1904 WB Record Almanac, Luzerne Co. in 1903 The principal event of general interest in Luzerne County during the year 1903 was in the earlier part—the anxiety over the coal supply following the ending of the strike of the year previous. While all of the collieries were being worked to their capacity, nearly every house and business place was in need of coal and there was a general rush for it. The situation is noted in another special article. Alarmed by the great flood of 1901 and 1902, the Susquehanna River Improvement Association was organized during the year to take the situation in hand. The principal thing sought was the removal of the Nanticoke dam. The effort was unsuccessful. Later in the year, the Nanticoke and Berwick trolley company began negotiations for the purchase of the dam with the intention of using it for furnishing power. There was an echo during the year of the smallpox epidemic of 1901 and 1902. After a lull of some months, the disease again broke out at Miner’s Mills in the 1903. early part of the year and there were several cases there, with one death—1904. Thomas Ruddy. There were also a few cases at Hudson, Nanticoke and 1905. Glen Lyon. Altogether in the county since the outbreak in 1901, there 1906. were 210 cases and 49 deaths.1907. The weather during the year was similar to that of 1902—a winter during the early months of uniform coldness but no exceeding lowness of temperature, and a cool summer. During the early part of the summer when the crops needed rain badly, there was an extended drouth, followed by a period of unusual rainfall, it being so abundant that crops were seriously interfered with and in some instances partly ruined. There was no extremely hot weather during the summer, the mercury being above 90 only a few days in succession. There was also an absence of severe electrical storms. Work on the new court house was begun during the year and the developments in this long drawn out project are elsewhere referred to in a special court house article. There was an unusual record of capital crimes in the county during the year, ten murders being recorded and several cases in doubt. September 29 Peter Lenousky was hanged at the county jail for the murder of Anthony Sennek in Exeter mine. Victor Zorambo, partner in the crime, escaped the gallows, although convicted of murder in the first degree on the first trial. He was sentenced to a long term in the penitentiary, the second trial resulting in second degree murder. The year was an active one in politics. The same factional fight between the Garmanites and Lenahanites on the Democratic side developed before the primaries and was carried into the convention, the Garmanites nominating their candidates. In the sixth district, as in the previous year, the factional disturbance resulted in the election of duplicate delegates to the State convention. The county Republicans having abolished the Crawford county system of electing delegates the previous year, the usual convention of delegates was held and the city Republicans also returned to the delegate convention system, doing away with the Crawford county plan. February 4 James Pollock escaped from the jail for the second time and was captured the following day at Noxen. July 8 he escaped for the third time in seventeen months by picking the lock in his cell and in the corridor. He was still at large at the close of the year. A number of changes occurred at the county prison during the year. March 5 Alexander Mitchell of Wilkes-Barre and Joseph Langford of West Pittston were appointed prison commissioners. Thomas Carter of Plymouth was elected warden to succeed George J. Liewellyn by a majority vote of the prison commissioners, Mitchell and Langford not concurring, but a surprise was sprung when the court on April 11 turned down the election on the ground that the board had not the authority to elect but only to recommend to the court an appointment. April 21 the board recommended to the court the appointment of John Golightly of Plymouth, but on May 5 the court turned down the recommendation. May 11 Fred. Roth of Wilkes-Barre was named by the board. Messrs. Mitchell and Langford concurring, and the recommendation was approved by the court. William P. Alrey had been appointed deputy warden in place of Arthur E. Detro, who resigned during the year, but former county commissioner Henry Evans of Pittston was named as Mr. Roth’s deputy warden. April 7 M. E. Stone was appointed prison chaplain, a new office. The death of Rev. N.G. Parke, D. D., for over fifty years a minister of the Presbyterian church in Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, occurred at his cottage at Glen Summit, June 28, 1903. His home was in West Pittston. Rev. Dr. Parke was one of the pioneers of the church in this region and his reminiscences of years ago are valuable additions to local church history. July 16 Rev. Henry E. Spayd observed the fiftieth anniversary of his ministry. He is pastor of the Presbyterian church of Plains. There were nine deaths in the county from lockjaw as the result of blank cartridge accidents from the Fourth of July celebration, wounds on the hand having been caused by pistol cartridges. There was one recovery only from the disease so far as known, a young man in Wilkes Barre. This great record of fatalities will probably cause the authorities to pass laws against this dangerous means of celebrating. An event in military circles during the year was the opening on July 8 of the Ninth regiment’s new rifle range near Sugar Notch, one of the finest in the east. It was laid out at a cost of several thousand dollars. The Supreme Court in July rendered an opinion deciding that the Plains township debt of some $80,000, which had been hanging fire for several years, must be paid. A heavy special tax was levied. This tax was especially burdensome to the owners of small properties. Agents of the pure food commission having obtained samples of goods sold in grocery stores, over half a hundred merchants were arrested during July charged with violating the pure food laws. Some of them were placed under ball for court and other cases were settled in various ways. During August there was a shakeup in the court house which came quite unexpectedly. A court crier and seven tipstaves were dismissed on account of age and for other reasons and new appointments were made. The advent of the third rail as a means of railroad transportation occurred during the year. The Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton electric line was opened and proved a success from the start. The Laurel Line or “Cannon Ball” company expended hundreds of thousands of dollars on its third rail line between Wilkes-Barre and Scranton. During the summer the line was first opened between Scranton and Pittston and later as far towards Wilkes-Barre as Hancock station, near Plains, heavy bridge and other work being done near the Wilkes-Barre limits. The whole line was opened December 16. The company began work in October on its new station on East Market street and also on the freight station and yards on North Canal street. The city contested the right of the company in crossing the streets at grade but the court decided that owing to the fact that the line was built on the Lehigh Valley’s canal bed right of way it had that privilege. The Laurel Line was considerably harassed during the year by differences among the labor element as to whether the employees should join the Street Car Men’s Union or the Railroad Men’s Union. Although the company declared that it had no objection to the road being unionized, a boycott was placed upon it on account of this difference among the unions. After repeated conferences among the rival organizations most of the men finally joined the Street Car Men’s Union and the boycotts were lifted by the Central Labor Unions. During the year three residents of Luzerne County belonging to the United States service met death in foreign countries, dying from natural causes. Since 1889 forty-one 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 seventy-one. The bodies of two Luzerne County soldiers were brought home in September from the Philippines and buried here—those of Joseph Turner of Parsons and Robert Shoemaker of Warrior Run.