1915 WILKES-BARRE RECORD ALMANAC 
LUZERNE COUNTY IN 1914

The year 1914 was marked by unusual depression in Luzerne County, as elsewhere in the 
State and the country.  A number of the industries employing many wage earners worked 
on part time or laid off a large number of men and the effect was felt by business in general. 
 The mines, however, were not as badly affected as might have been expected, due no doubt
 to the fact that anthracite coal is now very largely a domestic fuel, relatively very little of it going 
to the industrial establishments, in comparison with former years.  The depression set in long 
before the war broke out.  Whether it was due mostly to tariff readjustment by the Democratic
 administration or to the fear of radical business legislation by the administration, or to the other 
causes, was a matter of controversy shaped largely by partisan views.
	
At the beginning of the year J. B. Woodward took his seat as Common Pleas judge, the fifth
 member of the family to serve on the bench.  The additional judgeship was created by the
 Legislature of 1913.  He was the first judge in the county to be elected under the new law taking
 the nomination and election of judges out of partisan politics.  

The weather for the year was notable for some extreme changes in temperature and for the heavy 
snowfall.  On January 14 a cold snap set in and thermometers in Wilkes-Barre registered six degrees 
below zero, with twelve degrees below in the mountain districts.  The river was frozen over for the first
 time and remained so until the 30th of January.  February 12 another cold spell was experienced, the
 mercury registering about the same as in January.  The river was frozen over for the second time.  
On February 14 occurred one of the heaviest snowfalls in years, with the temperature near zero and a
 blizzardy wind blowing.  Street car and railroad traffic was seriously interfered with.  On the 19th there
 was more snow, making about eighteen inches in less than a week.  On the 24th the mercury registered 
seven below in Wilkes-Barre.  One of the most severe blizzards in many years set in on the first of March, 
a light and wet snow, turning into fine snow, accompanied by high wind.  The blizzard was continued the 
following day creating havoc.  About seven inches of snow were added to the already large accumulation
 on the ground.  Street car traffic was tied up most of the day and there were no through trains from New 
York and Philadelphia until late at night.  Normal traffic was not restored for several days.  
As Spring approached the extraordinary depth of the snow along the entire Susquehanna water shed 
created much alarm as to the possibility of a great flood.  It was evident that the sudden warm weather, 
particularly if accompanied by rain, would cause probably the worst flood on record.  Fortunately, weather 
conditions were not very unfavorable, there being a quite gradual thaw.  However, on the 27th of March 
there was rain and the river rose rapidly.  The rise continued the following day, cutting off all travel with the
 West Side.  On the 29th the river reached its highest stage, 28.34 feet, submerging all of the lowlands.  
One man lost his life by the upsetting of a boat at Breslau and there were some narrow escapes.  In April
 another flood was threatened, on the 9th the height being twenty-two feet.  
The Summer was unusually wet, up until September.  In August the rainfall measured seven and four-tenths
 inches.  On May 26 the thermometer registered ninety-three degrees, unusually hot for that time of year.

During the year there was considerable agitation in the way of flood prevention.  Federal experts came to 
look over the ground and they spent considerable time taking measurements.  Later in the year advance 
information was given out to the effect that the building of embankments at low points would probably be 
the only solution of the problem.  The detailed report was awaited with much interest.
 The European war caused much interest in the county, due largely to the fact that so many aliens liable to 
military duty abroad resided here.  For days the home of the deputy Austro-Hungarian consul in Wilkes-Barre 
was the mecca for subjects of the dual kingdom, whose names were taken in anticipation of a call to go to the
 home land for service.  The bulletin boards were the centre of much interest day and night.  Owing to the plight
 of the Southern cotton planters who could not market their crop, and to the stagnation of mills in all parts of the
 country manufacturing cotton goods, the suffrage organizations of the county took part in the movement to induce
 the women to buy their cotton goods in advance of the usual purchasing time in the Spring.  They advocated that 
special sales days be set by the merchants, which was done.  Various organizations were formed to secure money 
and supplies for the war sufferers in Europe and they manifested considerable activity.  The appeal for Belgium, in 
aid of four to five million of the verge of starvation, excited especial sympathy.

The new borough of Pringle was incorporated on the 17th of January.

The new county bridge between Plymouth and Breslau, costing about $280,000, was opened for traffic February 26.

At the Spring session of Liquor License Court practically all of the new applications were confused and some old
 applications against which remonstrances were filed.  In an opinion previously filed Judge Fuller denounced the 
custom on the part of some lawyers of charging excessive fees for representing applicants.  The case in point was
 one in which a fee of $450 had been asked.  The judge stated that such a sum cannot be legitimately earned and
 that it is offered under the impression that the lawyer had some special influence with the judge or judges.  Of the 
1,610 applicants for liquor license seventy-five per cent, were foreign born and about two-thirds of the remainder 
were the sons of foreign born parents.  At a mass meeting held in the armory on the 13th of February, followed by 
a parade, resolutions were adopted asking that the court grant no new licenses, that brewery-owned saloons be
 investigated, and that the court order saloons to be closed between 11 p. m. and 7 a. m. each week day and on 
Memorial Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas.  The court later decided that it had no authority to order that saloon
 opening be restricted to certain hours and days.  In this connection it is interesting to note that in the report of the 
superintendent of the almshouse at Retreat it was stated that eighty-six per cent. of the inmates had been intemperate.  
In January a grand jury reported in an extraordinary way upon liquor conditions in Luzerne County, deploring the fact 
that so much crime originates in excessive drinking and recommending that the court reduce the number of licenses 
by eliminating the mere drinking places- those that do not provide eating and sleeping accommodations for the public.
During the year Sheriff Kniffen continued raids on speakeasies and on saloonkeepers charged with violating the law 
and the newly formed association of liquor dealers was also active in hunting down violators.  The court revoked the 
licenses of about fifteen wholesale and retail dealers.  In this respect the court took a firm stand. 

It was stated in a report issued by the State anti-tuberculosis dispensary in Wilkes-Barre that during the year 1913, 
777 cases were examined at the dispensary, 142 patients were sent to sanitariums and 55, 727 quarts of milk were
 given to victims in poor families.  

The mothers’ pension board for the county held its first session for hearing applicants on the 16th of February and 
sixty widowed and destitute mothers applied for aid.  At subsequent meetings the number of applicants was greatly 
increased.  The State appropriation, together with that given by the county, was so meagre that very many deserving
 cases had to be overlooked.  The president of the board deplored the fact that the funds were so limited and urged
 larger appropriations for the future.  
The charity problem caused a good deal of agitation during the year.  The Record pointed out that there was radical
 faults that should be corrected, due mainly to the fact that the various organizations worked independently of each
 other, resulting in considerable waste and unnecessary effort.  The Record recommended that some system of 
closer cooperation be established.  A meeting of charity workers was held in the Chamber of Commerce rooms
 and the subject was gone into.  It seemed difficult to devise a workable plan.  A committee was appointed to go 
over the situation and make recommendations, but no report was made up to the close of the year.

The erection of a soldiers’ and sailors’ monument caused a good deal of controversy during the year.  Various 
grand juries had recommended that the county commissioners proceed with the work.  The commissioners first 
tentatively proposed that the memorial be embodied in the form of a memorial bridge to be erected across the 
river at Market street but he veterans strenuously objected to this plan.  The Wilkes-Barre art jury in July passed 
a resolution deeming it inadvisable at present to grant permission for the erection of any statues, monuments or
 memorials in Public Square.  The veterans were so insistent that something be done that the subject was kept 
alive and later it was decided that a separate monument be erected on the court house lawn.

There was much uneasiness locally over the prospect of United States intervention in Mexico.  Continued menace
 to the lives of American citizens and destruction to their property in spite of warnings from this government were
 bringing affairs to a crisis.  The crisis came when officers of the Mexican government arrested United States sailors
 who had gone on shore on a mission.  President Wilson demanded that Provisional President Huerta make an 
apology and fire a salute to the flag.  An explanation was given but the salute was not fired.  A fleet of battleships
 was dispatched to the port of Vera Cruz and marines were landed, later reinforced by troops.  A skirmish took 
place and a number of American soldiers were killed.  The United States forces took possession of the city.  It 
was deemed probable that resistance to this form of intervention would be offered and that the United States 
would be compelled to engage in war with Mexico.  For that reason there was considerable excitement in local
 military circles.  Provisional recruits were taken by the Ninth Regiment in anticipation of a call to service.  
However, American intervention was not resisted and the excitement gradually died down.

Census statistics showed that in the anthracite counties, including Luzerne, 47.15 per cent. of the population is
 made up of foreigners and the children on both sides of foreign parentage.

During the year a contract was awarded for a bridge over the river at Nanticoke for $278,500 and a contract for
 a bridge at Wyoming for $182,500.  A new bridge at Pittston was completed.

Action was taken under the auspices of the Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce for the establishment of a farm
 bureau for Luzerne County.  The county commissioners agreed to appropriate $1,500 a year, the federal 
government to give $1,200, State College $100 and the remainder of the cost, about $3,000, to be raised in
 the county.  The purpose was to employ a permanent expert to advise and cooperate with the farmers. 
 The project was being consummated at the close of the year.

The coal assessment problem remained in controversy and in litigation.  Coal appeal cases have been pending 
since 1907, when the county commissioners raised the valuation on coal property at the triennial assessment from 
$50 to $67 a foot acre.  About 100 appeals were filed by coal companies at the time and the first to be tried out was
 that of the Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Co.  The decision of Judge Fuller in this case set aside the foot acre measure
 for coal values and adjusted the coal values with surface property so as to reduce the coal to about $49 a foot acre.  
The decision was later reviewed by other judges and finally went to the Supreme Court, where Judge Fuller was 
sustained, with some modifications.
The decision was not satisfactory to the county commissioners and about two years ago another appeal from the 
same assessment, that of the L. V. Coal Co., was taken up with the Franklin colliery property as the test case.  
Considerable testimony was taken and arguments made. 
Then there are also over a 100 appeals to the 1913 coal assessment made by the new board of county assessors,
 who increased the value of the coal property to about $150 a foot acre for coal sixty feet thick, or about $9000 an 
acre with variations, making allowance for unequal conditions.  These appeals have not been taken up, pending the
 decision on the assessment of the Franklin colliery property in 1907.  The final decision is expected to have an 
important bearing on coal and surface values for assessment and taxation

Typed by a CHG member and volunteer.