1897 WB Record Almanac, Local News Summary for 1896 The following information is posted for the sole purpose of family research within the Yahoo Group, The Court House Gang. It is not to be published to any other web site, mailing list, group, etc. without prior written permission and guidelines from the group owner, to ensure that proper credit is given to the group and all of our volunteers that helped with this project. January 1896 1. Elaborate "open house" entertainment at Y.M.C.A. and all the clubs ... brilliant Y.M.H.A. ball ... Farmer's Institute at Dallas 2. Sugar Notch town hall destroyed by fire ... Dr. Lenahan elected jail physician ... Daniel Searfoss of Wilkes-Barre waylaid and thrown into a canal at Nanticoke 3. Frank Hollink of Bresslau shoots himself through the stomach ... Cranberry breaker of Pardee & Co. destroyed at Cranberry 4. John Herman killed while roofing a house ... William K. Humphrey badly injured in a runaway ... Yale annual banquet 5. Thermometer 5 above zero 6. Forty Fort breaker to suspend operations ... transfer of offices in the court house ... death of Mrs. H. B. Hillman ... thermometer 2 below zero at 6:30 a.m. and 12 below zero at North Mountain 7. Death of Miss Mary Blake ... Schappert family reunion 8. Mt. Lookout breaker destroyed at Wyoming ... Medical Society annual banquet ... Centennial Lodge I.O.O.F. observes twentieth anniversary ... Rev. M. Salzman of Baltimore to succeed Rabbi Joseph at South Washington street synagogue 9. Concordia winter concert 10. Several buildings destroyed at Mill Creek ... State Librarian Egle lectures before Historical Society 12. Rev. Dr. Traher preaches first sermon as pastor of St. John's Lutheran church ... Abram Hauze of Conyngham township dies of hydrophobia ... Rev. Father Zlotorzinskie of Pittston dies ... Rev. Mr. Sleight resigns as pastor of St. Clement's Church 13. Good Fellows Assembly No. 19 banquet 15. Joseph Kruprusavage murdered at Georgetown by Peter Wassil 19. Quarterly C.T.A. convention in St. Aloysius hall ... George Blodget suicides at Buttonwood ... Prof. W. Clark Robinson lectures on "Burns" in Y.M.H.A. hall ... Thomas Bilskie murdered at Luzerne Borough 20. Passenger train goes into cave hole near Hazleton ... Republican district conventions 21. William Stephens of Ashley dies the day after his wife ... Luzerne county Republican convention - Congressman Leisenring and Morgan R. Morgans elected delegates to the national convention 22. Press Club ball 24. First of the Sabbath Observance prosecutions ... first meeting of the re-organized Board of Trade 26. Rev. C. L. Sleight's farewell sermon at St. Clement's 27. Ex-Mayor Gavitt of Hazleton mysteriously disappears ... Gustave's murder trial now on ... Hotel Broadway destroyed by fire at Nanticoke 28. Rev. Dr. Jones speaks in Y.M.C.A. on "True Manliness" ... Giovanni Gustavis plead guilty of murder in the second degree 29. Bowman's sentence commuted to imprisonment for life 30. Death of Dr. Underwood of Pittston ... Lillian Russell at the Grand ... Pettebone mine again on fire 31. Elk's seventh anniversary banquet ... Zematti's murder trial on February 1896 2. Rev. Dr. G. H. Trabert installed as pastor at St. John's Lutheran Church ... child of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Brogan of Avoca swallows marble and dies. 3. Captain Jack Crawford in Y.M.C.A. Hall ... death of A. H. Winton of Scranton ... still fighting fire and gas at the Pettebone. 4. Gen. Osborne gives war talk at Y.M.C.A. ... Sabbath observance prosecutions continue ... first sleighing of the season. 5. Father Hoban of Ashley appointed coadjutor to Bishop O'Hara ... St. Joseph's Society 25th anniversary ... while Mrs. Paul Summa testifies in an action for divorce, she is notified of her husband's death ... Anthony Zemitis convicted of murder in first degree. 6. Much damage done by heavy wind storm ... death of Miss Adele Breakstone ... many injured in riot at Kingston. 7. Pennsylvania passenger train runs into landslide at Retreat and is wrecked. 8. Michael Kearney, charged with complicity in Reick murder, released from jail under $500 bail Prof. Winchester lectures in St. Stephen's. 9. Douglass Mission chapel dedicated at Lee Park ... large funeral of Miss Adele Breakstone ... heaviest snow storm of the season, four inches. 10. Meeting in first Presbyterian Church in behalf of Hampton Institute ... thieves discovered in a cave at Kingston. 11. H. A. Fuller speaks on "Law and Order" in the Y.M.C.A. ... Concordia masque ball ... squeeze at No. 2 mine, Plymouth. 12. First lecture in University Extension course, Prof. Devine on "Benjamin Franklin" ... two children of Fred Perchin burned to death in a house in Pittston township ... district Epworth League convention in Derr M. E. Church. 13. Harvey's Lake Water Company chartered ... meeting for uniting the charitable organizations. 14. Record prints account of combination water scheme to get water from Spring Brook. 15. A.O.H., B. of A. in convention at Nanticoke ... robbers loot house of the late Dr. Kirwan. 17. Richard Prichard killed at Pittston by falling from his wagon ... coldest since 1888, 111/2 degrees below zero ... Jolly Ten ball. 18. Quiet spring election ... Mrs. W. H. Perry killed by train at Wyoming ... death of Rev. J. F. Williams of Luzerne Borough. 19. Wallace, the lion, gets loose at Nickleodeon and causes a panic ... George and Samuel Maxfield and John Zerby killed by being suffocated by gas at the works of the Consumers' Gas Co. ... Ex-Gov. Pattison and Ex-Postmaster Field of Philadelphia at Y.M.C.A. anniversary. 20. William Ushinsky beaten to death at Duryea ... State Senator Kline publishes card declining to be candidate for re-election ... Knights of Pythias reunion. 21. Lafayette Alumni banquet ... Bachelors' Club banquet ... Miss Anne Virginia Culbertson at Y.M.C.A. Hall ... bill in equity to determine whether or not commissioners may build on Public Square. 22. Plymouth annual eisteddfod ... Dennis Conniff shoots and kills Michael Walsh in a Duryea saloon ... Wilkes-Barre 17 Bucknell 6 basket ball. 23. Joseph Levinson suicides by shooting ... Pettebone fire out, burning for two months ... three children of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Martin of Pittston die of diphtheria in a few days. 25. M. E. Ministerial Association 143rd session in Parrish street M. E. Church. 26. Many speak-easy arrests under auspices of State Liquor League ... Prof. Devine's second University Extension lecture, "Patrick Henry." 27. Father Hoban receives his credentials as coadjutor to Bishop O'Hara ... trial trip of the Lehigh Valley flyer. 28. David Phillips suicides at Pittston ... Rev. Dr. Hodge's reception 27th anniversary as pastor ... Lehigh Alumni banquet at Scranton. March 1896 First Damen Abend of the late Deutscher Club ... Kin Tokabashi speaks in the Y.M.C.A. 1. Cambro-American banquet ... Mrs. Rorer begins her cooking lectures ... Bishop Rulison confirms in St. Clement's. 2. St. Aloysius annual meeting ... court house injunction case argued. 3. Rev. Dr. Buckley at Nelson Hall. 4. Mad dog on Nelson alley bites a child and a number of other dogs. 5. Rabbi Salzman officiates for the first time in South Washington street synagogue ... O. B. MacKnight of Plains fails ... Liquor dealers addressed by State officers ... immense bed of granite discovered on Wilkes-Barre mountain. 8. William Denn dies of arsenical poisoning. 9. May 14th set for Eckert's execution ... James Howley of Plymouth fails as result of Macknight failure ... M. P. conference appointments. 10. Stafford institute celebrates first anniversary ... all dogs to be muzzled for two months. 11. March blizzard for 1896 - ten inches of snow - street car travel stopped for the night ... Prof. Devine's lecture, "Alexander Hamilton" ... tri-county undertakers in session here ... Richard Lashowskie of Glen Lyon killed in a runaway ... death of Mrs. B. F. Dilley ... Carry Ellston of Stull suicides at Grand Central hotel ... four men killed and one fatally injured in boiler explosion on D. S. & S., new Hazleton ... chief electrician W. S. Harrington of Coxe & Co., struck blind. 12. Sale of O. B. Macknight's personal property. Good sleighing for a day. 13. Death of Moses Marks ... O.S. of A. reunion in Y.M.C.A. Hall ... Central Labor Union organized. 14. Death of John M. Stark of Wyoming, a pioneer resident ... child of Gomer Maddy's of Glen Lyon scalded to death. 15. Record prints history of Wilkes-Barre water companies and facts in connection with deal ... Bishop Rullison confirms at St. Stehpen's. 16. Thomas Mooney killed in Pittston mine by piece of ice ... Blues beat Reds in Y.M.C.A. membership contest ... Record prints Congressman Leisenring's argument before House Committee for public housing ... snow storm for forty-eight hours - eight inches. 17. St. Patrick's day parade at Pittston ... eisteddfods at Edwardsville and Scranton ... third anniversary Y.W.C.A. ... policemen notified to shoot all unmuzzled dogs. 18. Judge Searle hands down opinion in case of court house site ... family of Henry Miller of Maple street poisoned by arsenic in coffee. 19. Heavy rain and melting snow causes quite a flood ... merchant Frank Drozdowski falls down stairs at Nanticoke and breaks his neck ... two mad dogs at Nanticoke killed ... Rev. Dr. Boyle accepts pastorate at Trenton, NJ ... fifty-nine cows of B. W. Edwards of Laceyville killed on account of tuberculosis. 20. First attempt to kill an unmuzzled dog arouses indignation of the people. 21. Thousands turn out to greet Cardinal Satolli on his way to Scranton ... Hugh McGovern of Askam dies at the age of 100 years ... Edward Richards accidentally kills Patrick Mahon, 13 years, with a Flobert rifle. 22. Consecration of Father Hoban, coadjutor Bishop of Scranton by Cardinal Satolli ... reception to Rabbi M. Salzman ... mad dog creates excitement in Plymouth. 23. Edward Barrett of Avoca badly gored by a bull ... Windisch sentenced to be hanged ... child of William McCormick scalded to death at Sugar Notch. 24. Death of Henry M. Compton of New York State. 25. Wyoming district W.F.M.S. meets at Wyoming ... Dr. Devine's lecture "Andrew Jackson." 26. Big water deal consummated, directors meet in Wilkes-Barre ... March, April and winter weather - thermometer falls to 40 degrees in seven hours. 27. Avalanche at Mehoopany sweeps away a barn and kills 21 sheep. 28. Rev. Dr. Umsted's death at Coatesville, Pa ... St. Stephen's Industrial school closing. 29. Missionary Day in First M. E. Sunday School ... Rev. Dr. Boyle's farewell sermon in First M. E. Church. 30. Death of Rev. Dr. J. O. Wooddruff at Binghamton ... water over flats road. 31. Shaffer murder trial on ... dam bursts at White Haven, causing considerable damage ... Y.M.C.A. night school closing exercises ... water companies re-organize. April 1896 1. Opening of M. E. conference at Binghamton ... Windisch confesses his crime to Rev. G. A. Struntz ... explosion at No. 9 Sugar Notch. 3. Rev. J. C. Hogan's character passed at Wyoming conference ... Consumer's Water Co. serves injunction on council restraining it from repealing ordinance. 4. Death of Dr. Murphy ... Frederick Armstrong of Edwardsville suicides. 5. E. F. Bogert appointed postmaster ... Wyoming conference adjourns ... Michael Haike murdered at Exerter with a stone by John Jousik ... West Side St. Aloysius anniversary ... council reorganizes. 7. Taking the veil at St. Mary's convent ... O. M. Lance appointed general manager of Spring Brook Water Supply Co. 8. Dr. Devine lectures about "John Brown." 9. An inch of snow ... Shafer convicted of murder in first degree. 10. John W. Jordan lectures about military hospitals of the revolution. 11. St. Leo's bell blessed at Ashley ... grand jury refuses to recommend new site for court house. 12. Temperature 83. 13. Wilkes-Barre Wheelmen take possession of their new house ... five men badly burned by explosion of gas at the Woodward. 14. Mayor's annual message ... appointment of council committees ... another mad dog killed on Moyallen street. 15. Elaborate leap year dance at Pittston ... Mrs. Lucretia Perrrin of Exerter township celebrates 103rd birthday anniversary. 16. Bicycle presentation to Rev. B. F. G. McGee ... Barrall's planning mill at Nanticoke destroyed by fire. 17. Concordia smoker ... body of unknown man found in the woods near Avoca. 18. Temperature 88 ... hottest April so far in a hundred years. 19. Rev. Dr. Pearce's first sermon in First M. E. Church ... third district C.T.A.U. convention at Ashley. 20. Mrs. Catherine Anutz shoots and kills Angello Dangello at Lattimer ... Battle of Lexington anniversary observed by Daughters of American Revolution ... Joseph Kitchen of Ross township killed by falling from his wagon ... Wilkes-Barre team plays its first ball game - Wilkes-Barre 21, Wyoming Seminary 4. 21. Three burglars enter house of Mrs. Ann Brown and confront her in her bed room ... reception to Rev. Dr. and Mrs. W. H. Pearce. 22. Wassil murder trial on ... Wilkes-Barre 15, Hazleton 5. 23. St. George and Father Mathew anniversary banquet ... Sunday School convention of Reformed Church ... Wilkes-Barre 8, Hazleton 0. 24. Officers of White Haven battle with burglars in which two of the latter are shot and one jumps into the Lehigh ... suicide of William D. Evans ... party taken over basin of Spring Book Water Supply Co. 25. Eisteddfod at Sugar Notch and Plymouth ... Peter Wassil convicted of murder in the first degree ... Wilkes-Barre 6, Carbondale 0. 27. Farewell reception to Rev. Mr. Gibbons at Forty Fort ... Walter Bolinski drowned by boat going over Nanticoke dam ... Supreme Court decides that court house may be built on Public Square. 28. William Shupp of Plymouth found dead on the flats. 29. Curling Club concert and ball ... Wilkes-Barre 9, Cuban Giants 13. 30. Investigation begun into detective payments made by the county commissioners ... Luzerne County Bible Society annual meeting. May 1896 1. Dieu le Vieut Commandery installation and banquet ... Cartwright case ended by a plea of guilty. 2. Mrs. Elizabeth Richards, Plymouth's oldest resident dies. 3. C H. Mallarian, an Armenian student, lectures in St. Stephen's ... unknown man suicides in mine drift at Brodrick ... Mrs. Richard Jeffries of Pittston dies in church. 4. Cartwright gets a year in jail ... four boys poisoned at Avoca by eating wild parsnips. 5. Prof. Harrison re-elected superintendent of county schools and Prof. Coughlin of city schools ... Schuman-Blauvelt concert ... Julius Toby suicides at Nanticoke with Rough on Rats. 6. Investigation of detective bills resumed before auditors ... Consumer's Gas Company goes into the hands of a new syndicate ... Moosic knitting mill destroyed by fire. 7. Mr. and Mrs. C. F. Sutherland celebrate 25th wedding anniversary ... Joseph Carey of Hazleton suicides ... Yaw and her company at the Grand ... engineer B. H. Smith of the Valley killed at Lehighton. 9. Academy annual field day sports. 10. St. Ignatius cemetery at Kingston dedicated. 11. Board of Trade annual meeting ... Kingston bank elects its first officers ... Frank Moss, carpenter, killed at Mt. Lookout breaker ... body of a child found in the river. 12. Concordia spring concert ... five barns burned at Plymouth. 13. Record publishes list of 1896 graduated in schools ... B.I.A. debating club anniversary ... more mad dogs about town. 14. Several bitten on South River street by a mad dog. 15. Council passes ordinance requiring all dogs to be muzzled and licensed ... mad dogs continue ... Dr. Drown lectures at Harry Hillman Academy. 16. Proclamation requiring dog catchers to do their duty. 18. S. S. Edwards of Hunlock, Christian Scientist, dies from typhoid fever without the attendance of a physician ... Plains St. Aloysius Society second anniversary banquet ... White Haven electric light plant destroyed by fire. 19. Sousa's band at the Grand. 20. Pittston's new Lehigh Valley depot dedicated ... bicyclers ridicule the lantern ordinance ... a number arrested at night ... body of actor Owen D. Jones found in Brooklyn ... C.T.A. diocesan convention in Freeland. 21. Opera "Pinafore" produced by amateurs at Plymouth ... mad dogs killed at Duryea ... Rebecca Rose of Hazleton suicides with laudanum. 22. G. L. Halsey declines to be a candidate for Congress ... Tri-county C. E. convention in session at Pittston ... superintendent Griffith Roberts killed at Hazleton by train. 23. Grover A Sprague of Hazleton suicides ... Joseph Kohnkee burns his house and barns in Dorrance township and then suicides and is burned. 24. Reception of the Blessed Virgin Sodality at St. Mary's Cornerstone of Elm Congregational Church of Plymouth laid. 25. Barnum's circus. 26. Joseph Renard's two horses killed and himself fatally injured at Kingston D. L. & W. crossing ... James Dinsmore of Bloomsburg falls dead on Pittston street ... Epworth League conference convention at Plymouth. 27. Taxpayer's Protective Association organized ... Kingston and Forty Fort schools graduation exercises ... Fred Eross of Upper Lehigh killed by his gun. 28. First McKinley Club meeting in the State held at Tunkhannock. 29. Luzerne Borough schools close. 30. Obadiah Rhodes killed at Parsons rifle range ... Arthur Shepherd dies at Lehigh University ... Memorial Day generally observed ... Parsons eisteddfod. 31. Sodality reception at St. Nicholas church. June 1896 1. School Board reorganizes. 2. Scranton Elks visit Wilkes-Barre lodge. 3. Medical Society discussed antioxine. 4. Schooley colliery at Exeter transferred to Pennsylvania Coal Company. 6. James Monaghan and John Atkinson of Duryea are drowned in the river. 7. Children's day in some of the churches ... sudden death of Rev. W. J. Keatly at Kingston and Joseph C. Tyrrell at Forty Fort. 8. Mass meeting a First Presbyterian church in behalf of Armenia ... Reinhardt Berger of Nanticoke drowns himself while delirious with typhoid fever ... Coon's mill and barn and Van Horn's wagon shop destroyed by fire at Kingston. 9. Phoenix mine, near Pittston, on fire ... Society Comedies at the Grand for B. I. A. ... Dunns awarded first asphalt paving contract ... Hon. M. B. Williams sues S. W. Boyd on the charge of libel ... hospital nurses' commencement. 10. Heptasophs have a reception in Grand for grand officers ... reception to G. A. R. Commander Darte. 11. Mr. and Mrs. I. Freeman celebrate 25th wedding anniversary ... public schools close. 12. High school, Academy and Female Seminary commencements ... suicide of David Roth. 13. Luzerne County Veteran's Association at Skickshinny. 14. More children's day exercises ... Bishop Mallalieu preaches baccalaureate sermon at Wyoming Seminary. 15. New trial refused for Frank Shaffer murder ... Mrs. Halleck of Nanticoke burned to death ... body of unknown suicide found at Campbell's Ledge. 16. Andrew Clamp of Plymouth attempt suicide by shooting ... J. B. Austin of Venezuela speaks before Historical Society ... death of John D. Hoyt ... John Pokulka pleads guilty of manslaughter. 17. Wyoiming Seminary commencement ... Stockton mine of L. V. Coal Co. on fire. 19. Record interviews bankers, business and professional men with reference to McKinley's nomination. 20. Fire at Duryea, loss $12,000 ... typhoid fever epidemic at Plymouth. 23. Dennis J. Conniff pleads guilty to manslaughter. 24. A large number of marriages ... Hahnemannian International Medical association convenes at Glen Summit hotel ... St. Ann's Academy commencement. 25. First Republican meeting of the campaign at Kingston ... St. Mary's Academy commencement ... David Arnot and Mrs. Sarah Grimes found asphyxiated by gas in the resort of Hattie Barnes. 26. Republican candidates sign agreement not to use money before nomination. 27. Republican primaries cause great interest. 28. Fifty-eight were entombed in Twin shaft at Pittston, great excitement all day, all dead. 29. Still prosecuting the work of rescue in the Twin Mine ... no hope for the men ... Republican legislative conventions ... Abram Eckert, who was to have been hanged tomorrow, respited until October ... Philadelphia Retail Coal Exchange visits Wyoming Valley. 30. Republican county convention ... New York State Editorial Association at Glen Summit. July 1896 1. Mad dog bites animals and boy at Shickshinny. 2. Making slow progress in rescuing Twin Shaft victims. 3. Record prints description of the Country Club ... Y.M.C.A. bicycle parade ... 118th anniversary of the battle and massacre at Wyoming ... Ray La France drowned at Pittston Junction. 4. Y.M.C.A. bicycle races ... showers in afternoon and night ... Kington's new school dedicated ... Benjamin Carter of Wyoming county murdered by Ferdinand Champieuver. 5. J. S. Niehart of Askam, who lived alone, found dead in bed ... First Presbyterian Sunday School of Plymouth dedicated. 6. Pittston Relief Committee sends an appeal for Twin Shaft sufferers throughout the country ... Wilkes-Barre public school teachers appointed. 7. Sudden death of N.P.H. Hugus at Glen Summit ... Plymouth Coal Company chartered. 8. Plymouth typhoid fever epidemic continues ... farmers alarmed owing to the appearance of the army worm. 9. Twin Shaft investigation begun. 11. Union Veteran Legion anniversary. 12. Frank King of New Briton, Conn. drowned while bathing ... quarterly C.T.A.U. convention at Kingston. 13. Lehigh Valley passenger train near Hazleton runs into a cow ... engineer Doudt killed and twenty-seven passengers injured. 15. Henry Griesing of Hazelton suicides by jumping into a reservoir. 16. Supreme court declares controller act unconstitutional ... opera "Mikado" produced for benefit of Twin Shaft sufferers ... Twin Shaft investigation concluded at Pittston ... Dr. C. E. Winner of Bloomsburg dies of hydrophobia. 17. City Prohibitionists nominate H. V. Merithew as candidate for legislature ... Ninth Regiment off for camp at Lewistown ... Patrick B. McHale of Pittston killed by rolling from a cliff. 18. Cashier Charles P. Smith of Lehigh Valley Coal Company killed while trying to board a train ... Patrick J. Terry killed by Nanticoke trolley road - first victim. 19. H. L. Hastings of Boston lectures about "The Mistakes of Moses" in Y.M.C.A. ... confirmation and Sodality reception at Holy Savior Church. 20. Rescuers at Twin Shaft strike the airways, but find that also blocked by the fall ... relief fund amounts to $35,000 ... lady minstrels at the Grand for benefit of Pittston sufferers. 21. Mrs. Lucretia Perrin dies in Exeter township, aged 103 years ... Windisch has typhoid fever at the jail. 22. Fifty Italians arrested charged with filthiness ... scare of Glen Lyon over cave-in ... fissures appear in the earth ... son of Mrs. Thomas Jenkins of Wanamie burned to death. 23. Peter Reinmiller of Freeland, who was shot by unknown person, dead. 24. Officials of coal companies meet at the Twin Shaft mine and investigate means employed for reaching the bodies ... constable William Jones of Plymouth dies in the lockup. 25. Pittston Caledonians have annual games at Lake Ariel. 26. St. Ignatius Catholic Church at Kingston dedicated. 27. L. P. Holcomb of the West Pittston elected chairman of the Republican County Committee ... body of Smith Herbert found in the bushes near West Market street bridge ... series of heavy thunder storms. 28. Mass of Requiem for the souls of the victims of the Twin Mine celebrated at Upper Pittston Catholic Church ... another series of heavy electrical storms - several places struck by lightning. 29. Much dissatisfaction among workmen at Twin Mine - shifts reduced and wages lowered ... John D. Puterbaugh attempts suicide at Bethlehem. 30. A very hot week ... gas becoming dangerous in Twin Mine. 31. Trolley car and train meet at Pennsylvania crossing at Barney street and two Plains women badly hurt. August 1896 1. Prohibition county convention ... unknown colored youth killed in Coxton yard of Valley. 3. C. C. Bowman elected mayor pro tem of Pittston ... robbers break into several Hazleton houses. 4. Charles Devers drowned in the river while bathing. 5. Byron Hahn elected chairman of the Wilkes-Barre city committee. 6. Lehigh Valley Medical Association meets in Wilkes-Barre ... hottest day of the season, thermometer 97 ... C. E. rally at Farview ... John Pelham of Huntsville killed by sunstroke. 7. Asphalt injunction hearing begun ... Rev. Dr. T. C. Edwards returns from Europe ... Patrick Saxton of Edwardsville, killed by a street car ... still working with the gas at Twin Shaft. 8. No. 2 breaker burned at Stockton, also the Logan at Cantralia. 9. John Petroska of Upper Lehigh killed by lightning ... Windisch dies at jail ... six very hot days - 91 to 97 each day. 10. Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Boughton of Kingston celebrate silver wedding. 11. Albert Barton of Plymouth dies from lockjaw ... Ray Bossert, 8 years old, drowned in Blackman Pond ... water inspector Dean condemns Huntsville filter. 12. Midsummer meeting of Luzerne County Medical Society at Harvey's Lake ... reception at Malinkrodt convent. 13. First McKinley and Hobart Club in this city organized on the Heights. 14. Record prints description of new Mt. Lookout breaker. 15. Editor Baron Hugo Smiritz of Wilkes-Barre suicides at Archbald ... phonographic gospel meeting of the Y.M.C.A. 16. Robert Montgomery of Wanamie dies of a strange aliment, imagined he saw a warning spirit and gradually sank ... committee of widows call on Twin Mine officials to see whether or not work of rescue is to be continued ... business and professional course and normal course adopted for the high school ... Archie Weisgeger, 9 years, drowned in river. 18. Barn of Samuel Pringle and three houses burned at Kingston. 19. Schooley's Battery reunion at Pittston. 20. Conyngham and Blackman mines both on fire, the latter being flooded ... work again suspended at the Twin Mine on account of gas ... body of a man found in the river near Avondale. 21. Seven county veteran reunion at Mountain Park. 22. Kingston bicycle races ... Democratic primary elections. 25. Democratic county convention ... James C. Ellston fatally injured at Pringle street D. L. & W. crossing, horses killed ... Peter Hanson of Parsons dies of hydrophobia. 26. Judge Bennett decides in favor of Dunn Brothers in the asphalt cases ... Howard Earl fined $100 and suspended from Wilkes-Barre base ball club. 27. First Voters' Republican campaign club formed. 28. Caledonian Association of North America convenes in Wilkes-Barre ... Shickshinny fire - several barns and contents burned. 29. Annual Caledonian games at Mountain Park ... Congregational Ministers' Association at Plains ... John Boone, 19 years of Avoca, killed by his own gun ... William H. Davis of Nesquehoning appointed mine inspector of fifth district. 31. Record prints advance report of Twin Mine investigating commission ... child of Mr. and Mrs. John P. Thomas of Miner's Mills scalded to death ... Harry Forbes dies from over dose of morphine at Kingston ... city teachers' institute. September 1896 1. Paymaster Wolfe of Newton Coal Company, Pittston, disappears ... Business Men's Sound Money Club organized ... change in officials at Ashley shops. 2. Reunions of 143rd Regiment at Pittston. 3. Remodeled Bani Birth temple reopened. 4. Kingston policemen have exciting chase after burglars ... parade and elaborate exercises at Union street school flag presentation. 5. Miner's Mills Choral Union wins prize at Shamokin eisteddfod ...Spencer Worden, near Dallas, bitten by mad dog and taken to the Pasteur Institute ... flag presentation to Buttonwood schools ... Clarke family reunion at Harvery's Lake. 6. Prof. Llewellyn Phillips of Bucknell University ordained as minister at Plymouth. 7. Opening of Grand Opera House and Music Hall ... William Barney, formerly of Wilkes-Barre, killed on railroad at Sayre ... Twin Shaft relief fund plan of distribution announced ... beginning of Jewish New Year 5658 ... industrial education defeated by Board of School Government ... forty hours devotion at St. Mary's ... court begins after summer vacation. 8. Martha Wray, a domestic, suicides of account of disappointment in love ... council purchases at $10,000 crematory. 9. Harvey White found dying under Wilkes-Barre & Eastern bridge, and murder suspected ... welcome home banquet to mine inspector G. M. Williams and superintendent Morgan R. Morgans. 10. Co. F, 53rd Regiment reunion at Harvey's Lake ... Lezotte, of Wilkes-Barre base ball club, sold to Pittsburg ... Fireman's Day parade. 11. Henry C. Jones suicides at Wyoming ... Record publishes Mr. Berry's report objecting to appointment of William H. Davis as mine inspector. 12. Y.M.C.A. athletics ... dedication of Mrs. Phelps' monument on Wilkes-Barre mountain marking spot where several of Gen. Sullivan's Revolutionary soldiers were slain by Indians. 13. Second anniversary Calvary Club ... several houses burned at Mill Creek ... Rev. Dr. Crafts of Washington at Y.M.C.A. and Memorial Church ... Rev. W. J. Day resigns as pastor of Plymouth First Presbyterian Church. 14. About 650 new citizens turned out in one day ... William Egbert of Old Forge fatally hurt in this city by street car ...Rev. E. H. Eckel of West Pittston Trinity Church resigns. 15. Joseph Gosseck of Exter Borough pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter for killing of Michael Herka. 16. National Circuit bicycle races at West Side Park ... annual W.C.T.U. convention at Luzerne Borough ... Rose McCabe benefit at the Grand. 17. Republican ratification meeting at armory with Hon. John Wanamaker as the principal speaker ... Senator Tillman addresses Pittston audience ... first production of Sol. Smith Russell's new play "A Bachelor's Romance." 18. Wilkes-Barre C. E. Union rally at Luzerne Borough ... policeman Long and Michael Kelly shot at Edwardsville by Charles Jones ... Outalissa encampment Odd Fellows, 50th anniversary. 19. Lightning strikes several places ... very heavy rain and hail followed by severe cold wave ... big Republican ratification meeting at Conyngham. 21. Wilkes-Barre policemen 15, Scranton 17. 22. Opening of West Pittston fair ... West End Wheelmen's twelve mile road race. 24. Record prints Twin Mine investigating committee's official report ... Gold Democrats organize a Palmer and Buckner Club. 25. Sugar Notch 2, Moosic 12 for $100 a side ... Pittston Republican mass meeting ... Robert Roach of Duryea drops dead while hunting. 26. Kingston Republican rally. 27. St. Mary's Polish Catholic Church dedicated ... Anthony Possano murders Joseph Popple at Duryea ... Elm Congregational Church dedicated at Plymouth. 28. Reception to Hugh Jennings, the Baltimore short stop, at his home in Avoca. 29. Baltimore Orioles 4, Wilkes-Barre 2 ... opening of Dallas fair. 30. Heavy wind storm, doing considerable damage ... dedication of Elks' monument in Hollenback cemetery, gift of Benjamin F. Dilley ... landlord Smith retires from Exchange hotel and Captain Zeigler takes charge. October 1896 2. West End Wheelmen arranging to build bicycle club house. 3. One miner tries to poison another with Paris green at Parsons. 5. Squeeze at Butler mine, near Pittston. 6. Hon. Joseph Sibley of Erie at the Armory ... Huntsville water turned off and river water turned into pipes. 7. West End Wheelman banquet in honor of race committee ... William and James Severn, brothers, wed Minnie and Annie Goeringer, sisters ... death of Ina Conover Bragdon in Georgia. 8. Robbers invade West Pittston and Pittston ... West End Wheelmen purchase Franklin street lot for club house. 9. Excursion off to see McKinley at Canton, 300 strong ... Rev. Dr. Parke reads paper to Historical Society about Wilkes-Barre's old church bell ... child of Mr. and Mrs. Wasley of Plains burned to death. 10. Diociesan C.T.A.R. parade at Scranton ... Leonard-Judge fight stopped at Scranton by police. 12. Fire still burning at Butler mine, new Pittston. 13. Council grants new telephone company right of way ... old company grants free service to Pittston. 14. Republican banner raising and parade ... Mrs. John Fehlinger and Mrs. Henry Fisher elope, captured at Philadelphia. 15. Fire in Babylon mine at Duryes causes excitement for a time. 16. Democratic parade and speech by ex-deputy attorney Stranahan at the armory ... Ex-Postmaster Field of Philadelphia speaks at a Republican rally at Plymouth ... William Custard of Tunkhannock suicides. 17. Congressman John Dalzell speaks at the armory ... opening of Country Club house ... reception at Malikrodt convent. 18. Autumn anniversary of St. Stehpen's Sunday School. 19. Charlemagne Tower, Ph.D., lectures on "Lord Cornwallis" before Daughters of the American Revolution. 20. Wyoming Congregational Association sessions at Plymouth ... Louis Knoll of Tunkhannock killed by train. 21. Frank Stucker of Parsons killed by electric car. 22. Balington Booth in Y.M.C.A. auditorium ... John Davis arrested for refusing to vacate the Plymouth watershed. 24. Great parade (Republican) at Ashley. 25. Duke of Abrazzi, nephew of the King of Italy, passes through Wilkes-Barre. 26. Luzerne county institute ... Wilkes-Barre cat show opened. 27. Record notes new post office building to be erected ... Gen. Gordon opens Y.M.C.A. lecture course on "Last Days of the Confederacy." 28. 9,100 men in Republican parade ... Young Men's Institute banquet, Pittston ... Rev. Dr. Conaty lectures in St. Mary's Church ... Miss Julia Walsh killed and four others badly hurt by trolley car accident near Wilkes-Barre hospital. 29. Explosion in No. 3 mine at South Wilkes-Barre, by which six men were killed ... several injured in explosion at Baltimore No. 3 ... Stroudsburg and Mansfield alumni reunions ... last of Rutzbach's landing - all buildings burned. 30. Palmer and Bucker rally at the armory ... Miss Wormsley concert ... Rabbi I. Joseph, formerly of Wilkes-Barre, dies at Montgomery, Alabama. 31. Close of the Republican campaign with Charles Emory Smith and William Singerly in the armory ... Democratic parade ... Scranton golfers win from Wilkes-Barre. November 1896 1. Third district quarterly C.T.A.U. convention at Avoca ... two Duryea murders and one suicide among foreigners. 2. Mr. and Mrs. Edward Constine celebrate 25th wedding anniversary ... John Lubeck of Duryea suicides. 3. Great explosion excitement ... twenty-thousand people see the Record stereopticon. 5. Official count of the vote begun ... Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre No. 3 mine on fire and will be flooded. 6. Mrs. McCarthy and two grandchildren drowned by falling in Lackawanna river near Duryea ... A. S. Orr's hotel near Dallas blown down by the wind. 7. Wilkes-Barre takes the third game of golf from Scranton ... Luzerne Borough's new school dedicated. 8. Corner stone of Grace Lutheran church laid ... Contractor Pugh hurt in Woodward mine ... Rev. Dr. Pearne, 48 years ago pastor at First M.E. Church, preaches here. 9. Reception at Father Curran's new residence. 10. Concert by faculty of Wilkes-Barre Conservatory of Music ... Alice, daughter of Patrick O'Rourke of Avoca burned to death. 11. Lafayette foot ball team defeat Seminary 23 to 0 ... Supreme Court refuses new trial to Frank Shaffer, murderer ... Masonic brethren assist James M. Wilcox celebrate 37th anniversary ... successful Y.W.C.A. bazaar. 12. Large number of Wilkes-Barre Elks entertained by Scranton Lodge. 13. Epworth League district convention at Nanticoke ... Dr. Corss reads paper on "Drift Mounds of the Susquehanna" before the Historical Society. 14. Nathaniel Rutter celebrated ninetieth birthday anniversary ... Glen Lyon post office robbed of $300. 15. Several houses destroyed by fire at Port Bowkley ... Zion Reformed Church re-dedicated. 16. All the synagogues of town and First Presbyterian Church burglarized ... Owen Tiel of White Haven seriously shot while gunning. 17. Order of Eastern Star Grand Lodge convention in Pittston. 18. Concordia fall concert ... large number of burglaries in the county. 19. Quigley's store and two other building destroyed at Miner's Mills ... mad dog bites several people at Wapwallopen. 20. Judge Edwards decides that Rockafellow cannot be prosecuted a second time on the charge of embezzlement ... Luzerne County Sunday School convention in West Pittston ... W. H. M. S. of Wyoming conference in session in the First M. E. Church. 21. Two costly wrecks on the Valley Warrior Run and Cut-Off ... fire epidemic reaches Port Griffith and Burke's hotel and residence destroyed ... Daniel Curtis of Avoca suicides by drinking nitric acid. 23. Opening of the Fete Competree ... Record publishes Eastern League fielding and batting averages. 25. Child of William Reilly fatally burned in its cradle at Forty Fort. 26. Warm Thanksgiving - thermometer 70 ... union services in First Presbyterian Church, Rev. Dr. Pearce, speaker ... Elm Park organist and choir at First M.E. Church ... flag presentation to B.I.A. ... dedication of Catholic Slavonian Church in North Wilkes-Barre ... Gwent eisteddfod in Y.M.C.A. auditorium. 27. Body of Mrs. McCarthy, who was drowned at Moosic four weeks ago, found in river at Plymouth ... James Kilmere dies from fractured skull, resulting from fall. 29. Two weeks mission begun in St. Mary's church ... mass meeting of railroaders at Carbondale ... Chanuka entertainment in Welles street synagogue ... Welsh Baptists of Northeastern Pennsylvania is session at Pittston. 30. Rev. Maitland Vance Bartlet installed pastor of Stella Church at Maltby ... eight houses destroyed by fire in Georgetown ... Delrome's $50,000 painting "The Blacksmith" exhibited at the Boston Store ... dead body of John Duley of Wilkes-Barre township discovered in Luzerne clum dump. December 1896 1. J. Bennett Smith lectures on "Electricity" at Y.M.C.A. 2. Samuel Hopple, a Wilkes-Barre peddler, murderously assaulted and robbed at Duryea ... Mrs. Annie Knauss and daughter murderously assaulted and robbed at Port Bowkley ... banjoist Farland in Y.M.C.A. 4. Board of Trade banquet at the Wyoming Valley hotel ... Sons of St. George anniversary celebration. 5. Child of Evan Bryant of Kingston, 3 years old, burned to death. 6. Elks' Lodge of Sorrow ... Sarah Ulrich Kelly, the "bard of Shanty Hill" killed at Honesdale ... week's mission for mean at St. Mary's ... Rev. Dr. Hodge returns to his pulpit after vacation. 7. Andrew Danco of Exter Borough dies of hydrophobia, bitten several months ago ... Sages, hypnotists, open a week's engagement ... Clarence Bidwell, 17 years, drowned while skating on Huntsville dam ... three drowned while skating at Hemlock Hollow, Wayne County. 8. Abram I. Eckert poisons himself with morphine on the morning of the day set for the hanging and cheated the gallows ... Miss Ketcham of Pittston makes her debut as a pianist in Y.M.C.A. Hall ... John Yonick of Jeddo caught in harness of runaway team and dragged to death ... Howard Beidleman of Shickshinny drowned while skating. 9. Mrs. Samuel Patterson drops dead on South Main street ... Anti-Saloon League of Luzerne County proposes several city and county reforms. 10. Record describes the mine fires in Wilkes-Barre. 11. Judge Edward's opinion in the Rockafellow case filed ... John Reading electrocuted on telephone pole. 12. "Joe" Rice's wonderful endurance in winning the second place in the six day's bicycle race the talk of the town. 13. Mame and Anna Markin, Michael McDonnell badly burned while trying to extinguish fire on their clothes at Pittston. 14. Crook steals $200 diamond from Mrs. Heyer's jewelry store ... Richard D. Roberts of the Heights dies from overdose of laudanum. 15. Joseph Rice, long distance bicycle champion of America, tendered a great ovation upon his return home ... Almira Hadsall of Sibley, 15 years, frightened to death by Italians ... Morris Pope attempts to kill John M Keithline and then suicides ... child of Charles Anderson burned to death in North Wilkes-Barre. 17. Wilkes-Barre Wheelmen's annual barbeque ... Landmark Lodge 442 entertains a large number of visitors. 18. City Council meets to consider $100,000 increase of debt. 20. Installation of Rev. Frank Neiman of St. John's Lutheran Church. 21. Twenty men imprisoned in the Blackman No. 2 mine for several hours - rescuers get them out. 22. Heath Bros. Store on Public Square damaged by fire, $2,500 ... Lodge 61 and Landmark Lodge have a joint banquet ... New England Society dinner at Scranton. 23. Annual banquet at Wyoming Seminary ... banquet of Ninth Regiment officers in the armory. 24. Christmas eve exercises in many of the churches. 25. Faust Club dance at Loomis Hall ... Christmas services and exercises ... St. Stephen's Church and Westmoreland Club house destroyed by fire ... Welles street synagogue burned. 27. Charles Parrish dies of apoplexy in Philadelphia. 28. Cinderella dance in Concordia ... University of Pennsylvania Glee and Banjo Clubs in the Grand Opera House.