Auburn/Montrose – James P. Gay, aged 79, a native of Auburn Twp., now living in Montrose, died July 31, 1916. The deceased was one of seven of the first volunteers who enlisted from Auburn Twp., June 13, 1861. He was mustered in Co. H., 4th Regiment, Penna. Reserves. In Feb. of 1863 he was promoted from Private to Lieutenant for conspicuous bravery at Antietam and Fredericksburg. In June of 1864, when his term of enlistment had expired, he was detailed by Gen. Crook, commander of the division, with four other officers, to reorganize the veterans and recruits into a battalion of 5 companies. He was in command of one of the companies and participated in the march over the mountains to Lynchburg, Va., where they were repulsed and had to fall back to Charleston, W.Va., where he resigned with other officers. Ordered to report to Philadelphia, he was then mustered out. Mr. Gay participated in 15 battles and received no wounds. He lost an arm about 40 years ago, being injured by the explosion of a steam boiler. He was an efficient tip staff at the court house, which position he held up to the time of his demise. Of his company, but two are living—Calvin S. Gay, of Sayre, and M. H. VanScoten, of Montrose. He is survived by his widow and three daughters. Members of the Four Brothers Post, No. 463, G. A. R., and the Sons and Daughters of Veterans attended the funeral in a body, forming an escort of honor to his last resting place in the Montrose Cemetery. ALSO Terrence Sheen and Russell C. Sprout have been offered positions with Ithaca Conservatory of Music companies which will tour the country this autumn. Both are seriously considering accepting.
South Harford – Mr. and Mrs. Emmett Flint have been entertaining Albert and Delbert Wilmarth of Dakota.
Heart Lake – The colored people will hold their picnic here on August 10th. There will be dancing, baseball, boating and other amusements. Everybody invited. Music by a young man pianist from Binghamton. W. A Thompson, manager.
Little Meadows – J. M. Russell has long followed his occupation as blacksmith here and from our knowledge of him we daresay there are few men in the northwestern section of the county who are worthy the confidence and esteem of his fellows more than he. He is also a constable.
Forest City – Dr. J. W. Grant, who has been practicing physician at this place for nearly two years, has purchased the home of Dr. Connor, of Dickson, where he will be henceforth located.
Forest Lake – W. C. Babcock, of this place, stated that George Landon, who some time since purchased a lot and erected a bungalow at the lake, has sold to a Mr. Ford, of Endicott. He is a wealthy man and a cousin of Henry Ford of automobile fame. Mr. Landon has purchased another lot from Mr. Babcock and will erect another cottage. ALSO The 50th wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. William J. Potts was observed July 29, with two attendants present, sister Mrs. Eunice Turrell and Oscar Keeler, of Binghamton. Two sons attended, Joseph and Julius of Forest Lake and the third, Charles of Glenside, Saskatchewan, Can., was unable to be present.
New Milford – H. W. Cobb was born near Middletown, Orange Co., N.Y., April 30, 1825 and died July 21, 1916, in his 92nd year. He married Minerva J. Dunn, March 30, 1854 and moved to
New Milford, where he spent the remainder of his life, having been married over 62 years. Besides his wife, two sons, W. R. and B. Z. Cobb, of New Milford, and two daughters, Mrs. F. W. Dean, of New Milford and Mrs. Sherman Griffing, of Heart Lake, survive him.
North Jackson – Miss Mabel Miller, of North Jackson, and Andrew Burton, of Susquehanna, were married by Rev. C. F. Rinker at the parsonage at Jackson, July 23. 1916.
Elk Lake – Thirty Boy Scouts of St. Luke’s Industrial School, of Scranton, are camping at the lake.
South Gibson – The Cut Glass Club met with Mr. and Mrs. Frank Pritchard and a pleasant time was enjoyed.
Herrick Center – Raymond Curtis is the possessor of a new Chalmers Six touring car.
Ainey, Springville Twp. – A surprise party was given Frank W. Taylor on his 75th birthday. He is the only old veteran that lives in this place.
Choconut – Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Gilroy are entertaining a little boy, about one week old, John Anthony Gilroy.
Kingsley – A number from here motored to Tobyhanna, Sunday. Fred Swingle was among them, but had his own tire troubles as he had 12 blow-outs. Who can beat that? ALSO Mrs. Mary Palmer is spending the summer at her old home here. Mrs. Palmer is past 80 and is in excellent health. Recently she walked over a mile to one of the neighbors.
East Bridgewater – We would like to hear about an ice cream social. Why don’t some one have one?
Deaths of Two Civil War Veterans: John F. Bass died at his home in Uniondale, July 21, 1916, aged 78 years. He was a member of Co. E., 76th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. Abel Snow died at the Soldier’s Home in Tennessee and his funeral was held in Franklin Forks July 21, 1916. He was a member of the First Regiment, New York Cavalry. He was 75 years old.
News Brief: Henry Ford seems determined to keep his place in the very front as a maker of cheap cars, as shown by the Detroit price of $360 for touring cars, and $345 for runabouts, effective Aug. 1st. He guarantees there will be not further reduction in price prior to Aug. 1, 1917, but gives no assurance that there will not be an advance at any time.
200 YEARS AGO, THE CENTINEL, MONTROSE, PA, August 6, 1816.
The Republican Electors of Rush Township are requested to attend a Meeting at the house of Joab Picket, in said township, on Saturday the 10th inst. To appoint Delegates to represent said township in County Convention. August 6, 1816.
Tickets. Notice is hereby given that we the subscribers, inhabitants of the town of Montrose are determined, and have pledged ourselves not to pass, take, or circulate any ticket or small bill, except those issued by banks or companies, incorporated by LAW, after this date. Provided nevertheless, that any of the subscribers, who may have heretofore issued any such bill, may and will redeem his own. (Signed) Francis Fordham, Nathan Raynor, A. H. Read, Isaac Post, Edward Fuller, Isaac P. Foster, Daniel Gregory, George Claget, Austin Howell, Daniel Curtis, David Post, John Shelp, Charles Fraser, Joab Chamberlin, Chapman Carr, Benj. Sayre, Justin Clark, Samuel Howell, Garner Isbell, Jr., Hiram Plum, Balth’r DeBart, L. H. Isbell, Mason Wilson, Walter Lathrop, Jabez Frink, Charles Davis, Jona. Pinkham, Rufus Frink.
A criminal defendant has a constitutional right to receive a fair trial in front of an impartial jury or his or her peers. How does the law assure that a defendant receives a fair trial? A defendant has the right to be involved in the jury selection process. The prospective jurors are chosen randomly from the community for jury service. Both the prosecution and the defense have the right to ask questions of the jurors to make certain that the jurors have the ability to be fair and impartial. This process is known as voir dire – a French term that means “to speak the truth.”
The voir dire process has its own potential hazards as there is no way to assure or monitor what a prospective juror may say in the response to a voir dire question in the presence of all the other prospective jurors. While jury service is often an inconvenience, the overwhelming majority of prospective jurors work hard to fulfill their civic duty despite the personal inconvenience that jury service requires. Occasionally, you will get a prospective juror who seems more interested in getting out of jury service than actually speaking the truth. These are the prospective jurors that an attorney has to be careful while questioning so as to avoid prejudicing the entire jury pool.
Several years ago, I was watching a jury selection where the court asked the general question as to whether any of the prospective jurors knew the defendant. One hand went up and the court asked the juror how that person knew the defendant. Rather than giving a simple answer that he knew the defendant from his neighborhood, the prospective juror added that the defendant was always a troublemaker and was no good. As they say, the bell had been rung at that point and there was no way to un-ring it. The court had to declare a mistrial and reschedule the matter for a new jury selection with prospective jurors who had not heard that comment.
As we all know, appearance is very important and can influence how people perceive things. For this reason, criminal defendants who are incarcerated pending trial are not brought in front of a jury in their prison garb. If the incarcerated defendant does not have any appropriate clothing for court, the county will provide clothing for the trial. The courts have recognized that a significant prejudice can result – consciously or unconsciously – if a jury is looking at defendant in a prison smock.
I have heard prospective jurors make comments during voir dire about a defendant’s appearance, including statements akin to the defendant “looks” guilty. Those prospective jurors were being very honest which was important to the selection process. I have never had a circumstance where an entire group of prospective jurors were negatively influenced by a defendant’s appearance. Several news stories recently reported on such a situation in Las Vegas, Nevada where a 24-year old male, Bayzle Morgan, is on trial for a robbery offense.
In the first attempt to select a jury, the prospective jurors were negatively influenced by the defendant’s tattoos which were prominent around his face and neck. These tattoos included a swastika under his left eye, the word “Baby Nazi” on his neck, a teardrop under his right eye, the words “Most Wanted” on his forehead, the word “skin” over his right eyebrow, the word “head” over his left eyebrow, and an iron cross on the back of his head. An entire panel of prospective jurors recoiled at the nature of these tattoos and told the presiding judge that they could not be fair and impartial based upon the defendant’s appearance.
In order to assure the defendant received an impartial jury, the Las Vegas judge ordered a cosmetologist to come in and cover the tattoos with makeup. It took a two-hour make-up session to get the defendant to point where the offending tattoos were not visible. Based on media reports in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the court and the parties did a test run to assure that the make-up application would work and are now ready to proceed with jury selection and trial in the robbery case. The county will be paying for a cosmetologist to come into court every day while the trial is pending to perform two hours of make-up application to eliminate the potential prejudice that might arise from the offensive tattoos.
This is an extreme example of the steps that must be taken to protect a defendant’s right to a fair trial – even if those steps include protecting the defendant from his or her own poor decisions relative to facial tattoos that generally invoke a negative reaction from prospective jurors.
Prenatal vitamins may not be necessary, study finds.
Jill, 24, came bounding into the pharmacy with good news. “I’m pregnant,” she exclaimed. “What type of prenatal vitamin do you recommend?” she asked the pharmacist.
Ensuring that a woman is well-nourished, both before and during pregnancy, is essential for the health of the woman and the fetus. Maternal deficiency in key nutrients has been linked to pre-eclampsia (characterized by high blood pressure and signs of damage to other organs, often the kidneys), restricted fetal growth, skeletal deformity and low birth weight states, a 2016 British Medical Journal analysis. Nutritional supplements containing vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients are heavily marketed to women for all stages of pregnancy. However, as this British analysis reveals, much of the evidence for supplementation in pregnancy comes from studies carried out in low-income countries, where women are more likely to be undernourished than that of the US population.
However, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends 2 vitamins that women should definitely take before, during and after pregnancy – folic acid and vitamin D. Prior to and during pregnancy, one needs 400 micrograms (or 0.4 mg) of folic acid daily to prevent defects in the baby’s brain and spine called neural tube defects, advises the American College of Obstetrics & Gynecology (ACOG). While many foods contain folic acid, it may be hard to get the recommended amount of folic acid from food alone; hence, a daily supplement that contains folic acid is critical for the baby’s health.
Vitamin D is synthesized when the skin is exposed to sunlight. It is necessary for bone health in that it calcium absorption from the gut. Vitamin D deficiency in infancy has been linked to low levels of maternal vitamin D in pregnancy and may adversely affect infant bone development and tooth enamel formation. ACOG suggests 400 units of vitamin D daily throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding, although higher doses can be used without any adverse effects. Thus, calcium is also important for a pregnant woman. This mineral can help prevent her from losing her own bone density as the baby taps into the mother’s calcium for its own bone growth.
Jill asked whether iron is recommended. Iron is important in pregnancy because maternal anemia can result in increased mortality of both the mother and the fetus. However, NICE concluded in 2014 that iron should not be offered routinely to all pregnant women, as iron tablets can cause stomach irritation and constipation or diarrhea. Instead, pregnant women should be screened for anemia and supplementation considered if indicated.
Vitamin A is important for a baby's embryonic growth, including the development of the heart, lungs, kidneys, eyes, and bones and helps the mom with post-partum healing. However, because it is a fat-soluble vitamin (unlike Bs which are water soluble with the excess being urinated out), the amount of A can build up in the mother’s system increasing the chances of birth defects. Pregnant women must monitor their A intake from all sources during the first 3 months of pregnancy. Forms of vitamin A are found in several foods including animal products, primarily liver, some fortified breakfast cereals, and dietary supplements. Some high potency multivitamins contain over 15,000 units of vitamin A – a pregnant or lactating mom should take no more than 10,000 units a day.
The pharmacist advised Jill that, instead of spending $20 a month on prenatal vitamins, put that money toward healthy foods – fruits, veggies, dairy products.
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.
