Dimock – There will be a Community Supper, Friday evening, Jan 25th, at Community Building, Dimock, for the benefit of the Dimock library. All interested are urged to help in this good cause. Supper, 25 cents; children under 12 years, ten Cents.
Montrose – The first of the “Heatless Mondays” found Montrose in a mood, as a rule, to heartily co-operate in the saving of fuel to assist our government in progressing the war. There were no snarlers—at least we heard of none. The law offices were closed, but many of the lawyers, with important business on hand for the day, made the Court House their headquarters. The stores were closed; as was the newspaper offices. The bar at the Exchange Hotel was closed for the day. The news stand and bowling alley of H. A. Patrick remained open Monday, but banked the fires the following Tuesday. The Beach Mfg. Co.* had a permit to operate its plant, as it is engaged on government work. It seemed to be the opinion of the people here that this action by the fuel administrator was proper, not only for the amount of coal that would be saved, but for bringing very forcibly to the attention of the American people, that we are in a war that calls for sacrifice. *(Beach Mfg. Co. is looking to land a government contract for 400 sawing machines, which will be used in cutting lumber from the forests in France and here, for the building of camps, hangars, etc., for the army. Beach has been engaged in the construction of machines for the allied government for months, shipping considerable numbers to Europe almost weekly.)
Susquehanna – Susquehanna has a Smileage campaign on this week, the proceeds of which are to go to help provide wholesome amusements for our soldiers in the training camps and everyone is expected to help in raising a generous sum for a worthy and important cause.
Forest City – Monday the businessmen formed a “bee” under the supervision of Burgess John Franko and removed the heaps of snow along Main street. Why certainly, Tuesday it snowed. ALSO The Scouts of Forest City are delivering government pamphlets giving America’s reasons for entering the war. ALSO A meeting of the men of St. Joseph parish was held Sunday afternoon to consider the erection of a new church building. It was agreed, in case the St. Agnes society decided to build their church on Main street, that a committee be appointed to obtain the old site of St. Agnes church and erect a new building thereon. It was suggested that St. Joseph church be used for school and other parish purposes. The committee appointed are, Rev. J. Tomsic, Martin Muchitz and Martin Gerchman. It was the largest meeting in the history of the parish and it was the unanimous opinion that the cheaper plan would be the erection of a new house of worship.
Uniondale – The Uniondale Milling company finds it almost impossible to secure grain. On Monday they received a carload of wheat that ought to have been delivered here last September.
Thompson – We noticed in the Uniondale column the account of two ladies who recently walked from there to Forest City, a distance of 6 miles. That was quite a tramp, but Thompson is ahead in that line. Jan. 2, all will remember, was just such zero weather as now and hard walking. On that day Miss Emily Walker, of Jackson street, went to Susquehanna on business and being delayed, was obliged to walk home, a distance of 9 miles or more, after 4 o’clock P.M., arriving home about 7 that evening and she was alone. She earned the right to the name Walker.
Snake Creek – The Snake Creek Telephone Co., a mutual organization, recently increased its annual rental to $7 yearly. Each subscriber owns his phone. The raise was made necessary by increased cost, as well as the planning of improvements to the line the coming year.
Harford – A Paris dispatch comments as follows: “Sergeant Henry Sweet Jones, a member of the Lafayette [Espadrille] Flying Corps, who is also a lieutenant in the aviation reserve of the American army, has been decorated with the War Cross, praising his splendid spirit and admirable daring.” The citation especially mentions his exploit of October 1 last, when he brought down his first German machine and his fight with two German airmen on October 31, in which he put his adversaries to flight. In this latter engagement an explosive bullet grazed the gasoline tank of Jones’ machine. ALSO L. W. Peck is mourning over the loss of his prize rooster, “Pete,” as he found him dead Sunday morning.
Hopbottom – Mrs. Mary Powers, her son, Kenneth, and daughter, Shirley, all of whom have been spending a few months in Newark, N. J., have returned to this, their home town, where they will open the Valley View hotel as a temperance house for public entertainment.
Kingsley – School is closed indefinitely because of a case of scarletina in town.
Gelatt – Some time during last Thursday night someone entered Howard Whitney’s chicken coop and took fifty hens.
Glenwood – Mrs. Sara Cameron has knit 12 pairs of socks for the soldiers and her daughter, Gertrude, also has knit two army sweaters. They have been informed that they were much needed.
Jackson – C. M. Leonard, the hustling proprietor of the “Morning Star Dairy Farm,” has opened a full-fledged milk route between Jackson and Gelatt. Time schedule can be had on application.
Elk Lake – The friends and neighbors of W. J. Young made him a wood bee, he having lost his horse some time ago and they also remembered Mrs. Young at Christmas time, which has been their custom for some years to send her some presents, as she is confined to the house all of the time, and these tokens of friendship she is very thankful for.
200 Years Ago from the Montrose Centinel, January 24, 1818.
*Dissolution of Partnership. The co-partnership heretofore existing between William A. & Torry Whitney was dissolved on the 2nd inst. All persons indebted to said firm by note or book account are requested to pay immediately to William Whitney who continues business at the old stand. WILLIAM A. WHITNEY, TORRY WHITNEY. Harford, Jan. 16, 1818.
*SHERIFF SALE. By virtue of a writ of Fieri Facias, issued out of the Court of Common Pleas of Susquehanna County to me directed will be exposed to sale at the house of George W. Lane in Springville township on Friday the 30th day of January instant at 10 o’clock in the forenoon, one horse, one sleigh, and two tons of hay, seized and taken as the property of George W. Lane. AUSTIN HOWELL, Sh’ff. Sheriff’s Office, Montrose, Jan. 16, 1818.
*FIRE PROOF. On Thursday the 5th of February next, the Commissioners of Susquehanna County will contract for building Fire Proof offices at Montrose with such person as shall offer the best terms and give good security for the performance. The Plan may be examined at that time or on any day previous by calling at the Commissioners’ office. By order of the Commissioners, A.H. READ, Cl’k.
Spiro Kote was employed by a Chinese Restaurant in Philadelphia as a deliveryman. In January 2014, an order was phoned into the restaurant for a delivery at 6298 Kindred Street. When Kote arrived at the location, he knocked on the door and was admitted inside the residence. Thereafter, Kote was shot multiple times in the chest by an unknown assailant and Kote suffered serious bodily injuries.
This particular residential property was owned by the Bank of New York Mellon, which had acquired it through a foreclosure proceeding. As far as the Bank knew, it was a vacant property. The Bank hired a realtor to sell the property as well as a security company to provide regular inspections to assure that the property was secure and undamaged. Kote filed a civil complaint against the Bank, the realtor and the security company contending that they failed to keep the property safe and that this failure resulted in the shooting and his injuries.
The trial court dismissed Kote’s complaint and Kote appealed to the Superior Court. While the Superior Court noted that the failure to properly secure and maintain a property could potentially result in a property owner being liable to third parties, the facts of this case were insufficient to impose such liability. There was nothing about the care or control of the building itself that led to Kote’s injuries. Instead, Kote was injured through the intentional and criminal acts of a third party – not as a result of any negligence of the Bank or its property caretakers.
As to Kote’s suggestion that the Bank failed to make the property reasonably safe for visitors, the Superior Court again noted that there was no disrepair to the property that led to Kote’s injuries. Kote alleged that the Bank failed to properly lock all of the windows and doors to the property and this failure allowed the perpetrators access to the home to set up the ambush. Even assuming that Bank had failed to properly secure the resident, the Superior Court concluded that it simply was not reasonably foreseeable that the property would be used to stage a shooting ambush of Kote. If the Bank could not foresee that Kote would have been shot because they failed to lock a door, the Bank could not have been negligent for failing to do so.
Kote argued further that the residence was located in a high crime area that should have placed the Bank on notice of the potential for a vacant home to be utilized for a criminal enterprise, i.e., the Bank should have foresaw the incident that caused his injuries and taken steps to properly secure the residence. The Superior Court concluded that “generic allegations that violent crimes occur throughout Philadelphia and even in a particular neighborhood are not sufficient to establish that any negligence” was committed by the Bank or its agents. Kote’s injuries were caused by the intentional acts of third parties unrelated to the Bank. There were no allegations that the Bank had any connection to these criminals, had any knowledge that the criminals were utilizing the foreclosed property, or that the Bank had any reason to believe that the real property would have been utilized in this manner. A possessor of real property is not an insurer of the safety of visitors to the real property from the conduct of a third person “until he knows or has reason to know that the acts of the third person are occurring or about to occur” on the real property.
The Superior Court affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of Kote’s complaint and his attempt to hold the Bank liable for his injuries was unsuccessful.
The Dimple Maker and other odd medical products
Joe was in the pharmacy and went up to the pharmacist looking quizzical. “What the heck are these?” Joe asked. “They are Handerpants. Underpants for your hands. I suppose they are for people who wear gloves and want another layer of something,” replied the pharmacist trying to sound convincing. “Have you sold any?” asked Joe. “No, just a lot of questions and funny looks,” said the pharmacist. “The salesman said they would be the greatest thing since yoga pants and lubricated condoms.”
As H. L. Mencken famously said, “You will never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” Perhaps, that was the intent of Isabella Gilbert, who hailed from Rochester NY, when she developed the Dimple Maker in 1936. Dimples were desirous and people envied screen actors who had them, whether it was Shirley Temple or Clark Gable. To produce the desired indentations, this metal device was worn over the cheeks while two knobs pressed into the jowls. One would do this for 5 minutes 2 or 3 times a day. The American Medical Association argued that the “Dimple Maker” would not make dimples or even enlarge natural dimples. They also stated that prolonged use of the device may actually cause cancer, although the AMA never specified what type of cancer.
The Birthing Centrifuge, patented in 1965, was intended to make childbirth easier on mothers. The idea was for the woman to lie on a large disc. The disc would be spun allowing the centrifugal force of the rotation to pull the baby out of the birth canal. You would need a nurse with a big catcher’s mitt to stop the baby from slamming into the wall or before the umbilical cord snaps the kid right back into the womb.
Another invention that aimed to put centrifugal force to good use was the Old Age Rejuvenator Centrifuge that won its patent in 1935. This machine was designed around the theory that if the person experienced less pressure from gravity, the aging process could be slowed. The person would lie on a large disc with his head positioned outward toward the rim of a large disc. Spinning would commence. There were no comments as to how long or how often one would need to be spun to defy aging.
The 1988 Braces Alarm was a Pavlovian-inspired apparatus that was essentially a timer placed in an orthodontic patient’s mouthpiece. It would sound a piercing alarm to remind the patient to wear his headgear. The headgear would be equipped with a magnet that would turn off the alarm when put on. Basically, it was a tossup between crooked teeth and going deaf. The alarm was intended to be sufficiently irritating and embarrassing to cause the person to prefer wearing the headgear over hearing an ear-piercing siren. Unsurprisingly, humanity passed on it.
The Relax-A-Cisor was introduced in 1949. This gizmo was straight out of a death row movie. Pads with electrodes were attached to the person’s muscles which were given jolts of electricity to “exercise” the muscles while one peacefully reads or watches TV. It was taken off the market in the 1970’s when users started experiencing abnormal heart rhythms, miscarriages, aggravated hernias, and seizures.
Undeterred by the pharmacist’s recounts of these crazy medical products, Joe said to the pharmacist, “I think I will buy these Handerpants. They are just what my mother needs. She wears gloves to church.”
Ron Gasbarro, PharmD, is a registered pharmacist, medical writer, and principal at Rx-Press.com. Read more at www.rx-press.com
