Fairdale – A heartrending catastrophe occurred on Friday afternoon when Claude Snell, a popular and highly regarded young farmer, was struck by a bolt of lightning which caused his death. The young man was in the basement of the barn on the A. C. Lowe farm, when a shower was in progress. After the shower he was found lying unconscious just outside the barn door by his wife and several men–Harrison McKeeby, Jack Daley and Imon Very—who were nearby seeking shelter from the shower. The fatal bolt had struck him on the top of the head, making a hole a half inch in diameter in the skull, and two smaller holes in the shoulder showed where it had followed its course, blackening the arm and slightly slivering the length of a fork handle he held in his hand. He was taken to his home, but did not regain consciousness. Deceased was 34 years of age and is survived by his wife and three children.
Lawsville – George W. Meeker lost three fingers in a peculiar accident, when an unruly bull, which he was leading, dashed him against a stone wall and badly mangled his hand. Few men in the county are better known and have more friends than "George," and all feel deep regret that he should meet such a misfortune. But none will take a loss with more courage and philosophy than he.
Bradford County – Miss Victoria Lake, who lives at Gleason, near Canton, and will be 15 years of age in August, is doing all of the out-door work on a 102 acre farm. Fifty-three acres are plowed, and two acres of potatoes, and has the ground ready for planting corn. The male members of the family are all working in the mines and come home on Saturday nights, returning to their work on Monday mornings. Her mother assists her in the milking of ten cows and care of the other live stock.
Friendsville – Susquehanna county has its first "farmerette" in Miss Carroll, a Boston young lady, who is tilling the soil at Camp Choconut, near Carmalt Lake. Miss Carroll is a graduate of Amherst College, and knows how to make the farm and garden produce. It is a decided novelty for the farmers around here to see a young lady doing a man's work with an air of knowing what she is doing. Many a farmer who should be holding the plow handles is leaving the horses to browse in the furrow while he takes a "short cut cross-lots" to see the attractive "farmerette" at work.
Montrose – W. A. Welliver, proprietor of C-Nic Theatre, has installed a fine new motion picture machine. One of the latest devices of its kind, it is operated by electric motor, doing away with the crank propulsion formerly used, while the lighting arrangement permits of six varying adjustments. A player piano is another improvement for the entertainment of the pleasure seekers. Some of the very best pictures produced are being shown and Mr. Welliver is seeking Materlinck's famous story reproduced in film—"The Bluebird."
Dimock – Charles A. Main, who has for years been an extensive grower of garden produce, says that he has a good acreage of potatoes and onions. On Thursday of last week a violent hailstorm did considerable damage, however. Hail fell in such quantities that he scraped up a couple of bushels of small hailstones and utilized it in freezing ice cream.
Thompson – Recently, a gentleman's necktie and pocket comb and a ladies' back comb were found on Mrs. A. E. Smith's porch couch. The owners can recover the goods by calling on Mrs. Smith and identifying the same. No charge will be made for the use of the couch, if the intruders will kindly remember next time to leave a sample of their confectionary which must have been abundant judging by the litter scattered in such profusion all over the porch.
Forest City – John McGranaghan has received notice from the State Board of Undertakers that he has passed all necessary examinations and has been duly licensed as an undertaker. He is also licensed in New York state. ALSO C. J. Rauf, of Cannonsville, NY, was an interesting visitor here. Thirty years ago he built several houses and boarded at the Fleming House during his stay. He had not been back in more than 20 years and was surprised at the progress the town had made. In speaking of the pave he said he remembered distinctly when there was a large stump in the street near the Fleming House and teamsters circled around it. He remembers Forest City as a wilderness when he was a member of a surveying party engaged in locating the route of the Jefferson railroad. He has traveled extensively but his experience while a resident of Forest City in its early days will not be dimmed while memory lasts.
Uniondale – The road is being changed from near H. Ghents place, back of David J. Jones' house, to the road running from Bethel church to Tirzah. It is said that the change will prove more satisfactory in the winter. The new route is not so liable to be drifted in the winter as the old.
Harford – West Harford has a new industry, that of a cheese factory on the farm of Lee Grinnell, the factory being under the management of an Italian. Many of the farmers are taking their milk to the factory.
Susquehanna – The Daily Transcript changes from 25 to 35 cents per month, after July 1st, but everybody appreciates the greatly increased cost of getting up the paper and cannot get along without it. Many new and improved features have been added since last year and others are yet to follow, so Editor Baker promises, and all who subscribe for a year before July 1st get the Daily at the present rate of 25 cents a month.
News Brief: There is no discrimination of any kind between soldiers who are not citizens of the United States and the native born or naturalized citizens in the American army, excepting that the former cannot hold commissions. In all other respects—care, attention, privileges, etc., they are all on the same footing.
200 Years Ago from the Montrose Gazette, June 20, 1818.
*By virtue of a writ of ____, issued out of the court of common pleas of Susquehanna County, to me directed, will be exposed to sale as public venue at the house of Oliver C. Smith, in Silver Lake township on Monday the 22nd day of June inst. at 10 o'clock AM, the following property; viz. two fanning mills, one calf, one turnpike house, 15 chains, two baskets, one table, one grindstone, five barrels of pork, part of a box of tea, 5 yoke of oxen, 1 pair of horses, 30 bushels of wheat, 10 bushels of corn, one barrel of salt, 4 plows, one set of new harness, one takle and rigging, one iron bar, one saddle, one cutting box, one bin of rye, about thirty bushes, six sheep, 4 scrapers, one cooking stove and apparatus, four beds and bedding, store goods, 13 chains, 12 axes, 10 pick axes, 117 sap tubs, one loom, quill wheel and swifts, 5 shovels, three spades, ten hoes, four ox yokes, pots, crockery, & c. on turnpike and two tons of hay. Seized and taken in execution as the property of Oliver C. Smith. AUSTIN HOWELL, Sh'ff., Sheriff's Office, Montrose, June 10, 1818.
The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) provides guidelines to state election officials relating to identifying ineligible voters based upon a change in residence, i.e., a person no longer living in the voting district but attempting to vote there. This provides the state and local election officials the ability to purge the voter rolls in order to remove persons no longer residing in the voting district.
In order to remove a name from a voter register based upon a change of residence, this federal law requires that the voter (1) confirms in writing the relocation; or (2) fails to return a pre-addressed, postage prepaid response card to the voter registration office and fails to vote for a period of 4 years. The NVRA prohibits the removal of a voter for the register based solely upon the failure to vote.
Ohio enacted legislation that identifies voters who had not voted in two years and thereafter mails them out a pre-addressed, postage prepaid response card as required under the NVRA in order to verify that they were still residing within the voting district. If the card was returned, then voter remains on the register. If the card was not returned but the voter did cast a ballot in the next two years, then the voter remains on the register. If the card was not returned and the voter failed to vote over the next two-year period, the voter is removed from the register.
Two advocacy groups (and an Ohio resident) challenged the Ohio law in federal court contending that it violated federal law because it removed voters based upon their failure to vote. The federal district court sided with Ohio and a divided appellate court sided with the advocacy groups. The United States Supreme Court then considered the case.
In a 5-4 decision, the majority concluded that the Ohio law was lawful as it complied with the plain language of the statute. The majority noted that Ohio did not remove a voter from the register based solely upon a failure to vote. Instead, the failure to vote was a triggering event that prompted the voter registrar to send out the written inquiry to determine whether a voter had moved from the district. Ohio provided the voter with the required self-addressed, post-prepaid response form that allowed the voter to respond to confirm their residence remained in the district. Even if the voter did not respond, however, Ohio did not immediately remove the voter from the register; rather, the voter still had to fail to vote over the course of two year in order to be removed.
The majority made clear that this was simply a case of statutory construction – not what the justices themselves believed was the proper procedure. In the majority opinion, Justice Alito concluded: "The Constitution gives States authority to set the qualifications for voting in congressional elections, as well as the authority to set the "Time, Place and Manner" to conduct such elections in the absence of contrary congressional direction. We have no authority to dismiss the considered judgment of Congress and the Ohio Legislature regarding the probative value of a [voter's] failure to send back a return card."
In other words, if people think that it is improper for voters to be purged from a register based upon the failure to mail back the return card coupled with their failure to vote for a period of 4 years, then the remedy is found in the legislature – not the courts.
Why summertime is tetanus time
Bob is barefoot all summer. He washes his car and mows the lawn barefoot. He plays with his kids in the yard barefoot. Last week, he stepped on a bee, which stung him on his big toe. Then, one of his kids dropped a glass on the patio that shattered into a gazillion pieces. The kids also got a new puppy that is learning to do its business in the yard. However, the kids are not learning to pick up after the puppy. When Bob stepped in a poop pile just after he yanked a tiny shard of glass out of his foot, his wife said, "When was your last tetanus shot?" "When I was in the Army about 20 years ago," Bob replied.
Tetanus, also called lockjaw, results from infection of deep and dirty wounds by spores of the tetanus bacteria (Clostridium tetani). The spores grow into bacteria and produce a toxin that damages the human nervous system. Common symptoms include painful muscle contractions, difficulty in swallowing and increased heart rate. Tetanus has the potential to be fatal. There is no cure for tetanus but methods used to treat symptoms include wound care and medications.
The number of tetanus cases each year in the US rarely exceeds 30. However, those that do contract tetanus have never received the tetanus vaccine or they do not realize that the vaccine must be given regularly throughout the person's life – about once every 10 years. Outside of the US, tetanus remains a global problem, particularly in India and central and western Africa, although the situation is improving. In 2013, it caused about 59,000 deaths – down from 356,000 in 1990.
Manure-treated soils may contain spores, as they are widely distributed in the intestines and feces of many animals such as horses, sheep, cattle, dogs, cats, rats, guinea pigs, and chickens. The spores are also found in contaminated heroin. Heroin users, particularly those that inject the drug rather than smoke it, are at high risk of contracting tetanus. Stepping on a nail, whether or not it is rusty, can result in tetanus if the nail harbors spores.
The tetanus vaccine was developed during World War I and was widely used to prevent tetanus caused by battle wounds. By the time of World War II, the incidence of tetanus among US soldiers was reduced by 97% because of the prophylactic vaccine. Today, the tetanus vaccine is found only in combination with other vaccines. It is available with the diphtheria and pertussis vaccines in 2 formulations – the Diphtheria, Tetanus and acellular Pertussis, or whooping cough, vaccine (DTaP) and the Tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis vaccine (Tdap). It is also available with the diphtheria vaccine alone in 2 formulations - the Tetanus and diphtheria vaccine (Td) and the Diphtheria and Tetanus vaccine (DT).
Even if you receive a tetanus vaccine, good wound care is essential to prevent infection. Do not delay first aid of even minor, non-infected wounds like blisters, scrapes, or any break in the skin. Wash the broken skin with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand rub if washing is not possible. Immunization against infectious diseases, such as smallpox, polio, diphtheria, pertussis, measles, and tetanus, is one of the most successful public health interventions in human history. That is why it is important to receive all available vaccines. Check with your pharmacist or doctor.
Bob's wife laid it on the line: Either he gets a tetanus shot or he cannot go barefoot outdoors this summer. Guess what Barefoot Bob chose to do?
Ron Gasbarro, PharmD, is a registered pharmacist, medical writer, and principal at Rx-Press.com. Read more at www.rx-press.com
