1915 Wilkes-Barre Record Almanac
RECORD OF LOCAL EVENTS for 1914
-----------------
Principal Happenings in Luzerne County, Unless Noted Under Special 
Headings Elsewhere, for the Year Beginning December 1, 1913, and 
Ending November 30, 1914
December, 1913.

1.  Change to the commission form of government in the three cities of the county – Wilkes-Barre, 
Hazleton, and Pittston, much interest taken in the transformation.
2.  New councilmen in Wilkes-Barre make changes in heads of departments. The mayor issues 
his first message advocating the abolition of grade crossings, the elimination of the Solomon’s 
Creek nuisance and doing away with useless offices and positions. 
3.  Many election contests instituted, principally from Hanover Township and Sugar Notch.
5.  Mr. and Mrs. Richard C. Hitchner of West Pittston celebrate their golden wedding anniversary. 
Many applicants for city jobs under new form of government.
6.  Judge Strauss warns clubs about using their charters for violating the liquor laws.
7.  Three day mission campaign inaugurated in Wilkes-Barre and vicinity.
8.  Inquiries made from other cities as to the operation of the new form of government on Wilkes-Barre.
9.  Wyoming Seminary Glee Club on tour raising funds to help swell the Seminary endowment. 
Considerable agitation over the great increase in steam heat rates after the introduction of meters 
by the Wilkes-Barre Company. Miss Ruth Barnum appointed secretary of the girls’ department of the
 Wilkes-Barre Y.M.C.A.
11.   Cold Wave – thermometer reaches 18 degrees in Wilkes-Barre. Dinner given at the Westminster
 Club in honor of Dr. George W. Guthrie, commemorating forty years of service in connection with the
 public school affairs of Wilkes-Barre.    
12.  Wilkes-Barre councilmen grant a hearing to the various interests in relation to permission to lay
 electric wires under South Main street to make competition with the old company possible, and much 
interest taken in the hearing. Six hundred people seek jobs under 
the new form of government in Wilkes-Barre. Committee appointed to examine mine conditions under 
Plymouth reports that there is much danger to property and even to life. 
13.  Chief of police in Wilkes-Barre enforces order against street loafing on Saturday evenings and 
Sundays. West Side Civic League holds its first banquet. 
16.  Smallpox patient who was about to be released from quarantine and for whom a warrant was 
waiting on the charge of bigamy escapes from the house in Wilkes-Barre.
17.  Complimentary dinner given by members of the Wilkes-Barre fire department   to Joseph G. 
Schuler, for many years chief, now one of the city councilmen.
18.  Central Coal Co., a new concern, preparing to start mining operations on a tract near Hudson
 leased from the Lawrence Myers estate. City Solicitor McHugh decides that the city councilman 
have not the authority to order that the saloons be closed on Christmas day. Wilkes-Barre’s bonded 
indebtedness $1,176,893.
19.  Councilman Loveland reports with a negative recommendation the request of James M. Poland
 to lay a pipe under South Main street to secure electricity from the Wilkes-Barre Light Company, which
 would mean the beginning of competition in the city; Mr. Loveland giving as the reason that the old company 
had agreed to make important concessions in rates; the action causes widespread disappointment. 
Paul Bedford named an assistant district attorney owing to the resignation of W. H. Gillespie.
21. Pittston’s high school building, recently remodeled, destroyed by fire; loss about $100,000.
 Churches and Sunday schools petition the saloon keepers to keep their places closed on Christmas.
22. About forty thousand parcel post packages handled in the Wilkes-Barre post office in one day. 
23. Councilmen decide to abandon the old court house bell, which since its removal from the tower
 of the old court house when the new one was erected had been doing duty for the sounding of fire 
alarms, in a tower near the city hall; claimed that it interferes with prompt fire service. Preparations 
made for supplying hundreds of Christmas dinners and other gifts to poor families by the various 
charity and other organizations. 
24. Completely equipped hospital, at which injured mine workers may receive immediate treatment, 
established at Edwardsville by the Kingston Coal Co.
25. Unseasonable Christmas weather with rain, snow, and slush in the afternoon and evening. Mr. 
and Mrs. Cornelius Evans of Pittston observe fifty-seventh anniversary of heir wedding. Mr. and Mrs.
 James Sutten of Pittston celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.
26. Heavy snow and much colder; mercury goes down to 24 degrees.
27. Three hundred and fifty boys partake of the annual feast at the Y.M.C.A. given by a Wilkes-Barre
 citizen. Body of Robert Walsh of Laflin found frozen in the snow.
29. Edward R. Knowles, expert brought to Wilkes-Barre to go into the old light company’s offer of 
reduced rates and to pass upon the question competition, advises the councilmen that the rates of the
 old company are as reasonable as the citizens should expect and that there is no need for competition. 
Managers of the Luzerne County School for Boys ask for general appropriation of $80,000 for the year 
1913 and for $17,000 on condition that certain work must be done. Councilman Morgan decides that there 
is no need for a park commission but that affairs be in charge of himself as superintendent of public 
affairs and of a supervisor of parks, with assistants. Ice from eight to ten inches being cut. Coroner 
Marley reports having investigated 385 deaths in Luzerne County during 1913, and empaneled juries
 in 152 cases. Welsh, Sturdevant & Poggi announce dissolution of partnership 
Messrs. Sturdevant & Poggi conducting business as one firm and Mr. Welsh opening a new office.
30. Wilkes-Barre Council votes to refer the Poland pipe line petition for light extension to the Public 
Service commission, refusing to grant the request; Joseph G. Schuler votes to grant the request and 
Councilman Loveland refrains from voting because of interest in the old light company as executor of 
an estate. Benjamin Haas of Nanticoke appointed deputy controller to fill a vacancy.
31. Chief Roderick of the State Department of Mines issues a circular of instructions for decreasing the
 number of mine accidents. Court files an opinion that William Devaney was illegally appointed collector 
of school taxes in Pittston and that John Kehoe was the legal collector. Law firm of Wheaton, Darling, &
 Woodward dissolved, due mainly to the election of J. B. Woodward as judge. 1,177 deaths in Wilkes-Barre 
during 1913. Dinner given Judge Garman by a number of his friends at which the judge was boomed as a 
candidate for United States senator.  

January, 1914.
1. Crisp, cloudy New Year weather. Franklin club house reopened after being practically rebuilt as a 
result of a fire. Truesdale breaker of the D. L. & W. at Nanticoke prepares 1,119,933 tons of coal for 
the year 1913 – a new record for the anthracite region, the first colliery to ship to market over one 
million tons in a year. Mr. and Mrs. Edward Wilson, Sr. of Plymouth Township celebrate their golden
 wedding anniversary. Trolley system of Lehigh Traction Co. in the Hazleton region tied up in a strike. 
2. Hugh McKenna of Hazelton named postmaster, to succeed William Gerlach.
4. J. Andrew Boyd enters upon his twenty-fifth year as superintendent of the Ashley Presbyterian 
Sunday school. Dr. James J. Walsh of Fordham University begins another series of six lectures in 
St. Mary’s auditorium.   
5. Judge J. B. Woodward takes the oath of office and begins his duties – the fifth member of the
 family to serve as judge.
6. Councilman Loveland introduces a resolution that council investigate the quality of gas supplied to
Wilkes-Barre consumers and the right of the company to establish a minimum charge. 
8. City Councilman Schuler finds that the city property under his jurisdiction is valued at $508,000.
9. Councilman Morgan recommends many changes in the police force, nineteen men being dropped.
 Nearly one hundred and fifty aliens admitted during the January session of naturalization court in 
Luzerne County. Eugene C. Franck, formerly of Wilkes-Barre, dies in California.
10. Grand jury reports in an extraordinary way upon liquor conditions in Luzerne County, deploring 
the fact that so much crime originates in excessive drinking, and recommends that the court reduce
 the number of licenses by eliminating the mere drinking places. 
12. Brewery workers come to an agreement with their employers after a one-day suspension.
13. Councilman Bennett springs a surprise by introducing an ordinance granting the Wilkes-Barre 
Light Co. a general franchise, with a number of restrictions, and Councilman Schuler introduces 
another ordinance giving Mr. Poland the right to lay pipe under South Main street.
14. Cold snap continues – thermometer in Wilkes-Barre registers 6 degrees below zero in the morning; 
river frozen over; temperature of 12 below in mountain districts. Records show 2, 960 arrests in 
Wilkes-Barre in 1913 – 523 for drunkenness and disorderly conduct. Nanticoke Council No. 291, 
Jr. O.U.A.M. celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary with a banquet. 
15. Weather considerably moderated. H. G. Williams succeeds W. C. Anderson as general manager 
of the Luzerne County Gas & Electric Co. 680,784 barrels of beer brewed in Luzerne County in 1913.
16. Death of William H. Hines, formerly member of the legislature, member of Congress and ardent 
advocate of labor interests. 
17. Real estate firm of Phillips & Moore dissolved.   A. H. Phillips retiring and Martin E. Moore 
associating his son with him. Pringle Township incorporated into Pringle Borough by the court.
19. F. C. Kirkendall takes up his duties as internal revenue collector for the Ninth District, taking 
the place of H. L. Hershey of Harrisburg. Wilkes-Barre school board decides to name the new 
Washington street building in honor of Dr. George W. Guthrie, a member of the board, who for a
 generation has been identified with public school affairs in the city. Judge Fuller hands down an 
opinion on the appeal of the D. L.& W. from the 1913 assessment in Plymouth Township, the court 
passing upon minor features of the problem and leaving the major features, such as the standard of 
valuation, to consideration on further appeal. In a court opinion Judge Fuller denounces excessive
 fees charged by some lawyers for representing applicants in liquor license court, the judge stating
 that a fee of $450 cannot be legitimately earned, and that such fees are offered under the impression
 that the lawyer has some special influence with the judge or judges. Anti-Saloon League decides to
 wage an aggressive campaign in the coming legislative contests.   
20. D. & H. train backs into an East End car at the Scott street crossing and throws the car from the 
track, several people slightly injured. Court approves prison appointments of two years’ standing.
21. One hundred and sixty-two new applications for liquor license.    
22. Judge Garman fines a witness in a damage suit $100 for attempting to influence a juror in a 
conversation with him.
25. Wreck of a passenger train on the Central R. R. narrowly averted on the Wilkes-Barre Mountain
 by the discovery of a cave-in.
26. Mrs. Bertels of the United Charities stops the marriage of a man of 45 years to a girl of 11 years
 from Lopez. 
28. Judge Garman imposes a fine of $1,000 on a Parsons resident for contempt of court in attempting 
to influence a juryman. Mischa Elman, violinist, appears in Irem Temple. St. John’s parochial school at 
Pittston fifty years old. 
29. Twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Osterhout Free Library observed. Claims for the bounty 
for wild game killed in Luzerne County in six months show 2,063 weasels, 325 grey foxes, 34 wildcats, 87
 mink, 16 great-horned owls and 25 hawks. Branch of the B. L. A. being organized in Dallas.
30. Verdict of $11,500 rendered in favor of a boy who was injured in a Lehigh Valley Coal Co. mine. Rev. 
J.M. Pritchard returns as pastor of the Hillside street Congregational church. Ice in the river breaks up, no 
sign of a flood. 
31. High water and ice destroy the coffer dam for the new bridge of the D. & H. at South Wilkes-Barre. 
Subdivision of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, to be known as the Pennsylvania Anthracite 
Section, organized in Wilkes-Barre.

February.
  Mr. and Mrs. John Hausam of Wilkes-Barre celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.
2. Groundhog sees his shadow, sunshine most of the day. Court decides that jurors in murder cases shall
 have an additional day’s pay for every night they are kept together, and also pay for Saturday in the event
 that a case is held over from one week to another. 
3. John J. McDevitt, an eccentric Wilkes-Barrean, who created a sensation by traveling to New York in a 
special train to be a millionaire for a day, starts from Wilkes-Barre on a trip to Washington, in a luxurious 
special, to offer a statue of himself to the nation; the statue surrounded by a guard; McDevitt and the statue
 greeted by crowds along the line of the railroads and by thousands of people in Washington, he is going to
 his hotel escorted by the United States Marine Band. 
4. John J. McDevitt fails to secure permission from Speaker Clark to turn over his statue to the nation and 
leaves Washington with the statue for Wilkes-Barre, thus ending a burlesque that attracted national attention 
for a day. Judge Strauss overrules an act of 1705 which prohibits arrests on Sunday for certain offenses, on 
the ground that the act interferes with the pubic welfare. Mr. and Mrs. William Frank of Wilkes-Barre celebrated 
the golden wedding anniversary.
5. At a conference between farmers, merchants and members of the Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce 
it is decided to form an organization to be known as the Luzerne County City and Farm Bureau, to institute 
cooperation between the city and the farm. New county bridge between Plymouth and Breslau, costing about
 $280,000, open for pedestrians. State apportionment of mothers’ pension fund for Luzerne County for two 
years amounts to $8,954.48, to which will be added an equal amount by the county. Woman’s Civic Club 
petitions Wilkes-Barre Council for a municipal dance hall and for the appointment of two police women be 
on duty at public dances.
6. Dr. Anthony F. Dougherty of Ashley, one of the best known physicians in the county, dies.  Decision from 
the Federal Treasury that income tax applies to coal royalties.
7. Members of Conyngham Post and auxiliary organizations celebrate the eighty-eighth birthday anniversary
 of the chaplain of the post, Rev. S.C. Meckel.
8. Death of Alderman John P. Pollock of Wilkes-Barre.
9. Wives of Methodist Ministers of Wyoming district organize an association to help solve the problems 
pertaining to them. One of a series of fires in Nanticoke supposed to be of incendiary origin results in the 
death of an aged man by burning.
10. Earthquake shock distinctly felt in Wilkes-Barre and northeastern Pennsylvania at 1:30 p.m., lasting 
about fifteen seconds. Seventy-five percent of the 1,610 applicants for liquor licenses in Luzerne County
 are foreign born and two-thirds of the remainder are the sons of foreign born parents. Sheriff Kniffen 
pours into the sewer about $1,000 worth of beer and liquor which he confiscated in raids. Campaign 
launched for the annexation of Parsons to Wilkes-Barre.
11. Radiant Lodge No. 178, Knights of Pythias of Plymouth, celebrates its fiftieth anniversary with a 
banquet. Plenty of ice of good quality being harvested.
12.  Another cold spell – mercury at 6 degrees below zero in Wilkes-Barre and as low as 16 below in 
the mountain regions. Remonstrances files against 168 liquor license applications. Mrs. J. M. Williamson 
of Wilkes-Barre and Mrs. John Ferry of Hazelton appointed the first investigators for the new Mothers’
 Pension Board in Luzerne County. Companies of the 1st and 2nd Regts. Of the P. O. S. of A. consolidate.
13. Mass meeting held in the armory, followed by a parade, as a temperance demonstration; resolutions 
adopted at the mass meeting asking that the court grant no new licenses, that brewery-owned saloons be
 investigated, that the court order saloons to be closed between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. and on Memorial Day, 
Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Cold continued – mercury 5 below zero in the morning in Wilkes-Barre, with 
moderating weather during the day. River frozen over for the second time.
14. One of the heaviest snowfalls in years, twelve inches in Wilkes-Barre, with temperatures near zero and
 blizzardy wind. Street car and railroad traffic greatly interfered with; trains from two to six hours late.
16. County commissioners decide to increase the county tax levy three-tenths of a mill – from two and four 
tenths to two and seven tenths, on a valuation of $312,000.00. Sixty women apply for aid at the first session 
of the Mother’s Pension Board.
17. Wilkes-Barre Council by a vote of three to two grants the Wilkes-Barre Light Co. a general franchise for
 the city.
18, Luzerne County Medical Society commends the Record for refusing to take certain medical advertisements
 of objectionable character. East Market street merchants form an association to boom that street.
19. More snow, making eighteen inches in less than a week, much interference with traffic. Salvation Army
 inaugurates the experiment of giving coffee and sandwiches to those who seek lodging in the station house,
 with a religious service to follow the refreshments. Knights of Pythias lodges in Wilkes-Barre and vicinity 
celebrate the golden jubilee of the order with a banquet in Irem Temple.
20. Mass meeting held in Irem Temple to discuss the local charity and correction problem. 
23. Death of J. Frank Nuss, prominent Wilkes-Barre real estate dealer.
24. Another cold wave; temperature 7 degrees below zero in Wilkes-Barre. Italians hold a banquet in 
Wilkes-Barre, together with exercises dedicating two flags for ceremonial occasions, one American 
and the other Italian. Eagle Hose Co. of Pittston celebrates building remodeling with a banquet.
25. Continued cold, minimum temperature of 5 degrees below zero in Wilkes-Barre. Joseph Holbua 
of Swoyerville found frozen to death.
26. New Plymouth bridge opened for traffic. More moderate weather. 

March.
1. One of the most severe blizzards in many years sets in, a light wet snow turning to fine snow accompanied
 by a high wind. Mass meeting held in Majestic theatre under the auspices of the Young Men’s Hebrew 
Association to start a campaign for a new home, and $11,000 subscribed on the spot. 
2. The blizzard, which continued from the day previous, creates havoc, seven inches more of snow 
added to the large accumulation already on the ground, street car traffic tied up most of the day and 
no through trains from New York of Philadelphia until late at night; many Wilkes-Barre people who went
 to Scranton to attend the opening of the Billy Sunday campaign marooned in the tabernacle for the night. 
Freeland girl frozen to death in a snow drift while out sleighriding.
3. Pringle holds its first borough election. Railroads and street car lines just recovering from the effect of
 the blizzard. Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Patterson of Wilkes-Barre celebrate their golden wedding anniversary. 
4. Collieries tied up owing to inability to get railroad cars, due to blizzard.
5. Charles Enzian, head of the federal mine rescue force in the anthracite region, suggest hydraulic filling 
of mines as a remedy for cave-in.  
6. Death of Jerome G. Miller, one of the oldest attorneys residing in Wilkes-Barre. Four inches more of snow.
 Another epidemic of measles in Wilkes-Barre.
7. Much anxiety among resident along the lowlands as to a possible flood, owing to the extraordinary 
accumulation of snow all along the river water shed and the thick ice in the river. Announcement that the
 building and contracting firm of W. H. Shepherd & Son of Wilkes-Barre is to be dissolved owing to the 
retirement of the senior member from active business and to the plan to organize a corporation to be 
know as the Shepherd Construction Co. 
8. Death of Edward Welles, one of Wilkes-Barre’s most prominent residents and a member of one of
 the oldest families in northeastern Pennsylvania.
9. Elks give a minstrel performance in the Grand Opera House.
10. Members of Conyngham Post, G.A.R., made honorary members of Lawton Camp, United Spanish
 War Veterans. New York Philharmonic Orchestra in Irem Temple. 
11. North & West branch Railroad Co. loses its suit to prevent the county from erecting a river bridge 
at Nanticoke at the site selected.
14. Announcement that Frederick H. Somerville is to take the place of Robert L. Litch as principal of
 Hillman Academy at the beginning of the next school year.
15. Springlike weather and gradual thawing.
16. Rev. W. S. Hess of Olyphant accepts a call to become associate pastor of Westminster Presbyterian
 Church. 
17. At the session of the Cyonfardd Literary Society eisteddfod in Edwardsville announcement is made 
that the title of arch druid in the United States has been conferred upon Rev. Dr. T. C. Edwards of the 
Edwardsville Welsh Congregational Church. 
18. Women of the county interested in the suffrage movement get out an issue of the Times-Leader 
and sell the papers in the streets. Ice in the river at various points breaks owing to the warm weather
 but the absence of rain allays apprehension as to a flood for the time being.  
19. Formal opening of the new neighborhood house of St. Clement’s church.
20. Provost Smith of the University of Pennsylvania makes a visit to the Wilkes-Barre and Scranton 
branches of the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce in Wilkes-Barre. Portrait of the late governor
 Henry M. Hoyt presented to the Luzerne county Law and Library Association by his daughter, Miss 
Maud Buckingham Hoyt of Washington, D.C., and formally accepted by the association. Death of 
George H. Butler of Dorranceton, a member of one of the older families of the Wyoming Valley and 
for many years a director of the Central District poor board.
21. Mr. and Mrs. Reese Jones of Edwardsville celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.
22. Bishop Hoban blesses new bell for St. Mary’s church in Wilkes-Barre.
23. Wilkes-Barre Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Thomas H. Rowley, gives its first concert in
 Irem Temple. More than three thousand people attend a bible class rally in Central M.E. church.
24. Commissioners and supervisors of Luzerne County organize for systematic road improvement. 
State Insurance Commission holds meeting in Wilkes-Barre to study insurance conditions. Eagles 
purchase building of the Wilkes-Barre Company on North Washington street to be used as a home 
for the order. Assistant District Attorney Hugh A. Shovlin dies at his home in Freeland. 
27. Rain and rise of the river causes great anxiety.
28. River rises at an alarming rate, cutting off all travel with the West Side.
29. River reaches 28.34 feet, submerging all of the lowlands; much speculation as to the effect of the
 new railroad embankment built through Westmoor; one man loses his life by the upsetting of a boat 
at Breslau, and several other men out in boats have narrow escapes. Dedication of the remodeled 
Dana street Evangelical church.
30. River slowly receding. Wilkes-Barre council, the first under commission form of government, 
reduces the tax levy from seven mills to 6.9998. Congressman Casey announces that he has
 interested federal experts in investigating mountain land near Wilkes-Barre with a view to its 
cultivation for cattle raising.
31. County commissioners create a new office and name Richardson Hand of Wilkes-Barre
 inspector of roads and bridges at a salary of $2,000 a year. 

April. 

1. Exciting scenes in Nescopeck Borough as the two saloons close their doors under suspension
 of license by the court. John B. Clark of Luzerne Borough named poor director in place of George
 H. Butler, deceased. 
2. Delegation of soldiers appeals to the county commissioners to erect a soldiers’ and sailors’ 
monument and the commissioners state that they have in mind plans to erect a modern bridge 
across the river at Market street and to have such a monument at the entrance.
4. Russell Uhl, president of the Penn Tobacco Co., disappears, some clothing identified as belonging 
to him found on the river bank. 
6. Billy Sunday comes down from Scranton and speaks at two meetings in Wilkes-Barre to great 
audiences. Portrait of the late Judge Lynch presented to the Law and Library Association in behalf 
of the widow by Ex-Judge Wheaton.
7.  Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Allen of Wilkes-Barre celebrate their golden wedding anniversary. 
Announcement made of a syndicate composed of State Senator Sproul, the Pu Pont Powder 
Company and others have purchased the Laurel Line. Romilly boy choir of Wales appears at Irem 
Temple. Mrs. Mary Fudge of Wilkes-Barre, for over seventy years a resident of the city, dies at the 
age of 102. Judge Fuller decides that a Sunday newspaper is not a legal advertising medium because
 published in violation of the law. 
8. Local residents appeal to the State Public Service Commission to compel the Wilkes-Barre & 
Eastern railroad to live up to its charter by running at least two trains each way daily. Mrs. Jane Harris 
of Bald Mount dies at the age of 93 years. 
9. Investigation shows that the county assessment of property in Wilkes-Barre is $13,830 881 higher
 that the city assessment. Public Service Commission of the State gives permission to build the East 
End bridge. River again reaches the twenty-two foot mark, owing to heavy rain and thawing. 
10. Rev. J. M. Pritchard installed as pastor of the Hillside street Congregational church. Snow drifts in
 some places four feet high remain on the mountain near Bear Lake.
11/ Death of Mrs. Anna Paritz of Wilkes-Barre, who was said to be 108 years old. 
12. Bright Easter weather, with moderate temperature.
13. Attorney John K. Jenkins of Luzerne County announces himself as a candidate for Lieutenant 
Governor on the Democratic ticket. Nearly seven hundred cases of measles in Wilkes-Barre since
 the beginning of the year. 
14. Conference of charity and social workers of Wilkes-Barre and vicinity held to take up problems 
relating to cooperation and a better understanding.
15. Gargoyle Club of Wilkes-Barre has an exhibition of portraits loaned by local people.
16. Testimonial dinner given by the Spanish War Veterans to the G.A.R.
17. Wilkes-Barre’s first City Planning Commission named – John C. Bridgeman, A. C. Campbell, 
Franck G. Darte, H. S. Smith and John A. Hourigan. Death of Mrs. Katherine Searle McCartney, for
 many years regent of the local chapter of the Daughter of the American Revolution. 
19. Campaign inaugurated among the Catholics of the Scranton diocese to raise $200,000 for the 
erection of a mother house for the Sisters of Mercy.
20. Possibility of war with Mexico causes considerable excitement in Luzerne County, plans being
formed for the organization of volunteer regiments and companies. 
21. Formal opening of the new home of the C.F. Murray-Smith Company on South Main street. 
Officers of the C.T.A.U. regiment tender offer of their services to the Governor because of the war 
with Mexico. Much excitement caused by news of the first shedding of blood of American sailors
 in Mexico.
22. Annual Wyoming Conference opens at Binghamton. Public Service Commission refuses 
application for a franchise by the Wilkes-Barre Light Company on the ground that it was not properly 
presented without prejudice for another application. 
23. Sunday Independent purchased from John J. Maloney by John V. Heffernan. Branch 131, C. M. B. A., 
celebrates its twentieth anniversary with a banquet.  
25. Death at Forty Fort of William McCulloch, one of the pioneers in the development of the coal
 industry in Wyoming Valley. Ninth Regiment awaiting a call to encamp in preparation for the Mexican War.
28. Annual Chamber of Commerce dinner attended by about five hundred. Alexander R. Freeman of
 Newark becomes boys’ secretary in the Wilkes-Barre Y. M. C. A. Rev. W.S. Hess takes up his duties 
as assistant pastor at Westminster church.
29. Wilkes-Barre’s population estimated by the census department to be 73,660.
30. Provisional recruits being taken by the Ninth Regiment in anticipation of a call for Mexican Service. 
Shickshinny Presbyterian church observes its fiftieth anniversary. 

May.

1. Sixtieth anniversary of the Wilkes-Barre Institute observed in Irem Temple, among the features 
being an address by President Hibben of Princeton. 
2. An evening of dramatics by home talent as one of the incidents in the Wilkes-Barre Institute 
anniversary celebration. Thorne, Neale & Co. purchase the Temple Iron Co., which has coal interests
 in the Wyoming Valley.
3. St. Mary’s Polish Catholic church at Mocanaqua destroyed by fire.
4. Wilkes-Barre school board increases the salaries of grade teachers $50 a year, in answer to their 
request for twelve months’ pay at the rate given for ten months. Charles W. Quicksell presents a large
 painting of Billy Sunday done by himself to the Y. M.C. A.
5. James M. Coughlin re-elected superintendent of the Wilkes-Barre schools but opposition appears 
for the first time, three of the nine directors refusing to vote. Frank P. Hopper re-elected superintendent
 of the county schools.
6. Gaylord Council, Jr. O. U. A. M., of Plymouth, celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary with a banquet.
7. Women’s Baptist Foreign Missionary society of Pennsylvania meets in Wilkes-Barre. Store of Gompertz
 & Co. in Pittston destroyed by fire.
8. Gadski with the Musical Art Society at Irem temple. Explosion of gas in the Woodward mine results in
 the death of four men. Henry Weigland succeeds Russell Uhl, deceased, as president of the Penn Tobacco Co.
10. Cornerstone of Mt. Zion Baptist church laid in Wilkes-Barre. Twenty-fifth year of the pastorate of Rev.
 E. J. Morris of the Puritan Congregational church commemorated.
11. Mayor Kosek causes a sensation by declaring that in the future he will be the boss of the police force, 
by addressing the officers and men to that effect and by ordering a raid on a number of alleged bawdy houses. 
Nearly one hundred students of the Newtown high school in Hanover Township go on strike because one of 
their number had been suspended. 
12. Master Steam Heat and Hot Water Fitters of Pennsylvania meet in Wilkes-Barre. Mr. and Mrs. M. J. 
Long of Pittston observe their fiftieth wedding anniversary.
13. Secretary of State Bryan speaks at a Democratic mass meeting at the armory.
14. Death of Louis Schloss, a well known business man and member of the firm Simon Long’s Sons. 
Owing to heavy rains the river reaches a height of 20.6 feet. Water street bridge at Pittston closed in 
preparation for the erection of a new structure.
16. Ten thousand Sunday school pupils and workers of Wilkes-Barre and vicinity turn out in parade in 
Wilkes-Barre. Graduates of Girard college form an alumni association for Luzerne County. Stanley 
Dropiewski named as postmaster for Nanticoke.   
18. Sixteen nurses graduate from the City Hospital training school. Record awards prize of ten dollars for
 a photograph of the best single instance of good results from clean-up week. Pittston councils name 
a city planning commission. 
19. First primary at which candidates for State offices were nominated and the first for the nomination
 of candidates for United States Senator. Ringing circus in Wilkes-Barre. Conference of Congregational
 churches of the State opens in Plymouth. Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Renshaw celebrate their golden wedding
 anniversary at Dallas.
20. Concordia Society leaves for a concert trip in Baltimore and Washington. Rev. R. R. Davis installed as
 pastor of the first Welsh Presbyterian church. John Barrett of Glen Lyon appointed poor director to 
succeed A. P. Childs. 
21. Census shows that 190 of the boys of the Wilkes-Barre high school earn some money while attending 
school and that their aggregate earnings amount to about $21,000 for the school year.
23. Wilkes-Barre has its first municipal day parade, all of the officials and employees turning out, together
with the apparatus used in the city.
26. Unseasonably hot weather – thermometer in Wilkes-Barre registers ninety-three degrees. 
27. Seventeen nurses graduate from Mercy Hospital. Veterans of the G. A. R. insist on the Public Square 
site for the soldiers’ and sailors’ monument.
28. Robert S. McKee installed as pastor of the Wyoming Presbyterian church.
29. First municipal art jury for Wilkes-Barre appointed, composed of Gilbert S. McClintock, Lyman H.
 Howe, Thomas H. Atherton, H. L. French, and Robert Robinson.
30. Another playground and recreation centre built by the Kingston Coal Co. at Edwardsville dedicated.
 Pleasant weather for Memorial Day.

June.

2. Mass meeting held in city hall to discuss municipal or private ownership of conduits for 
placing wires underground. 
3. First class of nurses graduated from the Homeopathic Hospital in Wilkes - five in number.
 Announcement made of the resignation of Rev. Dr. Henry L. Jones as rector of St. Stephen’s 
Episcopal church. Salary board creates the position of legal clerk for the Prothonotary, fixes the
 salary at $1,000 a year, and Prothonotary Powell names Olin F. Harvey. Rev. William S. Hess 
installed as associate pastor of Westminster Presbyterian church. 
5. Seven graduates at Wilkes-Barre Institute commencement; address delivered by John Kendrick 
Bangs. Wyoming Valley Society for the Prevention and Treatment of Tuberculosis disbands, owing
 to the work of the State Dispensary, and turns its baby welfare work over to the Visiting Nurse Association.
9. Councilman Schuler recommends the purchase of hose at a lower price than that paid by the city
 for a number of years. Five hundred and sixty-nine pupils promoted from Grammar A grade to the
 high school in Wilkes-Barre.
10. Miss Dorothy Kantner wins the prize for original production and Miss Theresa Murray the prize
 for recitation in the Wilkes-Barre high school gold medal contest. Seven young men graduate from 
Hillman Academy. Annual convention of the United Commercial Travelers opens at Harvey’s Lake. 
Large pond of water goes into No. 9 mine at Sugar Notch owing to cave-in.
11. A case of smallpox appears at Luzerne Borough. In relation to the controversy pertaining to the
 reduction of insurance rates in Wilkes-Barre, Councilman Schuler reports that since 1911, 518 of
 the 698 penalties imposed by the underwriters have been removed by improvements in the fire
fighting service.
12. Three young men drowned in the river by their boat going over the Nanticoke dam. William W.
 Mutler of Kingston and Miss Laura Pfaff of Scranton, prize winners in the Wyoming Seminary’s
 prize speaking contest. 247 students graduate from the Wilkes-Barre high school.  
15. Evangelist Stough closes a remarkable campaign in Hazelton, with 5,500 converts. Wilkes-
Barre school board drops a number of teachers for inefficiency and states that salary increases 
will be granted only on the basis of merit. Pennsylvania Association of Master Bakers opens 
convention in Wilkes-Barre.
16. Forty-seven pupils graduate from St. Mary’s high school in Wilkes-Barre. Deductions of $1,050,058 
made to the Pennsylvania, the D. & H., and Hillside Coal & Iron Co. for coal mined in Luzerne County in 1913.
17. Death of Rev. Dr. Henry L. Jones, for forty years rector of St. Stephen’s church. Eighteen students 
graduate from St. Ann’s Academy of Mallinckrodt convent. Forty-six students graduate from Wyoming 
Seminary.
18. Attorney James L. Morris of Wilkes-Barre refuses appointment as master in a divorce case because
 of the opposition of his church to divorce and his own feeling against it.
19. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas P. Jones of Parsons celebrate their golden wedding anniversary, 
Unseasonable cool weather.
21. Rev. Leo Murphy celebrates his first mass in St. Mary’s church, Avoca. 
22. Eighty-two aliens naturalized in local court. Census statistics show that in the seven anthracite 
counties, including Luzerne, 47.15 percent of the population is made up of foreigners or the children
 on both sides of foreign-born parents.
23. Police round up a gang of women shoplifters and several wagonloads of stolen goods are found.
 Moving picture exhibitors of the State meet in Wilkes-Barre.
25. Ladies of the G. A. R. tender a reception to Mrs. Laura Derr of Hudson to commemorate her one
 hundredth birthday anniversary. Tri-State Retail Feed Dealers’ Association meets in Wilkes-Barre.
26. James A. Stetler of Wilkes-Barre and Nathan Vosler of Hunlock Creek, the Luzerne County 
veterans who assisted in transferring the battle-flags of the 143d regiment from the museum in 
Harrisburg to the State capitol. 
29. Parrish breaker at Plymouth abandoned, coal to be taken to Buttonwood breaker.
30. Rev. Frank W. Sterrett named temporary rector at St. Stephen’s church until a permanent 
rector is chosen. Unseasonably cool weather.

July.
2. Instructor secured to teach folk dancing to the children of Wilkes-Barre playgrounds. Volunteer
 fire company for Courtdale organized.
3. William Elliott Griffis, D. D. L.L.D., delivers the address at the Wyoming monument, commemorating
 the 136th anniversary of the battle and massacre.
4. Pleasant Independence Day weather, temperature moderate. Williamsburg Saengerbund of Brooklyn
 spends a few days in Wilkes-Barre. About forty fireworks accidents in Wilkes-Barre and vicinity.
5. Rev. J. F. Jedlecka of Kinston celebrates the twenty-fifth anniversary of his ordination.
6. Report of Superintendent Coughlin shows that 12,238 pupils were registered in the Wilkes-Barre 
schools during the term.
7. City Solicitor McHugh decides that city councilmen have the right to fix the pay for their successors
 irrespective of population.
9. Count Michael Karolyi, a distinguished nobleman of Hungary, visits this section in the interest of a 
movement for the economic betterment of his country.  
10. One of the fiercest electrical storms on many years passed over Wilkes-Barre and vicinity, one man
 killed by lightning, a number of people stunned, streets flooded and considerable damage done.  Lehigh 
Valley Coal Co. gives warning to property owners in West Avoca and parts of Pittston Township that it 
intends taking out the remaining surface support and suggests that they remove their property or take 
measures for its protection. Contract for the bridge over the river at Nanticoke awarded to the Dravo 
Construction Co, of Pittsburg for $278,500.
12. Rev. Walter Peterson, pastor pf the Presbyterian Church at White Have, drowned in the river at that 
place while fishing.
14. Death of James L. Lenahan of Wilkes-Barre, one of the most distinguished members of the Luzerne
 bar. County commissioners agree to appropriate $1,500 a year toward the support of a Farm Bureau 
for Luzerne County, the federal government to  
give $1,200 a year, State College $100, and the rest of the expected cost-$3,000- to be raised in the county.
16. First annual Lithuanian Day celebrated at Valley View Park. Army worm pest invades Wilkes-Barre, 
destroying lawns.
17. Ninth Regiment leaves for the annual encampment at Selinsgrove. Wilkes-Barre art jury adopts a 
resolution that the jury deems it inadvisable at present to grant permission for the erection of any statues,
 monuments or memorials in Public Square.
18. Miss Catherine T. Emerson of Mt. Vernon, N.Y., chosen as girls’ secretary of the Y. M. C. A.
19. Great patriotic demonstration by Polish people at Suburban Park, incident to the dedication of two 
new color standards. Rev. Thomas Burke and Rev. George Jeffrey read their mass in the St. Mary’s 
church Wilkes-Barre, Rev. Dominic C. Tomkiewicz in St. Mary’s church at Nanticoke and Rev. Leo 
Kroner in St. Stephen’s church at Nanticoke.
21. Ten people injured, some of them seriously, by an automobile going down an embankment on the
 Ashley boulevard. 
25. Employees of the Lehigh Traction Co. end the strike which has been on since the first of January
 by asking for reinstatement.
27. Wilkes-Barre Aerie of eagles dedicates its new home on North Washington street. 
28. Eleven Nanticoke churches unite in a Sunday school demonstration and 2,500 people turn out in 
parade. Judge O’Boyle summarily revokes the licenses of three saloon keepers on evidence violation 
of the law. General Manager Phillips of the D. L. & W. Coal Co. notifies employees that he will hold no
 more conferences with the employees over the proposed patrol system but that all grievances must be
 placed before the Conciliation Board.
30. Thirty-four young women take the vows of Christian charity at Mallinckrodt convent. Estimated that 
eight hundred and eighteen automobiles were sold by Wilkes-Barre dealers during the season.
31. Irishmen of Wilkes-Barre and vicinity hold a mass meeting to render substantial aid to the Irish 
Nationalists in their fight for home rule.
_________________
August.
1. Austria-Hungary calls for the mobilization of reserve forces resident in the United States for the war
 with Servia [Serbia], many of the reservists living in the anthracite region. 
3. Wilkes-Barre Board of School Government elects Miss Margaret Morgan as principal of the Hill street 
building, the first woman principal in the history of the city.
7. Harry Oberrender of Ashley killed in an automobile accident in New Jersey. Inspectors find bad meat
 in a number of Wilkes-Barre restaurants.
9. Prayers offered up in German churches for the success of Germany in the European war.
11. Contract for the bridge across the river at Wyoming awarded to the Penn Bridge Co. for $182,000.
17. Liquor Licensee’s Association of Luzerne County chartered by the court.
19. On the twenty-fourth anniversary of the Wilkes-Barre cyclone, and at the same hour, the sky darkens 
ominously and conditions indicate a similar visitation, but no great force of wind develops. 
20. Cyclone sweeps over the Empire side of the Heights section in Wilkes-Barre, totally and partially 
demolishing about twenty-five buildings, causing the loss of six lives and seriously injuring more than 
a score of people; Laurel Mill of the Wilkes-Barre Silk Company blown down and three of the employees
 killed and the remaining nine injured; the time 5:30 o’clock in the afternoon; a terrific electrical storm in 
other parts of the city and valley.
21. Scene of great devastation in the cyclone district in Wilkes-Barre; the Mayor issues a call for help; 
Chamber of Commerce organizes a relief committee and services of State police and members of the 
Ninth Regiment accepted for duty in the stricken district; hospitals contain many injured and dying; tents 
erected to feed the homeless; provision houses and other merchants offer assistance. 
22. Strike of the employees of the Lehigh Traction Co. at Hazelton settled after having been on since the
 first of January. Tents erected and people rendered homeless by the cyclone being cared for with food; 
people responding liberally to the appeal for funds; estimated that $30,000 will be needed; official survey
of the property loss places it at $131,638, not including the value of furniture and household goods. 
23. About 30,000 people visit the scene of the cyclone; entertainments given in the theatres and moving 
picture houses in aid of the sufferers.
26. Wilkes-Barre’s first public playground exhibit on a large scale participated in by nearly 1,000 children
 at Diamond Park. State convention of Elks at Hazelton.
28. Cyclone victims who have not found homes to be cared for in tents until they are otherwise provided for.
31. Epidemic of fires on the West Side, in the vicinity of Luzerne Borough, believed to be due to incendiarism. 
Joseph Borio of Keystone Settlement kills a woman whom he admires and fellow admirer and then suicides.  
Unusually heavy rainfall for the month of August – seven and four-tenths inches. Erection of Douglass 
Presbyterian church at Lee Park begun.

September.
1. Rev. Dr and Mrs. P. H. Brooks of Wilkes-Barre observe their fiftieth wedding anniversary.
2. Francis Newcomb of Pittston drowned at Lake Carey by falling from a boat after being seized by illness. 
5. Epidemic of dysentery in Freeland results in twelve deaths in one week.
7. Traction company’s new Askam line opened. Parade and dedication of new Russell street 
school in Edwardsville and dedication of Wyoming high school building.
12. A Wilkes-Barre resident develops a case of tubercular leprosy, as disclosed by examination 
in Philadelphia. Father John J. O’Malley, curate at St. Mary’s in Wilkes-Barre, organizer of the 
Catholic gymnasium movement, assigned to his first parish, St. Joseph’s in Susquehanna County.
14. West Side incendiary fires continue and cause great alarm among the residents. Formal opening
 of Fort Durkee Hotel, occupying the site of the old Exchange Hotel on Public Square. Luzerne County 
Bar association formally accepts portrait of Hon. Ovid F. Johnson, at one time a distinguished member
 of the bar and Attorney General of Pennsylvania, presented by his daughter, Martha Alricks Johnson. 
16. Banquet given by the Wilkes-Barre District mining institute board of directors to Charles Enzian in 
appreciation of his personal efforts in behalf of the institute.
17. State troopers shoot and kill Frank Hoot at Plains, who attempted to escape, a desperate character
 wanted for a number of crimes. 
18. Municipal Home Rule League organized for Luzerne County to advance the cause of home rule for 
the municipalities.
20. Swedish Lutheran church in Wilkes-Barre observes its fortieth anniversary with elaborate services.
21. Woman’s Suffrage party of Luzerne County urges women to buy their cotton goods at present 
instead of waiting until Spring, to help out the southern cotton growers, who are in a predicament
 because of the export trade, due to the war.
22. Superintendent Edward G. Ervin of the traction company killed in a wreck on the Harvey’s Lake
 branch, and several others seriously injured. Experts on South American trade brought to Wilkes-Barre
 by the Lehigh Valley railroad company to acquaint our manufacturers with opportunities for taking 
advantage of the cessation of trade with Europe owing to the war. 
24. Record’s subscription list for the Wilkes-Barre cyclone fund amounts to $6,915.
26. Long drawn out anxiety among politicians and aspirants ended by the announcement that Congressman
 Casey sent the name of John Kehoe to the President for the Pittston postmaster appointment.
29. Harry W. Taylor chosen as general of the First Brigade, Jr. O. U. A. M., to succeed C. M. Rishel, deceased.
 Presbytery of Lackawanna urges interest in the election of local option candidates. Wilkes-Barre councilmen 
decide to purchase the plot of ground adjoining Park Avenue known as the Metcalf property for park purposes 
for $25,000. Death of Charles E. Hufford oldest employee in point of service on 

the Wyoming division of the Lehigh Valley railroad, having been employed for forty-eight years. Judge Fuller 
sustains Controller Hendershot in refusing a legal expert clerk for the Prothonotary. Mr. and Mrs. Louis Howells 
of Plymouth celebrate their golden wedding anniversary. Rev. R. B. Webster of Wilkes-Barre resigns as 
permanent clerk of Lackawanna Presbytery after serving for over thirty years.  

October. 
3. Registration in Wilkes-Barre falls off about twenty percent in comparison with that of 1913, being 
about the same as in the presidential year 1912.
4. Day of Prayer for Peace, in accordance with President Wilson’s proclamation, observed in the churches.
5. Demented man at Nanticoke runs amuck, terrorizes part of the town and slashes six men before he is 
shot and captured.
6. Malcolm Burnside elected president of the Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce.
8. D. A. Mackin, superintendent of the Retreat almshouse, elected president of the State Association of
 Charities and Correction.
9. Wilkes-Barre City Planning Commission comes to the conclusion that the proposed grading of Church 
street in Dorranceton would amount practically to the construction of a dike and calls on he city authorities
 to take action to prevent the work. Association of Welsh Congregational churches of Pennsylvania meets
 in Edwardsville. 
11. Rev. Dr. Bruning of White Haven, pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran church, found dead in bed. Rev. L. O. 
Knipp, for thirteen years pastor of the Christian church at Plymouth, resigns.
12. Big celebration of Columbus Day in Wilkes-Barre, with a parade participated in by many societies, 
some of which had elaborate floats, also meeting of the National Columbus Association of Italians in the city. 
13. Dollar Cotton day observed in Wilkes-Barre, a movement indorsed by the local suffrage organizations 
to induce the women to make purchases of cotton goods in aid of the Southern planters who cannot market
 most of this year’s crop  owing to the war, and in aid of mill employees out of work.
16. Considerable money being subscribed by Wilkes-Barreans for the operation of an ambulance system
 by Americans in Paris to aid wounded soldiers. Rain brings some relief after a long period of drought. 
18. Local option advocated in a number of the churches.
19. Wilkes- Barre women organize to form a branch of the American Red Cross Association to make and 
collect articles and contributions to be sent for the relief of foreign war sufferers.
20. David Kunkle of Kunkle dies of shot wound inflicted by an Italian who in a state of excitement mistook 
him for a highwayman.
22. Oberrender printing plant on Northampton street destroyed by fire, causing damage of about $3,000. 
Superintendent Fry of the Harwood electric plant comes in contact with a live wire and 25,000 bolts pass 
through his body, without serious injury. 
23. Eleven of the twenty-six candidates for the legislatures in Luzerne County declare openly for local 
option, but none on the Democratic ticket and three on the Republican ticket. 
24. East End bridge project finally approved by the Sate Public Service Commission.
25. Several hundred “Billy” Sunday trail hitters from Wilkes-Barre go to Philadelphia and speak in many 
of the churches in preparation for the Sunday revival in that city, the visit creating quite a sensation.
28. Col. Roosevelt speaks in Hampton Hall in the interest of the candidacy of Gifford Pinchot for the 
United States Senate. Light flurry of snow.
29. Bog parade and mass meeting in Wilkes-Barre in honor of Mitchell Day.
30. Main offices of the Order of Beavers located in Wilkes-Bare. Branch of the Red Cross also organized
 on the West Side to help in relief work. Damrosch Orchestra, with Zimbalist, violinist, at Iren Temple.
31. Parade in Wilkes-Barre in the interest of local option. Leonard Marcy, formerly of Wilkes-Barre,
 killed in an automobile accident at Allentown. Sue Herron of Wilkes-Barre killed by being struck by an 
automobile at Dickson City. 

November.

1. Rainfall in October less than one-third as much as for the corresponding month in 1913. 
2. Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce issues an appeal for contributions for the relief of 
the destitute and starving millions in Belgium. Fire loss in Wilkes-Barre in 1913 was $1.11 
per capita, according to published report.
3. Pleasant election weather and a large vote polled. Hazelton citizens defeat a proposed loan for 
$350,000 for new sewers and street paving, Kingston citizens defeat a loan for $150,000 for a new
 school building, Luzerne Borough defeats a
 loan for $40,000 for a new school building, and Miner’s Mills citizens approve a loan for $40,000 
 for sewers and other improvements. 
5. Buttonwood colliery opened after having been closed for two years for improvements.
6. Long spell of dry weather and serious scarcity of water in many places.
7. Sheldon Axle Co. changes its name to the Sheldon Axle & Spring Co. because of the large 
output of automobile springs.
8. Branch of St. Joseph’s Foundling Home and Asylum Auxiliary established in Wilkes-Barre.
10. In the election contest over township commissioner for the Third District of Hanover Township, 
which had been going on for a number of weeks, Judge Fuller declared that J. J. Caffrey was illegally 
elected and gives the place to Michael Conway. 
11. A number of new dwellings erected on the site of the ones destroyed by the August cyclone, 
about 75 percent of the cost having been borne by the $30,000 relief fund. 
12. Susquehanna river very low because of the prolonged drought.
13. Pittston bridge formally inspected and accepted.
14. Local Hebrews organize to help suffering Hebrews in the warring countries. Lyman M. Rhiel
 of the Sons of Veterans initiated as the first associate member of the Union Veteran Legion. Miss 
Elizabeth Austin, teacher in the Union 
street building, elected principal of the North Main street school, the second woman to receive 
such an appointment. 
15. Committee of the Wilkes-Barre school board recommends an open air school for children
 below the normal standard physically. Parent-Teacher Association organized for the Wilkes-Barre
 high school. 
19. Pavlowa and her company at Irem Temple. Public Service Commission finally approves 
East End bridge project and divides the cost between the city and the railroads. Field day, flag raising
 and dedication of new school at Exeter Borough.
20. Wilkes-Barre firemen ask for a large increase in pay.
21. Three hundred newsboys, messenger boys and bootblacks have their annual “feed” at the
Y.M.C.A. Mrs. Joseph Sabloski of Dorrance leaps to death from a window in Mercy hospital in fear 
of an operation she was about to undergo.
22. Fire at the Presto lunch room on Public Square results in the burning to death of a
 woman employee and damage to the extent of about $3,000.
23. Death in Towanda of Samuel Billings, 99 years, whose father, Kane Billings, was
 in the fort near Wilkes-Barre at the time of the Wyoming massacre. 
26. Beautiful Thanksgiving weather – like Indian summer.
27. Movement set on foot for the purchase of a home building by the Wilkes-Barre 
Chamber of Commerce.
29. About 2,000 people in Wilkes-Barre take a religious census to find out how many 
persons are affiliated with or attend church.
30. Enlarged poultry show exhibit opens at the armory, including fruit and fancy work. 
Much confusion over the collection of war tax.