1903 WB Record Almanac, Luzerne Co in 1902 The principle thing of interest in Luzerne County during the year 1902 was the great coal miners' strike, one of the most extensive labor disturbances in the history of the world. It caused great uneasiness for a number of months and business throughout the county was greatly depressed. The strike is noted in detail on another page. There were also numerous other strikes throughout the county during the year, which are also noted elsewhere. The year's weather presented some interesting features. The winter was uniformly cold, although there were no extremes, the mercury remaining at between zero and twenty degrees above a good part of the time. Ice fourteen inches thick was harvested. In June a long drought was relieved by rain and then for some weeks there was rain in excess, it being so abundant that crops were seriously damaged and in some places ruined. The summer was marked by severe electrical storms, much damage being done to property and several people being killed by lightning. There was no extremely hot weather during the summer, the temperature being comfortable nearly all the time and the summer averaging as cool as any in years. The flood of 1902 was the most destructive in the history of Wyoming Valley. Although the flood of 1865 was 18 inches higher there was much more damage this time on account of there being settlements where there were then only fields. The great damage wrought by the flood is told of in a special article in this issue. Comparisons are also made with the flood of 1901 and with other floods. The flood reached its maximum March 2 and on the 5th a fall of fifteen inches of snow assisted in keeping traffic demoralized. On March 12 Judge Wheaton handed down an opinion in court in which he decided that the act under which the Free Bridge Association sought to compel the county commissioners to bond the county and free the toll bridges is unconstitutional. May 19 the Supreme Court handed down an opinion affirming this decision. The free bridge people, who had worked assiduously for a couple of years to obtain their object, were discouraged at this turn of affairs and declared that the next step would be to have a new act passed at the next session of the legislature. The year in regard to the new court house project was an active one and the various moves and counter moves made form an interesting chapter in this much lawed question, which has been hanging fire for a number of years. The various development of the year are noted in a special article in this issue. There were more capital crimes in the county during 1902 than for some years previous, over a dozen being recorded. January 21 John Lutz was hanged at the county jail for the murder of his wife at West Pittston. There was one change in the judiciary of the county during the year. January 6 Andrew M. Freas, Democrat, took his seat as Orphans' Court Judge, having been elected the previous November over F. M. Nichols, Republican, and taking the place made vacant by the death of Judge Alfred Darte. The year 1902 was an active one politically in the county. The Republican primaries for the nomination of county candidates were, as for two years previous, held according to the Crawford County rules, but the ticket was so unsatisfactory as regards territorial distribution, several districts in the county being unrepresented, that a proposition at the convention of returned judges to abandon the Crawford County rules and go back to the delegate system was carried by a large vote, notwithstanding the fact that the champions of the system ably defended it and proposed amendments to remedy some of the evils complained of. The vote was 220 to 52. The City Committee also decided to return to the delegate system of conducting the legislative primaries. The Democrats were kept busy with their factional disputes. The Germanites and the Lenahanites were again arrayed against each other and the factional spirit was manifested first in the legislative conventions. In the Sixth District two conventions were held and two legislative candidates were nominated, the Dauphin County Court being called upon to decide. It was expected that there would be turbulent scenes at the Democratic county convention in September, but they did not develop. The vote for Congress, by which Martin was nominated over Davenport showed that the Lenahanites were in control of the convention and the whole ticket of that faction was nominated. Attorney Sigmund Zeisler of Chicago broke the record for talking in the Luzerne County Court. As counsel in the case of E. O. Myers against the Consumers Coal Company, involving coal royalties to the amount of $250,000, he argued for four days. Final decision in the case had not been handed down at the close of the year. There was consternation in liquor circles by the court refusing to grant licenses in a number of cases. In Pittston twenty-three dealers were refused, among them some of the most prominent hotel and saloon keepers of that place, including the Eagle Hotel and Wyoming Valley Hotel. The Anti-Saloon League had been active in collecting evidence and it was so convincing to the court that the places affected were refused licenses. In April eight members of the Dorranceton Borough Council were removed for being unable to break a deadlock over the election of a president, lasting for some weeks, during which the business of the borough was at a standstill. Eight other citizens were appointed by the court in their places. During the early summer there were fierce forest fires, especially in the Glen Summit and Bear Creek region. Areas of valuable timber land were burned over and several times the Glen Summit Hotel and cottages were threatened. A couple of hundred men were out for some days and nights, and they at last succeeded in getting control of the flames, there being some narrow escapes. The smallpox situation in the county is referred to in a special article in this issue. Since the outbreak the previous year, April 24,1901, there were 199 cases and 48 deaths in the county. The epidemic finally disappeared in June of 1902, three cases however, breaking out some months later, in November. During the year five residents of Luzerne County belonging to the United States service met death in foreign countries, being either killed while on duty, killed accidentally or dying from natural causes. Since 1889 thirty-eight young men from Luzerne County have thus met death in foreign countries while in the service and thirty members of the Ninth Regiment died while encamped in the South during the Spanish-American war or at home of disease contracted in the South, making a total during the five years of sixty-eight. One died in this country in the service during the year. Labor Day, September 1 was celebrated with great demonstrations in the county, parades being held principally at Wilkes-Barre, Pittston and Hazleton. Owing to the fact that the miners were idle and the strike being on, the parades contained thousands of working men. The Wilkes-Barre parade was the most notable Labor Day demonstration yet held in that city, on account of its size and the variety added to it by floats and a fantastic division. April 7 Judge Ferris handed down a decision in the case of Patterson & Co. vs. the Building Trades Council declaring a boycott illegal. The Building Trades Council had issued circulars referring to the lumber firm as being unfair and distributed them, The court enjoined the council from declaring a boycott against the firm. The year in the county was marked by continued unrest in labor circles. The unionizing of various crafts, which in 1900 and 1901 suddenly sprang into such great favor, was continued. By the middle of 1902 about every branch of labor throughout the county was organized and there were strikes in some of them. Owing to this unrest and the strike of the miners the Socialist party became more than usually aggressive and before the fall campaign meetings were held in almost every community in the county and the result of the election shows that this agitation bore fruit. The party advocates the government ownership of railroads, mines, telegraphs, telephones and in fact all public utilities. During the year also a Workingmen's party was organized and a candidate for Congress was nominated, together with some legislative candidates. The principal aim of the party was stated to be securing legislation in favor of the workingman. In September some Nanticoke residents also organized a Ballot Reform party, with the intention of naming a ticket. The new law for the election instead of the appointment of the mine inspectors throughout the anthracite region was in effect during the year, two having been voted for at the November election in Luzerne County and two holding over under appointment. The situation is noted more fully in the article on "The Mines in 1902."