1907 WB Record Almanac, Record of Local Events for 1906 Daily Record Events in Luzerne County for Twelve Months from December 1st, 1905 to May 31st, 1906. December, 1905 1. C.S. Detro of Ashley among the two killed in Central railroad wreck at Stony Creek. 3. Cornerstone of St. Mark’s Church, Upper Pittston, laid. Elks’ annual Lodge of Sorrow. Grant Street Presbyterian Church dedication exercises after extensive improvements. St. Paul’s German Lutheran Church celebrates sixtieth anniversary. Edwardsville Congregational Church, dynamited in May, reopens for services. 5. St. Conrad’s Society fifteenth anniversary celebrated with a banquet. 7. Annual poultry and Pet Stock show. Mrs. Bartols of the Charities starts a crusade against “street walking” by girls. 8. Frank Schappert, son of County Commissioner Schappert, named as mercantile appraiser. 10. Large addition to the Blessed Virgin Sodality at St. Mary’s Catholic Church. 11. Experts decide that fireproofing at the new court house is not strong enough. Court orders the appointment of six masters to hear publicly divorce proceedings and the payment of $40 by each applicant, I n an effort to reduce the number. 12. Superior Court hands down a decision declaring part of the nine certificate law unconstitutional – the part which prevents miners from another State from entering the anthracite mines after proving their competency before an examining board. Two Wilkes-Barre boys drowned by breaking through the ice on one of the east side pond holes. 13. Mercy Hospital donation day. James A. Emery of San Francisco, general secretary of the Citizens Industrial Association of America, lectures in Y.M.C.A. hall on the open shop question. 15. Special election ordered for the Sixth district to fill the place as representative caused by the resignation of Mr. Holcomb. 16. Burglars active in the lower section of Wilkes-Barre. Injunction granted restraining the bricklayers from interfering with nonunion men in the building operations on East Market Street. 17. Two murders – one at Pittston and the other at Inkerman, both of the victims being foreigners. Anna E. Cake Davenport memorial Sunday school of the West Pittston M.E. Church dedicated. 18. Republican city committee decides upon the hold of primaries and a regular convention. 19. Masonic banquets at Kingston and Ashley. 20. Fierce windstorm does considerable dame in Wilkes-Barre and vicinity. 22. District Attorney Jones causes warrants to be sworn out for election officers of five districts charged with holding back the returns of the November election beyond the legal time. Rainy and warm holiday weather. 23. United Charities Christmas celebration for the children. Wyoming Masons have their annual banquet. 24. Decided change in the weather, considerably colder. 25. Death of Dr. C. S. Beck, one of the most prominent dentists in northeastern Pennsylvania. Eisteddfod in the Plymouth Welsh Congregational Church. Moderately cold Christmas weather. House with three families dynamited by Italians at Pittston, none of the inmates injured. 27. St. John’s Day banquets of the Masons-Charles Emory Smith and Bishop Talbot among the speakers. Goeltz furniture store fire. Reunion in the old St. Mary’s school house on South Pennsylvania Avenue which is to be torn down because of erection of a modern structure on South Washington Street. 28. Annual dinner for the newsboys, bootjacks, and messenger boys at the Y.M.C.A. given by a citizen of Wilkes-Barre. John T. Keith of Buffalo, formerly superintendent of the Wyoming division of the Lehigh Valley, made general superintendent of the Markle coal properties at Jaddo, to begin Jan. 1. Remains of three Chinamen disinterred from Wilkes-Barre cemeteries to be sent to China. 29. Annual Assembly ball of the Armory. R.W. Baxter, superintendent of the Wyoming division of the Leigh Valley appointed superintendent of the Buffalo division, succeeded on the former division by John F. Maguire of the general office. William Masters appointed soliciting passenger and freight agent for the Central railroad with headquarters in Wilkes-Barre. 31. Holy Name reception at St. Aloysius Church, with addresses by Father Roberts of St. Ann’s monastery, Scranton. Mortgage burning and jubilee services at St. Andrew’s M.E. Church, Wilkes-Barre Heights. St. Mary’s Polish Catholic Church and rectory at Nanticoke destroyed by fire. Rev. Dr. Riley active in the antisaloon campaign in northeastern Pennsylvania becomes State superintendent of the law and order enforcement department with headquarters in Wilkes-Barre. Polish residents of Wilkes-Barre and vicinity hold a meeting in Concordia Hall to raise a subscription for the sufferers in Poland owing to the Russian disturbances. January, 1906 1. Annual changes in the court house – offices of the treasurer, registrar and commissioners. New Year inspection of the fire department followed by a banquet. Open house at the Y.M.C.A. attended by several thousand men. Moriah Eisteddfod of Nanticoke. Mr. and Mrs. Miner Nagle of Wyoming celebrate golden wedding anniversary. 3. J. Horace MacFarland, the park expert, addresses councilmen on the proposed system for Wilkes-Barre. 4. Street Car Men’s Union has a social session. Action begun by the borough of Dorranceton disputing Wilkes-Barre’s claim to the coal under the westerly half of the river. 6. Hanover Township citizens organize to protect themselves from local graft. Farewell supper tendered. H.R. Whitcraft, formerly managing editor of the Leader and the News by local newspaper men. Grand Jury recommends that if the investigation by the county commissioners reveals any wrongdoing on the part of architect Osterling he be discharged. 7. Irish Ladies’ Choir at the armory. 8. Independent operators meet in Wilkes-Barre to consider a reply to the mine workers. Heaviest snow storm of the season, two and a half inches. 9. Merchant’s Club dance attended by a representative. Hebrew gathering. Citizens’ Industrial Association forms a permanent organization in Wilkes-Barre. 10. Annual Luzerne County Medical Society banquet. Retreat under the auspices of the Holy Name Society at St. Mary’s Church. Mrs. Bridget Bolton of Plymouth Township dies at the age of 93 years. Michael F. Shannon, Democrat, elected representative from the Sixth district to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of L. H. Holcomb, Republican-Shannon 1.024 and David Lewis Republican, 975. 11. Hanover Township school directors enjoined from increasing the tax levy. Undertakers hold a meeting and protest again the new regulations of the State health department. 12. Statement showing five failures in Wilkes-Barre during 1905 with $7,400 of assets and $16,600 of liabilities; ten in the entire county with $27, 200 of assets and $46,916 of liabilities. Five men burned by an explosion of gas in the Laurel Run mine of the D. & H.. J. W. Ingham reads paper before the Historical Society on “Old Times in Bradford County.” 13. Yale alumni banquet at the Westmoreland Club. 14. Two hundred men taken into St. Mary’s Holy Name Society. Joseph Cuff, formerly of Wilkes-Barre, killed on a New York railroad. 15. Republican city convention results in the nomination of Capt. James Bowman for city treasurer, George Freyer for assessor, and A. E. Burnaford and Iorwoerth Jones for school directors. Another movement among Wilkes-Barre landlords to advance rents. Father Curran returns home after presenting to President Roosevelt engrossed resolutions thanking him for his presence in Wilkes-Barre during the summer of 1905. 16. Investigation by the National Board of Fire Underwriters shows Wilkes-Barre to be one of the cities not in danger of conflagration, although listed as one of the “combustible” cities, 7,500 of its 9,000 buildings being of frame construction. Mayor Kirkendall issues a proclamation with reference to the centennial celebration in May. St. Conrad’s Society minstrels have a performance at Concordia Hall. Raeffele Defazio pleads guilty to murder in the second degree for killing Frank Vallore at Dupont in November 1905, and is sentenced to twenty years. Crane Bros.’ silk mill at Kingston begins operations. 17. Hanover Township conspiracy cases put over the argument court on account of alleged irregularities in the jury wheel, neglect of the sheriff to file his oath and unconstitutionality of the act of assembly. 18. New electric plant at Plymouth begins operations. 19. Four dwellings, a general store, and a barn destroyed by fire at Hobble; loss about $20,000. General committees starts out to raise $20,000 for the Wilkes-Barre centennial celebration. 20. Movement in Lee Park for seceding from Hanover Township and organizing a borough. 21. Close of the conference of the Pennsylvania branch of the American Society of Religious Education in Central M.E. Church. C. T. A. U. quarterly convention in Nanticoke. Summer weather, with considerable humidity – temperature 60 degrees and people generally going without overcoats and wraps. 22. Democratic city convention nominates Daniel L. Hart for treasurer, John Becker for assessor and Dr. William Petty and Martin Moore for school directors. Socialists in city convention nominate Harry Rafter for treasurer, August Adler for assessor and J. G. Roth and Andrew Giuglosh for school directors. Frank Kreig appointed a police sergeant to act during Sergeant Hall’s illness. 23. Ninth annual banquet of the Luzerne and Lackawanna Dental Society at the Wyoming Valley Hotel. 24. Meeting in East End parish house to devise ways and means for assisting the Home Rule cause. Frank R. Robertson delivers his lecture on “Russia and Japan” under the auspices of the Odd Fellows. Anthony Kersezicky of Port Griffith acquitted of the murder of John Schaliekus. 25. Anthony J. Reilly, formerly of Wilkes-Barre, killed on a railroad at McKeesport. Caledonian Society celebrates Robert Burns’ anniversary. Ice crop so far very short. 26. City Hospital benefit concert in Y.M.C.A. auditorium. W. H. Reichard selected as chairman of the Republican city committee. Mr. Roderick, chief of the bureau of mine, instructs inspectors to inquire at mines and breakers as to the ages of boys employed. 27. Twentieth anniversary of the Women’s Relief Corps observed. 29. Dr. Wilbur F. Crafts lectures in the Y. M. C. A. auditorium on various reforms. Twenty-third anniversary of Columbia Council, Jr. O. U. A. M.. New home project for the Young Women’s Christian Association begun. 30. Rev. Dr. Charles M. Sheldon of Kansas lectures in the Y.M.C.A. course on “Christian Socialism”. Knights of Columbus annual banquet. Miss Mary Donovan dies at Retreat insane hospital from injuries inflected by another patient. It is supposed Matheson Motor Car Co., whose factory is being build on the west side, closes a deal by which a New York Co., is to take its entire output of high grade automobiles, heavy motor trucks and engines for marine purpose for a period of ten years. 31. Seventeenth anniversary banquet of the Wilkes-Barre Lodge of Elks. February, 1906 1. Annual session of the Luzerne County school directors in Wilkes-Barre. H. P. Freece of Utah speaks on “The Mormon Peril” at the annual meeting of the missionary societies in the First Presbyterian Church. 2. Samuel Smith of Kingston issues a small volume entitled “The Story of Wyoming Valley. 3. Break between the bituminous miners and operators causes considerable uneasiness in the anthracite region. Zero in the centre of Wilkes-Barre and two degrees below on the river front. 4. Twenty-fifth anniversary of the organization of the Christian Endeavor Union observed in some of the Wyoming Valley churches. 5. Fire destroys the Mt. Hunlock school house in Edwardsville. Nights of Equity second anniversary banquet in Wilkes-Barre. Thermometer and degrees below zero in the central part of Wilkes-Barre and 13 below at Bear Creek. 7. Annual Wilkes-Barre Board of Trade banquet in the armory attended by the representative business and professional men of the Wyoming Valley. Complaint to the court that the registry list in the Eighth ward of Wilkes-Barre contains the names of about eighty men who have not the right to vote. Griffith T. Davis appointed internal revenue collection for this district of Pennsylvania in place of Major T. F. Penman. 8. Anthracite district presidents and executive committees meet in Wilkes-Barre to consider the demands to be presented to the operators. 9. Fall of a foot and a half of snow trolley traffic suspended. 10. Princeton alumni banquet at the Westmoreland Club. 11. Rev. F. B. Sturgis starts a movement in Wilkes-Barre for the establishment of a branch of the Florence Crittenton Mission. Thomas Anderson of Luzerne Borough killed on the Pennsylvania Railroad at Lewistown Junction. 12. Sunday School Superintendents’ Union holds a convention in Wilkes-Barre. Lincoln’s birthday anniversary observed by exercises at Memorial Hall. 13. Fiftieth anniversary of Shekinah Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, celebrated with a banquet. Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton line granted permission by councils to enter the city with a bridge over the railroad tracks. Deal consummated by which the Wyoming Valley lace mills become merged with the Columbia Shad Cloth Co., which owns a number of mills, this being the first one that manufactures lace curtains. 14. Recital on St. Stephen’s organ by Mr. MacFarland of St. Thomas’, New York City, assisted by Willie Craven, Miss Stites and St. Stephen’s choir. Organization of the Cold Spring Rod and Gun Club in Wilkes-Barre. More than 150 remonstrance’s against the granting of liquor licenses filed. Taxpayers’ Association issues a statement in relation to its work and the offering of rewards relation to the crime of jury fixing. 15. County convention of the W.C.T.U. at West Pittston. 16. County commissioners reduce the tax levy from thirteen to eleven and a half mills. Lafayette and Lehigh alumni banquets. 17. Alexander Mitchell and Joseph W. Langford reappointed prison commissioners. Explosion of dynamite in the Buttonwood mine kills four men. Wilkes-Barre public school teachers form themselves into a relief association for mutual help in cases of sickness, disability, etc. 19. Wesleyan alumni banquet. Concordia mid-winter concert. 20. Spirited election in some parts of the county. 21. Stockholders in the new bank to be located in the southern part of the city elect officers. Recital on St. Stephen’s organ by R. Huntington Woodman. 22. Contest for the Nesbitt prizes in declamation of Wyoming Seminary. Court makes vigorous remarks against the operation of the contract system in attending to the roads of certain townships of the county, notably Hanover and Pittston. Sons of library Lodge eighth annual banquet at the Wyoming Valley Hotel. United Charities annual donation day. 23. Captain James Bowman named as warden for the Luzerne County prison, and he names Jeremiah McAvoy of Hazleton as his deputy. Spring like weather. 24. Wilkes-Barre Press Club entertained at Scranton. 26. Annual banquet of the Y. M. D. O. Court hands down liquor license decisions, refusing 362 applicants, most of them for new houses. 27. Elbert Hubbard lectures in Wilkes-Barre on “An Age of Common Sense.” March, 1906 1. Important traffic arrangement entered into between the Laurel Line and the Lehigh Valley and Erie railroads. Cambro-American Society banquet at the Sterling. Lehigh Street sewer completed after several months work. 2. Captain James Bowman lectures on his war experiences in the First M.E. Church. 4. Rev. Dr. Sturgis addresses a mass meeting in the interest of the Florence Crittenton Mission. Adam Smeaton, a former Wilkes-Barre miner, drowned in Missouri. 5. Hotel Ferncliffe at Lake Carey destroyed by fire. Rev. Dr. Fullerton lectures in the First Presbyterian Church on Tennyson’s “in Memoriam.” 6. The 173d session of the Wyoming district ministers of the M.E. Church at Shavertown. Special train containing employees of the Adder machine works at Kingston came from Detroit. Dr. Edward B. McDowell lectures in the Y.M.C.A. course on “Panama.” Safe in Luzerne Borough substation post-office blown open and about $400 taken. 7. Frank H. Warner of Scranton suicides in the Wilkes-Barre Lehigh Valley station by shooting himself. Lehigh Valley passenger train collides with a wagon loaded with powder and dynamite at Warrior Run, causing an explosion, the engineer and fireman being burned by the train passing through a sheet of flame. South Side bank projectors purchase a site at No. 63 Hazle Street. 8. Pittston Light Com. Settles with its striking lineman by the adoption of a new schedule of wages. 9. Joseph Perlack, living near Ashley, commits suicide. Annual meeting of the Young Women’s Christian Association. Forty-eighth annual meeting of the Historical Society. 10. John Tomaszewski of Kingston among those who were killed in the attack on the Moro outlaws in the Philippines. Wyoming Valley Brick Co. organized with a capital of half a million dollars. Rev. Dr. Marcus Salzman observes the tenth anniversary of his service of the Washington Street temple. 12. Rev. Dr. Fullerton lectures on “Thackeray.” Wyoming Valley Camera Club exhibit. 13. Dr. John T. Howell banqueted by fellow physicians on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his entrance upon the practice of his profession. 15. Blizzardy weather – about a foot of snow; stress cars stalled on most of the lines and trains late. Fire in the Levy block at Pittston, in which Beevan’s clothing store and the O. P. & C. O. shoe sotre were located, does damage to the amount of about $55,000. J. J. Jones, assistant secretary of the Wilkes-Barre Y.M.C.A. resigns. 16. Men of the First M.E. Church entertained at a banquet by the Brotherhood of St. Andrew. Three prisoners who escaped from the Luzerne County jail captured at White Haven. 17. St. Patrick’s Day celebrated with parades at East End and Pittston, snow and slush on the streets, banquets by Irish societies in the evening. Cynonfardd Literary Society etsteddfod at Edwardsville. 18. Advertisements in a Philadelphia paper for mine guards, carpenters, etc., to work under open shop rules. President Mitchell addresses reply to the operators. 19. Frank Strousser and two horses killed by a Pennsylvania train at a Wapwallopen crossing. Another fall of nearly a foot of snow. Death in New York City of Rev. Charles Jewett Collins, one of the founders of the present public school system in Wilkes-Barre. 20. Women’s Civic Club petitions councils to institute a system for the collection of garbage and waste and cremating it. 21. Physical director Tyson of the Y.M.C.A. resigns. H. C. Davis, Ph.D., for twenty-three years principal of Hillman Academy, resigns. 22. Directors and medical staff of Retreat hospital present a portrait of Abram Nesbitt to the institution. Shriners and candidates from Williamsport and vicinity make a pilgrimage to the Wilkes- Barre Shriners and are finely entertained. 23. Herman Reckling of Hazleton blows part of his head off with a stick of dynamite. Y.W.C.A. building funds starts off with subscriptions for $29,000. E. M. Hungerford of the Miners Savings Bank for seventeen years accepts a position as secretary-treasurer of the Union Trust Co. of Harrisburg. 25. Four degrees above zero in Wilkes-Barre and eight below at Dallas. 26. James B. Watson of Danville appointed receiver of the suspended First National Bank of Freeland. Albert Nagle of Wilkes-Barre dies from drinking carbolic acid. 27. Seventeen of a herd of fine cattle owned by Dr. Welsh of the Bloomsburg State Normal School, killed at Sickler’s fertilizing works because of tuberculosis. 28. Record published portraits of Col. Wilkes and Col. Barre, after whom Wilkes-Barre was named. 29. Suspension of work ordered in the anthracite region pending the final conference on April 3; bituminous conference adjourns without an agreement being reached. Death of Judge Woodward of Wilkes-Barre. River reaches a height of seventeen and eight-tenths feet and portions of the flats inundated. 30. W. H. Shepherd and Sons awarded the contract for the First National band building on Public Square. Coal operators preparing for a strike. April, 1906 2. Molders of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys who demanded a change from ten to nine hour without a decrease in pay decide to remain at work while further negations are being conducted. Bar Association of Luzerne County takes action on the death of Judge Woodward, a number of the most prominent attorneys making addresses. 4. Washery of the Hillside coal & Iron Co. at Yatesville fired on by a crowd of striking Italians; part of the State constabulary force sent to the scene but found all quiet. Pittston Township taxpayers petition the court for the removal of the board of school directors on account of the fact that the schools were closed because of the strike among the teachers whose salaries were long overdue. 5. Cornerstone of the new court house laid with little ceremony. Part of the steam line at the Franklin colliery destroyed by dynamite by unknown persons; seven Mocanaqua foreigners arrested by the State constabulary for interfering with workingmen at the West End Coal Co. washery. Members of Mrs. Henry W. Palmer’s Sunday school class tender her a reception at the B. I. A. 6. Independent coal operators hold a meeting in Wilkes-Barre and discuss the strike situation. 7. Two members of the State police force held under bail by a Pittston alderman on the charge of entering the houses of Italian residents at Yatesville and confiscating weapons, also on the charge of assault. St. Stephen’s Industrial School closing exercises. 8. Palm Sunday Palm Sunday observed by considerable additions to the Lutheran and Reformed churches by confirmation. Body of Albert R. Otis of Rush, Pa., found in the river near West Pittston. 9. Charles F. McHugh reelected city attorney. Annual report of the City Hospital shows 1,448 people treated during the year 1905. Henry B. Plumb tortured by robbers at his home at Warrior Run – his feet and legs burned and he and his wife tied to chairs. 10. Wyoming Association of Congregational churches in session at Edwardsville Amphictyon Society of Wyoming Seminary holds banquet at Becker’s. Annual banquet of Co. D, 9th Regt., at Hotel Hart. Ordinance introduced in councils giving the Midway Connecting Co. the privilege of building as electric passenger railway line over a portion of the city with intention of reaching Nantlooke. Luzerne County Homeopathic Medical Society holds its annual banquet at the Westmoreland Club. Col. C. Bow Dougherty appointed command of the Third Brigade, N. O. P. 12. Opening of Wyoming Conference at Cooperstown, N.Y. Rockmen of the anthracite region form a union and present demands to the contractors. Brigadier General Dougherty announces his appointments. Workmen at the Franklin colliery of the Lehigh Valley stoned and arrests made by the State police – three men tried, one placed under bail and the other sent to jail. 13. Stainer’s “Crucifixion” rendered by the choir of the First M. E. Church. 15. Store and residence of a Georgetown foreigner dynamited and building and stock badly damaged; spite work believed to have been the motive. Cloudy and cool Easter. C. T. A. U. Quarterly convention at Plymouth. Lieut. Joseph W. Graeme of Wilkes-Barre, an officer in the United States Navy, killed by an explosion on board the Battleship Kearsarge off the Cuban coast. Riot at Georgetown caused by two constables arresting a man charged with assault; mob attacks the constables who fire into the crowd, injuring several people; State Police called upon to restore order. Burglars dynamite the safe in J. W. Marcy’s store at Kingston out are unable to open it and escape without booty. 16. Pastoral changes made in three Wilkes-Barre churches by the M. E. Conference. House occupied by John Ludwish in Plains Township dynamited and badly damaged. Spring session of Lackawanna Presbytery in the church at Providence. First of the Hanover Township cases, in which a tax collector and school directors were charged with misconduct in office, trial begun; questioning of jurors raises the suspicion that attempts were made to “fix” certain of them. Four novitiates take the final vows at St. Mary’s convent. 17. Lithuanian National convention in Wilkes-Barre to take action with reference to suffers of that nationality in Russia and to take steps for the promotion of education among the Lithuanians of this country. 18. Damrosch orchestra attracts two large audiences to the Nesbitt. 19. Considerable anxiety among numerous Wyoming Valley families who had relatives or friends in the stricken regions of California visited by earthquake and fire. Record closes its fund for the Japanese famine sufferers which reached a total of $1,000, and starts one for the California sufferers. Guards being imported by coal companies to be stationed for the watching of their property. 20. Record’s relief fund for the San Francisco sufferers amounts the first day to $813. Another juror in one of the Hanover Township cases states in court that he was offered money to influence his verdict in favor of the defense. First annual gymnasium exhibition of the Y.W.C.A. 21. Hanover Township directors and auditors found guilty of conspiracy. Court orders the district attorney to cause the arrest of men who, it was alleged, approached certain jurors and attempted to influence them in the Hanover Township cases. 23. First annual ball and reception of the Wilkes-Barre Eagles in the armory a big event. Concordia spring concert. Three inches of snow and thermometer 33 degrees. Thirty-fifth anniversary of the Father Mathew Society of St. Mary’s parish celebrated with a banquet. 24. Freight train on the Lehigh Valley cutoff dynamited and the engine and several freight cars wrecked, the engineer and fireman barely escaping with their lives. Fire destroys the D. & H. roundhouse on Scott Street. Robbers blow up the safe in the Naticoke post-office, but do not succeed in opening it; fired after citizens who attempted to stop them. Record’s San Francisco relief fund reaches $5,219.91. 25. Fine electrical effects at the annual ball of the Electrical Workers’ Union. First apartment house in Wilkes-Barre to be made out of the building occupied by the Century Correspondence School on Ross Street. Rural free delivery route ordered from the Wilkes-Barre post-office to the Buttonwood and Breelau region. 26. President Mitchell and the miners’ committee meet in Wilkes-Barre and send two propositions to the operators, one for an increase in wages of from five to fifteen per cent, and the other for setting aside ten cents on every ton of coal mined the amount to be proportioned among the workmen according to a plan to be decided upon the miners agreeing to abide by all of the other terms of the Strike Commission’s award; call for a convention of miners to meet in Scranton May 3 issued. 27. Annual banquet of the Y. M. C. A. Gymnasium members. 29. Strike for a nine hour day declared by the molders to affect the region between Honesdale and Tamaqua; no large Wilkes-Barre establishments affected for the reason that previous arrangements had been made with the molders. Catholic clergymen advise their congregations to show a broad and patriotic spirit in celebrating the Wilkes-Barre centennial. Attempt made to wreck a Lehigh Valley freight train on the cutoff by placing a raft across the tracks, the discovery being made by a track walker. Death of city engineer W. V. Ingham. Heavy thunderstorm. Five house at Fairview destroyed by fire. Odd Fellows observe the eighty-seventh anniversary of the order by attending services at the First M. E. Church. 30. Election for colonel and other officers of the 9th Regt. made necessary by the promotion of Col. Dougherty to be brigadier general. Lieut. Col. McKee elected to the command of the regiment. May, 1906 2. Reception for the new pastor of Bennett M. E. Church, Rev. J. L. Thomas. Public school teachers of Wilkes-Barre petition for an increase in pay. Opening organ recital at the Meade Street Baptist Church. Fight between the city and the D. & H. Company over the right to cross certain streets in Firwood. 3. A resident of Hamilton, Ontario, who was suffering from consumption and was being taken to North Carolina by his wife, dies on a Lehigh Valley train near Wilkes-Barre. 4. Wyoming Seminary wins the oratorical contest in the Eastern Interscholastic Oratorical Association. 5. Miss Stella Daley, firemen’s candidate in the centennial queen contest, wins the prize of a diamond ring. Miners’ convention at Scranton voices to accept the old conditions of the Strike Commission’s award. Staff officers of the Ninth Regiment give a dinner to Gen. Dougherty and present him with a solid gold watch. Former tax collector, school directors, and auditors of Hanover Township fined and sentenced to three months in jail. 7. Record prints a chronological history of Wilkes-Barre for the past hundred years. “The Crystal Slipper” given at the armory by local talent. Orrin V. Love and his son George of Meshoppen drowned by the capsizing of a boat at that place. Extensive preparations for the Wilkes-Barre centennial, business places, and private residences elaborately decorated; the sum of $17,000 raised by the finance committee. 8. State constabulary arrests several men at Huntsville reservoir charged with illegal fishing. Convention of miners at Scranton ratifies the agreement entered into with the operators accepting the Strike Commission’s award for another three years and orders the men back to work for Thursday. 9. Greatest night street demonstration Wilkes-Barre ever saw; elaborate opening of the centennial at midnight. (The centennial is noted in detail in the article “Wilkes-Barre in 1906” in another part of this almanac.) Presentation of silk flag to the G. A R. By the Women’s Relief Corps. Annual banquet of the Sorosis and Citosophic societies of the high school. 13. Pastors of some of the Wilkes-Barre churches draw lesions from the centennial celebration. 14. Court hands down an opinion that the county controller must countersign the bills contracted by the prison commissioners. The sum of $18,000 subscribed by the citizens, business houses and corporations for the centennial. Explosion in the Parrish mine at Plymouth seriously injures four men. Most of the local mines resume work after the suspension during the controversy with the operators. 16. Milton J. Mee, a veteran of the civil war, dies of heart disease after paying his G. A. R. Dues in Memorial Hall. C. T. A. U. Diocesan convention in Scranton. Wyoming and Lackawanna Confectioners’ Association has a banquet at Hotel Hart. Alfred Hand elected city engineer to succeed the late W. V. Ingham. 17. Hanover Township taxpayers petition the court to remove from office the school directors who were convicted and sentenced to jail. 18. Kelly-Arnold Manufacturing Co. of Wilkes-Barre chartered to manufacture car couplers. Report made by landscape artist Charles N. Lowris relative to the improvements at the river common. 19. Welsh Baptist Association of Northeastern Pennsylvania meets in the Meade Street church. Superior Court sustains Patterson & CO., in its action against the Wyoming Valley District Council of the building trades. 20. Electric light company changes all of street lamps in the city from the open to the closed variety. 21. Remains of Major E. A. Hancock of Philadelphia, a native of Luzerne country, buried in Hollenback cemetery. 22. Week of jubilee services by St. Paul’s A. M. E. Church to celebrate the 62d anniversary of the church. Councils vote in favor of demanding that the electric light company replace the street lamps, put up without the consent of councils, with the old lamps. Thirty-fifth annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania convenes at Mauch Chunk. 23. Social session by the Wilkes-Barre Elks for the members of the Scranton lodge; presentation to the latter of a costly loving cup. 24. Knights Templar observe Ascension Day by attending services at Memorial Presbyterian Church. Confirmation of 260 people at St. Nicholas German Catholic Church. 25. Wyoming high school pupils’ banquet. Wilkes-Barre and Scranton high school debate in Wilkes-Barre on the municipal ownership question decided in favor of Scranton. New Luzerne County brewery opens for business in North Wilk. 26. More of the brick paving done by the Mack company in Wilkes-Barre condemned on account of defective material. 27. Col. J. D. Laciar and Captain James Bowman speak in the First M. E. Church in observance of Memorial Day. Conyngham Post, G. A. R., attends services in Cavalry Church. Judge D. J. M. Loop, one of the oldest members of the Luzerne County bar, passes away. P. Q. S. of A. decide to form a county organization. 28. William Watkins of Edwardsville receives a Carnegie hero medal and $1,200 for rescuing three fellow miners from a colliery of the Kingston Coal Company after an explosion in 1904. Plains high school graduates form an alumni association. Largest attended meeting of the Wilkes-Barre Board of Trade since the organization. Eighty-four liquor licenses transferred in court. 29. Banquet given by the board of directors of the Y.W.C.A. to the young ladies who assisted in collecting for the building fund. Graduating class of the City hospital nurses’ training school – numbering fifteen young lades – has its annual commencement. Dr. Walter Lathrop of Hazleton being the speaker of the evening. 30. Fine Memorial Day weather; usual exercises by the veterans. Post-office employee of Wilkes-Barre have their annual banquet at Hotel Hart. Recital by Schubert Club in St. Stephen’s parish building. Joint picnic of the Y. M. C. A. and Y.W.C.A. at Falls. 31. Death of Robert Baur, a veteran printer and German newspaper pub… (it appears as if part of May 31st info was not scanned). June, 1906 2. Court ousts the Pittston Township school directors for failing to keep the school open all the time during the term. 3. Hillside Coal & Iron Co. Purchases the Clarence colliery, located near Yatesville, from M. Sturges of Scranton, and the Pennsylvania Coal Co. Purchases the Avoca Coal Co. colliery. 4. Conciliation Board holds a session in Wilkes-Barre. 5. Nanticoke citizens indorse reform council by voting in favor of the municipal loan. Reception in honor of Rev. R. B. Webster, for thirty-three years pastor of Westminister Presbyterian Church. Wyoming District Ministerial Association’s 173d meeting in Forty Fort. 6. Wilkes-Barre Institute commencement. New gas company organized in Wilkes-Barre, financed by J. B. Ford. 10. City authorities prevent the Pennsylvania R. R. from crossing streets in South Wilkes-Barre at night. Children’s Day exercises in a number of the Sunday schools. 11. Sudden change in the weather, from 90 June 9 to 68 degrees. 12. Hillman Academy declamation contests and commencement exercises. Special meeting of Lackawanna Presbytery held in Plymouth. 13. Truckers at the Lehigh Valley freight house strike for an increase in wages. Four Wilkes- Barre merchants arrested on the charge of selling fictious olive oil. Class day exercises of the high school commercial department; also gold medal contests in oratory. Annual banquet of Hillman Academy Lincoln Society. 14. Wilkes-Barre Board of School Government reorganizes for the year. 15. Wilkes-Barre High School Commencement exercises. 16. Mrs. Kate Wichk of North Wilkes-Barre confesses that she threw her three weeks’ old baby into the river; it is alleged that her husband abused her and chastised her. 17. Heaviest electrical storm of the season–several buildings in Wilkes-Barre struck by lightening, others in the outlying districts, streets, flooded and considerable damage done to the railroads; heavy storms also on the 15th. 18. Master Plumbers of Wilkes-Barre and vicinity have a banquet at Columbus Hall. County commissioners appoint first election registrars for the Luzerne County cities. Annual prize speaking at Wyoming Seminary. 19. Mine foreman examination conducted in Wilkes-Barre and Pittston. Junior priests in retreat at Glen Summit. County commissioners name the city treasurer of Wilkes-Barre as the receiver of county taxes in the city. 20. D. & H. brings equity proceedings against the city to restrain it from interfering with the crossing of certain streets in South Wilkes-Barre. Luzerne County Medical Society makes the first move towards the establishment of a dispensary for tuberculosis. Commencement exercises at Wyoming Seminary, Mallinckrodt Convent and St. Mary’s schools. 21. Concordia, at which the Newark prim song was sung. Roscoe M. Williams, formerly of Mountain Top, killed in n a foundry at Shapeville, Mercer County. 24. Knights of Malta observe their memorial by decorating the graves of deceased members. 25. Wilkes-Barre Republican legislative convention, the first under the reappointment act of 1905 giving Wilkes-Barre two representatives, the nominees being Representative Edward H. Williams and Col. Asher Miner. Anthony Wizidla, a Nanticoke saloon keeper, suicides by hanging himself in his saloon, despondent over business matters. Twenty students of the engineering department of State College spend a few days in Wilkes-Barre and vicinity inspecting mines. Bar Association meeting to take action upon the death of Michael Cannon, Esq. 26. Republican county convention one of the liveliest in the history fo the county, owing to the spirited contest between Hon. H. W. Palmer and Dr. Cobleigh for the congressional nomination. Plains high school alumni banquet at Hotel Sterling. Pennsylvania Pharmaceutical Association convention at Glen Summit. 27. Complimentary dinner given by friends of H. C. Davis, Ph. D., on the occasion of his retirement from the principalship of Hillman Academy. Three workmen at the new court house seriously injured by the collapsing of a derrick. 28. Court decides that the thirty mills tax to meet the debt of Wilkes-Barre Township must be collected in a lump sum instead of in installments. Five young ladies take the initial vows at St. Mary’s Convent. Father John A. Lynott, curate at St. Mary’s, presented with a purse containing $600 by Scranton friends. Holy Cross alumni have a banquet at Hotel Sterling. Only son of Mr. & Mrs. John Garman drowned in a creek near Tunkhannock, 14 years of age. 29. Hazelton voted $75,000 by Congress for a public building. Hottest day of the season, thermometer 93 degrees. Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of the mine law which requires a miner to have a certificate and makes it necessary for him to have two years’ experience before he is eligible for the certificate examination. 30. Conductors and motormen of the Laurel Line get an increase in pay averaging two cents an hour. July, 1906 1. Nineteen young men ordained as priests in the Scranton cathedral. Rev. Dr. Mogg of Central M. E. Church preaches to members of the P. O. S. of A. 2. Wilkes-Barre Board of School Government raises the salaries of principals and teachers form $25 to$200. 3. Dr. Albert Bushnell Hart delivers the address at the Wyoming Monument anniversary exercises. 4. Wilkes-Barre Concordia Society wins the Kaiser prize at the Newark saengerfest against some of the most formidable male choruses of the East. Fine Fourth of July weather; about forty accidents in Wilkes-Barre and vicinity recorded in the Record, among them six boys killed by the explosion of dynamite used in a pipe near Wanamie; one fire alarm in Wilkes-Barre , with damage amounting to about $25. Unveiling of marker at old Fort Pittston. Plymouth oarsman defeat Boston crew in boat race at Harvey’s Lake. 5. Concordia given a rousing reception upon its return from Newark after winning the Kaiser prize. 6. Coxton yards of the Lehigh Valley being extensively enlarged. Meeting of the laymen and physicians held in Wilkes-Barre to establish a dispensary to assist in fighting tuberculosis. 7. Rev. Dr. Riley of the Anti-Saloon League again active in the prosecution of saloonkeepers charged with violating the law. Black Diamond Express strikes a team at Pott Blanachard and kills the driver and horses, the former Frank Beteder of Pittston. 8. Rev. Father Walter , formerly of Stanley Campbell of Wilkes-Barre , celebrates his first mass at St. Mary’s Church. Christi Kripplein Church, Wilkes-Barre, fifteenth anniversary observed. 10. City streets flooded by one of the severest storms of the season. Meeting in Wilkes-Barre City Hall in the interest of the extension of the civil service system to city and county offices. 11. Secretary Smith of the late Republican county convention files the certificate of Mr. Palmer’s nomination for Congress, but refuses to file the Cobleigh certificate on the ground that the tellers agreed on the vote in favor of the former, no certificates in favor of the rest of the Palmer certificate filed. 12. Big reception to the Concordia Society on the Ross lawn in the form of a concert. 13. Hanover Township school board drops a dozen teachers from the list; after the activity of the Taxpayers’ Association in that region. 15. C. T. A. U. Quarterly convention at Pittston. Rededication of McKinley Lutheran Church after extensive repairs. 16. Convention of District No. 1 of the Untied Mine Workers in Carbondale. Peter R. Meixell, a well known Wilkes-Barre merchant, drops dead while placing flowers on his wife’s grave. Farewell reception at the Meade Street Welsh Baptist Church for Rev. James Griffith of Aberdare, Wales, who has been making a tour of the Untied States. Engineers at the new court house quit work when docked a half a day’s wages on account of being idle during rainy weather, but the trouble was adjusted in a few hours. 18. Hanover Township high school building entered by burglars and robbed of two typewriters and other articles. Harry E. Colliery fo the temple Iron Co. At Forty-Fort opened employing 800 men and having a capacity of 2,000 tons a day, replacing an old breaker. Professor Leonard resigns form the faculty of the Wilkes-Barre high school to take the principalship of the Swathmore high school. 19. Graduating exercises of nurses at Retreat hospital; an address by Dr. G. W. Guthrie. State attorney general decides that the certificate of Dr. Cobleigh’s nomination shall be filed. 20. Ninth Regiment off for camp at Gettysburg. 21. Joseph H. Williams, master mechanic of the Wyoming division of the Lehigh Valley R. R., resigns after twenty- five years of service with the company; succeeded by A. M. McGill of the New York, New Haven & Hartford. 23. Rev. L. Ton Evans resigns as pastor of the Edwardsville Baptist Church to engage in mission work Haiti. Pawnee Bill’s Wild West in Wilkes-Barre. Crystal Ridge Breaker of A. Pardee & Co. at Hazelton destroyed by fire, communicated from the boiler house; loss about $60,000., insured, was erected in 1876. 25. Court confirms the appointments made by the prison commissioners, after a delay of about five months—Capt. James Bowman the new warden. 26. Luzerne County’s share of the state appropriation for public schools this year $235,937. 27. Blacksmith shop and carpenter shop of the new Harry E. Breaker at Forty Fort burned. Four men hurt by the collapsing of a trestle at the Laurel Run breaker. 28. Ninth Regiment returns home form Gettysburg encampment. New South Side Bank, Wilkes- Barre, open for inspection. 29. Beginning of the week of celebration of Hazleton’s semi-centennial. 30. Five citizens of hazelton petition court for an audit of the campaign of Dr. B. J. Cobleigh, candidate for Congress. New coal company under the name of Pardee Bros. & Co., chartered by the State Department, with a capital stock of $10,000. 31. Twenty-two deaths from cholera infantum in Wilkes-Barre during July. Report of the board of visitors to Wyoming Seminary made public. August, 1906 Warden Roth retires from the prison management and Capt. James Bowman takes his place. 3. C. T. A. U. Regiment camp opened at Harvey’s Lake. 5. Blessing of the bells at St. Mary’s Church of the Nativity, Plymouth. Two Newcomb brothers of Wilkes-Barre drowned while bathing at Bear Creek. Hottest and most oppressive day of the summer — mercury 94 degrees in Wilkes-Barre. Girl at Miner’s Mills dies of cerebro-spinal meningitis. 6. Y. M. C A. Boys break camp and return home. 7. Christopher post-office and store broken into and jewelry to the value of $200 stolen. Hot spell continues mercury between 85 and 94 degrees for several days. 8. Sheldon Axie Works enlarging its plant. J. H. Lawson of Springfield, Mass., elected physical director of the Wilkes-Barre Y. M. C. A. And C. H. Manley of the Berwick association as membership and educational director. 9. Body of John Kelly of Wilkes-Barre found in a vacant lot on Lincoln Street, having died of natural cause. Bishop Hoban makes flag presentation to C. T. A. U. Regiment in encampment at Harvey’s Lake. Burglars bind watchman and rob Susquehanna Brewing Co. Office at Nanticoke of $480 in revenue stamps and some cash. 10. John Hochenberg of Wilkes-Barre suffering with typhoid fever escapes from his home and finds his way to Pittston, where he is arrested and placed in the lockup; found dead in the lockup several hours later. Explosion in the Warrior Run mine of the Lehigh Valley of ten days ago causes fire and part of the workings to be flooded. 12. Hot spell of a week broken by cooler weather. 13. Episcopalians at Dorranceton erecting handsome new chapel. City engaged in inspecting sidewalks and ordering property owners to repair defective ones. 14. Four members of alleged Black Hand Society captured at Swoyerville. 15. Mrs. Kate Wicht, charged with throwing her infant into the river refused bail by the court on habeas corpus hearing and remanded back to jail. 16. Mr. & Mrs. A. J. Roat of Kingston observe the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage. Seven County Veteran Association reunion at Mountain Park. 17. Seven men seriously injured by collapsing of a wall at the Century Correspondence School building in Wilkes-Barre while converting it into an apartment house. Funeral of Charles Stegmaier, Sr., one of the largest seen in Wilkes-Barre in years. 18. Striking miners of the Jermyn collieries at Old Forge decide to return to work. Huntington Valley Veteran Association reunion. 19. Fire in the store of M. F. Coone & Co. of Nanticoke does damage to the extent of about $50,000. Drunken fight among foreigners near Pittston results in the injury of some of the foreigners and two of the State Constabulary force. 20. First rain in several weeks. 21. Mine operators make no objection to the collection of union dues by the United Mine Workers at the collieries. Fire still burring in Warrior Run colliery and the mine being flooded. Electric light plant to be installed at Ashley shops. 22. Foreigners at Luzerne Borough engage in drunken riot in a saloon and the State constabulary called upon. Union Labor party meets in Wilkes-Barre and makes nominations for some of the offices. Levi M. Smith, a native of Plymouth, aged 81 years, and Miss Luella Cook of Factoryville aged 60 years married in Wilkes-Barre. 23. Warm Democratic campaign for congressional nomination being waged. 24. Hotel property at Albert owned by William Laudy destroyed by fire. 25. Barnum & Bailey Circus. Democratic primaries. 26. Rev. W. D. Johnson, rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in Wilkes-Barre informs his congregation of his resignation to accept a call to Christ Church in Brooklyn. Irish-American Drill Company breaks camp at Bear Creek. Two murders among the foreign element at Berwick. John Donnelly, an insane patient at Retreat, escapes from the asylum and suicides by holding a piece of dynamite against his head and setting it off. 27. Hon. F. W. Palmer accepts and Dr. B. J. Cobleigh, refuses to accept the plan for arbitration proposed by the Republican newspapers of Luzerne County for settling the congressional nomination tangle. New Dallas bank opened for business. 28. Democratic county convention, Theron Burnet, at one time one of the prominent business men of Wilkes-Barre dies in Philadelphia. 29. Democratic legislative convention in Wilkes-Barre district. Local educators not enthusiastic over the reformed spelling authorized by President Roosevelt for government departments. Congressman Palmer files his objections to the certificate sent to Harrisburg by Dr. Cobleigh. 30. Flag-raising exercises at the public playground. Raid made by the state constabulary upon the gamblers at the Luzerne county fair. 31. Farewell reception at Edwardsville for Rev. L. Ton Evans, for some years the energetic pastor of the Welsh Baptist Church at that place, who has accepted a call to do missionary work in Haiti. September, 1906 1. Luzerne County Fair at West Side Park beyond all expectation. Mayor Kirkendall elected chairman of the Democratic county committee. County commissioners sent out to make valuations correctly and honestly, and not to depend upon the old assessment books. 2. Rev. Henry Wheeler, who occupied the pulpit of the First M. E. Church fifty years ago, again preaches form the same pulpit, giving a review of a half a century of Methodism. 3. State Letter Carriers’ Association in session at Pittston. Slovaks of Luzerne and LAckawanna counties if session in Wilkes-Barre to protest against the Hungarian government’s treatment of their fellow countrymen. Cornerstone laying and dedication fo then Holy Family Roman Catholic Polish church at Sugar Notch. Labor Day celebrated with an outing at Sans Souci Park under the auspices of the Central Labor Union. Speech by secretary-treasurer Wilson of the United Miner Workers and games. First personal registration of day under the new law; about one-sixth of the total number of voters registered in Wilkes-Barre . Six candidates admitted to practice at the Luzerne county bar. Judge Lynch calls the grand jury’s attention to discrimination in assessments and calls upon the jurors to investigate. 5. St. Lee’s parochial school and parish building at Ashley formally opened. 7. District Attorney Jones hastens grand jury findings in Plains township cases on hearings that attempts to fix the jury would be made. 8. Reunion of Co. F, 53d regiment at Fern Brook Park. A foreigner shot to death near Sugar Notch in a fight between game warden and his friends and a party of foreigners. 9. Announced at Calvary Episcopalian church that the Rev. F. L. Flinchbaugh of Salem, N. J., formerly assistant at St. Stephen’s would take the rectorship made vacant by the resignation of Rev. W. D. Johnson. Dedication of the renovated Jewish synagog on Lincoln street, Wilkes-Barre. 10. Death of Alexander Dick, one of the members of the Boston Store firm. Opening of the Wilkes-Barre public school teachers’ institute. Flag presentation at the parochial school of St. Vincent’s parish in Plymouth. Opening of criminal court after the summer vacation. 11. Resolution introduced in councils that an ordinance be drafted of the submission of a proclamation to erect a municipal water plant to the people at the February election. Gang of alleged counterfeiters arrested in Pittston. 12. Cornerstone laying of the new Pittston armory. 13. Albert Lewis denies request of the Wilkes-Barre Automobile Club to be permitted to use the boulevard for ceratin hours during the day, on the ground that such permission would be to discriminate against other automobiles, and if all were permitted to use the roadway no regulations could be enforced. 16. Death of Rev. Henry Spayd, for many years pastor of the Plains Presbyterian Church. Extensive cave-in over the Gaylord mine at Plymouth, affecting about forty acres and damaging numerous homes. 17. New parochial school of St. Mary’s blessed by Bishop Hoban. Opening of the Wilkes-Barre public schools. Boiler explosion at the Hazard works injures three men seriously. 18. Second registration day shows a larger response on the part of the voters than on the first day. 19. Annual convention of the Luzerne County W. C. T. U in Central M. E. Church. Lackawanna Presbytery in session at Montrose. Thirteenth annual conference of the Keystone League of the Christian Endeavor, Pennsylvania Conference. In the Dana street Evangelical church: Annual convention of the W. F. M. S. Of Wyoming conference in the pittston M. E. Church. Special committee of councils hears statements form the water company with reference to the short supply on the Heights and Rolling Mill Hill. 20. Dominick Coluzzi, a Pittston Italian who had been living in Berwick for two weeks, shot to death at the latter place by the Black Hand, it is believed. Six nurses graduate from the Mercy hospital training school. Col. R. B. Ricketts making preparation for the construction of an immense electric generating plant at North Mountain. William Augustanawicz of Wilkes-Barre dies from a beating received in a saloon fight at Midvale. 21. Dauphin County court decides in the Luzerne congressional contest that neither Mr. Palmer nor Dr. Cobleigh was nominated. 22. Judge Lynch states in court that attorneys and others who attempt to influence the judges in deciding cases and passing sentences will be punished for contempt. Following the decision of the Dauphin county court that no nomination was made at the Republican county convention, the county committee nominates Mr. Palmer for congress. Gneeral store conducted by Isaac Rosenthal at Trucksville, together with two single houses destroyed by fire. 23. Thirteenth anniversary of the dedication of Bennett Presbyterian church at Luzerne Borough observed. 24. Citizens of the heights and Rolling Mill Hill sections of Wilkes-Barre who have been without water for the greater part of each day during the dry spell, advocate a municipal water plant. Air and festival of No. 7 hose company in South Wilkes-Barre opened. 25. Ordinance introduced in councils providing that the question bonding the city in the sum of $1,000,000. for the establishment of a municipal water plant shall be submitted to the voters at the February election. 26. Reunion of the supervisors of the 52d Regiment in Memorial hall, Wilkes-Barre. Councilmen, railroad men and city officials discuss the subject of grade crossing, talking over various plans. 27. Several Italians convicted in the court on the charge of selling cotton seed oil for olive oil. Farewell reception at Calvary church for Rev. W. D. Johnson, the retiring pastor. 28. Annual Luzerne County Sunday School Association convention in St. Stephen’s church. Death of Miss Sophia Herriotts, for a number of years matron at the Home for Friendless Children. 29. Defendants in court convicted of conspiracy in connection with Plains and Marcy township fraudulent judgment cases sentenced from six months to four years and nine months. 30. Farewell sermon preached by W. D. Johnson at Calvary church. Incendiaries set fire to barn of the Miner-Hillard Milling Co. At Miners Mills. Dedication of St. Mary’s Catholic church at Nanticoke. October, 1906 1. Inquest discloses the fact that Andrew Novak of Plymouth township, who died in June and who it was supposed had been poisoned, died of natural causes. Funeral of Rev. W. J. Richards, D. D., largely attended. Mr. Hunlock school building at Edwardsville dedicated. 2. Evening parade of German societies in Wilkes-Barre, preliminary to the celebration of the first German Day at San Souci Park. 3. Opening of the Dallas fair. 4. First good rain storm in over a month. 5. Five men buried in a slope of the Midvale colliery. Dr. Cobleigh and four other citizens file papers preempting the name of the Roosevelt Square Deal Party. Calvary Episcopal congregation purchases property next to the church to be used as a rectory. 6. Latest contest between Dr. Cobleigh and Mr. Palmer over the congressional nomination argued in the Dauphin county court. Site for a federal building in Hazelton secured. 7. Rev. F. L. Finchbaugh takes charge of Calvary Episcopal Church in Wilkes-Barre. New pastor secured for Douglass Mission in then person of rev. Samuel McDowell of Michigan. Local traction company to spend half a million dollars in improvements and extensions. 8. Announcement that Charles Finberg, one of Wilkes-Barre’s most prominent clothing merchants, is to retire from business. 9. Convention of the Fraternity of Home Protectors in Wilkes-Barre. Egbert concert in Y. M. C. Ordinance for the publication of the assessment lists passes finally in Wilkes-Barre Councils. 10. Wyoming Association of Congregational churches in session in Carbondale. Drunken foreigner on Larksville car line shoots at and nearly hits a conductor who insisted on having the fare. C. T. A. U. Parade at Scranton. Coroner;’s jury censures Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company for allowing gas to accumulate in the Maxwell mine at Ashley, resulting in the death of two men. 12. Mayor Kirkendall vetoes ordinance for an investigation of the police force on the charges of permitting gambling during centennial week. 14. Cornerstone of Father Murga’s handsome new church in North Wilkes-Barre laid. Lutheran cemetery at Trucksville dedicated. George A. Korn of Wilkes-Barre dies on a train while homeward bound from New York City. Michael Andes of Wilkes-Barre invents a coal briquette. 15. Considerable alarm in the Ross Hill section of Luzerne Borough because of surfaces settling. Royal Welsh Male choir gives its first concert in America in Wilkes-Barre; choir tendered a banquet and reception. 16. Plains township miner placed under $1,000 mail on the charge of manslaughter in causing the death of a fellow miner by failing to notify him before a blast was fired. 17. Women’s home Missionary Society fo lackawanna Presbytery in the Firs Presbyterian church. 18. Committee of the National Board of Underwriters publishes report of fire hazards in Wilkes- Barre, finding some things to commend and others to criticize. Ninth Regiment line officers organize an association. R. Nelson Bennett of Wilkes-Barre elected vice president of the commercial organizations of New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 19. Residents of Gerogetown and Laurel Run hold indignation meeting to protest against the lack of water in those sections, the governor to be appealed to. Burglars bind and gag the watchman at the Trethaway tinware factory in Parsons, blow open the safe and rifle it of $20. 20. Last registration day for cities of the third class shows a gratifying response on the part of voters. 21. Beginning of semi-centennial and mortgage burning jubilee at Centennial M. E. Church in Wilkes-Barre. 22. Musical Art Society’s first rehearsal most promising. 23. Park ordinance again introduced into Wilkes-Barre councils. 24. Republican state candidates at a mass meeting in the court house. Dr. Charles H. Miner speaks on “germs” at the Y. M. C. A. Reception at Plains for Edward A. Walsh, who won fame as a pitcher for the Chicago American League base ball tam. 25. Confession by a well known justice of the peace that he was implicated in the fraudulent judgment scandal in Plains township. Rev. Joseph J. Weisley installed as pastor of the Forty Fort Presbyterian church. Porch thieves again active in Wilkes-Barre. 26. William Warner of Philadelphia, a salesman, drops dead in a West Side store. Rev. Dr. Iliff lectures on “Mormonism” in Central M. E. Church. More confessions in relation to fraudulent judgment in Plains and Marcy townships. Local court denies injunction to restrain D. & H. from building an embankment over the Firwood section. 27. Severe storm causes considerable damage in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties, including the destruction of the Exeter breaker of the Lehigh Valley, resulting in the death of a boy, and the destruction of the Old Forge breaker of the Jermyn Coal Company, together with other damage. New Courtright avenue school in Wilkes-Barre dedicated. Emery and other state candidates speak at the armory. 28. Windup of the jubilee services at Central M. E. Church, and presentation of a silver tea service to the pastor, rev. Dr. mogg. Autumn anniversary of St. Stephen’s Sunday schools. 29. Mitchell Day celebration in Wilkes-Barre with a parade and speeches on the river common. Opening of the annual county teachers’ institute. Former Wilkes-Barrean, Dr. Thomas Mackin of Reading, drops dead in his office. Reception at the B. I. A. For ex-members. 30. Dinner given by the Matheson motor company at the Westmorland Club. Homer L. Castle, Prohibition candidate for governor, speaks in the court house. 31. Hallowe’en celebrated by a fantastic parade with many thousands of people upon the streets. Caledonians celebrate Hallowe’en, judge Wheaton speaks at the Y. M. C. A. On “Crime.” November, 1906 1. Tablet placed in the Historical Society rooms in memory of Frances Slocum the “lost sister of Wyoming.” 2. Annual convention of Luzerne County Christian Endeavor societies at Plymouth. John Jones, former Plymouth resident, killed by accident in Arkansas. 3. Grand jury recommends the construction of a highway from the LAckawanna county line to Wilkes-Barre. Two foreigners charged with dynamiting Lehigh Valley train in April arrested. New grace Episcopal chapel at Dorranceton opened for worship. 5. Second concert by the Royal Welsh Male Choir in the Y. M. C. A. auditorium, followed by a banquet given by the Gwents. “Mother Jones” speaks in the court house in the interest of the labor candidates. 6. Exciting election. 7. Reception for the new pastor of Douglass Mission, Lee Park– Rev. Samuel McDowell. Brotherhood of St. Andrew Central Pennsylvania Local Assembly in quarterly meeting in St. Stephen’s church. Dr. Fell lectures in Y. M. C. A. on a health subject. 8. First dynamo used in Wilkes-Barre exhibited at the electric light company’s office. Enormous election frauds unearthed during the process of the count. 9. Serious cave at Miner’s Mills over the Pine Ridge mine. 10. Election count completed by the court and more election boards placed under arrest on the charge of fraud. 11. Mission opened at St. Aloysius church, Wilkes-Barre. Tablet placed in the First Presbyterian church to the memory of Rev. Cyrus Gildersleeve, who was pastor from 1821 to 1829. 12. First jury fixing case in the Luzerne county courts results in a verdict of acquittal. Members of the Taxpayers’ Association and Board of Trade confer with the county commissioners with reference to a county road between Wilkes-Barre and Pittston. Knights of Columbus begins it's social season with a euchre and dance. 13. Court order that non answering jurors will not only be fined a day’s pay but also for contempt of court. 14. Annual conference of the Women’s Home Missionary Society in the West Pittston M. E. Church. Students from Luzerne county at the University of Pennsylvania form an association. Extensive improvements being made to the government building in Wilkes- Barre. St. Conrad’s Society concert. 15. Twenty-eight semi-annual convention of the Northeastern Central Luther League in St. John’s church, Wilkes-Barre. Several inches of snow in upper Luzerne and half a foot in the Hazelton region. Mr. & Mrs. Adam Scheidel of Wilkes-Barre celebrate their golden wedding anniversary. 16. State highway commissioner Hunter entertained at dinner at the Westmoreland Club at which the project for a state road through portions of Luzerne County was discussed. Isaac Langfield, one of the pioneer merchants of Wilkes-Barre, dies in Philadelphia. Frank Rowe, game warden, acquitted of the murder of Adam Rusgas. 18. Prof. J. C. Monaghan lectures in the Nesbitt under the auspices of St. Mary’s church on “Opportunities through Education.” 19. Wilkes-Barre Cleric passes resolutions with reference to the election frauds and criminal intent, and endorses the project for the formation of an association of citizens to take a hand in the enthronement of the law. Another of the conspirators engaged in the township judgment frauds sentenced to four years’ imprisonment. Annual exhibit by the Needlework Guild. 20. Wyoming League of Boys’ Clubs in convention at Duryea. Lynx shot on the hill back of Sugar Notch. 21. Organization of prominent citizens formed to engage in securing evidence and prosecuting those guilty of participating in the election frauds in Luzerne county in the fall election. Deputy internal revenue collector Louis K. Salsburg of Wilkes-Barre resigns. Total value of building in Wilkes-Barre during 1906 over $2,000,000. 22. Keystone colliery near Plains idle because of trouble with Italians. 23. Dr. Marvin of Luzerne Borough shot in one eye in a hunting accident. Work stopped at the Keystone mine because Italians demand the discharge of bosses. 24. Death of Charles L. Lamberton, a former well known member of the Luzerne County bar, in New York city. Citizens of the eighth ward of Nanticoke, file petition for a borough charter. Trouble at the Keystone mine averted and men return to work. 25. Reopening of Luzerne Borough Methodist church after extensive improvements. Evangelistic services begun at Central M. E. 26. Appeal published by committee of citizens having in charge the crusade against the election criminals, asking for public support. Railroad companies submit rough plans for abolishing the most annoying of the grade crossings in Wilkes-Barre. 27. Police force of Wilkes-Barre petitions councils for an increase in pay. Ordinance creating a Park Commission finally passed by Wilkes-Barre councils. D. & H. Secures more land in Hanover township, just south of Wilkes-Barre for its yard extension. 28. Concert by the old Independent Glee Club of Wyoming Seminary in Nelson hall. State constabulary members capture five hunters charged with using ferrets. About $8,000 fraudulent judgments against Pittston township withdrawn at a hearing held to inquire into the indebtedness. Suit brought by contractor E. T. Long and others against members of the Bricklayers and Stonemasons’ union for contempt of court on the grounds that the latter refused to obey an order of court restraining them from interfering with the contractors’ workmen. 29. Cold, brisk Thanksgiving weather. Wilkes-Barre branch of the Needlework Guild distributes 2,557 articles of clothing as the result of the year’s work. About fifty dinners sent to poor families by the United Charities. County commissioners decide to provide for uniform primaries in every borough and township of the county until the doubt with reference to the law is removed. First entertainment in the new parochial school building of St. Mary’s. 30. Second murder in Luzerne County in a few days–Walter Touzek of Plains shot to death after a drunken quarrel. Councils elect Maj. Irving A. Stearns, A. L. Williams, James M Boland, Daniel F. Carmody and William S. Goff as the first park commissioners of Wilkes-Barre . Jr. O. U. A. M. Holds Thanksgiving service in Memorial hall.