse creates a very lethal environment – and law enforcement sadly deals with these kinds of dangerous situations on a daily basis.  To put it simply, there is far too much domestic abuse out there.  It is hard to comprehend how one human being could treat another person so terribly – especially in the context of a domestic relationship that allegedly involves love and respect for each other.

Law enforcement encounters difficulties in investigating and prosecuting these cases – as a result of the nature of the relationship itself, the victim may refuse to cooperate or even talk to the police.  For people outside the system, this is nearly impossible to comprehend.  I cannot tell you how many times I have heard people question why a victim does not simply leave the abuser – and I must confess there are times that I still become frustrated with those same thoughts.  Leaving is not as easy as it sounds – the victim and the abuser are often connected in so many ways. 

Despite the abuse, a victim often loves the abuser – and believes that he will change if he stops drinking or using drugs or gets counseling.  The victim and the abuser may have children together and the victim does not want to destroy the family unit.  A victim often has nowhere else to go – financially being unable to survive without the support provided the abuser.  A victim may also simply feel safer being close to the abuser – as opposed to the fear of what will happen if she leaves.  There are so many reasons that make is so difficult for victims to escape the cycle of domestic violence.

Over the years, I have spoken with so many women who have been physically abused, and their stories are often very similar.  When I start asking questions about the abuse, more than one victim has asked me if I knew the abuser because I seemed to know what he did.  I will tell them that I do not know this particular abuser – but I know the pattern, I know how they operate, and I know how hard it is for the victim to escape.

Abusive relationships are entirely about power and control over the victim.  An abuser will use all the tools at his disposal to exert that power and control in order to get what the abuser wants regardless of the victim’s wishes.  Abusers tend to be fine so long as they are getting their way – but when they are no longer getting what they want, they begin to exert abusive pressure to regain that power and control.  Abusers are selfish, they manipulate and they have little regard for the feelings of their victims.  They simply want their way regardless of the cost – and they will blame the victim for their behavior, i.e., look what you made me do.  Because abusers are often so good at masking and manipulating their behavior, family members will often blame a victim as well for her behavior, which further limits the resources available to the victim to escape the nightmare.

Susquehanna County has a tremendous resource that fights to help domestic violence victims: The Women’s Resource Center.  On October 12, 2015 at 11:00 a.m., the Women’s Resource Center will be leading a Walk to End Domestic Violence, which will begin at the United Methodist Church on 526 Church Street in Montrose, and will traverse about 1 mile, returning back to its starting point where refreshments will be served.  Inside the United Methodist Church, the Women Resource Center will be setting up its “An Empty Place at the Table” exhibit, which memorializes the lives of our local victims who have died as a result of domestic violence.  For those who have not seen this exhibit, it is a very powerful and moving experience.  If you are available, the Women’s Resource Center would love to have you participate to demonstrate just how strongly our community abhors domestic violence.

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.

A number of readers have contacted me or discussed with me the issues about which I write. I’m convinced that there are many of you who have eyes wide open and know exactly what is going on. I appreciate your words of support and extend my thanks for your encouragement, anecdotes, and words of wisdom. I hope to continue stretching to meet your high standards.

For other readers my column serves as an inconvenient reminder of truths they already know, but wish not to be reminded of. The truth may be less menacing when it is but a fleeting thought to be dismissed out of hand. To vocalize it in polite company borders on a breach of etiquette.

Some readers actually find this column to be news they’ve not heard before. Some are--for the first time--considering a paradigm very different from that which they had previously been led to believe. Reflexive defense mechanisms: “normalcy bias” and “resistance to change,” I recognize, must be overcome before acceptance of alternative explanations of reality.

Lastly, there are those who read my column but will raise defenses to deny all I write. For them, no amount of evidence is sufficient because they are too heavily invested in the current matrix. Still, I will continue to offer evidence and ideas which I think will some day be recognized as self-evident, albeit unexamined or rejected as politically incorrect today. To all readers, I urge you do your own independent research and take nothing for granted, even what you read in this column.

The news of late continues the trend of recent weeks and months. While America slept she lost hegemony in the Middle East. Egypt is growing in dependence on Russia. Russia is selling advanced missiles and missile technology to Iran. Israel’s Prime Minister has been consulting with Russia on various security issues. And just recently, Russia has instituted and escalated bombing operations over Syrian airspace to keep their ally, President Assad, in power. CIA-trained foot soldiers, the “Free Syrian Army,” and ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq & Syria) appear to be Russia’s targets. Those last forces, ISIS, remain fixated on their twin objectives of “purification” and establishment of the caliphate.

That “purification” is the total destruction of Christian sects within any geographic area controlled by “Radical Islam.” When ISIS takes over any populated area, the first objective is to determine the religious affiliation of inhabitants. Homes of Christians are spray-painted with the letter “N.” (In Biblical times the first Christians were known as “Natsarenes” (commonly referred to in the West as Nazarenes; Acts 24:5 is the citation). Christians may be given up to 24 hours to leave town, convert to Islam, be enslaved, or face execution.

Radical Islam, a.k.a. “Sharia-ism,” is carrying out purification by genocide. Men are typically drowned in cages in the rivers, beheaded, ritually have their throats slit (not un-typically by having their throats sawed off in the slowest, most painful way with dull knives), doused in flammable liquids and burned alive, or crucified (sometimes upside-down). The barbarism of the executions is almost beyond belief, but I assure you, the images and descriptions are accessible to anyone with internet capability and willing to do a search.

Recently, the fate of an American Christian aid worker became known. Her name was Kayla Jean Mueller. The altruistic aid worker was taken captive by ISIS in August 2014 and murdered at their hands in February 2015. While captive she was forced to marry an Islamist terrorist leader who repeatedly and relentlessly raped her and tortured her. ISIS is nothing short of an obscenity. Women and girls are sold into slavery; prices vary according to perception of youth, beauty, and virginity. Women are raped . . . not infrequently, to death. Girls pray for death as deliverance from a hellish existence beyond anything imaginable since the Holocaust. The few girls who have escaped have shared explicit details of their nightmarish captivity at the hands of ISIS.

From the time the Nuremberg Trials finished their work in 1946 Western Civilization collectively declared, “Never Again!” Yet, “Never Again” has proved another empty, meaningless slogan. Is it not curious that President Obama takes no action save Christians from extermination in the Middle East? Is it not curious that not even occasionally, let alone daily, that our President makes no comments or speeches decrying the ongoing genocide? Is it not curious that there are no American aircraft carriers in the waters of the Mediterranean or the Persian Gulf to project American power and resolve to protect innocent life? Is it not curious that our President can never find any reason to criticize those carrying out the slaughter of innocents, especially when the innocents are Christians? And finally, don’t readers find it curious that the President never misses an opportunity to criticize Christianity and condemn “the Crusades?”

But back to ISIS. What motivates these merciless barbarians? Political Islam! What many Americans fail to understand is that Islam is not just a religion; it is a complete civilization with a detailed political system, religion, and legal code--the Shariah. Obliviousness of the latter is by design--by government policy from the highest levels. As long as Islam is thought to be only a religion, it is virtually unassailable. Anyone saying anything negative about Islam is automatically labeled as a bigot. Islamophobic is the term used to smear anyone criticizing Islam, even when pains are taken to make it clear religious aspects are not questioned.

Confused? Most Americans think of the Koran (Qur’an) as the keystone of Islam, much as the Bible is for Christianity, or the Tanakh is for Judaism. And while the Koran, “according to Mohammed, is the immutable word of Allah as communicated to the Angel Gabriel and as recited by Mohammed (AD 610-632),” it is not the book of Shariah Islamic Law. For anyone truly wishing to understand Islam in all its aspects, there is an Authoritative Rulebook: the 1994 edition of “Reliance of the Traveller.” “Reliance of the Traveller” is endorsed by the governments of Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Jordan, and the al-Azhar University of Cairo. It is warranted and certified as accurate by five of the greatest Islamic scholars of the present day. It was written in the 14th century and is devoted to such subjects as political control of non-Muslims, prayer, jihad, wills and estates, punishment, court rules, and land use, legalities, and theology. It is a continually evolving set of rules, written by mortal men known as “Shariah Scholars” who seek political power and control--control of Muslims AND non-Muslims.

If news of “Reliance of the Traveller” comes as news to you, you’re probably in good company. Until two years ago I had never heard of it. Is it not amazing that in the wake of 9/11/01 our government failed to conduct a major education campaign so that the American people might understand “Reliance” and its implications for the American people? After all, Shariah Law has a lot to say about non-Muslims, nothing good I assure you. Shariah Law violates every principle of the U.S. Constitution; yet it is insidiously being implemented throughout America even as you read this.

In the wake of 9/11, President George W. Bush talked about Islam as a religion of peace and he spoke of a band of radicals who had hijacked the “religion of peace” to carry out the terrorist attack. He labeled the ensuing military confrontation as “The War on Terror.” I am now certain that President Bush was wrong. Understanding Islam as I do, I believe that any group hijacking Islam would have been relentlessly hunted down by the true followers of Islam and would have had their heads removed from their bodies without any help from the West, thank you.

As bad as the Bush Administration was in educating the American people and defining who or what we were fighting as a result of 9/11, the Obama Administration has excelled in its failure to address the threat posed by Radical Islam as defined in Shariah Law. In fact, if anything, it appears to be doing all it can to provide aid and comfort to extend the influence of Shariah. Here are a few examples:

- In May 2010 President Obama banned the use of the terms “Jihad,” “al-Qaeda,” “Hamas,” “Hezbollah,” “Caliph,” “Islam,” and “Shariah” in all national security documents. As of this date the U.S. Government announced that all of the aforementioned terms must be purged from all recent national security documents. Muslim Brotherhood-backed groups had requested this government action on the basis of their claim that such terms “legitimate terrorism.” Curiously, the 9/11 Commission’s Report used the word “Jihad” 126 times, and “Islam” 322 times.

- In March of 2011 President Obama backed the overthrow of Col. Gaddafi, resulting in the installation of an al-Qaeda-friendly, Shariah-compliant regime in Libya. President Obama hailed Libya’s declaration of liberation as the “beginning of a new era of promise,” despite ongoing announcements that Shariah Islamic Law was being installed.

- In 2012 the Obama Administration partnered with the Shariah-driven, Saudi-sponsored OIC (Organization of Islamic Conference) to criminalize “hate speech.” The OIC’s definition of “hate speech” notably includes criticism of Islam. The Obama Administration seems unfazed that such an agreement is completely at odds with Americans’ First Amendment right to free speech under the U.S. Constitution.

- In 2013 President Obama endorsed Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood President Morsi, even in the face of a popular and widespread civil revolution to remove Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood from power. President Obama continues to refuse to acknowledge that the Muslim Brotherhood is the global leader of Sharia-ism. (A friend recently reminded me that it was also the Muslim Brotherhood who gave Herr Hitler the bright idea of having Jews wear the letter “J” on their clothing.)

The so-called “lone wolf” attacks by the Fort Hood shooter, by the shooter at the Military Recruiting Office in Chattanooga, and by the Boston Marathon bombers, should be seen in the context of Shariah Law. Our government has done all it can to keep the truth from us: there is a Fifth Column already working its will. In the Middle East ISIS’s genocidal display previews what Radical Islam has in store for an America that chooses to sleep rather than act. While the words “Never Again” fall on deaf ears all over the world, the words, “It can never happen here,” ring more hollow every day.

Note to Readers: References used in writing this column included “Reliance of the Traveller,” “Sharia Law for Non-Muslims,” by the Center for the Study of Political Islam; and “Sharia-ism is Here,” by Joy Brighton.