Susquehanna – Two U. S. troop trains stopped at this place for a short time.  The trains were enroute from the west to the seaboard and carried a full regiment of soldiers. One train was from Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and the soldiers aboard marched for a short time on Main street, it being the first they had been off the cars for four days, and a little exercise seemed very welcome to them.  They looked rugged and in first-class condition. ALSO Even if all our young men are called to the firing line, the home will still be defended by the women.  We had evidence of what the gentler sex can do with firearms.  A marauding crow developed a fondness for baby chicks at A. k. Loomis' farm.  The son of that household is serving Uncle Sam, but a daughter, Miss Georgia Loomis, armed herself with a gun, went after Mr. Crow and got him with the first shot.

Lynn, Springville Twp. – Several from this place are taking treatments from the Indian lady doctor, who comes to Tunkhannock every two weeks.

West Auburn – Supervisor, J. W. Sims is doing some much needed work on our roads.  The law forbidding the supervisor to use his own team in work on the roads is proving a great handicap, it being almost impossible to hire teams of the farmers at times. (At last meeting of county supervisors the law was construed as not to apply literally.)

Montrose – Electrician H. A. Lyons has just completed wiring the "Homestead Inn" for the Bible Conference Association.  Mr. Lyons has also lately wired Edgar A. Turrell's residence on Maple street for electric lights. ALSO Mrs. Mary Dennis, of Wilkes-Barre, will lecture at the Library, May 22, at 7:30 o'clock.  Subject: "Race Betterment."  The colored people will render several songs.  A silver offering will be taken at the door. [Mary Dennis was the wife of Sumner Dennis, the great-great-great grandson of Prince Perkins and his wife Judith, free African-Americans who moved to northeastern Pennsylvania from Connecticut in 1793. The land is now part of the Dennis Farm Charitable Land Trust in Brooklyn Township.]

Brackney – Mother's Day will be observed at the Silver Lake Presbyterian church at 11 o'clock.  The general subject will be "The Christian Home" and those who attend are requested to bring choice thoughts in prose or verse, showing the glory of the Christian life in the home. Rev. E. P. Essick, who lately assumed the pastorate of the church, was a caller in Montrose on Tuesday.  Mr. Essick is a gentleman whom it is a delight to meet and converse with.  He is a graduate of Princeton University and his learning and a scholastic career have but served to bring him in closer touch with the common people.  That he is the type of the real pastor is indicated by his walking both ways from the lake, covering the distance of over 20 miles the same day.

Brooklyn – During the severe thunder storm Sunday night, the home of Ernest King, near Brooklyn, was struck by lightning and burned.  The bolt struck a wire clothesline and set fire to the house. Mrs. King and her little daughter were alone in the house, her husband being employed in Endicott.  She dressed herself and child and was able to save some clothing and a small amount of furniture.  Her purse containing about $25, silverware and the entire furnishings of the home were burned.  There was no insurance. A motorman on the S. & B. trolley saw the flames bursting from the building and notified all the people along the line, but although neighbors hurried to the fire they could accomplish little.  The farm is known as the J. W. Reynolds property.  Mrs. King is a daughter of the deceased.  The building, which is a 1½ story structure, was an old landmark on the road between Montrose and Brooklyn, and was erected by Samuel Reynolds about 100 years ago.

Franklin Twp. – Stephen Augustus Smith, who died in a fire at his home, March 2nd, 1918, enlisted on the 23d day of September, 1862, in the 151st Regiment, Co. C, Pennsylvania Volunteers and was discharged on the 27th day of July, 1863. He served his country faithfully and well. He was with us at Chancellorsville and with us raced with Lee at Gettysburg from White Oak Church, Virginia, he being in the first army corps under General Reynolds, and we were able to overtake Lee by hard marching in Gettysburg, so he was obliged to fight us on that historic battleground.  No better soldier ever shouldered a gun in defense of his country.  He was duty sergeant of Co. C.  Some of our people seem to forget the deeds of patriotism of the men who gave their services to their country in 1862 to 1865.  They seem to forget that 1500 men enlisted from old Susquehanna county; they think this war as draining the country dry, but wait until they get a quarter of the quota.  But us old fellows are glad that the government is able to give the boys of today something besides hard tack and pork for rations, and I tell you we are somewhat jealous of their stunning uniforms and know that they will nobly defend the country and flag and the honor of their sires.  We old soldiers of the past are fast being conscripted to that vast army up yonder, where there shall be no more wars or rumors of wars.  From a Comrade in the same company with Comrade Smith.

Great Bend – While at her duties in the West Side Grocery Store, recently, Miss Loretta Donovan, of this place, fell down the cellar stairs breaking two bones in her right foot, besides receiving a general shake-up to the whole system.

Thompson – Miss Daisy Scheuer, who was born and reared in this place, is now a trained nurse with the American hospital forces in France. She writes that she is in a beautiful spot among the mountains close enough to hear the guns every day.  They have six hospitals and can take care of about 1800 patients. This used to be a summer resort and they are using the vacant hotel buildings, two of them being for French or allies and they are mighty glad to see American nurses.

Forest City – Committees of the two Forest City hose companies have been in conference with the idea of creating a local fire department with a fire chief who will have charge over all companies at local fires.  A very good idea.

Clifford – A stock company has been formed by Clifford township farmers to engage in the manufacture of cheese. The company has purchased the skimming station at Elkdale and is erecting an addition to the building and expect to have it completed so as to be ready to receive milk before the flush comes.

Uniondale – On Memorial Sunday members of Mathew McPherson Post G. A. R., will attend the morning service in the M. E. church. The members will also meet next Saturday to make arrangements for the proper observance of Memorial Day which takes place 2 weeks from today.  If the weather will permit the exercises will be held in the open.  If not in the Methodist church.

200 Years Ago Today from the Montrose Gazette, Saturday, May 16, 1818.

*ANOTHER RUNAWAY. Stephen M. Rodman, of Rush township, in this county, has absconded to Ohio indebted to me for papers.  I caution all printers from being cheated by this rascal as I have been.  It has become very fashionable for persons indebted to make Ohio trips; but all persons indebted to me had better pay me off before they start or their characters shall follow them. [The editor]

*NOTICE. Whereas John Doolittle, my son, aged eighteen years, absconded on Monday last: These are therefore to forbid all persons harboring or trusting him under the penalty of the law. DAVID DOOLITTLE. Bridgewater, April 15, 1818.

*BORROWED BOOKS. Persons who have borrowed books of the subscriber are requested to return them as soon as possible and receive his thanks. DAVIS DIMOCK. May 2, 1818

*FOR SALE. The subscriber will sell the Farm on which he now lives, in Middletown township, lying on the Milford and Owego turnpike, containing 150 acres, 40 of which are under improvement, with a log house and two barns, one of which is a frame well covered. Said farm is well adapted to grain or grazing.  Terms will be made easy. CHARLES LINCOLN. Middletown, May 14, 1818.

Under the Barber License Law, Pennsylvania has a Board of Barber Examiners which issues licenses and oversees barbers throughout the Commonwealth.  Marvin Fulton was issued a barber license by the Board in 1985 and thereafter obtained a license to be a barber manager in 1992.  Thereafter, Fulton was convicted of a felony drug offense in 1996 which resulted in his barber manager license being placed on a period of probation, which Fulton successfully completed.  In 2003, Fulton was issued a barber shop license.

In 2009, Fulton was again convicted of two felony drug offenses as a result of Fulton selling cocaine.  He was sentenced to a period of incarceration of 7 to 20 years.  As a result of these convictions, the Board revoked all of Fulton's licenses (barber, barber manager, and barber shop).

In 2016 at the age of 58, Fulton was paroled and promptly applied to the Board to reinstate his barber manager license.  The Board conducted a hearing to determine whether to permit reinstatement of the barber license.  Fulton admitted that he had used cocaine in the past and that he had committed the drug offenses for which he had been convicted.  Fulton presented proof that he had successfully completed drug and alcohol abuse programs while incarcerated.  Fulton noted that he was on parole, that he had passed every drug test, and that he was current on his payment obligations.  Fulton was earning money as a janitor for a local church and he had moved in with his elderly mother so that he could assist in her care.

The Board noted that Fulton's 2009 drug conviction related to an offense where cocaine was located at Fulton's residence – and that Fulton's barbershop had also been located at the same address.  Fulton testified that he lived in an apartment on the second floor while the barbershop was located on the first floor.  Fulton testified that his barbershop had not been utilized in any of his drug dealing activities.  The Board denied Fulton's application for reinstatement of his barber license because the Board concluded that some of the criminal conduct had occurred at Fulton's barbershop.

Fulton appealed the denial of his reinstatement request to the Commonwealth Court.  In reversing the Board's determination, the Commonwealth Court concluded that there was no evidence that Fulton had engaged in any illegal drug activity in his barbershop.  The only connection that the barbershop had with the criminal conduct was that it shared the same physical address as Fulton's apartment.  Thus, the Commonwealth Court concluded that there was not substantial evidence to support the Board's determination regarding Fulton's use of the barbershop as part of his criminal enterprise.

The Board also argued that the drug conviction standing alone should constitute a sufficient reason to deny licensure because "barbershops are neighborhood or community gathering places."  While a conviction for a drug offense does carry a mandatory licensing prohibition in certain professions which have access to controlled substances such as pharmacists and medical professionals, no such blanket prohibition existed as it relates to barbering.  The Commonwealth Court concluded that the "possibility of drug sales through a barbershop and of adverse effect on the community invoked by the Board arises from the fact that a barbershop is a commercial establishment, not from the nature of barbering as a licensed profession, and would be equally present in other commercial establishments, such as corner grocery or convenience stores, that are not subject to professional licensure requirements."

The Commonwealth Court remanded the case back to the Board to provide the opportunity to develop the record further as to whether Fulton's criminal conduct was directly connected to his barbering business.  In the absence of such evidence, the Commonwealth Court directed that Fulton's license be restored.

Are syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia still sexual threats?

The pharmacist was reading an article about how AIDS – acquired immune deficiency disorder, an infectious disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) – immediately eclipsed other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as gonorrhea, syphilis, and even chlamydia. Why? These three bacterial STDs, even though they could potentially be fatal, were curable with antibiotics. Conversely, HIV, caused by a virus, which antibiotics could not kill, became a death sentence when it first appeared in the 1980s. The public was terrified and often ostracized those with this new disease. By the early 1990s, antiretroviral drugs were available. The result was that AIDS morphed into a manageable, albeit chronic, disease much like diabetes, cancer, and certain cardiovascular conditions.   

So, is humanity all set with regard to STDs when medications can control even AIDS? Nope. More than two million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis were reported in the United States in 2016, the highest number ever, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Approximately 75% of these new diagnoses were chlamydia, 20% were gonorrhea, and 5% were cases of primary and secondary syphilis – the most infectious stages of the disease. If these STDs remain undiagnosed and untreated, they can have serious health consequences, including infertility, life-threatening ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth in infants, and increased risk for HIV transmission.

While young women continue to bear the greatest burden of chlamydia, surges in syphilis and gonorrhea are increasingly affecting new populations. Syphilis rates soared by almost 18% overall from 2015 to 2016. The majority of these cases occurred among men – especially gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM). However, there was a 36% increase in rates of syphilis among women and a 28% increase in syphilis among newborns (congenital syphilis) during this period. The CDC reported more than 600 cases of congenital syphilis in 2016, which has resulted in more than 40 deaths and severe health complications among newborns. The disease is preventable through routine screening and timely treatment for syphilis before the mother gives birth.

Contraceptives may protect against an unplanned pregnancy, but only condoms can help prevent one from contracting an STD. According to a recent report from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, American women are increasingly choosing long-acting contraceptives such as intrauterine devices (IUDs), and fewer are using condoms. While options like the IUD are suitable for women in monogamous relationships in which both partners have been tested for STDs, women with multiple sexual partners should use condoms to prevent developing a sexually transmitted infection.

However, statistics show that men are wearing condoms less and continuing to have unprotected sex more. The reason is 2-fold. First, condom companies have been promoting their products to prevent pregnancy. But guess what? Women are opting for long-term contraception, such as the IUD, or the "depo shot" which lasts for 3 months. So, without the fear of pregnancy, the condom is tossed out the window. Yet, among people who have multiple partners, the risk of contracting an STD is greatly increased if the condom is not used. 

The pharmacist had an idea. He took a bunch of condoms and filled a fish bowl with them, and included a sign that read "Free. Take one." In his own small way, he was doing his part to stop the STD epidemic.

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