1919 WB Record Almanac, Record of Local Events for 1918 Principal Happenings in Luzerne County for the year beginning December 1, 1917, and ending November 30, 1918. The following information is posted for the sole purpose of family research within the Yahoo Group, The Court House Gang. It is not to be published to any other web site, mailing list, group, etc. without prior written permission and guidelines from the group owner, to ensure that proper credit is given to the group and all of our volunteers that helped with this project. December, 1917 1. Philip S. Rice of Wilkes-Barre mentioned by the French government for distinquished services in France under fire. 2. First Baptist Church in Wilkes-Barre begins observance of its diamond jubilee.-Letter from Bishop Hoban read in Catholic churches urging the pastors to have early services on holy days, excepting Christmas and New Year, so that men may go from church to the mines to help out in the crisis over the shorage of coal.- Local organization formed for Jewish welfare work in the army and navy. 3. Parsons Council refuses to pass an ordinance for annexation to Wilkes-barre, on the advice of the borough attorney, whosays that the number of legitimate signatures to the petition is not sufficient. – eight volunteers for the army leave the Wilkes-Barre recruiting station for Fort Slocum in one day. -–Community dinner in Irem Temple attended by 900 ment, given under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce prior to the beginning of the great drive to build up the organizatin. – Nearly a score of Luzerne County attorneys have enlisted for government service. 4. President wilson’s message to Congress recommending that war be declared upon Austria-Hungry, together with the lucid exposition of why we are at war with Germany and what is meant by a satisfactory victory, creates much local interest.- Fire of unknow origin destroys nine cottages at Harvey’s Lake. 5. Irem Temple filled at a concert given by the Concordia Society , under the auspices of the Civic Club, for purchasing sweaters for drafted man and volunteers. 6. Earnest warning given by the local fuel administrator that the people of the anthracite region as well as people elsewhere must save every pooound of coal possible, else there will be very serious suffering during the winter. In many of the cities coal is sold to households only by the presentation of cards and they will be supplied only for immediate needs. 7. Slovaks of Luzerne County pledge loyalty to the United States although subjects of Austria-Hungry. Congress passes a resolution declaring that a state of war exists between the United States and Austria-Hungry, and considerable anxiety is experienced in the anthrracite region as to the effect of the declaration upon the thousands of subjects of that government who work in the mines and who would be classed as enemy alients. – City Council decides toproceed with the erection of the contagious disease hospital, despite the high cost of material and scarcity of labor. 8. Death of Max Kaiser, on of Plymouth’s foremost citizens. – In accordance with advice from their clergy and appeals from government officials, a majority of Catholic miners work on a holy day for the first time in many years.- Death of Ernest f. roth, 73 years, one of Wilkes-Barre’s best known citizens. -Severe blizzard strikes the Wyoming Vally, high wind that unroofs and damages some houses, snow and sleet. 9. Temperature six degrees above zero in Wilkes-Barre and consideably lower in the mountain districts; ice fromsix to eight inches thick and harvesting begun by some of the companies.-Ladies of the Civic Club distribute sweaters to one hundred and six volunteers who leave in one day from Wilkes-Barre for Fort Slocum; cigars, cigarettes and carnations also given to the men. Announcement made that the 109th Artillery had received the full quota of volunteers needed.- Mr. and Mrs. I. E. finch of wilkes-Barre observe their fiftieth wedding anniversary.- fire destroys garage and hotel of Philip Umbewust and an adjoining building at East End, causing loss of about $25,000. 10. River frozen over from shore to shore, temperature, six above zero in Wilkes-Barre in the early morning.- W. O. Washburn of Wilkes-Barre appointed for Luzerne County as assistant to the federal food administrator for Pennsylvania. 11. Wilkes-Barre gives its second ambulance section to the army by the mustering in of forty seven men in Knights of Columbus Hall.- Raub breaker at Luzerne Borough badly damaged by fire.- Chamber of Commercecampaign a big success, upwards of a thousand members secured at an advance in dues from $10 to $25 a year; steps toward a radical reorganization for more effective work begun. 12. Public school sessions in Wilkes-Barre changed so that one hour will be cut from the noon recess and the closing time will be 3 p.m. until 4, in order that coal may be saved.- Frederick H. somerville, head master of Hillman Academy, resigns, his place to be taken by Russell E. Bullock, a member of the faculty. 13. Nearly a foot of snow in Wilkes-Barre and deeper outside of the valley, more volunteers sent to camp from Wilkes- Barre, making over 600 recruited in the city in two weeks.-Death of William H. Davies of Hazleton, a well known mining man, superintendent of the Lehigh-Coxe division of the Lehigh Valley. 14. Service flag containing fifty-six stars dedicated at the First Presbyterian church by the assistant pastor, they duty as chaplain of the 109th regiment.-Thermometer registers zero in campaign lauched in the Wyoming Valley under the leadership of Peter G. Rimmer. 15. Few sleighs out in comparison with years before the advent of the automobile.-104 oung men enlist in the nevy in a week at the Wilkes-Barre recruiting office.- Much local interest caused by the final step in Congress for submitting the question of nationwide prohibitiion to the State Legialatures in the form of an amendment of the Federal Constitution. 16. Marked shortge in pennies, due to the war tax of a penny or two. 17. Harry W. Montz of Luzerne Borough appointed superintendent of the Lehigh division of the Lehigh Valley coal Co. – Thawing weather. 18. Rotary Club entertains Harry Lauder, the noted Scotch comedian.-Military training in Wyoming Seminary a success. 19. At a mass meeting under the auspices of the Wilkes-Barre Herzl Zionist Club resolutions are passed hailing with gratitude the official British declaration that the British government intends to do all in its power to facilitate the establishment in Palestine, which was conquered by the British army from the Turk, a national home for Jewish people; the resolutions also call upon the Jewish people of the city and vicinity to do their utmost to help realize the cherished hope of the Jews. 20. Despite the great increase in the cost of everything, merchants report Christmas shopping about as heavy as usual. – County salary board sanctions increase in the salaries of dozens of many city employees also boosted.- About six hundred baskets of Christmas dinners distributed to poor families by the United Charities, the Salvation Army and St. Mary’s Guild.-Christmas Eve exercises held around a community Christmas tree in Public Square. 21. Gloomy Christmas weather, moderate temperature during most of the day, followed by much colder in the evening.- Elks of Wilkes-Barre distribute presents of clothing, shoes and fruit to 650 children.- Prominent Jews hold a meeting in Wilkes-Barre raide the community’s allotment of $2,000 towards a millon dollar fund for the restoration of Palestine, captured by the British.- A number of the Sunday schools abandon the custom of distributing candy to the scholars and instead devote the money to gifts for the poor. 22. Mrs. Andrew Slifko and three children, aged 21,17 and 11 years one of them a soldier home on furlough from Camp Meade, burned to death in their home at Edwardsville in sight of the husband and father.- President Wilson issues an order placing all the railroads of the county under federal operation, with Secretary of the Treasury McAdoo as the Director General.-Local traction company invites appplications from women to take emplooyment as conductors.- Laurel Line announces an increase in fares. –Wilkes-Barre Company files application for permission to increase rates for gas. 23. Wilkes-Barre’s property valuation for 1918 increased to $73,000,000, $500,000 greater than for 1917.-Banquet given at the Sterling in honor of Philip S. Rice, who has returned from eight months service in France, having received a special decoration from the French government.-A. C. Campbell, first administrator for Luzerne County, divides the county into seven districts and appoints an assistant for each district, he to have charge Of complaints, etc. One hundred fatla accidents in Luzerne County in1917,other than in mines and on railroads, twenty-one by automobile and nineteen by drowning. 24. Several cold spell sets in. –Wage agreement with Sheldon Axle Works Employees calls for wage advances of from 15 to 70 per cent. 25. Coldest weather in many years, eleven and one-half degrees below zero in Wilkes-Barre and as high as twenty-two below in mountain sections of the country; no higher than two above all day.-Fire in Pittstoon destroys the building owned by the Howell and Hughes estate on Main Street and occupied by the woolworht store, the Sweetland confectionery store, the O.P and C.O. shoe store, together with many offices, and damages adjoining buildings; damage about $175,000.-Severe cold causes great anxiety as to the fuel scarity, but the local fuel administrator assures the people that every effort will be made to keep them in coa, only threre must be no attempt at hoarding. 26.Continued cold, six below in Wilkes-Barre.-Coldest December in Wilkes-Barre in thirty years, thermometer below zero on four different days.- William F. Murphy appointed mercantile appriaser for the year.-Wilkes-Barre bank clearings for 1917 show an increase of $11,000,000 over the previous year. January , 1918 1.Continued cold on New Year,lowest thermometer reading in Wilkes-Barre one degree below zero and highest only ten above.-Wilkes-Barre choir wins first prize at Moriah Church eisteddfod in Nanticoke. - Announcement of another increase in theprice of milk in Wilkes-Barre, to 14 cents a quart, or 8 cents a pint. – Mock trail one of the most interesting features of New Year open house at the Wilkes-Barre Y.M.C.A., among the paarticipants being Judge B. R. Jones, districk Attorney Frank Slattery and Evan C. Jones as opposing counsel. George Nicholson as plaintiff and W. O. Washburn as defendant. 2. William A. breaker of the L. V. Coal Co. at Duryea burned to the ground; damages about $200,000. -Record prints figures showing that under the new wage increases miners make from 480 to $00 for two weeks’ work, and some as high as $125 and $150 for two weeks while laborers receive from $30 to $50 and some company hands as high as 465 for two weeks. – Experts arrive in Wilkes-Barre to help persons subject to the complicated iincome and war taxes make out their reports for the year 1917.-Great difficulty experienced by registered young men of military age in making out the questionaire papers submitted to all of them to establish their standing in the draft call, the difficulty being due to the many questions and the complicated conditions involved; effort made to have lawyers assist the draft boards. 3. John J. Dempsey, formerly of White Haven, who began his railroad experience as wate boy for a construction company, elected vice president of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit system.- No indications of an early break of the coldwave, zero temperatureyet recorded in Wilkes-Barre.-Local wholesale and storage houses compelled to sell 267,000 pounds of sugar by the local federal food administrator, a great rush of storekeepers from all over the county when the hour for the distribution was opened, only a certain amount being alloted to each. 4. Below zero weather for over a week, with a meximum not exceeding twelve above; lowest for the day, three below. –since the outbreak of war on April 6, there have been 1,775 recruits for the army accepted at the Wilkes-Barre station, 418 of whom were residents of the city; 684 recruits accepted at the navy station. 51 abeing from Wilkes-Barre; the city leads all communities in the Scranton district in the number of army recruits. 5. Two miners killed,five entombed for ten hours and fifteen injured by a cave in the Marcy vein of the Barnum colliery near Duryea.-First report of an interest return on daily balances of the county sinking fund, the cullmination of a long fight to have a Sinking Fund Commission created acccording to the law of 1909, the interest for four months being 4951.31; estimated that the county lost about $25,000 in interest in the eight years that the law was not enforced.-Twenty Polish young men,including a priest, leave in a body for camp as members of the new Polish army. 6. Long continue cold spell broken with a minimum temperature of ten degrees and a meximum of twenty eight. 7. Streets and sidewalks in a glare of iceowing to sleet freezing; a number of street car and motor collisions.-May Petersen and the Rubel Trio in the Irem Temple course.-Spirited time at the reorganization of Wilkes-Barre Council in clashes between Councilman Loveland and other members regarding the necessity for certain appointment, and the fact that councilman Murray of the Department of Streets is in position to supervise the work of the street cleaning firmof which his brother is a member.; Mr. Love landcharges that specifications were not complied with and that the Warner-Quinlan Asphalt Co., which was on close terms with the steet cleaning fir, did not do enough repair work.-Charles N. Loveland, Lewis P. Kniffen take their places as memabers of Wilkes-Barre council and Joseph G. Schuler and Fred Goeringer retire. 8. President wilson unexpectedly addresses Congress with a statement of fourteen conditions upon which the United States insists as the basis of the peace.-Wilkes-Barre Institute devotes the fund spent usually on commencement exercises for the purchase of wool for knitting warm things for soldiers. 9. Strange malady appears in Wilkes-Barre on the West Side; hundreds of people stricken with digestive disturbances, nausea, diarrhea, and cramps In some instances; doctors at a loss how to account for it; some attribute it to river water pumped into the mains woing to the low pressure; and some say it is known as winter cholera, following the very severe cold spell.- An average population of 156 boys during 1917 at the Luzerne County Industrial Sschool for Boys at Kis-Lyn. And the per capita cost $304.82.- Miners’ Bank industrial review says the Wyoming Valley Industries could employ 10,000 more men 10. Leading farm crops in Luzerne county in 1917 valued at 3,600,000 according to State report. 11. Sterling E. W. Eyer of Kingston appointed colonel of the new regiment Which is to have headquarters in Wilkes-Barre and which is to take the place of the old Ntional Guard, for home defense,duty in time of labor trouble, etc 12, Metal trades come to an agreement with employers and a strike averted. 13. A service flag containing forty six stars, representing that number of men in the service, blessed and unfurled by St. Aloysius Church.- Another severe cold spell, with zero temperature in Wilkes-Barre.-PhilipR. Bevan, president of the Chamber of Commerce, asked to serve as official organizer of liberty Loan campaigns in five counties, including Luzerne. 14. More moderate weather.-C.Roscoe Lee of Dorranceton appointed by the governor superintendent of police for Luzerne county aside from the Hazleton region, the police to be composed of volunteers passt military age for the duration of the war, for the preservation of order in time of emergency.- Official report shows that in Luzerne County, 33,264 men between 21 and 31 were registered for the draft.-6,576 in Wilkes-Barre. In the city the quota for the first draft was fixed at 138 men and to obtain the number it was necessary to examine 580 men. 192 men were certified for military service, 28 failed to appear. The county’s quota for the first draft was set at 1,709 men. exclusive of Wilkes-Barre 7,648 men were examined. 15. Word received of the death at Camp Meade from disease of Corporal Frank McCabe. The Weitzenkorn building gutted by fire.- New rate of pay for exemption boards, on the basis of 30 cents a name of registrants classified, the pay to be divided among the three members..-Rev. Theophilus Davies, for over thirty five years pastor of the Miner Congregational Church of Miner’s Mills, tenders his resignation on account of blindness.- Local food administrator A.C. Campbell appeals to merchants and others who have teams and trucks that they can spare for part of the day to tender them for the delivery of coal. Mr. Campbell stating that some homes are without coal owing to the cold, the weather, the condition of the streets and lack of haulage facilities, and the situation is bound to grow worse.- Fall of snow six inches, ice and snow upsets traction company traffic. 16. Federal fuel administrator Garfield, with the indorsement of President Wilson , isssues an order that, beginning the 18th, all manufacturing plants east of the Mississippi river, and in the States of Minnesota and Louisiana, except those producing food, shall close down for a period of five days, and during the next ten weeks shall close on Mondays and holidays. The order also means that on Mondays for ten weeks no heat but enough to prevent freezing of pipes shall be used in buildings aused for stores and offices, except stores for the sale of drugs and food. Stores for the sale of food may be kept open half a day. Most munition factories are included in the suspension. The order was issued because of the alarming fuel scarcity, to save on coal and to give the railroads a better chance to transport it.- Many men interested in industries come to Wilkes-Barre from various states, including Canada, in effort to secure coal, but as a rule are disappointed, owing to restrictions.- Special appeal made for Red Cross volunteers for the Wilkes-Barre headquarters, owing to so many of the old workers dropping out. 17. Hotel and restaurant keepers of Wilkes-Barre, in order to extend food conservation, resolve to have wheatless Wednesdays and porkless Saturdays, in addition to meatless Tuesdays.- Local industries engaged in mine supplies exempted from the suspension order. 18. Many business men gather in the Chamber of Commerce rooms seeking information from fuel administrator Campbell as to how the drastic federal order is to be applied.-Clergymen of Wilkes-Barre and vicinity meet and pledge themselves to reduce the consumption of fuel in the churches to a minimum.- About the same number of liquor license applications as the previous year, despite the increase of the cost of liquor and government restrictions. 19. Change in the suspension order to the effect that food stores may keep open all day on holiday Mondays instead of half a day and amusement places may keep open on Mondays, but must close of Tuesdays. Mayor Kosek issues a proclamation , on behalf of himself and the burgesses of towns in the valley asking saloonkeepers to keep their places closed on holiday Mondays. .-Another severe cold spell, thermometer three below zero in Wilkes-Barre in the early morning; the records of many years broken in the continuation of unseasonable cold and its severity. 20. Thirtieth anniversary of Alexander’s Band observed with a celebration .-Presentation of service flag containing thirty nine stars to Westminster Presbyterian Sunday School,showing that many men in the war service.-Almost unprecedented, three collieeries work in whole or in part on Sunday.- the Frankling and Prospect of the Lehigh Valley and Pettebone of the D., L. & W.- Gas leaking from a main and following the sewer into the house kills George Goodnowicz, his wife and two children at their home in Edwardsville. 21. First heatless Monday generally observed, stores and industries being closed and heat shut off from office buildings.- One woman asphyziated and five people overcome by gas in a house in Kingston, the gas evidently having followed the sewer or water pipe froma brooken gas main.- James M. Coughlin, for twenty six years superintendent of the public schools in Wilkes-Barre, asks to be retired on May 1 on account of ill health. 22. Snowfall of five inches; ice and snow greatly interfere with railroad operation and deprive the East of the full benefit of the industry suspension order to relive congestion of traffic. 23. Judge Fuller hears the cases of 691 delinquent and dependent children in Juvenile court in 1917-and about 1,400 reports received of children who were on parole; of the 1917 cases, 218 sent to schools, reform institutions and private families and 473 returned to the charge of their parents or guardians under parole conditions. 24. County Controller reports that the ressources of Luzerne county are $4,603,884 and the liabilities $2,805,326. The total receipts for the year 1917 amounted to $1,960.,573 and the total disbursements were $1,387.945. 25. Wilkes-Barre Council adopts ordinances reorganizing the health department.-Death of Clarence W. Kline of Hazleton, one of the country’s most prominent lawyers. 26. Another snow storm of six inches, followed by close to zero weather in Wilkes-Barre. 27. Polish people hold a big mass meeting in the Poli Theatre as a stimulus to recruiting for the Polish army and as a farewell for Polish recruits who are about to leave the Wyoming Valley; princiapl address by Ignatz Paderewski, the work-renowed pianist, who is one of the most energetic Polish patriots in the United States; by Governor Brumbaugh, Judge Garman and others; the mass meeting followed by a banquet at the Sterling.-Douglass Presbyterian church unfurls a service flag containing four stars.-Mass meeting of 5,000 Slovaks of Luzerne and Lackawanna counties in the armory in the interest of a millon dollar fund for the support of a Slovak army raised in the United States; addresses by governor Brumbaugh, chairman Distric Attorney Slattery, Lieut. Jancek who induced 40,000 Slovaks to desert Austria-Hungry and fight on the side of Russia and other speakers.-President Wilson issues a procllamation and food Adminstrator Hoover issues orders that bread to be sold by bakers shall contain at least five per cent of other cereals and that the proportion shall increase until by Feb. 24 retailers are instructed to refuse to sell wheat flour unless an equal amount of some other ceral is purchased; The people are asked to observe two wheatless days a week and one wheatless meal a day in addition, one meatless day and Saturday as a portkless day in additon and that there be a twenty per cent reduction in the amount of sugar used in the home. 28. Fire chief reports that there were 217 fires in Wilkes-Barre in 1917. 60 less than the preceding year.-Hoffman, pianist,in Irem Temple course—Residents of Scotch Hill section of Plains Township in peril of cave-ins over the Madeira colliery workings, a number of houses having been affected. 29. Farewell at Memorial Presbyterian church for the pastor, Rev. R. v. Lancaster, who enlisted and has been ordered to report at Camp Measde.-Wyoming Valley bakers agree to abide faitfully by the food adminstration orders to use a certain percentage of other cerals with wheat flour. 30. W. O Washburn, local food administrator issues orders that sales of flour to individuals in towns and cities of the county should be in one-eight of one-fourth barrel quantity, or less and in rural and so called foreign speaking communities, where families are large, in one-fourth ato one-half barrel quantities, or less, and that buying in larger quantities will be considered as hoarding; when dealer s adjust themselves to the new conditions other cerals must be sold in equal quantity with wheat flour. 31. Conyngham Post, G.A. R. of Wilkes-Barre celebrates the fiftieth anniversay of its organization with a dinner, assisted by the ladies’ auxiliaries. February, 1918 1. Another cold spell ; thermometer in Wiles-Barre six degrees below zero. 2. Rev. W. E. Schewe becomes pastor of the First German-English Lutheran Church in Wilkes-Barre- 1,700 people assemble in Hampton hall to witness the unfurling a service flag representing that many Jewish co-religionists and members of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association who entered the service fo the government from the Wyoming Valley- Orders issued that in selling wheat flour an equal quantity or other ceral must be sold, cornmeal, corn starch, corn flour, hominy corn grits, barley flour, rice flour, sweet potato flour, soy bean flour, feterita flours and meals, except that rye may be used as a wheat subsstitute until March 3; profit on flour in original packages is limited to from 80 cents to 41.20 a barrel, acccording to service rendered; bakers asked to charge no more than nine cents for a sixteen ounce loaf of bread.-Death of James E. Roderick of Hazleton, for many years chief of the State Department of Mines, and well known as a political worker. 3. Campaign begun in Wiles-Barre for the sale of smilage books, containing twenty or one hundred coupons valued at $1 and $5, the coupons to serve as admission for the sodliers to theatricals and other entertainment near the camps; many of the most prominent entertainers in the country have offered their services at cost. 5. Mr. and Mrs. Obadiah Hemstreet of Wilkes-Barre celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.-Second coldest day of the winter.-mercury in Wilkes-Barre nine degrees below zero and does not rise higher than three above all day.-Ice three feet thick on the mountain lakes; harvesting of ice interfered with because of the extraordinary cold, the snow, thickness of the ice and shortage of labor.- owing to the selling of coal at the breakers with so much percentage of slate and other refuse, the fuel adminstration department notifies the operators to have it as clean as in the arly part of 1914.-A number of the milk dealers reduce the cost to 12 cents a quart if called for. 6. Considerabe local anxiety over a bulletin that the first tranport containing American troops outward bound had been torpedoed; but relief experienced a little late on when it was reported that the troops came mainly from the West, and that less than 200 of the 2,100 had perished; the steaamer the British Tuscania.- Much difficulty experienced in keeping country roads open because of the heavy and drfting snow.- Owing to the intense cold, railroad traffic is serioously interfered with and in many cities and towns peoplel are without coal- e. J. Newbaker, suprintendent of thLehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal co. resigns.- Jacob G. Hatmaker, a pioneer lumberman dies at his home at Bear Creek, age 87 years.-Death of J. N. Anderson of West Pittston, a member of the Luzerne county bar. 7. Concordia concern with Miss Regina Trapold,violinist, and Mary Kilcoyne, soprano, as the soloists. German aliens in Luzerne county required to register. 8. 180 barrels of flour taken from a Wilkes-Barre retailer ordered redistributed by the local food administrator.. 9. 1,626 commitments to the Luzerne county jail in 1917; total expenses, 441,993; average cost of feeding the prisoners , 21 ½ cents a day; average daily number of prisoners, 112.-Seward Button, superintendent of the Mt. Lookout colliery at wyoming, appointed by Governor Brumbaugh chief of the State Department of Mines, inplace of James E. roderick, deceased. 10. Young Men’s Hebrew building on South Washington street dedicated.-Service flag containing sixty stars unfolded in Holy Trinity Lithuanian Church.-word received that Dr. David R. Morgan of Edwardsville was cited for bravery for rescuing wounded comrade under fire in France.-F. e. Zerbey, general manager of the Kingston Coal co. appointed special chairman of the war savings committee among the coal companies of the county, to encourage the sale of thrift stamps and other government securities. 11. At a special meeting of Lackawanna Presbytery that stated clerk is instructed to prepare a war honor roll of membes who have entered and who will enter the service of the government.- Judge fuller suspends the liquor licenses of saloonskeepers in Avoca and Pittston township for disobeying orders of the fuel administration department to have no heat in such places on heatless Mondays.- President Wilson again appears in Congress without prior notificaiton and dellivered an address in reply to chancellor Hartling of Germany and Count Czernin, foreign minister of Austria-Hungry, in which he says that the latter sees the possibility of acceptable peace but that the views of the German chancellor are yet impossible to acceptance.- food Administration Department decrees that hens and pullets may no be sold for food purposes until the last of April. 12. The sum of 4268,867 spent on roads and bridges in Luzerne county in 1917.-Much milder weather, for the first time since before Christmas. 13.Charles N. Loveland, chairman of the food supply department, urges firms And individuals to store natural ice wherever possible, owing to the prospect that the lack of ammonia will really curtail the production of manufactured ice in the summer.-Last day for the registration of Geman aliens shows that 104 were registered in the city of Wilkes-Barre and an average of six each in the smaller communities. 14. Stated that less than 300 people in Wilkes-Barre and vicinity contribute to the support of the United Charities and less than one-tenth of the number contribute more than one half of the support.-County commissioners fix the county tax levy at four mills, the same as in 1917. 15. Several days of thawing weather take off a good deal of the snow and start the ice in the river to running, but fears of a flood removed by the prediction of colder weather; highest river registration, 13 feet.---Military funeral for Joseph W. OHLMAN of Wilkes-Barre, who died at Camp Hancock. 16. Members of the Wilkes-Barre Lodge of Elks observe the fiftieth anniversary of the general order. 17. Lithuanians of Luzerne and Lackawanna counties meet in Concordia Hall and pledge loyalty to the United States, also to work for the Independence of Lithuania, without Prussian or Russian strings.— Proclamations calling upon the people to save food and pointing out the desperate necessity, read in the churches.—Centenary Methodist Church of Ashley celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the present ediface.—Rev. J.J. WEISLEY of the Forty Fort Presbyterian Church preaches his farewell sermon prior to leaving for duty as an army chaplain. 18. Frieda HEMPEL, soprano, in Irem Temple concert course. 19. Government restrictions upon the sale of liquor and beer, high cost of the products, increase of temperance sentiment and the submission of a nationwide prohibition amendment causes relatively little interest in the session of liquor license court, there being few new applicants and few remonstrances. —County fuel administration appoints three paid inspectors to see to it that passably clean coal of correct sizes is taken out of the county.—All families having more than a thirty day supply of flour on hand ordered to report to the food administrator; the order that 100 percent of substitutes be purchased with flour is causing considerable embarrassment, since the substitutes most sought for, such as rye flour and graham flour, are not obtainable in sufficient quantities. 20. Fuel administrator CAMPBELL files objections to the licenses of saloonkeepers who keep open on Sunday, on the ground that drinking on Sunday decreases the efficiency of the working man.— Restaurant and hotel men of Wilkes-Barre decide to have one meatless and one wheatless meal every day and to serve no meat for breakfast. 21. First P.M. Church of Wilkes-Barre unfurls a service flag having seventeen stars. –Enthusiastic get-together meeting between the farmers of the county and the business men of Wilkes-Barre representing the Chamber of Commerce agricultural bureau and the county farm bureau, morning and afternoon conferences and a luncheon at the Redington, unexpected attendance and enthusiasm, purpose of the conference to discuss means of increasing food production in the county; decided to have a similar affair a week later.—Cold wave, five degrees above zero in Wilkes-Barre.—Warm spell, followed by a day’s rain, swells the river current, but cold weather checks the thawing; maximum height, 16.5 feet; river bank full of ice a foot and a half thick from the break-up north of Towanda. 22. Miss Betty V. FREAS and John I. DAVIS win Nesbitt oratory prizes at Wyoming Seminary.— Freight train of forty cars runs down the Ashley mountain on the Central railroad, attaining a velocity of seventy miles an hour, tears into the Ashley yards and crashes into half a dozen engines, two men killed and nine injured, some of them seriously, a wreck of indescribable proportions, loss estimated at $200,000.—Food administrator WASHBURN says potatoes must not purchased as a wheat flour substitute unless none of the other substitutes can be had.—Col. Asher MINER, home from camp, gives address at Irem Temple on the regiment and its work. 23. Production of beer in Luzerne County in 1917 about 30,000 barrels less than in 1916, a total of 572,423 in 1917, a steady decline for a number of years.—Resignation of E. J. NEWBAKER, Wyoming division superintendent of the Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Co. announced; Douglas BUNTING appointed chief engineer; A. H. LEWIS of Jeddo appointed mining engineer; H. D. DAVIS of Kingston appointed superintendent of the Wilkes-Barre division, J. B. TAMBLYN superintendent of the Ashley division, and R. G. CARPENTER superintendent of the Plymouth division. 24. Knights of Columbus of Pittston begins a drive for $10,000 for war purposes. 25. All new applications refused in liquor license court.—Dr. GARFIELD, national fuel administrator, now advises people to store coal for next winter whenever they can get it. 26. Nothing for this date. 27. Local fuel administrator A. C. CAMPBELL stops two local coal companies from shipping coal because of refusal to comply with regulations against impure coal.—Campaign inaugurated under the chairmanship of Lyman H. HOWE to hold meetings in factories and other industrial plants to push the sale of war savings stamps.—Rain sends the river up to 15.2 feet. 28. Even larger conferences of farmers and business men than a week ago; Y.M.C.A. auditorium filled; farmers express their views on farm labor for the coming season, conscription of such labor, finances, ect; a clearer understanding on both sides; lunch provided by J. W. HOLLENBACK.— Ex-President TAFT speaks at the Hazleton Chamber of Commerce banquet on “The Great War”. March 1918 1. Traction company increases each five cent fare to six cents, pending decision by the Public Service Commission on an application for a permanent increase; company states increase is necessary because heavier cost of operation and supplies.—Miner’s Mills man traps a wildcat which had its den in rocks back of old Mountain Park.—Col. MINER asks for fifty more local recruits for the 109th Artillery. 2. Edwin A. HOFFMAN becomes superintendent of transportation of the local traction system. —River goes up to 18.7 feet but threatened flood does not develop. 3. Orders from Washington relieving restrictions upon meatless meal each day and porkless Saturday, leaving only Tuesday as the meatless day, on the ground that saving on wheat is more important than the saving on meat and the use of more meat will lessen the use on wheat. 4. Luzerne County Constables Association formed.—A decrease of 151 in enrollment of public school children for the year 1916-1917 from the previous year, attributed to families moving to munition centres, to children going to work owing to the great demand, and to the decline in the birth rate; enrollment of the year, 13,411. 5. Celine ROTT, hero of the French Red Cross, speaks to a capacity audience in the high school auditorium in behalf of a subscription campaign to enable French orphans to be properly cared for in their homes, at the rate of 10 cents a day for each child.—Food administration has blanks inserted in the newspapers which each householder is ordered to fill out and send to the State administrator at Philadelphia, showing the number in the household and the amount of flour containing wheat on hand; failure to report incurs the risk of prosecution; no house expected to have more than a thirty-day supply on hand, counting the use of an equal amount of substitutes; any surplus subject to seizure by the food administration.—Pittston City’s valuation shows a decline of $70,000 from 1917 valuation, owing to coal mined out, the 1918 figures being $9,317,048. 6. Monster mass meeting in the Wilkes-Barre armory, with a crowded overflow meting in Central M. E. Church; addresses by George WHARTON PEPPER of Philadelphia, State food administrator Howard HEINZ of Philadelphia, Miss Suzanne SILVERCRYS, a Belgian girl who experienced the horrors to which her country was subjected during the first year of war, and Col. Asher MINER of the 109th Regiment, who was the chairman; great enthusiasm as the speakers dwelt upon the work America has to do to win the war, and exclamations of horror as Miss SILVERCRYS referred to German atrocities; every person in the vast audience arose and repeated a pledge to make some sacrifice every day and to save on food, especially wheat.—Death of Dr. Edward S. DOUGHERTY of Ashley, a prominent physician and surgeon. 7. Marked display of the aurora borealis for several hours. 9. Mr. and Mrs. William H. MARCY of Wilkes-Barre observe their sixtieth wedding anniversary. Sergt. Arthur Guy EMPEY, author of “Over the Top” lectures in Wilkes-Barre. 10. St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Wilkes-Barre dedicates a flag showing sixteen men in service. 11. Sergeant of the local recruiting station receives word that he may enlist men up to 51 years of age, an extension of the 45 limit. 13. Prominent men of Wilkes-Barre, Scranton and Stroudsburg organize a National Planning Bureau to carry on a nationwide campaign to induce prospective builders to do their planning during the war, while the architects and engineers are comparatively idle, in anticipation of the rush after the war.—More than $700 already subscribed by Wyoming Valley people for the “adoption” of French war orphans—providing the means for their support in their homes.— Wilkes-Barre still leads in recruiting in the Scranton district. 15. River stage at Wilkes-Barre 23 feet and lowlands flooded.—Red Cross calls for old clothing for French and Belgians. 16. Mr. and Mrs. John M. WILLIAMS of Kingston celebrate their fifty-second wedding anniversary. 17. Death of D C. TIFFANY, a well known resident of Ashley.—Angelo CORSINE of Hughestown sentenced to death for second first degree conviction for shooting Augustine SCHENDRA, Jan. 28, 1917.—Giuomar NOVAES, pianist, and Eddy BROWN, violinist, in the Temple course.— Rev. and Mrs. J. R. WAGNER of Dallas fifty-eight years married. 18. Daylight savings bill signed by the President to put all clocks one hour ahead on the last Sunday in March and to continue so until the last Sunday in October. 19. Order issued that all food dealers in the county must register with the local administrator. 20. Death of Alfred HAND, for many years connected with the city engineering department. 21. Wilkes-Barre park department to offer fertilizer and cabbage and tomato plants at cost for those who register war gardens.—Decidedly mild spell of weather, spring-like. 22. Wyoming Valley Audobon Society, for the protection of birds, organized.—Committees organized for an intensive drive for the forthcoming Liberty Loan campaign.—Death of Dr. Robert MURDOCH, an aged homeopathic physician of Wilkes-Barre.—Announcement made of the merging of Grace Lutheran Church with St. John’s Lutheran, Wilkes-Barre. 23. Eager scanning of the bulletins of news of the beginning of the long expected offensive on the western front, with the Germans making considerable gains; the most stupendous and most sanguinary battle ever fought; much interest in the announcement that the Germans are shelling Paris from a distance of seventy-two miles. 24. Announcement that there must be a further curtailment in the use of wheat by at least one-half; one pound and a half of wheat products or one pound and three-quarters of Victory bread the limit for each person a week, and manufactures of wheat into non-food products must cease. 25. 1918 valuation for Luzerne County shows a total of $322,719,500. A reduction of $3,426,626 from the previous year, not withstanding increase in real estate values, the difference being due to allowance for coal mined; number of taxables 132,477 about 500 less than preceding year, due to enlistments and to men leaving for more profitable employment in war industries.—About three and a half tons of clothing, some 7,000 pieces, collected by the local Red Cross, for people in Belgium and northern France. 26. County Commissioners fix the county tax levy at three and six-tenths mills, a reduction of four tenths of a mill from 1917.—Raub’s mill at Luzerne Borough destroyed by fire. 27. War bread demonstrations being conducted throughout the county by a woman’s committee.- Local fuel administration issues cards for which householders shall apply in which they shall state the amount of coal they require until March 31, 1919, the amount they have on hand, the amount they desire ect., the purpose being to secure delivery during the summer on a fair basis; to avoid another near famine, householders are urged to lay in their year’s supply during summer. 28. Thirty pupils graduated from the Wilkes-Barre night schools. 29. Food administration says that sugar may now be sold in five pound lots instead of two-pound. 30. The executive committee of the Wilkes-Barre branch of the National Security League issues a warning to certain persons of German birth who have by expression and action been guilty of sedition and conduct unbecoming to naturalized citizens and American citizenship; they are warned that their actions are known and that they are liable to sudden arrest.—Perfect, spring-like Easter weather—In accordance with the act of Congress for daylight savings, clocks are turned ahead one hour at 2 o’clock on Sunday morning; people easily become accustomed to the change.—Rev. Theophilus DAVIES, for more than thirty-four years pastor of Miner Congregational Church at miner’s Mills, preaches his farewell sermon and retires because of blindness. April 1918 1. Investigation shows that Wilkes-Barre has 2,147 persons who cannot speak or write the English language.—Death of Ira RANSOM, 95 years, pioneer resident of Jackson Township.—Damrosch’s Orchestra in Temple course. 2. Death of one of Wilkes-Barre’s oldest residents—Mrs. Sarah H. JOHNSON, widow of Priestly R. JOHNSON, aged 96 years, and was born in Wilkes-Barre. 4. Strong appeal made to the women of the Wyoming Valley for Red Cross workers to take the Places of many women who have fallen away.—Report made that appeal for old clothing and shoes for French and Belgian suffers resulted in the sending of three and one-half tons. 5. Trade secretaries of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association in conference in Wilkes-Barre. 6. Great demonstration in Wilkes-Barre on the first anniversary of the entrance of the United States into the war and to open the third Liberty Loan campaign in the Wyoming Valley, about 10,000 people in the parade, including many women, a number of artistic floats. 7. St. Mary’s Polish Church in Wilkes-Barre unfurls a service flag containing 133 stars.—Herbert WALLACE , a Wyoming boy, sells 10,062 worth of war savings and thrift stamps in one month and wins a prize offered by a Wilkes-Barre bank.—Enthusiastic war anniversary in Kingston M. E. Church. 8. Liberty Loan drive starts out with a superb organization and a great rush.—Wyoming Valley residents subscribe $1,500 for the adoption of French war orphans. 9. Four inches of snow in Wilkes-Barre and eight to ten inches in the hill sections of the county; blizzardy weather, but not much interference with traffic because of the heaviness of the snow. —Wyoming Conference of the Methodist Church opens in central M.E.—Frank P. HOPPER re-elected county superintendent of schools.—Harry H. ZEISER, assistant superintendent of Wilkes-Barre schools, elected to the position of superintendent at a salary of $4,500 a year, succeeding James M. COUGHLIN, who resigned and who was the first general superintendent of the consolidated school districts of the city. 10. Sales of war savings and thrift stamps in Wilkes-Barre and vicinity for three months ending March 30 amount to about two dollars per capita. 12. Man suffering with small pox walks into the City Hospital and asks for treatment; is taken to an isolated house along the Old River Road; fear that other cases will break out.—Death of D. O. McCOLLUM, a well known Wilkes-Barre resident. 14 Mr. and Mrs Thomas TIGUE of Avoca celebrate their golden wedding anniversary,--Several days of snow, rain and sleet and low temperatures end spring weather. 15. Schumann-Heink sings in the Temple and delivers a touching address on loyalty and service.- Mine cave partially wrecks Sacred Heart Church in Plains.—Marine Corps recruiting station opened in Wilkes-Barre.—On second trial, William LOUDENBURG is convicted of murder in the second degree for the killing of Mrs. Thomas REESE of Parsons; first trial resulted in a first degree verdict. 16. First local suit involving alleged disloyalty—a Wilkes-Barre merchant brings civil action against a Wilkes-Barre man and his wife on the charge that the latter circulated rumors alleging disloyalty, which he says injured his business.—Wilkes-Barre still leads the Scranton district in recruiting. 17. First battalion of women mobilized for farm work put to work on the Garrahan truck farm on the West Market Street flats, the women secured by Father KASACZUN of Sugar Notch.Announcement made that the total number of liquor licenses in Luzerne County taken out on April 1 was 1,295, including wholesale, retail, bottlers and breweries, seventy-five less than the previous year. There were fifty-one fewer retail licenses, including twenty-four granted but not lifted. High cost of spirits and beer results in marked falling off in business. 18. Merchant near Nanticoke given the alternative of selling out or having his case reported to the Federal food administration, with revocation of license, for selling wheat flour without substitutes. 19. Secretary of Labor William B. WILSON speaks at a Liberty Loan mass meeting in the armory. 22. Members of Co. F. 2d Infantry, Pennsylvania Reserve Militia, recently formed to take the Place of the National Guard, mustered into service by Col. Sterling E. W. EYER and staff in the Wilkes-Barre armory; Capt. R. Bruce ESPY in command. 23. Pennsylvania Dental Society convenes in Wilkes-Barre in fiftieth session. 24. Death of Joseph J. SCHOOLEY, well known Wilkes-Barre business man.—Rev. A. L. WHITTAKER of Honesdale accepts a call to Grace Episcopal Church at Dorranceton.—A number of women placed at light work in the Coxton shops.—Luzerne County branch of the German-American Alliance decides to change its name to Patriotic Citizens League of Luzerne County, and to invest all available funds in Liberty bonds.—Food administrator says that a month’s supply of flour is on hand in Luzerne County. 25. Trethway Brothers tinware factory at parsons destroyed by fire; loss about $500,000.—Threatening demonstration in several places against supposed pro-Germans who refuse to purchase Liberty bonds; two foreigners in Parsons tarred and feathered, and in Ashley a crowd places a rope around the neck of one man and pushes him through the streets; in all cases the men promise to purchase bonds.—Liberty bond subscription rally held by county employees in the court house. 26. Liberty day celebrated in Wilkes-Barre with a great novel demonstration; 15,000 people assemble in Public Square in the evening and are entertained with vaudeville stunts, motion pictures, dances, boxing bouts and other features in booths and on a central stage; music by choruses and an enlarged band; proceedings opened by Mayor KOSEK and orators extol the virtues of the Liberty Loan; hundreds of people hand in their subscriptions at the booths and in the banks and total sum is estimated at $500,00;inspiring matinees in the afternoon by women and children on the stage; loan rallies held in other parts of the county; Hazelton has a big demonstration; mass meeting in Pittston.—School children and teachers hold exercises in honor of the retiring superintendent, James M. COUGHLIN.—Over 300 Boy Scouts of Wilkes-Barre and vicinity hold a Liberty Bond rally in the Y.M.H.A. building. 28. Mass meeting under the auspices of the Jewish Central Relief Committee in Wilkes-Barre Marks the beginning of a drive for $250,000 as the county’s quota for a fund for the relief of Jewish sufferers; $14,000 subscribed at the meeting, which was addressed by Nathan STRAUS of New York, noted Jewish financier and philanthropist.—Many war lies and unfounded rumors of disaster circulated. 29. Andrew CZAP of Swoyerville, a member of the State Constabulary, shot and killed in Indiana County while endeavoring to arrest some Italians.—Insurance firm of Thompson Derr & Bro. Gives dinner to the staff of employees to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the formation of the firm. 30. Most damaging cave-in ever experienced in Pittston; about twenty buildings in block in Upper Pittston ruined or badly damaged; one man killed by the force of air coming from the workings of the White Coal Co.—Great drive for liberty Loan bonds throughout the county. May 1918 1. Pennsylvania Primitive Methodist Conference meets in the East End P. M. Church.—Luzerne County Medical Society tenders the services of members to the Red Cross for families of soldiers and sailors in need. 2. Death of Mrs. Henry W. PALMER of Wilkes-Barre, founder of the Boys Industrial Association and a woman of exceptional success in community welfare work.—Scores of Wyoming Valley people work industriously for the success of the Liberty Loan.—Court house officials, clerks and employees subscribe for $50,000 of Liberty Bonds, including every person .—Frost in the valley.—Wilkes-Barre hotels raise room rates fifty cents a day, due to Co, employees Third Liberty Bond subscriptions total $971,650, representing 100 percent of the 16,819 employees. 4. Women of the Wilkes-Barre district secure more than $500,00 in subscriptions for Liberty bonds.—Third liberty bond campaign closes with a hurrah; Wilkes-Barre and the five-count district of which it is a part oversubscribe their allotment; every town in Luzerne County goes ahead, the total for the county being about $12,000,000, and for the city about $6,700,00, the allotment for the county being $9,389,800 and for the city $4,669,830. 5. Wilkes-Barre eagles dedicate a service flag containing twenty-nine stars, one for each member in the service.—Charles TRETHAWAY appointed general chairman of the Wilkes-Barre district for the Red Cross drive to begin May 20, the Wilkes-Barre quota being $175,000. 6. Wilkes-Barre school board engages in an animated discussion over the proposal that the study of the German language be dropped; the subject finally referred to a committee.—Local food administrator A. C. CAMPBELL again appeals to the miners to work steadily, especially on church holy days, to ward off threatened coal famine. 7. Unusually warm spell—thermometer 85 degrees. 8. Wilkes-Barre Institute Dramatic Association produces “Mrs. Bumpstead-Leigh” at the Grand Opera House for the benefit of the Red Cross. 9. Mr. and Mrs. John PHILPIN of Naticoke celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.—Food administration orders a curtailment in supplying sugar to manufacturers of candy and ice cream , soda fountains, ect., so that there may be a surplus for the canning and preserving season.— Convention of State Master Horesshoers Association in Wilkes-Barre.—Word received that the advance detail of the 109th Regiment—Wyoming Valley—has arrived in France. 11. At a luncheon of women of the Liberty Loan committee Mrs. C. P. ELLIOT, the general chairman, reported that the women of the county had secured subscriptions amounting to $1,542,6000, not including final figures for the Hazelton district.—New draft quota calls for 1,045 men from Luzerne County, but none from the city; objection raised by outside towns on the ground that a number of the volunteers accredited to the city are from other places. 13. School children of Wilkes-Barre begin a house to house drive for war savings stamp and thrift stamps to win titles up to general.—Food administration says there is no warrant for bakers to increase the whole sale price of bread beyond eight cents for a sixteen ounce loaf on the ground of high cost of substitutes.—Death of Calvin PARDEE, Jr., of Hazelton, manager for the extensive interests of Pardee Bros. & Co. 14. Announcement made that the firm of Posten Bros. Of Wilkes-Barre, for many years engaged in the livery business, is to be reorganized, that all horses and horse drawn vehicles are to be disposed of and an exclusively motor services established.—Only fifty-eight prisoners in the county jail, fewer than in many years, due to the war, lessening of the drink habit and the system of paroling prisoners for first offenses.—About 700 women and girls attend a Girls patriotic League rally in the Wilkes-Barre high school auditorium, to stir up enthusiasm in war work. 15. Draft boards of the county form a permanent organization. 16. After spirited public discussion and a heated controversy in the school board, the board decides to retain the teaching of the German language as an optional study; the vote being five to four; referendum among members of the Chamber of Commerce shows 441 votes for abolition of German and 77 for its retention.—Mr. and Mrs. Mathias HOFFMAN of Wilkes-Barre celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.—Fourteen nurses graduate from Mercy Hospital training school. 17. Announcement that third Liberty Loan amounted to approximately $4,170,000,000, the minimum asked for being $3,000,000,000 and about 17,000,000 persons took the bonds. 18. Big Red Cross rally meeting in Irem Temple.—death of D. L. O’NEILL, Sr. a member of the Luzerne County bar since 1864 and one of Wilkes-Barre’s most prominent citizens.— About 250 Boys and girls receive first communion in St. Mary’s Church. 20. Red Cross drive for the raising of $175,000 in the Wilkes-Barre district begins under the leadership of Charles Trethaway.—School children’s campaign for war savings and thrift stamps in Wilkes-Barre yields $250,000, an average of $20 per each pupil.—President signs the law requiring young men who have reached twenty-one years since registration day on June 5, 1917 to register for the draft.—Superintendent ZEISER of the Wilkes-Barre schools reports that sixty-eight percent of high school students who pursued courses fitting them for advanced education entered colleges and normal schools in 1917; that fourteen percent of those who entered school in September 1905, entered the high school in 1913, and forty-three percent of those who entered the high school in 1913 completed the course and were graduated in 1917. 21. Very light primary vote, little interest in the campaign; E. N. Carpenter nominated for congress on the Republican ticket; John J. Casey has no opposition on the Democratic tickets, Luzerne gives Messrs. Sproul and Beidleman for Governor and Lieutenant Governor a plurality on the Republican ticket, and Judge Bonniwell, “wet” candidate on the Democratic ticket.—At a meeting on the river common the city and county are presented with honor flags for ovwer subscribing their Liberty loan allotment.—Mass meetings and demonstrations at a number of places in the county in interest of the Red Cross drive. 22. Twenty-two graduates from the City Hospital training school for nurses. 23. Provost Marshal Genreal Crowder rules that men of draft age engaged in non essential occupations must get necessary work or be transferred to the first class of the draft, losing what ever deferred classification they must have , even on the ground of having dependents. 24. Vulcan Iron Works starts the erection of the first building, a steel mill, on its Buttonwood plot, which intends to develop into a great auxiliary.—Homeopathic Hospital graduates four nurses. 25. Miss Marie PATTERSON, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James A. Patterson of Wilkes-Barre, enlists as a yeoman in the navy, the first girl from this section. 27. About one thousand draft men leave Luzerne County, exclusive of Wilkes-Barre, for training camp at Petersburg, VA.—Mr. McADOO, director general of the railroads, announces approval of the wage commission’s recommendation granting 2,000,000 railroad employees an increase aggregating about $325,000,000; announcement also made of an increase in freight rates of about 25 per cent, and an increase in passenger fares to three cents a mile, with many special privileges cut off.—Wilkes-Barre district gives $375,000 for the Red Cross in the week’s campaign; the district’s allotment having been $175,000. 28. Hayden WILLIAMS, secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, appointed county manager for farm labor in Luzerne County under State auspices.—State Convention of the Degree of Pocahontas opened in Wilkes-Barre.—Heavy thunderstorms during the past two days, several buildings struck by lightening. 29. 257 Luzerne County draft men go to Fort Screven, GA. Much anxiety caused by the fact that a large majority of the draft man who leave are made up , in many communities, of mine workers. 30. All Civil War Veterans taken to the cemetery in automobiles for the memorial day exercises. —Word received that the 109th Regiment arrived safely in France; just before their departure the regiment was presented with band instruments donated by the Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce, with a sanitary outfit by F. M. KIRBY, and with new regimental colors by Mr. and Mrs. John N, CONYNGHAM, the total value of the gifts given to the regiment by the community and individuals since the war started amounts to $23,000.—Wilkes-Barre’s fire loss in 1917 the lowest of any city of about the same population in th e country, sixty cents per capita.—Special services held in a number of churches in observance of President Wilson’s proclamation for prayer for the nation and the cause.—Secretary of the Navy Daniels stops over in Wilkes-Barre on his way to Scranton and delivers an impromptu address to the veterans on the river common.—St. Stanislaus Church of Nanticoke dedicates a service flag shoeing 128 stars, representing men of the parish in the service. June 1918 3. Two days of oppressive heat, thermometer above ninety degrees. 4. Great interest taken in news that German submarines operating along the American coast had Sunk twelve ships in a few days, one of them a passenger ship, the Carolina having 340 passengers and crew members on board, the other vessels mostly stailing craft; some of the sinkings taking place within fifty miles of the New Jersey shore; practically all of the crews rescued .—About 250 young men who have reached the age of twenty-one years enlist in the army and navy in Wilkes-Barre in two days, and many more previously, to have their choice of service prior to registration on June ??. 5. 115 recruits for the navy sworn in at one time at the Wilkes-Barre station.—Flag-raising at the City Hospital and dedication of a service flag in honor of seventeen nurses and members of the staff who have gone into service. 6. Three more vessels, a Norwegian steamer and two schooners, submarined near our coast, making a total of thirteen vessels, five steamers and eight schooners.—2,452 boys of Luzerne County who attained their twenty-first year sine June 5, 1917 register. 7. Death of Mrs. Bridget Scanlon of Wilkes-Barre, aged 100 years.—Miss Laura Barrall and Dewitt Landen win the annual prize speaking contests at Wyoming Seminary. 8. Hillman Academy graduates a class of four.—Seventeen young men and one woman finish The course in the Wilkes-Barre extension of the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce.— Five young women graduate from the Wilkes-Barre Institute.—State convention of Laundry Owners Association in Wilkes-Barre. 9. Mass meeting held in the Wilkes-Barre high school preliminary to launching a campaign for Recruiting nurses in the Wyoming Valley for war service.—Liberty flag raising at Huntington Mills. 11. 101 students graduated from Wyoming Seminary, 38 of them from the literary and arts departments.—Kingston Coal Co. erects a sawmill to make fuel out of refuse mine timber for use by employees.—D. J. CRAY of Plymouth selected superintendent of Pittston City schools.—Ashley school board erects a separate school district with a local superintendent.— Woman’s committee informed that the women of Luzerne County have saved 1,800 barrels of flour a week for three months. 13. More stringent regulations in regard to beef; hotels and restaurants instructed to serve beef steak not more than one day a week; the same as to beef roast; boiled beef not more than two meals a week; householders requested to confine themselves to one and a quarter pounds of clear beef or one and a half pounds of beef with the bone for each member of the family a week; the restrictions to continue until September 15.—Perma-Loc Manufacturing Co, of Wilkes-Barre and Scranton purchases the old cutlery works plant in Wilkes-Barre to manufacture automobile accessories. 14. Local food administration again announces sugar restrictions, two pounds a week for a family, with cautious permission for a 25-pound sales for canning and preserving, owing to the loss of much sugar in submarined ships and anxiety on the party of shippers. 15. 450 girls of the Wilkes-Barre high school give a patriotic pageant at Diamond Park in the presence of 3,000 people. 16. Elaborate ceremonies attending the dedicating of a service fag containing 120 stars for the Holy Family Polish Church at Sugar Notch, Father Francis KASACZUN pastor; the congregation composed of 400 families.—Patriotic rally to stimulate recruiting held at Riverside Park under the auspices of the Wilkes-Barre army recruiting station and the United Spanish- American War Veterans. 17. After having voted to continue the German language in the high school as an elective study, largely to permit students to retain their credits for college entrance, the Wilkes-Barre school board is induced by the pressure of public opinion to oust the study altogether, by a vote of eight to one. —Bethel A. M. E. Church in Wilkes-Barre begins th3 celebration of its seventy- fifth anniversary.— Eight more Luzerne County grocers penalized by the local food administration for having violated orders regarding the sale of substitutes with wheat flour. 18. The court surcharges Wilkes-Barre Township school directors in sums ranging from $1,759 to $6,428 for failure to record the vote on contracts and purchases.—Lawrence COUGHLIN and Jeanette MAN win the gold medal contests in the Wilkes-Barre high school.—Thirty-nine young men and women graduate from St. Mary’s high school. 19. Restaurant and hotel men of Wilkes-Barre fix the meals for serving beef, in compliance with the food administration’s instructions—steak only on Thursdays’ stewed, boiled or hashed on Wednesday and Saturday at mid-day only, roast beef, hot or cold, only at mid-day on Monday .—Complaint made that Red Cross work at Wilkes-Barre headquarters has fallen off very decidedly. —592 boys and girls of Grammar A grade in Wilkes-Barre promoted to high school.—Jury in the case of William B. FAULDS, charged with killing of policeman CURWOOD of Shickshinny, returns a verdict of murder in the first degree. 20. Miss Marguerite HENNIGHAN, a member of the graduating class of the Wilkes-Barre high school, has been neither late nor absent in twelve years. 21. Death of Carl FERENBACH of Wilkes-Barre, prominent in the silk manufacturing industry. —Whale meat comes to Wilkes-Barre, demonstration of its use in the war kitchen by Mrs. P. J. HIGGINS.—Personal property valuations in Luzerne County $30,640,237 for 1918, an increase of $673,771 over 1917.—305 pupils graduate from all departments of the Wilkes-Barre high school. 22. "The Kaiser’s coffin” thrown into the river at Pittston as an incident of war savings stamp drive. 23. A service flag containing 116 stars, an American flag and a Liberty Loan flas raised at Miner’s Mills and the Soldiers’ Aid Society of the borough sells a magazine, locally edited, to raise funds for buying sweaters and socks for the boys.—Coldest June day in many years, thermometer forty-nine degrees in Wilkes-Barre; heavy frost, flurries of snow and thin ice on the mountains. —Forty-five graduates from St. John’s high school in Pittston.—St. Mark’s Church at Inkerman unfurls a service flag containing twenty-two stars. 24. James H. EVANS of Forty Fort named poor director to succeed John B. CLARK.—Ten graduates from St. Ann’s Academy.—Ten Baby welfare stations opened in Wilkes-Barre by the Visiting Nurse Association, in conjunction with the health department. 25. Conventions of the State Pharmaceutical Association and the State Jeweler’s Association in Wilkes-Barre.—Wilkes-Barre school board increases the pay of teachers about seven and one-half percent to meet part of the increase in the cost of living.—Services in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Calvinistic Methodist Church in Plymouth. 26. Big parade in Wilkes-Barre in honor of drafted men who are about to leave for training camp. 27. Nine hundred draft boys of the county leave for Camp Lee, thousands of people at the station. —Drawing at Washington for the draft positions of the new registrants of twenty-one years causes much local interest. 28. Pledge Day, people assemble in the school houses to pledge themselves to save for the purchase of war savings stamps.—Families asked to restrict themselves to three pounds of sugar per month for each member. 29. Big flag raising celebration at Pike’s Creek. 30. Rev. Nicholas J. TERNA celebrates his first mass at Plymouth.—Masses in a number of Catholic churches lessened because of the enlistment of priests as chaplains and the demand for services at summer resorts. July 1918 1. Record publishes abstracts of the first letters sent home by Col. Miner of the local 109th Regiment, describing the journey to France, the enthusiastic welcome accorded the boys, and telling of their splendid conduct and discipline; the regiment quartered in camp at a small village near Vannes in Northern France, where training is to be conducted. 3. Robert S. KAUFFMAN, a well known Wilkes-Barre art dealer, killed in a grade crossing accident in an automobile in the Poconos.—Orin C. LESTER of Washington, head of the speakers’ bureau of the American Red Cross, the speaker at the commemoratic exercises at Wyoming Monument, his address bearing on the present war.—Thomas STONEHAM of Larksville, superintendent of the Plymouth division of the D. & H. Coal Co. goes on the retired list. 4. Moderate Fourth of July temperature, partly cloudy.—Parsons dedicates an “honor plot”, under the auspices of the Soldiers’ Comfort Association, containing a board nicely painted in the national colors and bearing the names of the boys from town who are serving the country, with gold stars besides the names of the boys who have sacrificed their lives, and a large flag in the centre.—Twelve fireworks accidents in Wilkes-Barre and vicinity, mostly of a minor character.—Great parade in Wilkes-Barre of about ten thousand people of recent foreign extraction, made up of ten different racial origins, as a pledge of loyalty to the United States; many symbolic floats; Poles, Slovaks, Lithuanians, Greeks, Italians, Ruthenians, Ukranians, Hebrews and Syrians by birth or immediate descent.— 7. Lithuanians have a big celebration at Valley View Park.—Opening of Happy Land Park at Shickshinny. Raising of a service flag at St. Charles Catholic Church at Sugar Notch in honor of eighty- three of the young men of the congregation who have entered war service.—Many thousands of people attend outdoor services at Plains in memory of lieut. John CURRY, who was killed in action in France. 8. Mr. and Mrs. John MULLAHY of Kingston observe their golden wedding anniversary.— Following raids upon a number of alleged bawdy houses and gambling places in Wilkes-Barre, the governing committee of the Civic Bureau of the Chamber of Commerce makes a sensational report charging the police department with inefficiency, dishonesty, and graft, that law violators have been encouraged and protected, that those charged with the enforcement of the law have in some instances become its worst violators, that the evidence in the hands of the committee indicates that this condition exists to some extent in Parsons and Dorranceton as well; the Civic Bureau calls upon City Council for a public investigation; much of the evidence secured by the Burns detective agency; the bureau calls upon the citizens to take an active interest in the investigation.—Owing to surplus of beef that cannot be moved, the food administration permits the use of beef one meal a day in hotels and restaurants. 9. Luzerne County bar Association indorses the candidacy of Charles B. LENAHAN for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.—Mayor KOSEK in a statement challenges the Chamber of Commerce to prove its charges against the police administration or be disgraced; the Chamber Of Commerce in a spirited meeting indorses the action of the Civic Bureau; the raids and charges create a sensation throughout the city; the City Council votes in favor of an investigation.— The Luzerne County Gas & Electric Co. boosts rates as high as eighty seven and one-half per cent., for small consumers from $ 1.30 to $ 2 a thousand feet. 10. Mayor KOSEK suspends the captain of detectives and the mayor’s clerk and states that he will suspend the chief of police after the latter’s return to town, in compliance with charges of inefficiency made against the chief and inefficiency and graft against the others, pending an investigation by Council. 11. Six girls of Mountain Top, in overalls, volunteer for farm work. 14. Dedication of a monument in the soldiers’ and sailors’ plot in Hollenback Cemetery under auspices of Hancock Circle, Ladies of the G. A. R., in honor of the “boys of 61.”—Great mass meeting in Savoy and Poli theaters in Observance of the French national holiday, commemorating the fall of the Bastile, the meetings addressed by distinguished domestic and foreign speakers, the latter representatives of the French and Italian missions in America.—a return compliment for the enthusiastic celebration in France of our Fourth of July. 15. Industrial Loan Corporation of Wilkes-Barre, formed to loan money in small sums at reasonable rates, from $ 10 to $ 300, begins business.—Wilkes-Barre plan of encouraging farming by transporting laborers to and from the farms and inviting the farmers to conferences with business men spreads to a number of other places. 16. Draft authorities decide to grant deferred draft classification to miners, because of the threatened coal famine.—Much cool and rainy weather for several weeks. 17. George R. McLEAN of Wilkes-Barre, chairman of the Democratic State committee, appointed a major in the office of the Judghe Advocate General in Washington. 18. Beginning of the investigation into the Chamber of Commerce charges of inefficiency, dishonesty and graft against certain members of the Wilkes-Barre police department, with the promise of other sensational revelations.—Local branch of the new Pennsylvania Militia in its first encampment at Mt. Gretna, the Second Regiment mustered into the State service, Col. Sterling E. W. EYER in command. 20. Three men murdered in the county on one day, two at Swoyerville and one at Laflin. 21. Hot wave, thermometer 93 in Wilkes-Barre. 22. In the midst of a torrid temperature the coal administration continues its warning of a likely coal famine next winter and urges people to make every effort to secure a supply. 23. Insurance Press reports that Wilkes-Barreans received $ 504,000 on life insurance policies in 1917.—Announcement of the creation of a government Bureau of Labor to have charge of the settlement of industrial controversies in the coal regions affecting miners. 24. Five thousand people at the station while 326 draft boys from Wilkes-Barre and vicinity leave for Camp Lee.—Death of John R. POWELL of Plymouth, pioneer squib manufacturer and president of the Plymouth National Bank. 25. Little relief from temperature above ninety for four days. 28. More hot weather, ninety-seven degrees in Wilkes-Barre.—Edward BRENNAN, chief of Police of Wyoming, and Ralph DALEY, chief of police of West Wyoming, shot and killed, the latter while attempting to quell a disturbance, and the former while he was pursuing the murderer.—St. Cassimer’s Church at Pittston unfurls a service flag containing two hundred stars. 29. Local food administration receives notice that the sugar scarcity is so great that the ration must be reduced to one half pound a week for each member of a family.—Mr. and Mrs. William ARNOLD of near Nanticoke celebrate their golden anniversary.—Extreme warm weather and drought do considerable damage to the potato crop. 30. Great indignation over the murder of the chiefs of police of Wyoming and West Wyoming Boroughs; Pittston police make a raid on part of the Italian quarters in that city and confiscate over a hundred deadly weapons.—Lehigh Valley Coal Co. reorganizes its official staff to secure greater production.—Banquet held in Wilkes-Barre in honor of fifteen colored men about to leave for army service.—Representatives of relief organizations in Wilkes-Barre do not take kindly to the war chest plan of raising money. AUGUST 1918 1. City railroad ticket offices abandoned and all business transferred to Lehigh Valley station; Consolidation of freight and passenger service of the four railroads entering Wilkes-Barre, the Lehigh Valley to handle all freight of New York and eastern points and the Pennsylvania, the business from Philadelphia, Baltimore and the South. 2. Seventy young women of Wilkes-Barre and vicinity respond to the call for recruits to go into training as nurses to relieve graduate nurses or to prepare for war service.—two soldiers from the West, on a troop train going through Wilkes-Barre, have their skulls fractured by coming in contact with a projection while leaning out of a window. 3. Miners of the valley meet informally and discuss a large increase in wages to meet the cost of living.—First retail curb produce market in Wilkes-Barre opened on North Hancock street, between Coal and Market. 4. Record receives a cable from Col. Asher MINER, in command of the local 109th Regiment, Field Artillery, that the regiment has had its first experience in action in France. The cable read: “09th in action. Support unit. Casualty nil.” 5. 200 recruits from the Wyoming Valley leave for Camp Wadsworth, Spartansburg, South Carolina.—Another hot spell, thermometer ninety-four in Wilkes-Barre.—Representatives from fifty-two mine workers local unions in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties ask the government to investigate their requests for increased compensation. 6. Hottest day in many years, official thermometer reading in Wilkes-Barre 101 degrees, on the roof of the Spring Brook Water Co.’s building; a number of industries forced to close for a few hours.—A. M. ZWIEBEL of Wilkes-Barre employed for fifty years at the Jersey Central Shops at Ashley. 7. Thermometer 103 degrees in Wilkes-Barre.—Chamber of Commerce investigation against Wilkes-Barre police department comes to a close as far as taking testimony is concerned.— S. T. NICHOLSON, general manager of the Vulcan Works, appointed sub-district industrial director under the regional adviser of the war industries board. 8. Slight drop in the thermometer, 94 degrees in Wilkes-Barre. 9. Local trolleymen’s wages increased to 41, 43, and 45 cents an hour in accordance with federal war board’s decision in other cases. 10. Recruiting at the local offices stopped on orders from Washington pending the passage of the new bill changing the draft age limits. 11. Memorial services held in Plymouth for Sergt. Alexander SEARLES, killed in action in France. 12. Sheldon Axle Works files plans for a $ 200, 000 addition. 13. One of the most destructive thunder storms in years; two men in Luzerne County killed by lightning, a number of barns and houses in Wilkes-Barre and vicinity struck and considerable damage caused by fire, including a mule barn at Sugar Notch; wind unroofed a number of small structures and blows down trees; trolley traffic interfered with for a time. 14. Pine Run road, running from laurel Run and connecting with the Ashley boulevard, completed. —Judge FULLER pronounces sentence of death upon William Beach FAULDS, convicted of killing chief of police CURWOOD in Shickshinny in February. 15. Three year contract signed with the Wilkes-Barre Co. for lighting the streets of Wilkes-Barre, excepting Public Square and east Market street, at the rate of $ 50 a year per arc lamp, thus ending the controversy between the city and two light companies. 16. E. N. CARPENTER resigns as chairman of the Wyoming Valley Chapter of the Red Cross because of being a candidate for political office, and W H. CONYINGHAM chosen as chairman, with John D. FARNHAM as assistant.—George G. KORSEN of Wilkes-Barre enlists as the first local member of the Jewish Legion of the British Army for service in Palestine.—Local operators bulletin denounces pro-German propaganda in the mining region, aiming at discrediting the operators and their work; two men arrested at Nanticoke on the charges of circulating false reports and making pro-German utterances. 17. Wilkes-Barre fireman granted an increase of $ 12 a month from Sept. 1 to Jan. 1. 19. Local recruiting station reports that men from 46 to 56 years amy now enlist in the army to be qualified for certain branches of service.—In instructing the grand jury Judge FULLER says that slot machines and other gambling devices ought to be torn down timber by timber and brick by brick. 20. Corp. Eugene W. WEAR of Hazelton cited by Gen PERSHING for gallantry in action in France. 21. Wilkes-Barre police force short a number of men because of the draft and the lure of higher Wages. 22. Government employment service clearing house opened in Wilkes-Barre to secure men for Government work. 24. Twenty-three Record attaches to date respond to the call for service in the war.—Registration day for boys who reached their twenty-first year since June 5, 1918, owing to the Exhaustion of class 1 of the draft and the need of boys before the provisions of the new draft law can be carried into effect. 25. Eighty-five men from the Heights and Rolling Mill Hill sections of Wilkes-Barre leave For Camp Lee, Va.—City Hall cases on charges predecided by council, which acted as judge during the sensational investigation; the verdict a compromise. Adam HERGERT, chief of detectives, dismissed on the ground of inefficiency; Patrick NOLAN, police and mayor’s clerk, suspended until Sept. 15 on the ground of lack of fealty and frequenting gambling house, and E. S. ZOELLER, chief of police, suspended until Sept. 1 on the charge of neglect; all graft charges ignored. 30. Congress finally passes the new man-power bill extending the draft age to eighteen and forty-five years.—Mandate issued to owners of automobiles that they shall not use them on Sundays for pleasure purposes, that gasoline must be saved.—Traction company gives notice that on Oct. 1 fares will be raised to eight cents, to meet the increase in cost of operation due to wage advances. SEPTEMBER 1918 1. Polish Falcons’ Alliance of America meets in convention in Wilkes-Barre.—Annual convention of the State Letter Carriers’ Association in Wilkes-Barre.—John Charles FARRELL of Parsons ordained to the priesthood in Scranton.—Mr. and Mrs. Andrew HEFFERNAN of Wilkes-Barre observe their golden wedding anniversary.—General compliance with the fuel administration’s request to abstain from the use of automobiles for pleasure purposes on Sundays until further notice; only a few violations; police in some of the communities take the names of persons found riding and ask them their missions; and a singular manifestation of the popular war spirit is shown in the fact that private people appeared on some of the highways and stopped autoists, asking them why they were out driving. 2. Street car collision near Sans Souci Park injures eight people, some of them seriously, the leg of one man severed with a pen knife before he could be released from the wreckage. 3. Complaint made at the Wilkes-Barre school board meeting of difficulty in securing teachers, owing to the resignation of many for war service.—Death of Max GALLAND, well known resident of Wilkes-Barre. —Fifty-fifty wheat regulations modified, in view of the large new crop, so that only twenty per cent of substitutes must be purchased with wheat flour.—Mayor KOSEK issues a proclamation calling on people not to crowd against the cars at the station as troops go through the city; much interference on the part of curious people and giddy girls with the work of women of the canteen service supplying the boys with food and other comforts. 4. A free dispensary for venereal disease established in Wilkes-Barre, partly supported by the State. 5. Bakers of the county organize to cooperate with the local food administration in solving the wheat and bread problems, W. A. KING of Wilkes-Barre chosen President.—Big celebration on the West Side in honor of twenty-nine drafted men on the eve of their departure for Camp Greenleaf in Georgia. —An airplane on its initial mail service from New York to Chicago lands at Plainsville, having lost its way .—Word received of the death in action of the first member of the 109th Regiment to be killed, John SCHWALL, son of Mr. and Mrs. Gottlieb SCHWALL of Lee Park, who met death on Aug. 13. 7. Many government orders came to local industries, a number of which cannot be filled owing to lack of capacity.—Destruction by fire of the old Mountain House, on the Wilkes-Barre Mountain on the way to Prospect Rock; was at different times a hotel, a residence and a Convent, was a stopping place for coaches when mail was carried from Wilkes-Barre to Eastern by turnpike.-—much speculation over taxes and idleness of saloon properties, owing to the government order prohibiting the manufacture of beer after Dec. 1. 8. Representatives of mine workers from Luzerne and Lackawanna counties give federal fuel administrator GARFIELD ten days in which to decide whether or not an increase to be granted. —Blessing of the Stars and Stripes at St. Ignatius Church, Kingston, a notable event. 9. Lack of jurors owing to many of the men in the panels drawn being engaged in necessary work and in military service greatly embarrasses the court.—Metal Workers of the Wyoming Valley granted an eight hour day with time and a half for overtime.—Army recruiting office in Wilkes-Barre closed owing to a suspension of enlistments. 10. Wilkes-Barre Co. announces a second increase in gas rates, from $ 1.10 to $ 1.25 a thousand feet. 11. Death of Col. William J. SCOTT, a prominent citizen of Wilkes-Barre.—Annual farm bureau Excursion to farms in Lackawanna county.—Report that the second member of the local 109th Regiment, to give up his life in France is Lyman CONRAD of Lee Park, son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry CONRAD, who died of wounds. 12. Registration of 45,000 men in Luzerne County from the ages of eighteen to and including forty-five, excepting those from twenty-one to thirty-one who had previously registered and those who are already in the service, volunteer registrars at work in every election precinct; 15,000,000 registered in the entire county. 13. Permission given to grocers to charge eleven cents a pound for sugar. 16. Wilkes-Barre school board decides that teachers who resign to accept government or other jobs will not have the positive assurance that they will be given back their positions after the war, that they will be appointed only as vacancies occur, but employees who enter the regular army or navy service will have their positions waiting for them. 17. Wilkes-Barre merchant decide to keep open only between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., with the exception of Saturday to 9 p.m., to save fuel. 19. First and Sixteenth wards people have a rousing carnival on Madison street and net over $ 5,000 for the Red Cross. 20. Galli-Curei, soprano, opens the Irem Temple concert session. 22. Savoy Theater filled at the first exercises for the Mothers of Enlisted Men, with Judge O’BOYLE as the principle operator.—First Lutheran Church of Wilkes-Barre unfurls a service flag with twenty-one stars and a Red Cross.—Miners of Luzerne and Lackawanna counties in convention decide to stand by the government and remain at their work pending the fuel administrator’s decision relative to an increase in wages; they resent the criticism to which they had been subjected. 23. Druggists and grocers decide to save fuel by cutting down the business hours. 24. In the campaign drive to build up depleted ranks due to the war, the Wilkes-Barre Y.M.C.A. secures over 500 new members.—Agricultural Bureau of the Chamber of Commerce calls for men in the cities and towns to give three days of their time to help the farmers gather in the late harvest, so that the results of the farmers’ energetic efforts may not be wasted.—Big parade, street carnival and entertainment of the West Side held in Kingston in aid of the red Cross and close to $ 5,000 realized. 25. E. Foster HELLER chosen to succeed John R. HASLEY as chairman of the Republican County Committee, the latter having resigned because of his position as attorney for the Lehigh Valley Railroad, the director-general having issued orders that railroad attaches shall have no active political connections. 26. Women’s Apparel Unit of the Women Overseas Hospital raises over $ 1,000 in a carnival in the Elks’ home in Wilkes-Barre.—At a special election Parsons defeats a $ 25,000 school loan by 19 votes.—Letter from Col. Miner states that the local 109th Regiment was especially mentioned for its good work in action. 27. Great demonstration in Wilkes-Barre inaugurating the Fourth Liberty Loan Campaign, Parade three miles long, one and three quarter hours to pass, many organizations, workmen and floats in the line.—Wilkes-Barre school children start out as solicitors for the Liberty Loan.—Great anxiety among parents of soldiers over the epidemics of influenza and pneumonia in the camps, scores of deaths occurring dailey.—Capt. Arthur TURNER of Wilkes-Barre receives the highest honor and recognition of valor that the Fench government bestows, a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. 28. Fourth Liberty Loan Campaign starts off with a rush in Wilkes-Barre and vicinity, the five County district’s quota-Luzerne, Carbon, Bradford, Sullivan and Wyoming Counties—being $ 25,125,500, a host of solicitors ready to start out; a number of offices and corporations report 100 per cent subscriptions among their employees on the first day. Luzerne county’s quota is $ 19,763,250. Greater Wilkes-Barre $ 10,676,620. 29. Court refuses a charter for the proposed Borough of Mocanaqua on the ground that the petition calls for too much territory, leaving the rest of the Conyngham Township with an insufficient valuation to provide for the maintenance of the roads.—Great interest in the drawing at Washington of the draft number order of the men who registered on the 12th of September. OCTOBER 1918 1. Many deaths from influenza and pneumonia reported from soldiers’ camps cause much fear and apprehension at home, increased by the beginning of epidemics in home communities.—Kingston Coal Company also reports 100 per cent. Subscriptions among its employees.—Mr. and Mrs. Joseph BRENNAN of Wilkes-Barre, who were in mourning for the death of their son, William J., in a Naval Hospital in Virginia, and who had prepared for the reception of his body, was notified that the announcement was a mistake, that the son was coming home sound in health; body of another man named BRENNAN was sent here. 3. Judge FULLER as chairman of the lawyers’ group issues an appeal to lawyers to register for work on one or all of several designated days in October to help farmers save the crops.—To check the spread of Spanish influenza and pneumonia the State Department of Health issues orders for the clothing of all amusement places, dances, saloons, pool rooms, ect., and leaves to local authorities discretion as to whether schools, Sunday schools, and churches shall also be closed, the most drastic orders issued since the organization of the department. 4. Red Cross calls all nurses, undergraduate nurses and others who have had some nursing experience to register for service either at home or elsewhere to combat the epidemic of influenza and pneumonia.—All amusement places and saloons closed and a later order prohibits public assemblages, including church services and public funerals, as a quarantine against influenza; lodges clubs and soda fountains also to be closed; not as bad as Wilkes-Barre and vicinity as in some other places, but twenty cases of influenza reported in one day. 5. Liberty Loan Campaign faces a crisis because of public meetings and visits being prohibited on account of the epidemic of influenza; fears that the districts quota will not be raised.—Court session for the coming week cancelled on account of influenza quarantine.—Michael MULVEY, one of the best known constables of the county dies.—Death of Jacob KAPPLER of Wilkes-Barre, 99 years, veteran of the Mexican and Civil Wars.—Orders issued for the closing of all public, private and parochial schools in Wilkes-Barre as a quarantine precaution. 6. Big Mass meeting held in plains in honor of the soldiers from that place who have given up their lives, exercises in charge of Attorney A. P. CONNIFF.—Word received that Col. Miner of the 109th Regiment was wounded in France by an exploding shell, a leg broken and lacerations of the face.— Much interest over news that Prince Maximilian, the new German Chancellor, had sent a request through the Swiss government to President Wilson to consider peace proposals on the President’s own terms and to communicate with the other Allies, there to be an armistice in the meantime; also interest in the Kaiser’s address to the army and navy admitting that the troops everywhere are meeting superior numbers. 7. Orders issued closing all wholesale liquor houses and breweries, to prevent the gathering of crowds in homes, also that the serving of liquor in hotels and clubs be discontinued.—Mr. and Mrs. C. H. COOL of West Pittston celebrate their golden wedding anniversary. 8. President sends a reply to Chancellor Prince Maximilian asking whether Germany will accept the President’s declaration of principles in fact or as a basis of negotiations, and whether he speaks only for the German Authorities who are responsible for the war or for the people; also states that the evacuation of all occupied territory must be accomplished before peace can be considered. 9. Sixty new cases of influenza reported in the city; doctors and nurses organize to fight the Disease.—About 400 men from Wilkes-Barre and vicinity go to the farms for a day helping the farmers to save their crops. 10. Dr. Charles H. Miner, medical inspector for this district, appoints committee of cooperation for the emergency hospitals to be established in this district, including doctors, nurses and civilians; the Wilkes-Barre armory prepares for the reception of over two hundred cases.— Decrease of 8,460 in the number of voters registered in the county this year as compared with last year, due to the lack of interest in politics and to the absence of many voters in the service and at work elsewhere. —All stores except food and drug stores ordered to close by 6 0’clock on Saturday evenings to prevent crowds from gathering.—Influenza epidemic in some parts of the county so severe and the death rate so large that the people are greatly alarmed. 12. Estimated that there are at least one thousand influenza and pneumonia cases in Wilkes-Barre, reported and unreported; new cases appearing at the rate of nearly a hundred a day; City Hospital refuses to take more cases, all facilities being taxed and a number of the nurses being ill; many cases where whole families prostrated; conditions in Glen Lyon, Hazelton and some other places appalling; nurses and doctors over worked everywhere; five army surgeons here to assist; many deaths of soldiers and nurses from Luzerne County in camp Hospitals in this country. 13. Death in the county jail of William BEACH FAULDS of Shickshinny, who was under sentence of death for the murder of Chief of police Ray CURWOOD. 14. The Governor and other State officials call for the fullest possible measure of community service to help check the epidemic; arrangements being made to give school teachers the rudiments of instruction in hygiene and nursing for service in the epidemic; physicians form a registration bureau for the relief of over worked members of the profession.—Wilkes-Barre banks offer to loan Liberty Bond purchasers at 4 ¼ per cent., the coupon rate, for one year.—Death of Oscar M. BRANDOW of Wilkes-Barre, a well known retired business man.—Great Interest in the war developments. In answer to Germany’s reply apparently agreeing to President Wilson’s terms the president states that the process of evacuation and the conditions of an armistice must be left to the judgement and advice of the military advisers of the allied governments; that an armistice will not be granted as long as illegal and inhuman practices are continued; that there can be no dealings with German autocracy, and it is within the choice of the German nation to alter it. 15. Death of Owen McGLYNN of Wilkes-Barre, one of the valley’s best known architects. 16. A correspondent of the Philadelphia Public Ledger sends information that Col. MINER and other officers and members of the local 109th Regiment were praised for extraordinary bravery in battle. Col. MINER sends home a thrilling account of the engagements and conduct of the regiment. Kingston Coal Co. employees subscribe over half a million dollars to the Liberty Loan. About 275 business and professional men go out for a second day’s work on farms. 19. Great effort to make the Liberty Loan campaign a success; banks keeping open all day and locomotive bells rung on public Square to attract the people. 20. Influenza and pneumonia conditions appalling in some sections of the county; in some families all of the members stricken and almost impossible to secure help, even of inexperienced nurses; situation at Glen Lyon and Georgetown very serious; emergency hospitals without sufficient help; the disease in Wilkes-Barre about stationary, with an average of about seventy new cases a day. 21. The Record publishes a series of communications from Col. Miner recording many exceptional acts of heroism and bravery on the part of members of the 109th, with a detailed record of the casualties sustained by the regiment during the fighting that occurred between August 11 and September 11.—Owing to diminished patronage due to raising of fares and the influenza epidemic the local traction company curtails its service on many of its lines. 22. One hundred and twenty influenza cases reported in Wilkes-Barre in one day; the situation continues very desperate in some nearby places, in Glen Lyon, Nanticoke, Wanamie, and elsewhere; whole families prostrate and make pitiful appeals for help. 23. President Wilson sends another reply to Germany, stating that he has transmitted recent correspondence to the Allies and if they see fit to arrange terms of peace on Germany’s acceptance, the military advisers will propose an armistice to Germany on their terms. The President also frankly states that the United States has no faith in the word of the present rulers of Germany, that their government reforms are not sufficient, and that if we must deal with the present rulers it must be on the basis of complete surrender. 24. County commissioners vote $ 25,000 to help fight the epidemic, and Wilkes-Barre council has voted $ 5,000, in addition to regular appropriations.—Crop yield for Luzerne County for the season given as follows: Wheat, 85,085 bushels; rye, 132,120 bushels; oats, 445,440 bushels.—F. M. KIRBY of Wilkes-Barre district for the United War Work campaign to be conducted in November to raise money for the various welfare organizations. 25. Death of John R. HALSEY of Wilkes-Barre, well known lawyer and politician.—Epidemic not abating in Wilkes-Barre; an average of about eighty cases a day being reported; conditions in some of the outlying towns continue appalling , doctors and nurses overworked and almost impossible to secure attention in some families. 27. Clock turned back an hour, as an end of daylight saving plan. 28. Word received that Col. MINER of the 109th Regiment had a foot amputated as a result of wounds received in battle.—Two-hundred and eighty-one cases of influenza reported in Wilkes-Barre over Sunday.—Court revokes five liquor licenses for refusing to obey the quarantine closing order. 29. International Fabricating Co. at Forty Fort engaged in the manufacture of shell casings, doubling the capacity of the plant. 31. Announcement made that the fuel administration has granted an anthracite mine workers an increase averaging one dollar a day, effective November 1, the new scale ranging from 42 and 46 cents an hour for laborers outside the mine; for other out side workers from 48 to 65 cents an hour; company miners from 57 to 60 cents an hour and contract miners up to $ 6.63 a day.- Superior Court affirms the decision of the Public service Commission approving the franchise granted to the Wilkes-Barre Light co.—Brilliant northern lights having the appearance of huge icebergs.—Sugar ration increased to three pounds a month for each person. November 1918 4. Indications of a decline of the influenza epidemic in most parts of the county, seventy-three cases reported in Wilkes-Barre.—Estimated that 10,000 miners in Luzerne county idle because of the epidemic.— Word received that Austria-Hungary has agreed to terms of armistice that mean virtually a surrender, following similar action by Turkey, leaving Germany as the only belligerent of the Central Powers. 5. Gloomy and chill election weather.—The Allies inform Germany that she must deal with Marshal FOCH in arranging terms of armistice; the foreign Allies agree with the conditions stated in President Wilson’s fourteen principles and in his subsequent addresses, with some qualifications. They ask that his allusion to the freedom of the seas be referred to the peace conference because of the impression that it is not sufficiently comprehensive and that she must pay for damage done in invaded countries. 6. Dr. ROYER head of the State Department of Health, highly compliments the local epidemic committee for its efficient work in controlling the situation. 7. The United Press sends to the Times Leader at Wilkes-Barre a false report that the armistice has been signed, and as the news spreads whistles blow, people crowd upon the street, some factories suspend work and an impromptu celebration takes place, which extends far into the night. All manner of noise making devices are brought into use. Public Square and adjoining streets are jammed. The same demonstrations take place in other American cities. The Record posts bulletins that the report is untrue, that the armistice had not been signed and that the envoys had not held a conference. Many people go home in great disappointment. 9. Tense interest while awaiting news of acceptance or rejection of the terms of armistice by Germany. The Chamber of Commerce prepares for a great impromptu celebration on receipt of news of acceptance. 10. The Record staff on duty on Saturday and Sunday awaiting news of Germany’s decision, to get out a special edition immediately after definite word comes over the wires, but nothing definite transpires until Sunday night. 11. Early on Monday morning the Record receives the first news of the signing of the armistice and as soon as the bulletin is made public crowds begin to appear on the streets in the early morning with all manner of noise-making devices; general rejoicing; as the day wears on the crowds increase and the whole valley is in an uproar; a great impromptu parade held in Wilkes-Barre in the afternoon and similar demonstrations held in other towns in the county; the Wilkes-Barre parade about a mile long, composed of some organizations, of a great many automobiles and wagons containing employees of stores and industries, with veterans of the Civil War and other wars; a general clang and clatter of bells, horns, and other devices; Public Square and adjoining streets jammed and the crowds continue far into the night making noise and throwing confetti.—Eastern Synod of the Reformed Church begins sessions in the First Reformed Church of Wilkes-Barre.—Beginning of the United War Work campaign to raise $ 170,000,000 in the country for seven organizations—the Y.M.C.A, the Y.W.C.A, Knights of Columbus, Jewish Welfare Board, War Camp Community Service, American Liberty Association and the Salvation Army; Luzerne county’s quota, $ 560,000. 12. Death of Mrs. William L. CONYNGHAM. 13. Death of Col. R. Bruce RICKETTS of Wilkes-Barre, commander of the famous Ricketts’ Battery at the Battle of Gettysburg. 14. County commissioners appropriate an additional $ 2000 to the Mother’s Pension Fund and request the State to appropriate a like additional sum to provide for some of the widows and orphans of the influenza epidemic.—Influenza emergency hospitals at the Wilkes-Barre armory, Nanticoke and Wanamie closed. Wilkes-Barre has yet an average of about thirty new cases a day, and the epidemic has not disappeared entirely from other places. Pittston Township and Dupont now the places most affected in the valley.—Restrictions providing for the purchase of substitutes with wheat flour removed. 17. Service flag of seventy-five stars presented Westminster congregation by the Ladies Aid Society. 18. Influenza increases in the city and a quarantine is again imposed on schools and amusement places, with orders that saloons shall be closed at 7 p.m. 19. Serve Your City Club of Wilkes-Barre starts to raise a fund of 6,000 quarters to send something to the 109th Regiment for Christmas. 22. Lightless ban lifted.-Prothonotary Williams refuses to certify the soldiers vote for the camps, on which the election of congressman hinges, and the matter is placed before the court; irregularities and illegal methods in holding the election alleged.—President Wilson signs the bone dry prohibition bill and much anxiety is caused as to county and municipal revenues. 23. Assessment value of coal lands increased between 40 and 50 per cent. By the city of Wilkes-Barre and 25 per cent. by the county. 24. Death of Solomon ABRAMS of Wilkes-Barre at the age of 93 years. 25. Letters from members of the 109th indicate that the regiment has also been in Belgium; word that Maj. ZIERDT, who was in command of the regiment while Col. MINER and Lieut. Col. HARVEY were in hospitals, has been promoted.—Serve Your City Club secures $ 1,700 in quarters to be sent to the 109th Regiment as a Christmas fund. 26. Washery of the Avondale colliery of the D. L. & W. destroyed by fire.—Preston Schoolhouse in Hanover Township destroyed by fire. 27. Public Service Commission hears protest against traction company’s increase in fares to eight cents.—Full bench of judges hears argument on the validity of the soldiers’ vote on which the congressional election in the Luzerne district hinges. 28. Gloomy Thanksgiving weather.—Estimated that the city men who went out to help the farmers on the three days in the fall harvested 20,000 bushels of apples, potatoes ect., valued at $ 34,000. 29. City Council again decides to lift the influenza quarantine on theaters ect., though the number of new cases yet shows a daily average of about thirty-five; the schools not to open for at least another week.—Announcement made that the draft boards of Luzerne County sent 8,371 men into service. This does not, of course, include volunteers. 30. By government order prohibiting the brewing of beer after the last day of November, all breweries in the county cease making the beverage; upward of 350 men engaged in the seven breweries in the Wyoming Valley, most of whom will be kept on during the time that there are stocks on hand, which are expected to continue until about the first of May. Typed by Angel Tigue and Kathy Clausen, November / December 2003