Springville – My daughter, Lila, has run away from home.  She left a week ago last Thursday night.  Her age is 16 years; height about 5 feet; wore brown checkered boy’s cap; blue woolen suit, white stockings, tan slippers, nose glasses with ear chain.  I learn that she now goes under the name of Lila Dimon.  Anyone knowing her whereabouts please inform the undersigned, her father.  A. A. Springer, Springville.

Montrose – A most serious fire visited Montrose when the machine shop of the Beach Manufacturing Co., and the Jeffers grist mill, operated by F. S. Andre and W. B. Sweet, were both destroyed.  The estimated loss is from $60 to $70,000 dollars.  Charles Wood discovered the fire at about 2:15 am after making his rounds in what was formerly the boiler room and in which was located a steam heating plant lately installed. This room was in the southwestern end of the plant, separated only by a wooden partition from the grist mill, the basement of which was filled with buckwheat hulls and with a breeze blowing in that direction it made excellent fuel for the flames.  The wood buildings, erected some years ago, burned fiercely.  An alarm was given and by the time assistance arrived the building seemed doomed, the flames throwing a glare against the sky which could be seen for miles.  The firemen had three streams of water placed on the fire and surrounding buildings, the tenant house of W. C. Cox, the Lackawanna station,

H.M. Cole’s garage and auto sales rooms, the barn of Edgar Turrell and residences of C. L. VanScoten and R. D. Cruser, all being in the fire zone.  Cinders, the size of a man’s fist, circled high in the air, landing on some homes on Lake Avenue.  The great loss to the McKeage brothers is the machinery, which will be a total loss.  Work will begin immediately to rebuild the plant. Henry L. Beach was the inventor and patentee of the Beach sawing machines and started the plant here about 40 years ago.  He was succeeded by his son, Harry, of Evanston, Ill. and about 8 years ago the McKeage brothers purchased the plant.  Machines are sent all over the world and since the war started they have been sending many to France, Japan, Korea, China, Australia, Philippine Islands—and to practically all countries in the globe.

Jackson – W. H. Estabrook, who died at his home in Gibson, Nov. 17, was born in West Jackson and resided here many years.  He was a veteran of the Civil War and a member of Myron French Post, G. A. R., of Jackson. [Willard H. Estabrook, Pvt. Co. I, 28th PA Infantry.  Discharged June 1865.]

Harmony Township – Clarence Bailey, a farmer of this place, about 4 in the afternoon, missed two horses and an open buggy that he had driven to town and left in front of Hotel Lorraine in Susquehanna.  He heard that the team had departed in the direction of Binghamton in the custody of a stranger.  Bailey got in an automobile at Stead’s garage and with John Stead, W. H. Ryan and Frank McElwee, they gave chase.  The thief, John MacDonald, and team, were overhauled near Hickory Grove, the horses going at a run.  Bailey leaped from the speeding car as it came alongside the buggy and landed in the vehicle with MacDonald.  A crack from Bailey’s fist took all the fight out of MacDonald and early in the game he surrendered.  When the procession reached Susquehanna MacDonald was locked up in the borough jail and a charge of horse stealing was placed against him. MacDonald, who is about 30 years old, blew into town from nowhere in particular on Wednesday and nothing is known of him.

Forest City – The following births occurred recently: to Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Slick, a daughter; to Mr. and Mrs. V. W. Yanochco, a daughter; to Mr. and Mrs. Frank Oakley, Nov. 9, a son; to Mr. and Mrs. George Hornbeck, Nov. 7, a son; to Mr. and Mrs. Alfred T. Black, of Jersey City (nee Miss Estella Kelsey, formerly of Forest City), Nov. 7, a daughter.

Northeastern Susquehanna County – Miss Ruth Law, 25, made a new record for flying between Chicago and New York the first of the week. Miss Law started out Sunday morning and flew without stopping to Hornell, N. Y., where she was obliged to stop for gasoline.  She then flew to Binghamton, arriving at 4:45 and as she realized she could not complete the trip to New York before dark, remained in that city until morning, when in a couple of hours she landed on Manhattan.  She now holds the American non-stop record of 590 miles.  She plans to make a trip across the continent from coast to coast with three stops.  Miss Law was seen in her flight by residents of the northern part of the county, many Susquehanna people getting a brief glimpse of the daring aviatrix as she swept by flying high.

Kingsley – The school wagon, which takes the children to the Kingsley school, is driven by Mr. Ingates. ALSO Grace Sisco was home last week and seriously ill with an attack of appendicitis.  She was attended by Dr. Taylor and cured by the ice treatment. ALSO Louise, the little daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Wilmarth, who was very ill with acute indigestion last week, is much improved.  Simple rhubarb cordial did the work.

Lynn – W. B. Fish is digging a well some distance above his house for the purpose of running water to his house and barn, which will be a great improvement.

Thompson – When our people heard the M. E. church bell ring last Sunday morning a few minutes ahead of time they supposed their time must be a trifle slow, but when they heard Borden’s whistle they knew something out of the ordinary was happening, and soon learned that the M. E. Church was on fire. The exchange gave the general call and in a very short time a large congregation had assembled, coming in autos, wagons and on foot, bringing chemicals, hose, pails, etc.  As a result of their promptness and activity the fire was soon extinguished.  It is thought the fire caught from the furnace.

Kingsley – The road commissioners of Harford and Brooklyn are again toggling up the Kingsley bridge, which is already a disgrace to our town.  We should have a county bridge and hope we have viewers appointed who will dare spend a little money in this town.

West Auburn – It is reported that the schoolhouse coal is being stolen, and that the guilty party is known.

200 Years Ago from the Centinel, Montrose, PA, November 25, 1816.

*MARRIED – In this township [Bridgewater] on Thursday last, by the Rev. D. [Davis] Dimock, Mr. William Mead, Merchant of Baltimore, to Miss Mary Stephens, daughter of Capt. Jarah Stephens, of this township [Bridgewater].

* RUM, TO BE SOLD Cheaper than it ever was yet sold in this Village! Herrick & Fordham, Montrose, Will draw one Hogshead of RUM on Monday and Tuesday the 2d and 3d of December next, (next week) for nine shillings New York Bills, pr. Gallon, or 10 shillings Philadelphia, and 11 shillings if paid in interior bills.  ALL who wish to purchase will do well to call on the above days, as the price will rise immediately after. 

*WHEELS. The subscriber carries on the business of WHEEL MAKING, in the township of Harford, where persons wishing to procure Wheels either for wool or flax can accommodate themselves by calling, as he keeps a constant supply of his work on hand.  All orders will be punctually attended to and all favors acknowledged. NATHANIEL V. TRUESDELL, Harford.

Thanksgiving is not only a national holiday, but it is a holiday that the several justices of the United States Supreme Court have recognized has strong, historical significance in the foundation of this Nation.  In Lynch v. Donnelly (1984), in writing for the majority of the Court, Chief Justice Burger recognized the historical backdrop for the Thanksgiving holiday: “Our history is replete with official references to the value and invocation of Divine guidance in deliberations and pronouncements of the Founding Fathers and contemporary leaders.  Beginning in the early colonial period long before Independence, a day of Thanksgiving was celebrated as a religious holiday to give thanks for the bounties of Nature as gifts from God.  President Washington and his successors proclaimed Thanksgiving, with all its religious overtones, a day of national celebration and Congress made it a National Holiday more than a century ago.  That holiday has not lost its theme of expressing thanks for Divine aid any more than Christmas has lost its religious significance.”

In Lee v. Weisman (1992), in a dissenting opinion, Justice Scalia also recounted the historical roots of the national Thanksgiving celebration: “The history and tradition of our Nation are replete with public ceremonies featuring prayers of thanksgiving and petition.”  Justice Scalia noted that “the day after the First Amendment was proposed, Congress urged President Washington to proclaim ‘a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God.’”  In response to this Congressional request, President Washington issued the first thanksgiving proclamation for the newly formed United States of America.  Justice Scalia stated that this “tradition of Thanksgiving Proclamations – with their religious theme of prayerful gratitude to God – has been adhered to by almost every President.”

In County of Allegheny v. ACLU (1989), in a dissenting opinion, Justice Kennedy also recognized the historical roots of Thanksgiving: “Since the Founding of our Republic, American Presidents have issued Thanksgiving Proclamations establishing a national day of celebration and prayer.  The first such proclamation was issued by President Washington at the request of the First Congress, and ‘recommended and assigned’ a day ‘to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficient author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be,’ so that ‘we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to . . . promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue. . . .” 

Justice Kennedy also opined that most Presidents have followed suit in recognizing the religious nature of Thanksgiving Day with some going further than others in their invocation religious thankfulness: “President Franklin D. Roosevelt went so far as to ‘suggest a nationwide reading of the Holy Scripture during the period from Thanksgiving Day to Christmas’ so that ‘we may bear more earnest witness to our gratitude to Almighty God.’”  Justice Kennedy conceded: “It requires little imagination to conclude that these proclamations would cause nonadherents to feel excluded, yet they have been a part of our national heritage from the beginning.”

As we spend Thanksgiving this year with family and friends, we become part of this national history that dates not only to President Washington’s first official proclamation but even beyond to a colonial tradition of thankful celebrations.  Happy Thanksgiving.

“Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude.” ~E.P. Powell

Within the last month, we have lost an author who has touched the hearts of countless children and their parents—Anna Dewdney. Perhaps the name doesn’t ring a familiar bell, but her 20+ “Llama, Llama” books do.  Anna was a passionate advocate for children’s literacy. She knew the majority of children could read her books on their own, but there was something about the trials and tribulations of the Llama family that stirred imaginations and came “Alive” when they were experienced together with a parent or a special loved one. The pictures have made us laugh, and we could relate to the first school day jitters, the bedtime tirades, but moreover, Anna wrote for both children and their parents. Like looking in a mirror, mothers could see themselves in Mama Llama and knew that they weren’t alone with their frustrations, bewilderment and feelings of inadequacy.  She created a solid bridge between parent and child. As she has often said, “It can be stressful to be a little person, and children get anxious. They need help to understand that the world is not such a scary place and they’re not alone. And that’s what my books are about-- people love you and they will help you”. Perhaps that’s why she ended nearly every one of her Llama, Llama books with a hug and a kiss and a reminder of how much we are loved. It should come as no surprise that instead of a funeral, Dewdney asked people to take some time out of their busy lives to read to a child, figuring it a way to continue the work she had begun with her stories. Your local library location has many of author Dewdney’s works, including “Llama, Llama Jingle Bells”, “Llama, Llama and the Bully Goat”, “Llama, Llama Time to Share”, and “Llama, Llama Home with Mama”, among others. Please, take some time during this upcoming holiday season to visit your local library location and pick out some of the above titles and share some special time with your wee-ones. It will be a gift that both of you will never forget.

The Fall Pottery and Art Sale is fast approaching and whether you’re buying that perfect gift for others on your list or something special for yourself, there are sure to be items that will suit everyone’s taste. The event will be held at the Montrose VFW, 16972 State Route 706, Montrose, Pa. Cash, Checks or Charge Cards will be accepted. This sale will start on Wednesday, November 23rd, from 10:00 AM  until 4:00 PM and continue on Friday, November 25th, and Saturday, November 26th—same hours as Wednesday and will conclude on Sunday, November 27th from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. In addition, a “Used Book Sale” will be held at the same time and same location. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Susquehanna County Historical Society and Free Library Association. Please plan to attend and help us to provide the programs and services that you and your family have come to enjoy.

As I mulch tender plants in preparation for winter, I leave you with this thought:

“Remember God's bounty in the year. String the pearls of His favor. Hide the dark parts, except so far as they are breaking out in light! Give this one day to thanks, to joy, to gratitude!” ~Henry Ward Beecher. Family, Turkey Wishbones, Togetherness.

ENJOY!

Thank You, to all of the Readers of this Column.

Is it midnight? No, it’s 5PM

Liz came into the pharmacy and said to the pharmacist, “Gosh, it’s as black as midnight out there.” The pharmacist looked at his watch and noted that it was only 5PM. But it is that time of year when the sun sets very early, leaving the population in early evening darkness for months. While it is an inconvenience for some, it can be crippling for others.  Seasonal affective disorder, fittingly shortened to SAD, is a type of depression that's related to changes in seasons, particularly as fall becomes winter. Like most people with SAD, the condition saps energy and stirs up moodiness.

According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, about 20% of people have this type of winter depression, ranging from mild to severe. SAD is 4 times more common in women than in men. Although some children and teenagers get SAD, it usually does not start in people younger than age 20. SAD is also more common the farther north you go. For example, it's 7 times more common in Washington State than in Florida. Having clinical depression or bipolar disorder may make these conditions worse. 

One should take signs and symptoms of SAD seriously. Typical signs include a change in appetite, especially a craving for sweet or starchy foods, weight gain, a heavy feeling in the arms or legs, a drop in energy level, fatigue, a tendency to oversleep, difficulty concentrating, irritability, increased sensitivity to social rejection, and avoidance of social situations—not wanting to go out. As with other types of depression, SAD can get worse and lead to problems if not treated. These can include suicidal thoughts or behavior, social withdrawal, school or work problems, and substance abuse. Treatment can help prevent complications, especially if SAD is diagnosed and treated before symptoms worsen.

Since winter depression is probably caused by a lack of sunlight, light therapy (or phototherapy) is one way to treat SAD. In light therapy, the patient sits each day in front of a special light. Generally, light therapy takes about 30 minutes a day in the fall and winter, when SAD is most prevalent. If light therapy helps, keep using it until more sun is available in the springtime. Stopping light therapy too soon can make the symptoms return. Tanning beds should not be used to treat SAD. The light sources in these beds are high in ultraviolet rays, which harm the eyes and skin.

Certain antidepressants may help if phototherapy is not working. If the patient has a history of SAD, remember that antidepressants can take several weeks to kick in. That is why a prescriber may start drug therapy a few weeks before SAD typically starts. Ask your pharmacist about light therapy and the medications sometimes used for SAD.

Another option is psychotherapy. While a psychologist cannot prescribe drugs, he can assess your situation and recommend a doctor who can. Otherwise, a psychologist can help to identify and change negative thoughts and behaviors that may be make one feel worse, to learn healthy ways in coping with SAD, and how to manage stress.

While Liz admitted that she did not suffer from SAD, her neighbor does. Liz says she would not see her for weeks at a time during the winter. But Liz will pass along this information to her neighbor to make her aware of her options.

Ron Gasbarro, PharmD is a registered pharmacist, medical writer, and principal at Rx-Press.com. Visit him at www.rx-press.com.

What do most people seek? Is it not “the good life?” But just what constitutes “the good life?” Plato wrote about a core of fundamental issues that thoughtful people use to answer this question. Those issues might best be reduced to four categories of investigation: The True, The Beautiful, The Good, and The Eternal. What is True (knowledge)? What is Beautiful (aesthetic)? What is Good (ethical)? What is Eternal (religious)?

How one answers these four questions is essential to how one resolves what constitutes “the good life.” However one answers each question, it must be acknowledged that answers cannot be formulated in isolation. How one answers one question carries implications and insinuates how one answers the others, and ultimately how an individual sees himself, the world that surrounds him, his actions, and the Creator who made this entire exercise possible.

Entire books have been written about these questions. Opinions vary. I would suggest the Scriptures as a starting point to answer them. Because this column must necessarily be limited in focus, I wish to zero in on the nature of man and how the Bible answers that. After the fall of Adam, man's nature is hopelessly flawed. The book of Jeremiah (Chapter 17, verse 9) states, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

Amazingly, many people—including people who really ought to know better—willfully deny this truth. Denial of reality abounds. To disprove the theory that men are inherently good—not evil—one need only take note of man's default tendency: to err. And much to the chagrin of even the best “good” man, the perpetual tendency to act to one's own advantage—and to the disadvantage of others, no matter how pure one's alleged motives—belies man's flawed nature. Contrary to progressive theories, the nature of man never changes. External circumstances, including technology, may improve—often dramatically so—but man's nature never improves through the march of time.

I note man's natural and inherent state of badness (since The Fall) for a reason. An accurate understanding of man's nature is essential to understanding our government, and its differentiation from those established by all other earthly countries. Unlike all other countries, which have been founded on the basis of common language, geography, or religion, America was uniquely founded on the basis of a proposition. And much to the consternation and astonishment of many people, including a large segment of American voters, our form of government is NOT a “democracy.” One may search every line of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, yet nowhere is the word democracy used.

Instead, America is a Constitutional Republic with attributes of both a federal and national nature, though chiefly federal. Not only is our federal government Republican in Form, but Article IV, Section 4 states, “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government…” In establishing a Constitutional Republic, the Framers of the Constitution—nearly all God-fearing and Christian (NOT deists and atheists as phony historians would have you believe)—rejected explicitly and purposely a system of government known as “democracy.”

Previously mentioned is America's uniqueness. That uniqueness originated with the Founders' and the Framers' accurate understanding of man's flawed (sinful) nature and his propensity for “ambition” (used in the sense of badness). While the Founders and Framers did understand the ultimate source of rights to be “the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God,” and it was for this reason that Government is instituted among men, they also understood that in their design of government ambition must be made to counteract ambition. Federalist No. 51, written by James Madison, explains how the Constitution's Framers used that knowledge in wisely designing our federal government. “[G]overnment… is the greatest of all reflections on human nature. If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.”

Auxiliary precautions—what were they? Firstly, delegated powers in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution were enumerated for the federal government to perform; those not enumerated were reserved for the States or “We the People.” Secondly, the House of Representatives, Senate, President, and Supreme Court were assigned specific roles—as security against the gradual concentration and consolidation of power, and so that each might resist the encroachments of the others. Thirdly, the Constitution provided two methods for the process of its amendment in Article V, the first originating in Congress, and the second originating by application of the States.

The fourth “auxiliary precaution” was the varied method of selection of officers to operate the federal government. Members of the House of Representatives are chosen directly by “We the People” in our individual Congressional districts by majority vote election. Members of the Senate WERE chosen by the State legislatures (until this provision was foolishly voided by passage of the 17th Amendment in 1913) to protect the interests of the States from encroachment by the federal government. The members of the Supreme Court were and are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. The President was and is chosen INDIRECTLY by the voters of the several States through an intermediate body of electors.

That “intermediate body of electors” we know as the Electoral College. It is this self-same auxiliary precaution which in the present day is being demonized by political factions which have little to no regard for our Republican Form of Government. Article II, Section 1, and the 12th Amendment prescribe the method by which the nation's Chief Executive is chosen. Any reader may note that there exists no provision for the election of president by national popular vote.

The current shrill call by a class of ill-informed mobs for elimination of the Electoral College is asserted as a call-to-arms for “equality.” It is, in fact, nothing of the kind. As James Madison wrote in Federalist No. 48, “An ELECTIVE DESPOTISM was not the government we fought for.” What Madison understood was that a temporary majority might well be whipped into a frenzy—effectively manipulated to PASSION at the exclusion of measured REASON—so as to elect a demagogue. Under such conditions a temporary or regional TYRANNY OF THE MAJORITY might arise to persecute those not stampeded by inflamed emotions.

In Federalist No. 51 Madison writes, “It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of the society against other classes of citizens. If a majority be united by a common interest, the rights of the minority will be insecure. There are but two methods of providing against this evil: the one by creating a will in the community independent of the majority that is, of the society itself; the other, by comprehending in the society so many separate descriptions of citizens as will render an unjust combination of a majority of the whole very improbable, if not impracticable... Th[is] second method will be exemplified in the federal republic of the United States. Whilst all authority in it will be derived from and dependent on the society, the society itself will be broken into so many parts, interests, and classes of citizens, that the rights of individuals, or of the minority, will be in little danger from interested combinations of the majority. In a free government the security for civil rights must be the same as that for religious rights. It consists in the one case in the multiplicity of interests, and in the other in the multiplicity of sects.”

Madison continues, “Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit. In a society under the forms of which the stronger faction can readily unite and oppress the weaker, anarchy may as truly be said to reign in a state of nature, where the weaker individual is not secured against the violence of the stronger; as, in the latter state, even the stronger individuals are prompted, by the uncertainty of their condition, to submit to a government which may protect the weak as well as themselves; so, in the former state will be the more powerful factions or parties be gradually induced, by a like motive, to wish for a government which will protect all parties, the weaker as well as the more powerful.”

Madison's end goal—a government which will protect all parties, the weaker as well as the more powerful—dominated the thinking of America's Founders and Framers. Protecting the weak from abuse by the powerful still makes sense to most Americans today. To that end, the Electoral College continues to make sense to all who refuse to be stampeded into emotionally charged arguments that a national popular vote (majoritarian rule) should govern election of our nation's Chief Executive.

Professor Edward J. Erler has succinctly noted, “The rule of law—the rule of reason—requires limited government because human reason itself is limited. It is this recognition of both the limits of politics and limits of the human condition that furnishes the grounds for prudence in limited government.” Pure democracy is an unthinking mobocracy; it recognizes no restraint on the human condition stemming from the principles of human nature. Prudence plays no role where democracy (mob rule) governs every power-center of government. Contrary to popular reference materials, there is nothing inherently tolerant about democracy. Democracy may at various times be either tolerant or intolerant—or both at the same time, although varying as concerning assorted issues.

The election of America's President by national popular vote would advance the trend of elevating the imminent over the transcendent. Passage of the 17th Amendment—direct election of U.S. Senators by majoritarian vote—was the first step in corrupting the design of the Constitution's Framers. It silenced the voice of state legislatures in federal government, and ultimately made Senators less—not more—accountable for their actions. Disabling the Electoral College by replacing it with national popular vote would effectively destroy a unique safety feature of American federalism.

The True, The Good, The Beautiful, and The Eternal are essential components of “The Good Life.” Each individual answers for himself what is “The Good Life.” Mobocracy offers the individual no effective and enduring protection of exercising his rights so that he might enjoy the full benefit of “The Good Life.” Effective and enduring individual rights can exist (in this world) only in a Republican Form of Government, and only with government's recognition of man's true nature and government's limited role in man's life. It would be well for our institutions of learning, news media, and statesmen to inform the public as to our Constitution's truly remarkable safeguards for Liberty. American Exceptionalism is a badge of honor, not an epithet. Our Republican Form of Government would be destroyed by the indolent, the ignorant, and the ignominious were it not for our forefathers' steadfastness thus far. Let us give thanks for God's blessing of America “with Liberty and Justice for all.”