Jackson – Dr. Shirey, who for a number of years has successfully practiced medicine in this place, was tendered a farewell surprise party Saturday evening. About 20 persons were present. An enjoyable time was spent in playing games. Light refreshments were served early in the evening and were greatly appreciated by all present. At a late hour, all departed, wishing the doctor continued success in his work. The doctor and family will leave for Dunmore Tuesday.
ALSO The What-so-Ever Circle was entertained at the home of Mrs. Vina Wheaton, Nov. 24th.
Forest City – Patrick O’Hara, one of the best known and most highly respected residents of this place, met death while pursuing his duties as section foreman for the Erie Railroad. He was struck by the “Fiver” while engaged in making repairs to a switch about a mile south of this place. The “Flyer” was running fast, being about ten minutes behind schedule. The fog was dense and the train was almost on Mr. O’Hara before the engineer saw him, too late to avoid the accident. He was thrown down a bank a distance of 15 ft. and when his body was recovered he was lifeless. He was placed aboard and taken to Carbondale’s Undertaker Bell and the remains were prepared for burial and later taken to his home. Patrick O’Hara was born in 1852 in Ardagh County of Limerick, Ireland and came to America at an early age and obtained his first employment on the Erie R.R. at Jersey City and worked on several railroad construction lines, after which he finally returned to the Erie supervising many sections from Jersey City to Chicago. Sent to assist on the Jefferson division locating at Starrucca and later came to Forest City and had resided there from that time until his death. His stories of the pioneering days on the road were highly amusing and instructive as well. A special train took the funeral party to Starrucca where burial was made in St. Paul’s cemetery. [A long list of pallbearers, honorary and active, plus the many fellow employees, family and friends is provided in the obituary plus the tribute paid by Mons. Coffey.]
Thompson – A.D. & H. coal train was wrecked at Starrucca Tuesday morning. Eight cars were derailed. ALSO The Misses Helen Clark and Helen Whitney returned to Mansfield State Normal School, from a brief vacation, Thanksgiving week.
Montrose – The body of Mrs. Joel Lyons, who passed away in Wellsville, N. Y., was brought to Montrose for burial. She was 95 years of age and was born in Otsego county, N. Y. in 1822. Her husband, the late Joel Lyons, was for many years a well-known Montrose merchant, conducting a store on the present site of the Watrous store building on Public Avenue. The Lyons home was formerly the present St. Paul’s rectory [now the home of the Myer family].
ALSO Dr. Ellen E. Mitchell Tent, Daughters of Veterans, has purchased $30.00 worth of yarn from the local Red Cross, and the members of this actively patriotic order are now busy knitting sweaters for our soldier boys.
Susquehanna – One of the worst wrecks in the history of the Erie railroad took place in the yards near Susquehanna at about 1 o’clock yesterday morning. Passenger train 48, going at a speed of 35 miles an hour, crashed into a switch engine and a caboose. The wreckage caught fire and two of the dead were burned and their bodies not recovered. Four of the dead were from Hornell and Elmira, N.Y. and two of the three injured were from Susquehanna and Oakland. It is believed that the passenger train had been switched over from the eastbound track to the westbound track to run around some freight trains. A switch engine was drawing a caboose down the yards to attach to a freight going east, a curve obstructing the view of the engineers in the two locomotives. The passenger engine crashed into the light switch engine, both locomotives were derailed and the baggage car and the caboose were hurled on top of the locomotives. The wreckage caught fire and the Erie auto chemical truck was hastily summoned and soon had the blaze under control.
New Milford – A party of engineers and interested citizens started out from this place Monday to go over the proposed “Lackawanna Trail,” which takes in the abandoned roadbed of the Lackawanna Railroad discarded when the new “cut-off” went into effect. Efforts are being made to have the state take it over as an automobile route, a plan which would seem to be most satisfactory to the traveling public, as it would provide a fine highway between Scranton and Binghamton. [Presently Route 11 going through Hop Bottom and New Milford].
Hallstead – Albert Waterman, last year, had his hen roost raided and ten birds disappeared. The night before Thanksgiving four more birds likewise mysteriously disappeared. This time there was a light fall of snow on the ground, which made good tracking. He followed the tracks along the back streets of Hallstead for three-fourths of a mile, finding feathers from his pet birds scattered along the trail. The tracks led to the domicile of two worthies with past records. Mr. Waterman secured a constable and entering the home they found feathers on the kitchen floor and yellow legged chickens in the pot. At the hearing that followed one was able to secure bail, but the other is now languishing in the county jail
Gelatt – O. C. Wilmot is moving his mill and family to Stearns Lake.
Auburn 4 Corners – We think winter has come as the snow and wind are flowing.
Glenwood – Mrs. Sara Cameron, who was 72 years old November last, is doing her “bit” for the soldiers in service. She has already knit six pairs of socks. Perhaps while knitting her mind traverses the many years that have flown away when her thoughts go back to the sixties when a father and two brothers were called to the colors and fought side by side. A tear of sadness, mixed with pride, falls on the sock in her hand while each stitch she takes her thoughts goes far across the sea to the boys “over there.” We feel that they will be greatly appreciated as knitted garments are much needed this coming winter.
Hop Bottom – The apple evaporator, which has furnished employment to a number of our town people, closed Monday for the season.
Factoryville – Tracy Wright is converting his old garage stand into a shirt factory for a party who will locate there. Factoryville derived its name many years ago from a woolen factory located there. In order to build up the Keystone Academy, the people frowned on attempts to start any business that would call working men to the village, but with property vacant the people are now more willing to welcome those who might like to make their homes there.
News Brief: Help on the farm is scarce. The housewife is overburdened these days. Save your wife’s strength and ward off possible sickness by getting her a kitchen cabinet for Christmas. ALSO Twelve thousand dollars a year “pin money” for the wife of the president of the United Sates or “the first lady of the land” is provided in a fund from the estate of Henry G. Freeman, Jr., a wealthy lawyer, of Philadelphia, who died there recently. The estate is valued at $2,000,000 and upward. “The reason I make this fund,” the will explains, “is because I feel the President of the United States receives such a miserable pittance for a man holding the greatest position on earth.”
Copy of the 200 years ago Centinel for this week is not available.
On January 23, 2012, Ummu Massaquoi was operating her motor vehicle on Caster Avenue, a four-lane road in Philadelphia. Massaquoi struck Thomas Coughlin as he was attempting to cross the roadway near an intersection. In her interview with the police, Massaquoi admitted that she never saw the pedestrian prior to the impact. Coughlin died from his injuries.
Coughlin’s estate filed a wrongful death and survival action against Massaquoi contending that Massaquoi was negligent in the operation of her motor vehicle and that her negligence caused the death of Coughlin. During the course of the litigation, the results from Coughlin’s autopsy were obtained and it was discovered that Coughlin had a blood alcohol content (BAC) level of .313% at the time of the accident. Prior to trial, Coughlin’s estate sought to preclude the introduction of Coughlin’s BAC level contending that there was not sufficient independent evidence to demonstrate Coughlin’s intoxication, i.e., the parties were unable to uncover Coughlin’s whereabouts prior to the accident and could not provide any independent witnesses to describe his demeanor and behavior. Massaquoi contended that her expert testimony was sufficient to provide a basis to introduce the BAC level into evidence, namely, a physician who would testify that someone with a BAC at that level could not safely cross the street. The trial court allowed Coughlin’s BAC level to be admitted. The jury found in favor of Massaquoi and against Coughlin’s estate.
On appeal, Coughlin’s estate argued that the trial court erred in admitting the BAC level into evidence absent independent witnesses to corroborate Coughlin’s intoxication. The Superior Court affirmed the trial court’s decision to admit the evidence, and Coughlin’s estate petitioned for review by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the appeal.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court stated that it had to determine whether a decedent’s BAC level was admissible based solely upon expert testimony as to how such a BAC level would impact upon the “average” pedestrian. In this regard, Coughlin’s estate argued that there was no specific evidence as to how this BAC level impacted upon Coughlin and that the expert witness could only testify generally as to how such a high BAC level would affect the “average” person.
The Supreme Court recognized that the law had never imposed a “heightened evidentiary requirement” for the admissibility of BAC levels provided there was expert evidence to explain to a jury the physiological impact of such a BAC level. While the Supreme Court recognized the prejudice of admitting such a high BAC level into the trial, it also noted that all evidence regarding the consumption of alcohol tended to have a prejudicial impact. Indeed, all relevant evidence tends to be prejudicial to the other party, i.e., the party seeking to introduce it would not be doing so unless it helped the case.
Given that other evidence concerning intoxication is routinely admitted (despite its prejudicial effect) from witnesses who simply observed intoxication, the Supreme Court concluded that scientific evidence as to a specific BAC level was also admissible, provided there was expert testimony that specifically described the effects that the BAC level would have on a pedestrian and opinion testimony that the pedestrian would have been incapable of safely crossing the street. The Supreme Court concluded that “there will not always be witnesses to a car accident or to the parties’ behavior or demeanor leading up to that accident. In such cases, evidence of a pedestrian’s BAC, when combined with expert testimony explaining how the BAC correlates with certain behavior, is particularly valuable, as it is probative of intoxication and, perhaps, unfitness to cross a street.”
How cancer drugs work (in less than 600 words)
Tim went into the pharmacy and said to the pharmacist, “My mom has cancer and she is counting on me to explain how her chemotherapy works, but I do not have a clue.” The pharmacist knew that he had to explain how cancer drugs work in simple terms so that Tim could understand it and relay this complex information to his mom.
First, cancer is a group of about 100 diseases in which cells develop abnormally with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. The patient’s cancer doctor, an oncologist, will choose a drug based on several factors: the patient’s age, the type(s) of cancer and the patient’s general health. All chemotherapy drugs kill cancer cells, though they work in different ways. Generally, all anti-cancer drugs are designed to go after chemical substances within cancer cells and to interfere with the cells’ growth cycles. Some of the drugs damage the cancer cells’ DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). DNA is a molecule that carries the genetic instructions used in the growth, development, functioning, and reproduction of all cells, cancerous or not. It is like your computer’s hard drive which tells your system how to run. Although the chemotherapy drugs kill the cancer cells, they can also damage healthy cells. This is why side effects develop, such as hair loss and mouth sores.
According to the American Cancer Society, chemo drugs are grouped according to how they kill cancer cells. The following 5 groups are important in saving a patient’s life, although not all will be used at one time. For example, alkylating agents keep the cell from reproducing by bombarding its DNA. These drugs are used to treat many different cancers, including cancers of the lung, breast, and ovary as well as leukemia, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and sarcoma. Two commonly used alkylating agents are cisplatin and carboplatin.
Mitotic inhibitors are compounds derived from natural products, such as plants. They work by preventing cancer cells from dividing, and thus stopping the formation of new cells. Mitotic inhibitors are used to treat leukemia, lymphoma, and lung and breast cancers. Examples include vincristine and paclitaxel.
Antimetabolites damage cancer cells by depriving them of the proteins that nourish then, literally starving them to death. They are commonly used to treat the leukemias, cancers of the breast, ovary, and the intestinal tract, as well as other types of cancer. Examples include methotrexate, capecitabine, and 5-fluorouracil.
Anti-tumor antibiotics are not like the antibiotics used to treat infections. They work by damaging cancer cells’ DNA to keep them from growing and multiplying. Examples include doxorubicin and bleomycin.
Topoisomerase inhibitors interfere with enzymes called topoisomerases, which normally help separate the strands of DNA so they can be copied. (Enzymes are proteins that cause chemical reactions in living cells.) Once this enzyme is blocked, the DNA cannot multiply. Topoisomerase inhibitors are used to treat certain leukemias, as well as lung, ovarian, gastrointestinal, and other cancers. Examples include etoposide and irinotecan.
Targeted therapy is one of the newest categories of cancer drugs. These drugs work by homing in on cancer cells and blasting them into oblivion, while preserving the normal cells. Expect side effects to be minimal and survival rates to be higher.
The pharmacist suggested that Tim bring in a list of the drugs his mom will be prescribed so that the pharmacist can better explain their use and how often his mom will receive them.
Ron Gasbarro, PharmD, is a registered pharmacist, medical writer, and principal at Rx-Press.com. Read more at www.rx-press.com.
