1918 WB Record Almanac, Luzerne Co in 1917

	The year 1917 was a memorable year in the history of Luzerne County, owing to the war. 
A general outline of local affairs in connection therewith is given in another part of this almanac. 
The departure of the Third Regiment of Artillery and of the local contingent of the draft army, the 
great demonstrations, the preparations for registration and the draft, the activities of a number of 
organizations in the war preparations, all gave the people enough to think about.

	When 1917 issue of the Almanac went to press the street car strike, which began on 
October 14, 1915, was still on. The strike had already cost the city of Wilkes-Barre about $50,000 
and an increase in the tax levy to cover the cost was proposed. On December 10, 1916, a committee 
of United Mine Workers sent a petition to the street car men’s union suggesting that the union agree to 
a settlement on a compromise basis, and the manager of the traction company agreed to the terms 
suggested with the exception of a few minor particulars. The street car men postponed action until their 
international president could come and look over the situation.

	A few days later, on the 15th, the strike was declared off, on the basis of an agreement which 
is stated in detail in the summary for 1916 in another part of this Almanac. Thus was ended one of the 
longest and most stubborn labor strike contests in the history of Wyoming Valley.

	The jitney affair, which caused so much controversy in 1916, was settled during 1917. During
 the progress of the strike scores of automobiles, good, bad and indifferent, had been put into use to carry 
passengers, and the streets of the city were filled with them. The council of Wilkes-Barre had passed an 
ordinance requiring jitney operators to take out bonds as a guarantee of safe operation and establishing 
certain other regulations. The court declared the ordinance valid and Mayor Kosek proceeded to take steps 
to compel all operators who had not secured bonds to go out of business. The attorney for the operators 
secured an order from the Supreme Court suspending the ordinance while an appeal to the higher court 
was pending and the jitneys again invaded the streets. In December, 1916, the Public Service Commission 
issued an order prohibiting a large number of jitneys from doing business because they had not taken out 
certificates of public convenience. On the 18th Mayor Kosek issued an order that on the following day all jitneys 
must stop carrying passengers. The jitneys ceased running.

	The next step, taken in 1917, was to apply for certificates of public convenience to the State Public 
Service Commission. Later an order was handed down refusing certificates and gave an opinion that this kind
 of service was not to be permitted unless a certain degree of safety in operation were established by the kind 
and condition of the conveyance, by regular routes and by compliance with other regulations. The order put an 
end to the controversy and operation was not resumed.

	The soldiers’ and sailors’ monument received some attention during the year 1917. The Judges 
again approved the project but reduced the Grand Jury recommendation from $150,000 to $100,000. An 
organization of societies made a request to council that the Public Square be given as a site for the monument 
and council referred the request to the Art Jury and the City Planning Commission with the suggestion that they 
confer with the County Commissioners. There was incidental talk during the year but nothing further was done. 
The question of site, which had caused so much discussion for several years, remained undetermined.

	The County Controller reported that during the year the county received $1,930,358 and expended 
$1,892,818. He also stated that the average murder trail cost the county from $1,500 to $2,000. 

	Part of Pittston Township known as Dupont was incorporated as a borough in March.

	The weather for the year was marked by brief periods of extremes in temperature, both hot and cold. 
On January 16 the river was closed for the fist time with drift ice at Wilkes-Barre. On the mountains ice from 
twelve to eighteen inches thick was harvested. On February 13 the thermostat registered four degrees below 
zero in Wilkes-Barre and 18 below in elevated sections. March 5 snow had fallen for forty-eight hours and was
 about a foot in depth. An ice gorge between Ransom and Tunkhannock broke and high water was feared but 
the ice went out freely, and owing to the absence of rain and the advent of colder weather the river stage at 
Wilkes-Barre went no higher than twelve and a half feet. 

	Later there was a spell of rain and on March 28 the river went to seventeen and a half feet. In July 
there was a long-continued spell of rainy weather. The river was remarkably high and muddy all Summer, from
 the end of May until well into September. Old inhabitants could not remember a year in which similar coniditions
 existed for so long a time. In July there was a severe hot wave. On the 31st the thermometer registered ninety-nine
 degrees on the roof of the water company’s building in Wilkes-Barre and on the street it was several degrees hotter. 
On August 10 the river registered thirteen feet. On the 15th of August a cloudburst occurred on the mountain between 
Glen Summit and White Haven, the most severe in many years. The water swept the mountain to the depth of several 
feet and played havoc with the Lehigh Valley and Central railroads, tearing great holes under tracks. For a week
 it was impossible to run trains over the lines and hundreds of men were engaged for many days in constructing
 a temporary trestling. The county road was also so badly torn that it was impassable. In early September there 
was the coolest weather at that time experience in many years. On the 12th the thermometer in Wilkes-Barre 
registered thirty-six degrees, only four degrees about freezing. A violent wind, rain and snow storm on the 29th 
of October caused the river to rise to flood stage. Water flooded some of the mines and a number of houses were
 unroofed. A severe blizzard struck the valley December 8, with heavy wind, snow and sleet and nearly zero temperature.

	There was only incidental reference to the flood prevention problem during the year. Local engineers 
gave an estimate of $250,000 as the cost of dredging the river from the city line to Naticoke to deepen the channel.
 In February a delegation from the Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce appeared before the flood committee 
of the House of Representatives at Washington and made a detailed report of the situation in the Wyoming Valley and
 asked for federal aid for the completion of the survey and an estimate of the total cost. Nothing was done by Congress.

	The cost of living was a serious problem in the county during the year. Employment was plentiful but 
wages had not kept pace with the rapid increase in the cost of necessities. Owing to a short crop during the 
previous season, potatoes sold at $4.25 a bushel, the highest price within recollection. Flour went up to $15 
a barrel and more, and sugar for a time was sold in small lots to families, at twelve and fourteen cents a pound. 
The government made frantic appeals to the farmers to raise all that the soil could produce and various local 
organizations took and active interest in inducing city and town dwellers to cultivate back yards and vacant lots. 
The Civic Club secured the names of persons who had vacant lots and offered them to people who would give 
the time to cultivate them. In every part of the county small gardens were planted on a much larger scale than ever
 before, and the result was a great supply of vegetables. The farmers also responded heartily to the appeal. There
 was much complaint of scarcity of labor on the farms and a bureau was established in Wilkes-Barre where men 
and school boys could offer their services for farm work and where farmers could avail themselves of the supply. 
However, the farmers were skeptical about the efficiency of this kind of labor and not many of them applied for help. 
The Wilkes-Barre school board decided to donate the use of vacant land in its possession and a number of gardens 
were planted by children. A parade under the auspices of the Central Council of the Parent-Teacher Association, in
 the interest of planting, was held in Wilkes-Barre in May.

	During the Winter and Spring there were indications that prices for potatoes, onions and other things 
were kept abnormally high by combinations, and the Civic Club urged the women to not purchase potatoes and 
onions, but there was no organized movement. The Summer’s yield of vegetables on the farms was extraordinary 
and for a time prices were cheap. The crop of potatoes was the largest ever known, but local prices did not go 
below $1.20 a bushel and early in the Fall it was apparent that farmers were holding no to their stocks in anticipation 
of higher prices. In September the price had gone up to $1.75 a bushel, with prospects of a heavy advance 
during the Winter.

	During the early part of the year the fear of a general railroad strike throughout the country also gave
 much anxiety. Many people laid in stock of food. In March, however, news of a settlement of the difficulty though the 
intervention of the President in recommending legislation in line with the demands of the employees relieved worry.

	The cave-in situation received some attention. Bills were before the Legislature and caused a good 
deal of interest in the anthracite region. One of them provided that the coal companies should be held responsible
 for all damage done to surface property, with criminal liability for failure to make adequate provision, and another
 provided for joint liability between the State, the municipality and the companies. All of them failed of passage.

	In November a petition was presented by council of Edwardsville to the court requesting the appointment 
of viewers to pass upon a new bridge across the river at Northhampton street. Since a new bridge to replace the 
structure at Market street had long been agitated, the new proposal was not favorably received in Wilkes-Barre, the
 councilmen opposing it. Nothing definite was done before the close of the year.


Heidi Mueller 15 Jan 2009