Brooklyn – Mrs. Louisa Lee has passed her 90th birthday, yet is active and energetic and anxious to do her all in aiding our soldier boys. The Indian wars, the Mexican war, the rebellion and Spanish American wars are all fresh in her memory, and when the war of 1812 was the latest conflict to furnish table conversation she was a child and heard the battles discussed by real soldiers of the Revolution, and got the tales of '76 first hand. But, although aged, Mrs. Lee is thoroughly modern, and her needles have been industriously clicking for the boys of '18 who are overseas. A beautiful afghan is the latest product, which has been sent to Scranton to provide comfort to some doughty soldier lad. The young ladies of today may still take lessons from this bright lady of 90 summers, who learned to knit at a much earlier age than they are now. Mrs. Lee is the mother of Alice Louise Lee, the well-known and popular author.
LeRaysville, Bradford Co. – James H. Johnson, aged 87, the oldest citizen of LeRaysville, has planted and is cultivating, without assistance, three war gardens, comprising a half acre.
Silver Lake, Richmond Hill – James Lonergan died June 30, 1918. He was a son of John and Catherine Lonergan and was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, 76 years ago. He came with his parents, when a boy, to this country and when the [Civil] war broke out his parents refused to give their consent for him to enlist and he ran away, was returned home and ran away again, serving valiantly his period of enlistment and later joined the navy. He is survived by his wife, Alice and children: John, of Ithaca; Mrs. J. V. Meehan, Montrose; Richard, of Elmira; Philip of Albuquerque, NM; Mrs. T. H. Quain, of Bridgewater, and James, of Richmond Hill. Burial was in St. Mary's Cemetery, Montrose.
Elk Lake – Bass are biting. F. D. Morris and a party of friends secured 14 fine finny specimens the first of the week when the season opened.
Montrose – Dr. and Mrs. R. A. Torrey, of Los Angeles, and Rev. and Mrs. Reuben Torrey and children, of China, have arrived for the summer months. Dr. Torrey and his son came to participate in the Ministerial Institute and Bible Conference, the former starting next Monday.
Lawsville, Liberty Twp. – A son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Bruce T. Bailey, on Sunday, June 16, a son—Ward Emerson.
South Montrose – Men from the Susquehanna County Light & Power Co. were here last week and visited this place and Louden Hill Farm, looking over the territory with a view of running a wire to South Montrose to furnish the place with light and power, and also considering the possibility of furnishing current for the large farm and its numerous buildings. Mr. Ballantine has a finely equipped electric plant on the farm, but is considering getting service from the company.
Elkdale, Clifford Twp. – The cheese factory is making about 30 cheeses a day. The factory is in full operation with Ray Lee, an experienced cheese maker, in charge. Several hundred prime cheeses have been made of superior quality.
Springville – As far as can be ascertained, Mrs. Bert Taylor, of this place, is the only mother in the township who has given three sons to the service of Uncle Sam. They are stationed as follows: Corp. D. G. Capwell, Infantry, Camp Logan, Houston, Texas; Pvt. John H. Capwell, Field Artillery, Fort Sill, Okla., and he has also seen service in the Philippines; and Pvt. Paul J. Capwell, 26th Engineers, Camp Dix, NJ. In another year two more sons will come under the draft. Susquehanna mother, Mrs. Michael Igo, has two sons, Pvts. James and Thomas at Camp Upton, Long Island. She and her husband are the parents of nine children, eight boys and one daughter, all under 21.
Jackson – H. M. Benson entertained Hollis Barrett, of Gibson on Monday, in celebration of their 81st birthday. Mr. Barrett and Mr. Benson are both veterans of the Civil War and still remain active for their age, and delight in relating events of the great war between the states. Mr. Benson also attended a reunion of the remaining members of the old Franklin Academy, at Harford, last week.
Forest City – A half-holiday was observed by the Forest City merchants and their employees yesterday afternoon. Every Wednesday afternoon for the next two months, except on pay-days, all stores will be closed.
Uniondale – At an L. A. S. supper served at the home of Mrs. E. Oram an incident of unusual interest took place. A special table was arranged for the entertainment of aged ladies, of which there were ten, all widows. "Aunt Fanny" Felts presided, as being the oldest, nearly 90 and poured tea from a teapot nearly 200 years old, being the property of Mrs. Libbie Greene.
Jessup Twp. The following teachers have been hired for the coming term: Fairdale, Glen Cronk; Bolles, Bernice Ainey; Griffis Hill, Rose Daly; McKeeby Hill, Dayton Brotzman; DeWitt, Jennie Sivers; Prospect Hill, Israel Sivers.
News Brief: A small wireless plant which is believed to have been giving information to U-boats operating off the Atlantic coast was discovered in the room of a summer boarder at Palermo, NJ and the man arrested. Government wireless operators had been aware for some time that high tension of rapid frequency were being sent out from some source along the Atlantic coast, and the plant was finally located by the use of a new clever device called the "detectograph," which is said to be capable of tracing to within 100 yards the source of any wireless operations. ALSO The United States is the only country with a known birthday. All the rest began, they know not when, and grew into power, they know not how. There is no Republican—no Democrat—on the Fourth of July—all are Americans. James G. Blane
200 Years Ago from the Montrose Gazette, July 4, 1818.
*MARRIED. At Southampton, L. I. on the 27th of May, Mr. Silvanus [Sylvanus] S. Mulford, merchant of this place [Montrose], to Miss Fanny Jessup.
*Old Soldiers Look Out or you will lose your priviledge [privilege] of the late law of Congress, by laws made in the Pension Office. From noticing a publication in the newspapers from a clerk in the Pension Office, I have thought proper to retain the certificates in my hands until the applicants come forward and make proof that they are in reduced circumstances, and need help from their country for their support, as that notice requires—lest their certificates should be thrown aside—although I believe the oath of the applicant is all the law requires—and at first I thought I would not pay any attention to the notice. The friends of the old Soldiers will be pleased to put this notice into the hands of those who may not take the papers themselves because they are too poor to purchase the priviledge of a newspaper and yet it is to be remembered they have purchased the liberties of the Press and every other priviledge that Americans enjoy by their sweat & blood. DAVIS DIMOCK. Montrose, June 26, 1818. N. B. Daniel Lawrence, Nathaniel Stewart(?), and Bristol Samson need make no more proof. Those who live in Bradford County must apply there.
Mark Janus is a public employee working for the State of Illinois. Janus did not want to be part of the public employee union because he objected to positions that the union took with respect to its collective bargaining, its political positions and other related activities. Despite his non-membership, Janus was required to pay the union an "agency fee" which was approximately 78% of the fee that was paid by full union members. Janus challenged this "agency fee" and his forced financial participation in the public employee union.
As to this 78% agency fee that Janus was forced to pay, the union had provided him notice that it covered not only the collective bargaining agreement services but also lobbying, social and recreational activities, advertisements, membership meetings and conventions, litigation and other generic services. The 78% agency fee resulted in Janus paying $44.58 per month or approximately $535 per year for union services that he did not desire to have provided to him – and for union activities that he specifically opposed.
Janus challenged his forced payment of this agency fee and argued that his free speech rights were being violated because he was being compelled or coerced to pay for speech which he did not support or approve. In a previous decision, the United States Supreme Court had upheld an individual being compelled to pay an agency fee even where the individual refused to be a full-member the union that the other co-employees had voted to establish. The prior decision noted that the "agency fee" was necessary because the non-union member still benefited from the activities of the union through the collective bargaining process and could be required to pay for those services. The non-union member, however, could not be compelled to pay any contribution for political activities of the union. Based upon this prior decision, the federal district court and the appellate circuit court dismissed Janus' complaint.
The United States Supreme Court agreed to hear the case and decided to reverse its prior precedent. In a 5-4 decision, the majority determined that the prior decision was not reasoned properly and that intervening case law had rendered it unsustainable. In particular, Justice Alito, writing for the majority, agreed with Janus that compelling him to financially support union activities which he opposed amounted to forced speech, and concluded: "Under Illinois law, public employees are forced to subsidize a union, even if they choose not to join and strongly object to the positions the union takes in collective bargaining and related activities. We conclude that this arrangement violates the free speech rights of nonmembers by compelling them to subsidize private speech on matters of substantial public concern."
Justice Kagan, writing for the 4-justice minority in the dissent, admonished the majority for overruling prior precedent. Justice Kagan predicted that the "decision will have large-scale consequences. Public employee unions will lose a secure source of financial support. State and local governments that thought fair-share provisions furthered their interests will need to find new ways of managing their workforces. Across the country, the relationships of public employees and employers will alter in both predictable and wholly unexpected ways."
Justice Kagan agreed that public unions could not compel nonmembers to contribute for political activities. Justice Kagan took a broader view of the services provided by the union as being purely administrative – not political. Where the majority saw ideological and political speech in some of the union services included in the 78% agency fee paid by Janus, the minority saw simply administrative union services that were not tainted by politics or ideology.
Mosquitoes in your world? Yea or nay?
Mandy came into the pharmacy and asked the pharmacist, "Look at these mosquito bites on my arms and legs. All we were doing was sitting on the deck last night. Where's the calamine lotion?" Ah, the juicy days of July! Barbeques, beaches, and bugs! One can understand the usefulness of honeybees. One can admire the presence of ladybugs. One can even marvel at the gracefulness of the praying mantis. But mosquitoes? Are they good for anything? These otherwise annoying insects are beneficial in that they help keep balance in the animal world. Mosquitoes serve as food for frogs, fish, birds, bats, and many other animals. Mosquitoes are also important because they pollinate plants, such as blueberry bushes, celery, dill, carrots, and even orchids.
Yet, mosquitoes are believed to be the deadliest animals on the planet. Diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, and parasites are transmitted by mosquitoes. They can spread disease without being affected themselves. Nearly 700 million people get a mosquito-borne illness each year resulting in over one million deaths. Diseases transmitted by mosquitoes include malaria, dengue, West Nile virus, yellow fever, Zika fever, and many types of encephalitis. Geography and weather conditions affect mosquito activity. However, entomologists are warning that global warming will increase the spread of mosquito populations and by providing mosquito-friendly habitats. The direct effects of temperature increase are an uptick in mosquito development, virus development, and mosquito biting rates.
Diseases once rare in the continental US are becoming more frequent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For example, in 2017, there were 2,002 reported cases of West Nile Virus and 121 deaths across the US, according to the CDC. US cases of mosquito-borne dengue fever—with symptoms such as severe headache, joint, and muscle pain and 105°F fever—rose by 70% in 2012 as compared with 2011. The dengue fever virus thrives in tropical and sub-tropical environments. The increased warming predicted for the southern US, along with increased flooding, means dengue fever will no doubt be spreading north on the backs of mosquitoes into states that never imagined having to deal with such exotic outbreaks.
Although the mosquito has been a known vector for spreading global disease, there is some hope that mosquito saliva may be used for the treatment of the Number 1 worldwide killer of humans: cardiovascular disease. One promising application is the development of anti-clotting drugs. Mosquitoes possess enzymes in their saliva needed to break down the blood for nourishment once they siphon it from their host.
While tropical disease vaccines are in development, take basic precautions to minimize the chances of getting mosquito bites. Keep screens on all the windows and doors in the house. Outside, wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts when possible and cover up with an insect repellent—the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says only those formulations containing the chemical DEET have been proven effective but there are plenty of natural alternatives available.
Mandy was right to ask for calamine lotion. Traditionally, calamine lotion is used as a simple, inexpensive, and effective remedy for a variety of different skin conditions and irritations caused by poisonous plants as well as for rashes, sunburn, and insect bites such as those from mosquitoes.
Ron Gasbarro, PharmD, is a registered pharmacist, medical writer, and principal at Rx-Press.com. Read more at www.rx-press.com
