1922 WB Record Almanac, Record of Local Events for 1921

Happenings in Luzerne County for the Twelve Months from
Dec 1, 1920 to Dec 1,1921

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 It is not to be published to any other web site, 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 1920

1. Unemployment being felt quite seriously in Wilkes Barre and vicinity owing to depression in a number of 
major industries.
2. Death of Clerk of Courts George Wagner of Wilkes Barre.
3. None
4. None 
5. About 28 deer killed in the wilds of Luzerne County so far in the brief open season, mostly in the vicinity
of White Haven.
6. Report of the State Board of Municipalities shows that Wilkes Barre is third in the park area among third 
class cities of the State, having 298 acres, but first in playground, having sixteen with fourteen instructors. 
Paul Althouse the principal soloist at the fall concert of the Concordia.
7. Silk mills in the Wyoming Valley hit hard by the depression in that industry, all of them running on short 
time.
8. Over 900 people attend the annual dinner of the Wilkes Barre Chamber of Commerce, including a number of 
women for the first time; the principal speakers were Allen D. Albert, sociologist and civic betterment 
exponent, and Douglas Malloch, poet and humorist. --Wilkes Barre policemen vigorously oppose the move to take 
their appointment out of the civil service.
9. County Cooperative Association discusses ways and means of securing an outside market for a large part of 
the counties million-bushel apple crop.--L.P.  Holcomb of Hanover Township appointed as poor director in place 
of  James L. Reilly, resigned.--Death of J. Bennett Smith of Kingston, 86 years, a universally known  citizen, 
born in Wilkes Barre, whose contributions to the  Record  about the old days were read with much interest.
10. None 
11. Navy Club accepts the offer of the local branch of  the American Legion to use the latter’s home, formerly
the B.I.A. building, as  headquarters.--State Public Service Commission finds that the Laurel Line wreck on 
July 3, in which 17 persons were killed and 30 injured, was due to the lack of  a block signal system and to 
failure on the part of six employees to attend to their duties properly.-- Rev. and Mrs. W.D. Thomas  of 
Pittston celebrate their sixtieth wedding anniversary.
12. Poles and other people at a mass meeting in the Savoy Theater hear of the fearful plight of many of the 
people of Poland from speakers familiar with conditions, who ask for help and cooperation from the United 
States.
13. Rev. Dr. R.E. Johnson of Philadelphia, prohibition enforcement officer, who recently conducted a raid in 
Wilkes Barre, says that Wyoming Valley and the area around Wilkes Barre are the worst places in Pennsylvania 
for violation of the prohibition law.--Fearing that human life would be imperiled by caving of the present 
Sugar Notch school building, the court grants permission for the erection of a new building to cost about 
$100,000,the temporary injunction secured by the Lehigh and Wilkes Barre Coal Co.  being dissolved.--Residents 
of the Rolling Mill section of Wilkes Barre secure permission from Bishop  Hoban to establish a new catholic 
parish as an offshoot of St. Mary’s.--Battery B of Pittston mustered into the National Guard service as part 
of the local regiment  of artillery.
14. MacWilliam’s department store adds a barbershop for children to its many departments, with a playroom for 
children attached.--Severe wind and rain storm visits the valley and considerable damage done; spring like 
temperatures.
15. James Sutton Home for Aged and Infirm Men, at the corner of Jackson and Franklin Streets, ready for 
opening; ten men the present capacity but the trustees have plans for an addition; the trustees, William 
McLean Sr., Benjamin Dorrance and Charles N. Loveland(?); the building was the home of James Sutton, an old 
bachelor, who gave the building and most of  his estate for the purpose.--Jurors complained that the beds in 
the dormitory of the court house are so infested  with bedbugs that they cannot sleep in them.--Mr. And Mrs. 
John Ney Sr. celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.
16. None
17. Forty-eight prohibition officers make a raid on breweries and saloons in the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys 
on suspicion that they are selling beverages of stronger alcoholic content than one-half of one percent.; Rev.
R.E. Johnson of Philadelphia, the raiding parson, issues warrants for fourteen Wilkes Barre saloon keepers in 
whose places liquor was found, it is charged.--Eleventh ward of Pittston unveils a bronze tablet in honor of 
100 or more residents of the ward who served in the war.--Rev. C.S. Roush installed as pastor of First Baptist 
Church, Wilkes Barre.
18. Lackawanna Welsh Presbytery acts favorably upon the overture from the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
Church in regard to making women eligible as elders.
19. None
20.County commissioners prepare a table showing the following statistics for Luzerne County:
Number of taxable……….   176,397
Acres cleared land……….   305,486
Acres timber land………..   141,312
Value of real estate..    $350,722,691 
Exempt from taxation…  18,833,663
Real estate taxable……  331,889,028
Number horses & mules……  14,199
Value of same………….  $1,354,497
Number of cattle…………….   6,888
Value of same……………    217,227
Value of salaries……….  11,672,430
Aggregate value of taxes345,133,187
21. Stegmaier Brewery closed by order of the government, as a result of the recent visit of agents of the 
Internal Revenue Department, who conducted an investigation of the alcoholic content of beverages sold.--No 
formal observance of the three hundredth anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock in the 
Wyoming Valley.--The sum of $77,000  pledged by 2,095 persons for Wilkes Barre Y.W.C.A improvement fund, out 
of the total of $150,000 desired.
22. Raiding squads continue visiting hotels and saloons in Wilkes Barre and vicinity in search of violators 
of the prohibition law; a number held for United States Court as a result of recent visits by the “raiding 
parson,” Rev R.E. Johnson of Philadelphia-- Death by diphtheria of George  S. Welsh of Kingston, 46 years, 
one of the most prominent architects in northeast Pennsylvania.--George H. Ross reappointed mercantile 
appraiser for Luzerne County.-- Mrs. George H. Wagner appointed Clerk of Courts to succeed her deceased 
husband for the unexpired term of one year, the first woman to be appointed to a court house office; Mrs. 
Catherine Werth of Nanticoke appointed tax collector for that borough to succeed her deceased husband.
23. None
24. Local plumbers ask for new wage scale calling for $1.12 ½ an hour, eight hours a day.-Recent Red Cross 
membership movement in the Wyoming Valley resulted in subscriptions amounting to $36,000.- Local organizations
again remember the children of the poor with Christmas trees, parties and gifts. 
25. Christmas weather cold and clear, no snow.- Only one arrest in Wilkes Barre on Christmas attributed to 
liquor.-Wilkes Barre Elks have a party for about ?00 poor children, giving them shoes, wearing apparel, candy 
and oranges at a cost of about $5,000.
26. None
27. Rev. Michael F. Crane, rector of St. Mary’s Catholic Church of Avoca, celebrates the golden anniversary of
his ordination as a priest with special services and a reception; congregation and friends present him with a 
purse of $11,000,which the priest says he intends using for the benefit of the parish.
28. Building permits granted in Wilkes Barre for the year aggregate $1,331,447 in value, the largest in six 
years.- Scale committee of anthracite miners accepts the offer of the operators to adjust alleged inequalities
in the award by government arbitrators without pressing the demand  for another increase of wages, though the 
committee announced that the demand for more wages would be included in the list of inequalities. 
29. Luzerne County National Bank secures the remaining interest of the Laning heirs in Laning building on 
Public Square, the whole transaction understood to involve $500,000._By agreement between miners and operators
the hours of hoisting engineers are reduced from 12 to 8.- Death of Samuel Swartwood, of Mountaintop, father 
of twenty-seven children, seventeen of whom survive, at the age of 73 years.-Lion Brewery in Wilkes Barre, 
together with five in Lackawanna County,  seized by the federal government.
30. Orpheum Theater in Wilkes Barre leased by Jacob Thels to R.E. Rundell Co. of New York.
31. A Number of prohibition enforcement officers on hand to see New Year’s Eve is observed with legal dryness.
The cabarets and hotels contained crowds of persons bent on celebrating and many carried intoxicating drinks 
with them, but much of the usual revelry was absent.- Police report for Wilkes Barre show that there were 
2,221 arrests in the city during 1920, compared with 1,876 during the previous year.-Bank clearings in Wilkes 
Barre,$148,971,702 for 1920. 133,507,744 for 1919.- Wilkes Barre  council refuses to increase wages for 
policemen and firemen because of lack of leeway for increasing taxes.- 169 fatal accidents in Luzerne County 
in 1920 exclusive of mine accidents compared with 140 in 1919; 41 of the 1920 list due to motor vehicles, 
against 43 in 1919.-Audobon Society causes arrest of a Wilkes Barre policeman for shooting a screech owl on 
Public Square, the bird being protected under law.- 227 fires that called for the services of the department 
in Wilkes Barre during 1920, compared to 232 in 1919.

January 1921


1. Moderate New Year weather, 46 degrees in Wilkes Barre; most of the clubs have open house.
2. Sunshiny day of 50 degrees temperature, like that of spring.
3. West Market Street Automobile open a closed car show in their salesrooms, the street decorated with strings
of electric lights.--Central Poor District reports that it’s expenditures for the year 1920 were $802,718; 
outdoor relief, including medical attention, cost $201,548 in 1920--Assessment of women in Wilkes Barre for 
taxpaying numbers 19,601.--Judge Garman lectures constables and the Grand Jury on the amazing prevalence of 
bootlegging in the county; says that officials and former officials are engaged in the business, that some 
people are reported as having made great sums of money out of the illegal sale of whiskey; he warns constables
they must report violations of the law in their respective district and instructs the Grand Jury to indict on 
clear evidence that may be presented.
4. None
5. None
6. Superintendent Mayberry of Retreat State Hospital reports that insanity cases  increased in 1920 owing to 
alcohol; The first results of prohibition were a reduction in the number of cases, but it appears that more 
alcohol is obtainable.
7. None
8. None
9. Lutherans of the west side decide to establish a parish, with services temporarily in Dorrenceton high 
school building.--Planter’s Nut & Chocolate Co. factory in Wilkes Barre gutted by fire; damage about $125,000.
10. County Recorder’s office reports a total of 11,882 papers of all kinds filed during 1920; deeds recorded 
were 7,203; mortgages recorded were 2,913.
11. Glenndon Brewery at Pittston taken over by the government, in addition to others seized in Wyoming and 
Lackawanna valleys; a government enforcement officer of Wilkes Barre arrested on a charge of having taken a 
$10,000 bribe from a brewery.--Thaddeus M. Conniff, for 45 years a teacher in the Plains township schools, 
and for thirty years supervising principal, resigns on account of his health.--Rev. Robert R. Davies called 
to pastorate of Westminster Presbyterian Church.
12. Nearly 1,200 petitions, including 125 for new places, filed for licenses under the Brooks law, though the 
law forbids the sale of liquor and enforcement officers have been particularly active in this section; as 
many license applications as last year.
13. None
14. Bank directors of the county hold a meeting and plan to conduct a movement for the “adoption” of 10,000 
starving children of Europe until the next harvest, at the rate of $10. For each child; this is part of a 
general movement in the United States headed by Herbert Hoover, who was food administrator during the war; 
reported that 3,500,000 children in Central Europe are on the verge of starvation.--Fred M. Chase, of Wilkes 
Barre, vice president and general manager of Lehigh Valley Coal Co., elected president of the company, also 
retain the position of general manager; announcement made of the dissolution of relations between Lehigh 
Valley Coal Co. and Lehigh Valley Railroad Co. according to decree of the Supreme Court, the two now having 
different sets of officers.
15. None
16. Death in Wilkes Barre of John Meigs Maxfield, aged 89 yrs, who around 20 years of age was a canal boat 
captain on the canal that ran through Wilkes Barre.--Store and home of James A. Joyce of Pittston were badly 
damaged by dynamite. Mr. Joyce had befriended the miners of the Pennsylvania Coal Co. in their controversies 
with the company officials but displeased some of the radicals of the miners who insisted on striking.
17. County offers $2,500 reward and the Pittston Chamber of Commerce $500. For the arrest and conviction of 
the person or persons who dynamited the residence and store of James A. Joyce at Pittston; the upper end of 
the county stirred by the outrage and by the numerous other dynamiting as a result of the trouble between the 
miners and the Pennsylvania Coal Co.-- Hearings begun in Scranton of the Luzerne and Lackawanna brewers for 
the revocation of their licenses on the charge of having violated the Volstead prohibition enforcement act, 
the United States Prohibition Commissioner Kramer present to conduct the proceedings--Three children of Mr. 
And Mrs. Timek of near Laflin burned to death in their home in a fire that destroyed the house.
18. First real old spell of the winter, thermometer registering 3 degrees above zero in Wilkes Barre and five 
below in some higher parts of the county; the river frozen over for the first time this winter-- Report shows 
that the recent campaign of the local chapter of the Red Cross resulted in $37,041 for support during 1921--
United Charities reports that during the year 1920 it spent $29,000 for the relief of poverty;7,532 free meals
were furnished and 3,186 garments distributed.-- Governor Sprout recommends a tax of 8 cents on every ton of 
anthracite and 4 cents on bituminous. 60 percent of the proceeds to go into the State Treasury,20 percent to 
be given to the counties in which the tax originates, and 20 percent to be set aside for providing against 
the cave-in menace.
19. Irem Temple decides to purchase the Derr farm and the adjoining Watkins farm near Hays Corners, between 
Dallas and Harvey’s Lake, 277 acres, for the establishment of a country house and golf links for members; 
elaborate plans of improvement in prospect.--Board of Pardons recommends that the sentence of “Tony” Palmo of 
Luzerne County, twice convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to the electrocution, be commuted 
to life imprisonment.
20. Insurgent faction of miners of he Pennsylvania Coal Co. offers a reward of $1,000 for the arrest and 
conviction of the party or parties who dynamited the home and store of James A. Joyce of Pittston, the total 
reward now amounts to $5,500--City hospital report that for the year 1920 7,595 persons were treated, 3,882 
of them listed as patients.--State report says that the average production per man employed in productive 
industry in Luzerne County for 1919 was $2,924.64 and the average wage per employee was $1,171.32; total 
number of men,$6,601--At a local conference of milk men it was stated that 75 percent of the milk delivered 
in Wilkes Barre is pasteurized.
21. None
22. Officials of the Woodward colliery of the D.L.&W. have a dinner at Fort Durkee Hotel to celebrate a total 
production of 1,050,000 tons of coal at the colliery for the year 1920, which for four consecutive years has 
maintained a production of over 1,000,000 tons a year, said to be the world’s record.
23. Commander Evangeline Booth of the Salvation Army speaks before a large audience in Irem Temple-- Rev. 
Maurice Salmon of Avoca celebrates his first mass in St. Mary’s Church in that place. 
24. Fire in the Davidow building, corner  Public Square and South Main St., does damage the extent of about 
$50,000--Harry A. Whiteman elected president of the Wilkes Barre Chamber of Commerce.
25. Another cold spell, thermometer 2 above zero in Wilkes Barre and 10 below in some county districts.--
Sarsfield Opera house and several adjoining buildings destroyed by fire in Avoca.--Residents of Bowman Street 
East End, complain to council that mining is carried on so near to the surface that dishes rattle and 
furniture is moved when blasts go off and the residents are in a state of alarm. Council resolves to demand 
that the mining companies file maps and plans of their workings, but suggests no other remedy.
26. Kreisler, violinist, in Irem Temple.--City Hospital reports that the cost for caring for a patient one day 
rose from $1.69  in 1910 to $3.61 in 1920.
27. First recital given on the new pipe organ installed in the Elks’ Home in Wilkes Barre--Three men in 
Nanticoke, Plymouth and Huntington townships arrested on the charge of operating whiskey stills in their 
homes, following several other arrests in that part of the county.
28. None
29. None
30. Rev. Henry Klonkowski, member of an old family of clergymen, says his first mass in St. Mary’s Polish 
Church, Wilkes Barre. 
31. Annual report of the County Controller shows receipts of the county during the year 1920 to be $3,013,110 
and expenditures $2,626,776, an increase in receipts of over $770,000 from the previous year. Requirements of 
the county for 1921 estimated at $2,836,042-- Mrs. Bertels, matron of the United Charities, condemns the 
short skirt, the abbreviated waist and silk stockings as a marked cause of waywardness and immorality among 
girls.--Several inches of wet snow.


February


1. Paper hangers petition council for an ordinance providing that all old paper must be removed from a wall 
before new paper may be put on, on sanitary grounds urged.
2. Mr. And Mrs. John H. Harter of Nescopeck celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary.-- Rev. Dr. T.C. 
Edwards of Edwardsville tendered a reception in observance of the fiftieth anniversary of his entrance into 
the ministry.-- The groundhog fails to see his shadow-- Local bootleggers and saloonkeepers thrown into 
consternation by a prohibition order from Washington that hereafter permits for the withdrawal of liquor in 
bond or in warehouses will be restricted to manufacturers and to wholesale druggists, that wholesalers of 
liquor will be refused further permits; also that the government intends to prohibit the sale of patent 
medicines when the alcoholic content and compounding indicate that they are made for beverage purposes. 
Saloonkeepers who have been getting their supply of liquor from wholesale houses expected to have serious 
difficulty in keeping up their illicit business
3. Members of the safety first organization of Loree No.5 colliery of the Hudson Coal Co. at Larksville have 
a banquet to celebrate the absence of a fatal accident at the colliery during 1920. --Mrs. Charles Long 
appointed general supervisor of the city’s playgrounds for the season.--Although winter has been comparatively
mild, the ice harvesters report that houses in the vicinity of Wilkes Barre are being filled with ice about 
12 inches thick.
4. None
5. Owing to trade depression the Sheldon works shut down until March 1.--Wilkes Barre Knights of Columbus 
building fund bazaar nets over $10,000.--In an address in Scranton Mayor Hart of Wilkes Barre denounces the 
Volstead prohibition act and the long haired men and the short haired women reformers who make his official 
life miserable.
6. Death of Rev. T.A. Klonkowski who for thirty years was a rector of St. Mary’s Polish Catholic Church, in 
Wilkes Barre. --50,601 taxable persons in Wilkes Barre according to the new report, compared with 
approximately  28,000 for the previous year, the increase being due to women enfranchised.
7. I’m a little young brewery in fifteen and one for recon Wilkes Barre granted permission to use parachute 
Goldman curio on hand Wilkes Barre school directors decide to introduce a system of dental clinics.-- Wilkes 
Barre Institute has an exhibition of representative arts and industries in America on an elaborate scale for 
a week.--”Oh, Oh. Cindy” an elaborate production given in the Grand Opera House by Junior Auxiliary of Mercy 
Hospital.
8. None
9. Glennon brewery in Pittston of and Lion Brewery in Wilkes Barre  granted permission to use perishable 
material on hand for the manufacturer of non-intoxicating cereal beverages.  -Installation of Reverend Robert 
R. Davies  as pastor of Westminster Presbyterian church .
10. None
11. None
12. None
13. Formal installation of Reverend doctor I M Davidson as rabbi of the Jewish  orthodox community of Wilkes 
Barre . --Midkiff Seductive, a cocker spaniel owned by  W. T. Payne of Kingston, wins first prize for dogs of 
all breeds at the Westminster Kennel Club exhibition in New York.
14. Rev. Joseph Groves of Cleveland accepts a call to St. Clement’s Episcopal Church in Wilkes Barre.
15. Wilkes Barre Lodge of Elks unveils a tablet containing the names of 161 deceased members of the lodge.-- 
seizures of whiskey illegally stored or  transported in Luzerne County almost everyday. A new set of 
enforcement officers  for   the Wilkes Barre district,  old force being sent to  other parts. --  Judge Fuller
fines a miner $25 for smoking in a gaseous mine, one of the first cases of the kind to be tried. -- State 
Armory Board  recommends $400,000 for a new armory for the 3rd Field Artillery in or near Wilkes Barre. -- 
State  authorities decide to enforce a quarantine against the potato wart in Butler,  Conyngham and Sugarloaf 
townships,  in an area about 25 miles square, the disease  having appeared  in a small part of the territory; 
much indignation on the part of farmers, who have been raising between  400,000 and 600,000 bushels of the 
potatoes; they are to be privileged to raise only immune varieties, which are not satisfactory; the quarantine
may continue for fifteen or twenty years.--Mr. And Mrs. Thomas S Smith of Kingston celebrate their golden 
wedding anniversary.--The education of the average child in the public schools of Wilkes Barre during 1920 
cost the school district $58.65, exceeding by $17.79 the cost of the previous year. The district spent 
$781,811.27, the receipts having been $799,731.45.
16. A mysterious disease known as sleeping sickness,  which had its origins in central Europe during the war, 
breaks out in mild epidemic form in American cities,   a dozen cases being reported in the neighboring city 
of Scranton.  As its name  indicates. the symptoms are constant sleeping.  The death rate is large. The 
disease is believed to be  due to inflammation of the brain, and some physicians believe it to be infectious. 
A cure has not been found. Wilkes Barre so far has been rid of the disease this year, though several cases 
have occurred in previous years.--County Commissioners decide upon a tax levy of five and eight-tenths mills 
for 1921,an increase of three-tenths of a mill.--Mr. And Mrs. James Brady of Wilkes Barre celebrate their 
golden wedding anniversary. 
17. Some local breweries notified that if they will “clean house,” reorganize their official staff and 
discharge employees who participated in the violation of the law by making strong beer, they may be permitted 
to use up perishable material on hand for the production of near beer, and if that is done the department 
will consider the question of  permitting them to do business permanently within the prohibition law--
Philharmonic Orchestra in Irem Temple.  
18. None
19. None
20. Heaviest snowstorm of the winter, fifteen inches in Wilkes Barre and deeper in the country districts, 
where drifts made the roads impassable; railroads and streetcars handicapped for the day. 
21. Irem Temple Country Club secures a charter. Leo W. Long the first president; the club has purchased land 
between Dallas and Harvey’s Lake and intends to develop it for country recreation purposes.--1200 men laid 
off at the Ashley shops and a number at the Lehigh Valley shops in Wilkes Barre owing to lack of railroad 
business.
22. None
23. Deeming the price of $30,000 asked for the Wilkes Barre & Eastern  property adjoining the Market St 
bridge too high, Wilkes Barre council resolves to bring the condemnation proceedings; the property is wanted 
by the city as a contribution to the new armory project.--Liquor License Court hears remonstrances against 
certain saloon keepers, though under law they are permitted to sell nothing but non-alcoholic beverages, the 
remonstrants evidently objecting to the places because of the suspicion that hard liquor will be sold.
24. Death of Patrick Toole of Pittston, who leaves ten children, sixty-one grandchildren and six great-
grandchildren.
25. Hoover dinner at the Sterling in aid of the starving children of central Europe; many guests pay for a 
meal similar to that furnished to the children, unbuttered bread, beans and hot chocolate; an auction of 
things donated and a dance; upward of a thousand dollars realized.--Death of Jesse Beadle of Shickshinny, 
aged 96 years, president of the Shickshinny bank and interested in a number of other business enterprises; 
attended to his affairs until a year before his death.
26. None
27. Madison Street resident in Wilkes Barre badly burned and the kitchen of his home wrecked by the ignition 
of gas while lighting a cigaret, the gas  supposed to have come from the mine workings through a fissure.--
Mountain Top Presbyterian Church celebrates its forty-first anniversary with elaborate services.
28. Death of Samuel R. Morgan of Wilkes Barre, one of the best known experts in mining affairs in the 
anthracite region.


March


1. About 500 county farmers and businessmen assemble in fourth annual conference for the discussion of  
problems of mutual cooperation. -- Wilkes Barre Chamber of Commerce  adopts as resolution for the organization
of a plan of charities federation in place of the present haphazard system.--Lieutenant Governor Beidleman 
speaks t the annual St. David’s Day banquet in Wilkes Barre.--Moved by the explosion in a Madison St home, 
attributed to mine gas, residents of that section petition council to instruct patrolmen to be on the alert 
for signs of gas leakage and rouse people if danger is detected, especially at night; many of the residents 
fear to go to sleep.
2. Fifteen hundred local people participate in the musical spectacle “America”, produced in the Grand Opera 
House under the auspices of the Wilkes Barre Elks for charity purposes.
3. Death of James M. Norris of Wilkes Barre, former Prothonarary and Controller and active in local politics.
4. Pleasant but cool weather for the inauguration of Warren G. Harding as President.--Although the prohibition 
law was in effect in 1920, reports made by the breweries show only a little less output than for the previous 
year, the total for the ten breweries being 312,057 barrels, compared with 327,600 in 1919;the largest brewery
in the county, the Stegmaier of Wilkes Barre, shows a marked reduction, from 132,376 barrels in 1919 to 
81,170 in 1920; some of the breweries showed a considerable increase for 1920; it was charged by revenue 
officers that breweries were selling beer of larger alcoholic content than the law permitted.-- Warm weather, 
rain and melting snow sends river up to 14.6 feet at the usual flood time of the year but no fear of a serious
flood, owing to the absence of ice and gradual thawing; colder weather checks melting of snow.
5. Death of Dr. Jesse H. Hughes of Nanticoke, one of the founders of Nanticoke State Hospital.--Various 
industries in Wilkes Barre give notice of intention to reduce wages to the standard in effect before April 
1920, as the only means of keeping the plants going. The mines yet in full operation, which saves this part 
of the country from full effects of the industrial depression experienced in many other places.
6. Father Joseph W. Savage ,son of Mr. And Mrs. William P. Savage of Parsons, celebrates his first mass in St.
Dominic’s Church at that place.--Dinner and reception tendered to Rev. Dr. Marcus Salzman in honor of the 
completion of twenty-five years of service as rabbi, all but two and a half years of which have been in 
Wilkes Barre.--Order of the White Shrine, for which members of the Eastern Star are eligible, established in 
Wilkes Barre.
7. Wilkes Barre and Pittston officials meet with Scranton people interested in securing a   remedy for cave-
in conditions, in view of a bill introduced in the Legislature to prohibit mining that endangers life and 
property, but owing to divergent opinions the meeting comes to no definite agreement.--Robert P. Broadhead of 
Kingston chosen chairman of the China Famine Fund Drive for greater Wilkes Barre; reports state that owing to 
lack of rain for nearly two years and failure of crops about 15,000,000 Chinese are doomed to death  and as 
many more are likely to die unless prompt relief is given.--Tony Puntarari and Peter Enrico of Pittston 
sentenced to be electrocuted by the local court for the murder of Samuel Lucchino, a Pittston detective. 
8. Heavy thunderstorm.— Robert W. Tennant of Wilkes Barre and his brother, John Tennant of Fort “Blanchard, 
well known in their respective communities, killed by being pinned under their overturned automobile, in a 
pool of water. 
9. None 
10. Rev. John E Johnson of Philadelphia, the “raiding parson” ,makes some sensational raids in Wilkes Barre: 
in one instance revolver shots are exchanged as he and his deputies take a lot of liquor from a storeroom, 
and in another instance he draws a revolver and makes his way through a crowd on the Heights while taking a 
prisoner to an automobile after raids in several places; revenue agents in Ogdensburg, N.Y., confiscate a 
$35,000 cargo of whiskey shipped to a Luzerne Borough party in barrels labeled as potatoes.—River reaches a 
maximum height of 19.1 feet, free of ice.
11. Legislative committee conducts a hearing in Wilkes Barre. on a proposed bill to prohibit an increase in 
rents of more than 10% in a year. Scores of Wilkes Barre tenants crowd the room with complaints of rent 
raising and gouging, some of them extremely pitiful. Rents increased in some instances as high as %100, owing 
to the great scarcity of houses. People complain that they cannot pay but that they have nowhere else to go. 
Many tenants notified to move on April 1, but have not been able to secure other homes.
12. None 
13. None 
14. Big automobile show opens in the armory.--Attempt made to rob the Merchants’ Warehouse in Wilkes Barre, 
where about $400,000 worth of liquor seized by government prohibition agents is stored, but the owners of the 
warehouse took the precaution to put the elevator out of commission at night, so the robbers could not get 
the stuff from an upper floor.--House of Representatives defeats daylight savings time bill for Pennsylvania, 
owing to the united opposition of the farmers.-- Mother’s Assistance Fund trustees for Luzerne County report 
that they have now a monthly allowance of $2,194 and are caring for 101 mothers and 475 children, with many 
times as many applicants on a waiting list.-- Wilkes Barre Chamber of Commerce asks the clergy to warn their 
congregations in regard to the operations of fake stock promoters and salesmen, numerous complaints having 
come to the Chamber of Commerce officers.  
15. Opening of the new pipe organ in Derr Memorial M. E. Church, Wilkes Barre, with a recital by W. A. 
Goldsworthy of New York city. -- Last day to file income tax returns, and make the first payment sees a large 
crowd at the Internal revenue office in Wilkes Barre. --State agricultural report says that on January 1.
Luzerne county had 10,430 swine, valued at $187,740.-- From 8,000 to 10,000 men and boys participate in the 
St. Patrick’s Day parade in Pittston; enthusiasm for Irish independence plainly shown in the crowds. --Mr. 
And Mrs. John M. Williams of Kingston celebrated their fifty-fifth wedding anniversary.
16. None
17. None
18. None
19. Death in Forty Fort of Dr. J. R. Thompson, a well-known physician.-- Announcement made of a reduction of 
50 cents in the cost of coal, beginning April 1, to stimulate spring and summer buying; people urged to buy 
in order to guard against a scarcity in the fall.
20. Warmest Palm Sunday in many years, thermometer at 78 degrees.
21. Donald O’Callahan, Lord Mayor of Cork, Ireland, successor to Terrance McSwiney, who died in a hunger 
strike against the British government’s methods in Ireland, addresses an audience that fills the Majestic 
theater to every inch of space; an overthrow meeting of a thousand persons addressed in front of the post 
office; he tells a graphic story of Ireland’s struggle for independence; at a reception tendered him 
resolutions are adopted in favor of the republic Ireland by the United States government.—John Henry Jones 
elected a member of Wilkes Barre School Board to succeed James B. Harris, who to remove from the city.-- 
John Barnes Welles and Charles Courbouin, organist, in Irem Temple, under the auspices of the Midvale 
Settlement Association                                              
22. A. Ryman & Sons, wholesale lumber dealers, for many years in business in Wilkes Barre, have sold their 
interests to E. F. Ryman of Wilkes Barre and Joseph Gibbons of Scranton.
23. None
24. Local courts grant a divorce to a young man of 19 years who married a woman of 36 and found out after 
marriage that she had seven children.—Local regiment of National Guard changed in name from the Third to One 
Hundred and Ninth Field Artillery. 
25. Spring weather has prevailed for several weeks. 
26. Another ballot box mysteriously disappears, the one wanted in the trial of the election fraud case 
involving the election board of the eighth ward second district, scheduled for trial on the 28th;announcement 
made that it has been missing from the Sheriff’s office since February.—Thousands of children take part in 
the annual Easter Egg Hunt at Riverside Park—eggs, live rabbits, geese and tickets calling for many prizes, 
hidden about the park; a most animated scene during the hunt.—Estimated that 11,900 miners between Nanticoke 
and Carbondale are idle, mostly because of slack orders and in a few cases because of local strikes. 
27. Pleasant Easter weather, one of the warmest March days on record, thermometer 83 degrees. 
28. Remarkable drop I temperature from 78 degrees in the morning to 28 in the evening and to 22 in Wilkes 
Barre during the night; some hail and a little snow; ice formed in all parts of the valley; farmers say that 
early fruit, the blossoms of which had been forced out by the long spell of warm weather, particularly 
cherries and peaches, is badly damaged.—Sudden death of Samuel J. Constine, for many years a well known 
Wilkes Barre merchant, the third brother to die within eighteen months. 
29. Cold wave continues, a maximum of thirty degrees in Wilkes Barre during the day and down to 26 at night.—
Council appoints a committee to arrange for the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation 
of the city in May in conjunction with the State firemen’s convention in October.—Court refuses all new 
applicants for licenses under the Brooks law and forty old places, about 170 altogether, but grants upward of 
a thousand to former licensed places, though nothing stronger than beverages of one half of one percent 
alcoholic content may be sold. 
30. Jury in the case of the election board of the Eighth Ward, Second District, Wilkes Barre, returns a 
verdict of not guilty; charges made at the time of the election in 1919 pointed to outrageous recklessness 
and irregularities. 
31. Local court refuses licenses to all wholesalers and bottlers in the county with the exception of the 
breweries.—State Bureau of Fire Protection reports that fires in Luzerne County in five years caused a loss 
of property valued at $5,408,800.—March had a greater average of high temperature than any other March on 
record.


April


1.Moving day finds a great scarcity of houses in the Wyoming Valley, due to the high cost of building since 
the beginning of the war, material and labor; many families forced to vacate their premises but were unable 
to find other places to move into; much doubling up of families everywhere under the most uncomfortable 
conditions; some homeless families appeal to the city authorities and charity officers in despair; Mayor Hart 
issues an appeal to owners of places that might be used as temporary dwellings to come forward and tender 
them, but only one or two responses result; in some cases two and three families in houses built for one 
family.—In an opinion dissenting from the rest of the members of the bench, Judge Garman gives reasons why he 
would not grant any liquor licenses, believing licenses to be inconsistent with the federal prohibition law.—
Mr. and Mrs. George Davis of Parsons celebrate their fifty-sixth wedding anniversary. 
2.General manager Huber of the Lehigh & Wilkes Barre Coal Co. addresses a letter to city council expressing 
surprise that the city is so much exercised over mining conditions at present; he states that there need be 
no apprehension over surface subsidence as far as the mines are concerned, and that the company will cooperate
with city officials to ascertain actual conditions underground. 
3. None 
4. Death of Wilkes Barre’s tallest man, John Lavelle, aged 52 years, who measured six feet seven inches. -- 
Residents of East End, Wilkes Barre, organize a civic association to further improvements for that part of 
the city. 
5. About six hundred people attend an old-time dance for old-time dancers to old-time music in old Loomis Hall. 
–Employees of Hazard works vote almost unanimously to strike against a reduction in wages of approximately 10 
per cent, made necessary, says management, because of business depression. 
6. $16,000 fire in plant of E. J. Fisher, dealer in waste paper and textiles. – State Forestry Commissioner 
Pinchot appeals to people to assist in putting out forest fires, which threaten to do unusual damage owing to 
the mild winter and early spring; several hundred Boy Scouts go to the mountain near Laurel Run and succeed 
in checking one fire that threatened to do heavy damage. 
7. None 
8. Sudden death of Fred M. Chase of Wilkes Barre, president and general manager of the Lehigh Valley Coal Co.,
who rose to that position from the employment as an office boy, one of the city’s most highly esteemed 
citizens. – By orders received from Harrisburg all units of the Second Infantry, the headquarters of which 
are located in Wilkes Barre, organized for guard purposes during the war, are mustered out; Sterling E. W. 
Eyer of Wilkes Barre was colonel of the regiment.—Organization of a Wilkes Barre branch of the American 
Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic, Joseph T. Murphy elected president and Thomas Hart 
secretary. – Wilkes Barre has the first licensed Methodist woman local preacher east of the Missouri River, 
Miss Daisy F. Eggleston, who has become a member of the local Preacher’s Association. 
9.Pittston policeman shoots and kills a fleeing man who had attempted a holdup game. – Application made for a 
charter for a new bank for Wilkes Barre, the Union Savings bank and Trust Company, and quarters secured on 
West Market St. in the building now occupied by the Industrial Loan co.. – W. D. White & Co., druggist, for 
many years located on Public Square, move into the building on South Main St. formerly occupied by the Poland 
Hotel. 
10. None 
11. Wyoming Conference makes only one pastoral change in Wilkes Barre, Rev. E. A. Gillespie coming to the 
Parrish Street M. E. Church from Montrose and Robert S. Boyce going to Oswego, N Y. – Firemen of Wilkes Barre 
open a big bazaar in the armory to raise funds for the State convention to be held in the city in October; a 
parade, participated in by a thousand firemen from the city and vicinity, together with apparatus. – Coldest 
April 10th and 11th in many years, thermometer in Wilkes Barre down to 22 degrees and lower in the mountain 
districts; reports that about all the early fruit crops has been ruined. 
12. In his first message to Congress, which he convened in special session, President Harding turns against 
the League of Nations and suggests an association of nations for preserving the peace of the world, the 
details of which he leaves for future consideration. He also suggests that parts of the treaty of Versailles 
may be endorsed by the United States as a way by which this nation may participate in enforcing the 
settlements made necessary by the victory of the war. Senator Knox reintroduces his resolution for ending 
the technical state of war between the United States and the central powers. – A committee of Conyngham post 
GAR, again has an interview with the County Commissioners in an effort to have the memorial monument project 
realized, already endorsed by a number of Grand Juries and approved by the court. Delay has so far occurred 
because of controversy over a proper site, a proper design, and lack of funds. The Commissioners promised the 
veterans that they would proceed with the work as soon as a site was agreed upon, and it was suggested that 
the monument be made a memorial for veterans of all wars. The GAR men prefer the Public Square Park as the 
site. – Miner-Hillard Milling Co. receives a shipment of thirty-five cars of corn to be ground by the company 
into meal for the starving people of central and eastern Europe, the corn, donated by farmers of the Midwest. 
– Imperial Theater Corporation of Philadelphia purchases the Majestic Theater in Wilkes Barre from the 
Comerford amusement Co. 13.Announcement of the changes made in the Lehigh Valley Coal Co., occasioned by the 
death of Fred M. Chase: John M. Humphrey, chief engineer, promoted to be president; Judge Frank M. Wheaton 
made chairman of the board of directors in addition to being general counsel; Thomas P. Thomas, mining 
superintendent, made general manager; L.A. Thompkins of New York City made vice president. – Death of Rev. 
J.J. Coroner, rector of St. John’s Catholic Church, Pittston, aged 62 years. 
14. Sophia Breslau, contralto, in Irem Temple. – Full grown deer killed at Bear Creek Junction by a Lehigh 
Valley train. – Benj. F. Williams offers free of cost his one fourth interest in a large plot of land off 
from Scott St. and the Central Railroad tracks for a park and recreation ground for East End; the city to 
acquire the other three-fourths interest, held by the Lance estate. 
15. Mrs. Allan H. Dickson of Wilkes Barre, gives a scholarship fund of $10,000, the income of which is to be 
used to pay the tuition of deserving students who graduate from Wyoming Seminary and enter Wesleyan University. 
– Announced that the city will proceed to condemn eighteen acres of the Catlin farm on Old River Road for use 
as a park and recreation ground for the people of the Twelfth and Fifteenth wards, who say they will 
contribute the purchase money. 
16. Italian Societies of Wilkes Barre and vicinity plan a bazaar to raise money for feeding and clothing 
orphaned children in Italy. – Central labor union leaders appeal to members to give a day’s pay for a fund to 
support craftsmen who resist reductions in wages in local industries. 
17.Made in Greater Wilkes Barre Week opens; many stores display products of industries of the city and 
vicinity. -- About six hundred applications for citizenship, which had accumulated since the United States 
entered the war, being heard in local naturalization court, being the applications of persons who were 
designated as enemy aliens during the war, natives of Germany and Austria-Hungary. – Another cold spell, 35 
degrees in Wilkes Barre, mountains covered with snow. 
18. None 
19.Death of Irving E. Finch ,well known veteran of the Civil war, aged 76 years, who was born in Wilkes Barre 
and had always lived there. 
20.None 
21.None 
22. Death of George Galland, one of Wilkes Barre’s best known citizens and one of the founders of Galland 
underwear factory. 
23. General manager Inglis of the D.L.& W. coal department, gives a banquet to officials of Truesdale colliery 
to celebrate a record production during March of 162,585 tons of anthracite coal in twenty-six days, with no 
fatal accidents. – Community Housing Corporation, formed under the auspices of the Wilkes Barre Chamber of 
Commerce to help relieve housing scarcity, ready to proceed with construction of forty-seven single and 
double houses on a plot secured at Forty Fort, to be sold at from $4,000 to $5,400 each, the cost of 
construction without profit; the money has been advanced by local people and by an insurance company; work to 
proceed as soon as purchasers are assured; it is claimed that owing to wholesale construction and the 
elimination of a profit each house will represent a saving of about $1,000. 
24. Mr. And Mrs. William J. Vannetter of Larksville observe their golden wedding anniversary. 
25. A minstrel show put on by young men of St. Mary’s Catholic parish one of the biggest amateur events ever 
staged in Wilkes Barre. – Organization of the Irem Country club perfected by the election of officers. – 
Judge Woodward surcharges the directors and treasurer of Conyngham township school board $12,735.90, the bulk 
of their expenditures for the school year ending the first Monday of July, 1919, for failure to comply with 
certain provisions of the school code. – Col. Asher Miner of Wilkes Barre, commander of the 109th field 
Artillery in the world war, named by Governor Sproul as commander of the 53rd Artillery Brigade, National 
Guard of Pennsylvania, with the rank of Brigadier General. The brigade is at the present composed of two 
regiments, the 107th Field Artillery with headquarters in Pittsburgh and the 109th Field Artillery, 
headquarters in Wilkes Barre. 
26. Death of Edward Coffee of Miners Mills, aged about 98 years, who worked steadily in the mines up to a 
month ago. – Women of Wilkes Barre hold a meeting to discuss the advisability of erecting a clubhouse for 
women and to arrange for preliminary plans. 
27.Advisory committee appointed for the purpose recommends that 
observance of the fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of Wilkes Barre as a city be deferred until 
October, to be held during the week of the state firemen’s convention, and that it take the form of an “Old 
Home” celebration. – Bishop Hoban grants permission for the organization of another Catholic parish in Wilkes 
Barre for Catholics of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth wards.
28. None
29. None
30. None

May


1. Death of John Hessel, prominent real estate dealer of Wilkes Barre-- Death of Charles C Betterly of Wilkes 
Barre, 83 years, who witnessed the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and was appointed bodyguard for the 
Lincoln funeral; well known as Civil War Veteran.--Estate of Abraham Nesbitt appraised  at $6,750,000.--St 
Paul’s Lutheran Church of Wilkes Barre celebrates it’s seventy-fifth anniversary, together with the twenty-
first anniversary of the pastorate of Rev. Dr. Louis Lindenstruth and the forty-fourth anniversary of his 
entrance into the ministry.--Loyola Court 619, Catholic Daughters of America, instituted in Wilkes Barre.
2. Mr. And Mrs. Albert P Krum of Wilkes Barre celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.--Wilkes Barre school
board decides to name the Junior high school in course of erection on Lehigh street, the G. A. R. memorial 
Junior High School as a tribute to the veterans of the Civil War.--Most of the job printing offices in Wilkes 
Barre idle owing to a strike of printers for a forty-four hour week, a reduction from forty-eight hours.--
Governor Sproul signs a bill permitting Wilkes Barre to devote the proceeds of the sale or lease of the river 
common coal to general municipal improvements, amending the provisions of a previous bill which provided that 
the proceeds must be devoted for maintenance of parks or the acquisition of new park areas.--Death of Andrew 
G Raub of Luzerne Borough, one of Wyoming Valley’s best known businessmen.
3. Mr. and Mrs. Isaac P Hand of Wilkes Barre celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.
4. Trustees for the proposed new catholic church for the thirteenth and fourteenth wards purchase a plot of 
ground on Parrish Street, opposite Hughes Street for $7,500, 120 by 200 feet.--Judge Witmer of the federal 
court of this district sentences a number of violators of the liquor law to several months of imprisonment 
and to fines and expresses surprise that only the little offenders are brought into court, while the big 
bootleggers escape.
5. “The Magic Wheel”, for the benefit of the summer camp of the Wilkes Barre Y.W.C.A. put on in the Grand 
Opera House by local talent.--Mr. And Mrs. Michael Gilligan of Blackman Street, Wilkes Barre, celebrate 
their fifty-fifth wedding anniversary.
6. None
7. None
8. None
9. All buildings at Huntington Valley campground destroyed by fire, the auditorium, capable of seating 2,000 
people, the boarding house, capable of accommodating sixty guests, the general commissary building and 
ninety-four cottages; loss estimated at $60,000, reckoning the values at the time of construction before the 
area of high prices; insurance only about $4,000;fire supposed to have started from the burning of a heap of 
leaves.--Death of Daniel Corgan of Luzerne Borough, inventor of a mine drill largely used in the anthracite 
region. 
10. Strike in seven large industrial plants in Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys averted by the men agreeing to 
a compromise in a controversy in which a wage reduction of 10% figured.--Wilkes Barre branch of the American 
Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic adopts a petition to congress for the recognition of 
the “Irish Republic”. The local branch named after Gen. John Sullivan of Revolutionary fame, who blazed the 
trail into Wyoming Valley in aid of the settlers.--Contract for lighting the lamps and standards in Wilkes 
Barre awarded to the Wilkes Barre Co. for seven years at prices about 4% higher than those of the old contract, 
a total of nearly $41,000 a year.--Civic Club decides to petition the city authorities to hold the forthcoming
proceeds of the sale of river common coal intact, only the interest to be spent on municipal purposes.--City 
takes steps to condemn twenty-one acres of land in the center of Kirby Park area already in the possession of 
the city, which will give the city all the land south of Market St. between the river and Wilkes Barre Connect-
ing Railroad, with the exception of the street car barn and the D.L.&W. shaft. Councilman Schuyler announces 
that a citizen, whose identity has not yet been made public, has agreed to give the city twelve acres on the 
north side of Market St and that the remaining plot between the Wilkes Barre and Eastern  property and First 
Ave. Westmoor and between  Market and Pierce streets, not already in possession of the city, is to be 
condemned and taken over, which would give the city practically all of the land from the river to the railroad
and from North street to the railroad bridge on the south.
11. Fire at Midvale destroys seven buildings, including the Louis Seeherman store.--Governor Sproul signs a 
bill imposing a tax on anthracite coal of 1½ per cent of the value at the mouth of the mine.--Reapportionment 
bills for the senatorial, legislative, congressional and judicial districts of the state signed by the 
governor, Luzerne affected only by a rearrangement of parts of the two senatorial districts.
12. May Lodge No.667, Odd Fellows, West Wyoming, celebrates its fiftieth anniversary.-- Death of Fred Julian 
of Wilkes Barre, 74 years, who it is claimed was the first person to introduce dynamite into the United States.
--Governor Sproul signs a bill providing that the state take over the and near West Pittston given by the 
Lehigh Valley Coal Co. for memorial purposes, site of the local regiment’s encampment before it departed for 
the world war. 
13. Oscar J. Harvey reads a paper before the Historical Society on early newspapers of Wilkes Barre, the 
first newspaper to be published in the bounds of the town being the Herald of the Times, in 1797.
14. John C. Haddock of Wilkes Barre gives $1,000 towards $1,000 to be raised for a memorial monument in 
Luzerne Borough in honor of servicemen.
15. None
16. Teachers committee of the Wilkes Barre school board presents resolutions on the occasion of the retirement
of Miss Elizabeth Verlenden, a teacher of nearly fifty years in the community and a member of the high school 
faculty since 1891.--Councilman Joseph Schuyler sends a letter to Councilman Charles Shiber, head of the fire 
department, protesting against the driving of fire apparatus faster than twenty miles an hour, owing to the 
likelihood of accidents and the heavy cost of repairs.
17. Golden Jubilee of the Diocese of Bethlehem, Episcopal Church, of which the Wyoming Valley is a part.-- 
Beginning of a City Hospital campaign to raise $560,000 to wipe out a deficit and to provide for a new 
building and other improvements.--National convention of Quota Clubs in Wilkes Barre.
18. Governor Sproul signs a bill that mine inspectors shall be appointed by the Governor instead of being 
elected by the people; the examining board is to be appointed every four years and is to be composed of two 
mining engineers and three miners.--President Harding elected an honorary member of Irem Temple, the president
having expressed pleasure over the tender of an invitation because his ancestors were among the earliest 
settlers in Wyoming Valley.-- Convention of Pennsylvania Laundry Owners ’ Association in Wilkes Barre.
19. Death of William C. Brenton of West Pittston, a former County Commissioner.
20. Death of Rev. W. J. Day of Luzerne Borough, for fifty-six years a clergyman in the Presbyterian Church, 
all of his life in the ministry having been spent in the Wyoming Valley, aged 81 years; he baptized more than 
2,000 children, married nearly 1,000 couples, and officiated at nearly 2,000 funerals.--Twenty-three nurses 
graduate from City Hospital.
21. Two women killed and two girls seriously injured in a collision between an engine and an automobile on 
the Dana St crossing, Wilkes Barre.
22. Thomas Ambrose Conway, son of Mr. And Mrs. William J. Conway of Wilkes Barre, ordained to the Catholic 
priesthood in Buffalo.--Severe wind and electrical storm passes over the Wyoming and Port Blanchard sections, 
uprooting trees and blowing down poles in a narrow path, a barn at Port Blanchard destroyed by fire.-- 
Publication begun in this district of what is known as the slacker list, compiled by the federal government  
of men who did not respond to the draft when called for the world war. Civil officials authorized to make 
arrests, with compensations of $50.00 for services and expenses offered in each case. In a few instances it 
was found that the lists were inaccurate for various reasons.--Thermometer 88 degrees in Wilkes Barre.
23. Adam Sinaly of Wilkes Barre killed by a fall of rock in a mine while soliciting funds for City Hospital.--
Evan C. Jones resigns as one of the assistants to the District Attorney and Edmund E. Jones appointed to the 
staff.
24. Wilkes Barre council postpones indefinitely a daylight saving ordinance, proposing to turn the hands of 
the clock ahead an hour the first Sunday in June and retaining the change until the last Sunday in September; 
much opposition developed, mainly because adjoining communities made no reply to invitations to cooperate with
the city; unless they cooperate there would be too much confusion owing to the time difference between them 
and the city.--At a luncheon the Civic Club starts a fund for a women’s club house in Wilkes Barre;$3,325 
pledged at meeting, though the members came unprepared for the start; it is proposed to purchase the Cotton 
Smith home on North Franklin St.--Italians of Wilkes Barre and vicinity celebrate the sixth anniversary of 
Italy’s entrance into the world war with a parade and mass meeting.
25. Governor Sproul signs the Public Welfare bill, which gives a commission to be appointed extensive 
authority over the management of charity and other institutions throughout the state.--New Roman Catholic 
Church to be erected on Parrish St. to be called St. Patrick’s.
26. Body of Herbert E. Koch, the first local man to make the supreme sacrifice in the world war, arrives at 
his home in Ashley.
27. Governor Sproul signs the Fowler and Kohler mine cave bills, providing for the regulation of mining so as 
to avert damage to the surface. Public and private property must be protected and mayors and burgesses are 
given authority to order a stoppage of mining if in the opinion of the authorities it is being conducted in a 
dangerous manner. One of the bills provides exemption for the mining companies from certain features of the 
regulation bill in the event that they set aside annually 2 per cent of the value of their coal at the mines 
for the repair of damage and for securing the safety of the mines. Fine not to exceed $5,000 or one year in 
prison, or both, provided as penalties. A commission of three persons, each to have a salary of $8,000 a year,
to be appointed to administer the fund.--David Bufton, fire boss, and Edward Reap, assistant foreman, killed 
by an explosion of gas at Westmoreland colliery at West Wyoming.--Death of William J. Smith of Wilkes Barre, 
66 years, well known contractor; erected part of Luzerne County Courthouse, also the Wilkes Barre Deposit and 
Savings Bank, Franklin St. school building and their noteworthy structures.-- Death of H.B. Plumb, aged 92 
years, known as the historian of Hanover Township, where he was born.--Riverside Hospital of Wilkes Barre 
graduates six nurses.
28. Ringling and Barnum and Bailey circus at Kirby Park.
29. Unveiling of a granite monument in the Georgetown high school yard by the citizens of Wilkes Barre 
Township in honor of the soldier dead.-- In response to an appeal made by the Serve Your City Club, which 
organized the movement, a large crowd assembled in Public Square, Wilkes Barre, for memorial services in honor
of the valley’s soldier dead, the fountain in the Square filled with flowers, contributed by the people; 
short addresses made by Mayor Daniel L. Hart, Rev. Dr. James M. Farr, and Rec. J. J. Curran.--William Leslie, 
Wilkes Barre correspondent of the Elmira Telegram for about thirty years, retires from newspaper work.--Rev. 
Father Thomas A. Conway of Wilkes Barre celebrates his first mass in St. Mary’s Church.
30. A large number of organizations participate in the Memorial Day parade in the afternoon; in the morning 
Pershing Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars, has a parade and exercises on the river common, following the 
launching of a floral boat; Lawton Camp, Spanish War veterans, has memorial exercises and open air field mass 
in St. Mary’s Cemetery; West Side boroughs have a parade and exercises in Forty Fort Cemetery under the 
auspices of  West Side Veteran’s Association; Wyoming and West Wyoming have the most imposing parade in the 
history of the two boroughs, with exercises in Wyoming Cemetery.--Fine weather brings out record-breaking 
crowds at the opening of the parks.--Unusual scene at the Scott Cemetery, Huntington Valley, memorial services
conducted over the graves of four brothers who gave up their lives as a result of service in the Civil War, 
Elias, Joseph, Josiah and Daniel A. Tubbs. Another brother, William Tubbs, surviving, was wounded at the 
Battle of Gettysburg.--Charles Corcoran, son of Charles Corcoran of Plains, killed by an automobile while 
carrying flowers to be placed on his mother’s grave.
  The 108th Regiment begins a campaign for 300 additional members to fill up the batteries to gain federal 
recognition.--United States Railroad Labor Board decrees a reduction in railroad employees’ wages averaging 
12 per cent, which will strike off about $400,000,000 of the $600,000,000 advance granted in May 1920.--The 
new president of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company states that there evidently was misapprehension as to the 
intention of the company to donate forty-seven acres of land in West Pittston for memorial park purposes, the 
site of the local regiments encampment before they left for the world war; the company is willing to donate 
only seventeen acres, most of which would be unfit for park purposes because liable to flood inundation; the 
company intends mining under the plot and there will be danger from cave-in.

June


1. B. A. Haldeman, city planner in the State Department of Internal Affairs, presents plans at a combined 
meeting of the Rotary, Kiawanis and the Quota Clubs, together with the Chamber of Commerce, for the civic 
development of Wilkes Barre, upon which he has been working for a number of months--development of parks and 
recreation centers, elimination of flood menace and traffic congestion,grade crossings and so on.--First 
shovelful of earth removed for the forty-seven houses to be built at Forty Fort under the community housing 
plan  carried out by the Wilkes Barre Chamber of Commerce.
2. None
3. Ground broken at Dallas for a Mother House for the Sisters of Mercy.--Twelve young women take the white 
veil at St. Mary’s Convent, Wilkes Barre.-- Mr. And Mrs. James J. Dolan of Pittston celebrate their golden 
wedding anniversary.
4. None
5. St Stephen’s Church dedicates a tablet to the memory of Rev. Dr. Henry L. Jones, who was rector from 1874 
to his death in 1914.
6. Newport Cemetery Association files a petition for incorporation. Subscribers and trustees named are Abraham 
Fairchilds and Jasper Thomas of Alden, Richard Young and George Moyer of Wanamie and Harry Albert of Glen Lyon
.-- Louis Goldstein, a Wilkes Barre  tailor, receives the first letter in four years from relatives in Russia, 
giving news that his mother, three uncles, an aunt and other relatives died of starvation under Bolshevist 
rule in Russia.
7. Nine divorces granted in one day in the county court.--Poor directors in the Ransom district, including the 
upper end of Luzerne County, award to Herman Mailander of Wilkes Barre, contract for a building to be used as 
an asylum for the insane; the bid, $491,854-- Twenty-three members of the graduating class of State College 
are from Luzerne County.
8. Sudden death in Montana of Oscar J. Smith, one of Wilkes Barre’s prominent businessmen.
9. None
10. Miss Helen Lancaster of Gouldsboro and Edward E Roderick of Hazleton win in the annual declamation contest
at Wyoming Seminary.-- Kaschenbach furniture store on South Main St gutted by fire; loss about $100,000.-- 
Eleven graduates from Wilkes Barre Institute.
11. Announcement made that subscriptions have been made to all of the stock of the new Union Savings Bank and 
Trust Co., to be located on West Market St. fifteen hundred shares of par value $100 sold at $130.
12.None
13.State convention of the Order of Eastern Star in Wilkes Barre.
14. None
15. Annual report of Osterhout Library for 1920 shows that the estimated number of borrowers was 25,914 and 
the circulation close to 200,000 volumes. The percentage of total circulation of fiction was 7.96. Sociology 
comes next with a percentage of 5.78; literature running a close third with 5.34. History 2.99 per cent of 
the total yearly demand; biography,1.98; travel, 1.75; religion, 1.34 philosophy,1.
16. Thirteen nurses graduated from Mercy Hospital.
17. New river bridge at Shickshinny opened to light traffic, to be completed entirely in a few weeks; erected 
in place of the bridge destroyed by fire in March, 1919; cost $410,000, concrete construction.
18. Insurgent faction wins out in the election of officers for District1, United Mine Workers, William Brennan
of Scranton elected president and Enoch Williams of Taylor as secretary-treasurer.
19. None
20. Another general strike of miners of the Pennsylvania Coal Co and Hillside Coal & Iron Co. at the 
collieries from Hilldale to Dunmore, the second within a year. Among the grievances are the alleged refusal 
of the companies to transfer colliery superintendents to new positions, refusal to reinstate a driver boy and 
discharge a mine foreman, and lack of uniformity in wages at the various collieries.-- Deed for the new armory 
plot , signed by city officials and turned over to the State Armory Board; the deed calls for 15.8 acres, 
extending from the boundary line of Riverside Park  westward along the Market street road a distance of 500 
ft, and extending north towards Pierce street a distance of 1181.9 feet to the Shoemaker plot; the plot 
acquired by the city from the Erie Railroad Co. through condemnation proceedings and presented by the city. 
21. None
22. Long spell of dry weather does considerable damage to crops, very little rain for several weeks.--Heat 
wave registers 90 degrees in Wilkes Barre.
23. Bernard Hertz, a well known merchant of Wilkes Barre, dies suddenly of heart disease while going to attend
the funeral of his brother, who died in a similar manner while delivering goods from his store.-- Thermometer 
in Wilkes Barre,97 degrees.--Rev. Joseph Groves instituted as rector of St. Clement’s Episcopal Church, Wilkes 
Barre. Celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of St. Clement’s Church begun.
24. Death at his home in Philadelphia of Rev. Robert E Johnson, “the raiding parson”, who made frequent trips 
to Wilkes Barre and vicinity and made sensational raids of places suspected of selling liquor; many arrests 
made as a result of his work.--Five nurses graduate from Wyoming Valley Homeopathic Hospital.
25. Strike of Pennsylvania Coal Co. miners comes to an end, the strikers having been influenced by the fear of 
losing their local charters, since the strike was declared illegal.--Formal opening of W. D. White & Co.’s new
drugstore at 35 South Main street.
26. Cornerstone of Blessed Sacrament Church at Miners Mills laid by Bishop Hoban.--Anthony J. Lafaj of Wilkes 
Barre and John J. Podkul of Wilkes Barre Township ordained to the priesthood of the Catholic Church. 
27. None
28. Weeks of drouth,which was destroying crops, broken by thunder showers, but severe heat continues, mercury 
around 90 for about 10 days,84 degrees on this date in Wilkes Barre.--David W Phillips of Scranton appointed 
Internal Revenue Collector for this district, embracing twenty counties, in place of Frederick C Kirkendall 
of of Wilkes Barre.--Presbytery of Lackawanna, in session in Wilkes Barre, adopts strong resolutions against 
commercialized amusements and business on Sundays.--City councilmen announce that the South street bridge is 
to be closed permanently pending the consideration of plans for a new bridge, the cost of repairs deemed too 
high to warrant patching up the old structure.
29. Automobile struck by train at Central Crossing near White Haven, two women killed and four seriously 
injured. 
After an investigation that attracted much attention, Wilkes Barre counsel directs that two policemen be 
discharged for conduct unbecoming an officer; various charges made to vice conditions in the city.

 July


1. Wilkes Barre Deposit and Savings Bank observes its fiftieth anniversary.-- William H Taft appointed Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States by President Harding, in place of Chief Justice White, 
deceased.--State law imposing a tax of fifty cents on each marriage license goes into effect,--the charge now 
$1.50
2. Congress passes a resolution declaring a state of peace between the United States and Germany, Austria and 
Hungary 
3. Dr. William Elliott Griffis of Pulaski, NY, the principal orator at the Wyoming monument commemorative 
exercises, giving evidence to show that Bryant was not at Wyoming at the time of the battle and massacre.
4. Very hot weather, thermometer at 97 in Wilkes Barre.--No general celebration of the Fourth. Only a few 
small fires and no fatal accidents.-- Shickshinny begins celebration of Old Home Week.
5. A break in the long, hot spell, welcome relief to sweltering people.--Vigorous campaign being conducted by 
the Dorrenceton committee in favor of consolidation with Wilkes Barre, the newspapers giving columns of space 
to the subject.
6. Temperature figures shows that June was the hottest month in four years.
7. Silas E Jones, former County Commissioner, dies at his home in Hazleton.-- Oscar S Parker of Wilkes Barre 
named as the first cashier of the Union Savings Bank and Trust Co about to be established in Wilkes Barre.
8. None
9. Unusually severe thunderstorm, flooding many of the city’s streets.
10. Miss Mary MacSwiney, sister of Terrence MacSwiney, Mayor of Cork who starved himself to death as a protest
against British imprisonment, lectures to a large audience in the Capital Theater on Ireland’s struggle for 
independence.--Long hot spell, thermometer registering around 90 and close to 100 for many days, broken by 
showers.--Rev. Anthony J Lafaj of Wilkes Barre, celebrates his first mass in St.Mary’s Polish Catholic Church.
11. Judge S J Strauss states that owing to the condition of his health he will not be a candidate for 
reelection.--Luther League of Pennsylvania in convention in Wilkes Barre.
12. Council passes an ordinance to compel public service corporations to remove poles and wires on South Main 
street from Public Square to Northampton street and that the work must be started by August 1.--Wilkes Barre 
council refuses the request for an armory site on the plot south of Market street in Kirby Park, on the ground
that it would take up too much room; council offers to give a site on the opposite side of Market street, 
adjoining the Atlantic Refining Co.’s service station, in preference to the plot previously offered, including
the old Wilkes Barre & Eastern station and adjoining land.-- Wyoming Valley Memorial Park Association accepts 
the seventeen acres of land donated by the Lehigh Valley Coal Co. at West Pittston as a memorial park to be 
dedicated to the soldiers, sailors and marines of the world war, and efforts are to be made to secure by lease
the other land required for the purpose, some thirty acres, the company having refused to give this additional
plot outright, contrary to the intent of Fred M Chase, president of the company, when he was alive.
13. None
14. Grand Opera House of WIlkes-Barre passes into the hands of the Wyoming Amusement Co. for stock company 
and other productions.
15. Luzerne county remains the greatest anthracite-producing county. Figures for 1920 show coal mined to the 
value of $178,320,400, 31,198,100 tons,54,659 employees and $90,431,600 paid out in wages.-- State Armory 
Board accepts the Wilkes Barre & Eastern site and adjoining ground for the proposed new armory and field.
16. None
17. None
18. Kingston and Dorranceton vote on the consolidation of the two boroughs, the vote carrying in Kingston 
1,210 for and 233 against. Most intensive campaign, in which influential people in favor of consolation of 
Dorranceton with Wilkes Barre participated. It is the impression that the result dooms the Greater Wilkes 
Barre movement for a long time to come. The new borough, which will have a combined population of 15,256, 
according to the 1920 census, will make it the sixth municipality in the county in size of population. It is 
to be known as Kingston, the older of the two boroughs.--Sudden death of County Controller Fuller R Hendershot
of Plymouth, who was serving his third term.-- United Sportsmen of Pennsylvania in convention in Hazleton.-- 
Stockholders of Huntington Valley Campground Association decide not to rebuild on the old site, near Town Line, 
on which all the cottages were destroyed by fire.
19. None
20. A number of residents of Kingston and Dorranceton have an impromptu parade and jollification to celebrate 
the success of  consolidation.-- Rev. Stanley R Evans installed as pastor of Wyoming Presbyterian Church.
21. Large turnout and impressive services in Pittston at the funeral of three Pittston soldier boys who were 
killed in France and whose bodies were brought over--Sergt. Thomas J Gilmartin and privates Patrick McGarry 
and Sylvester Sullivan, members of the local 109th Regiment.
22. A great many women who have been assessed for taxes the first time protest against payment, on the ground 
that the taxes their husbands pay come out of the family purse. In Wilkes Barre women are assessed $1 for 
city taxes and $2 for school taxes. The authorities announce that the same penalties of fine and forcible 
collection will be taken against the women as  are taken against men.
23. 109th  Regiment Field Artillery, National Guard, which embraces many members of the local regiment that 
served in the world war, leaves for encampment and training at Tobyhanna.
24. None
25. An entire family, five members burned to death in their home at Pond Hill, near Lily Lake, Rev and Mrs. 
Felix Nowak and their three children; suspected that the fire was of incendiary origin.--Joseph A DuBoice, 
formerly of Wilkes Barre, electrocuted in the death house near Bellafonte on the conviction of murdering his 
wife  at Vernon, Wyoming county, October 9, 1919.
26. State Armory Board approves the West Side station site for the new armory for the 109th Regiment.--Wilkes 
Barre council passes a resolution calling on the County Assessors and County Commissioners to equalize the 
county assessments as between Wilkes Barre and other municipalities; it is contended owing to higher 
assessments in the city, Wilkes Barre property owners pay more than their proportionate share of county taxes.
--City Council again decides to advertise for bids for the sale or lease of the river common coal, and 
instructs assessors to assess for city purposes the coal under Kirby Park and other land recently acquired by 
the city for park and recreation purposes on the West Side, though the land is in the borough of Dorrenceton. 
A test case in the courts as to whether the city is entitled to the coal valuation likely to be instituted.
27. Dial Rock Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, of West Pittston, has plans for a club house to 
cost about $35,000.--Another spell of hot weather, the thermometer in Wilkes Barre registering about 90 for 
several days.--Spring Brook Water Supply Co. offers to attach sprayers to a number of fire plugs for giving 
children shower baths.
28. Judge P A O’Boyle announces that because of the state of his health, he will not be a candidate for 
reelection.-- Rev. Peter C Winters of St. Paul’s church, Green Ridge, appointed rector of St. John’s Catholic 
Church at Pittston, one of the most important in the diocese.-- Rev. John Lynnot of St. Patrick’s Church in 
White Haven, formerly a curate at St. Mary’s, Wilkes Barre, appointed as the first pastor of the new St. 
Patrick’s Church in Wilkes Barre.-- Death of Frank Barber,74 years, said to have been the oldest Italian 
resident of Wilkes Barre, having lived there for forty-three years and  attained prominence in business.
29. David Spruks Co. of Scranton purchases the wholesale grocery house of F W Ahlborn & Co., one of the oldest
firms in Wilkes Barre.
Owing to withholding of the usual State appropriation, because of the investigation as to whether Mercy 
Hospital comes within the class of institutions that are not to have further State aid on the ground that 
they are sectarian or denominational, the local hospital announces a drastic curtailment in free work, and 
it is stated that unless the appropriation is soon forthcoming, all free work will be discontinued. The 
Supreme Court decided that all institutions of sectarian or denominational character cannot, under the 
Constitution, be given aid by the State. About one-fifth of the number of patients treated at Mercy Hospital 
have been either outright charity or part-pay patients.-- Death in Shickshinny of R M Tubbs,70 years, who for 
more than forty years published and edited the Shickshinny Echo without missing a single issue.-- Joseph 
Blatner of Dupont,13 years, dies from the bite of a rattlesnake.--Death in Philadelphia of Hendrick Wright 
Search, who about 30 years ago was Sheriff of Luzerne County and prominent in politics.


 August 



1. Wilkes Barre School Board votes to restore the teaching of German language to the curriculum of the high 
school, it having been abandoned during the war.--Opening of Wilkes Barre’s first swimming pool, located in 
Griffin Park on the Heights, with exercises participated in by city officials and others; erected at a cost 
of approximately $9,000. $3,936 given by the city and the remainder raised by Heights residents at a street 
carnival; inside measurement of the pool 40 x 100 feet.--Wilkes Barre school board votes to establish a 
complete dental clinic for school children; a dental surgeon in charge and three assistants elected at 
aggregate salaries of about $5,500 a year. The Luzerne county Dental Society furnishing a dental equipment 
mounted on a motor truck.
2. A soaking rain, after a scanty rainfall. In July much below the average, does much good for late farm crops; 
also a decided lowering of the temperature after one of the most prolonged periods of severe heat on record.
3. None
4. None
5. None
6. Estimated that second-class townships of Luzerne County will spend $200,000 on dirt roads during the year.
--Members of the 109th Artillery, who were in training for two weeks at Camp Henry Houston, Tobyhanna, return 
home and are formally welcomed by Mayor Daniel L Hart and other city officials.--Complaint made that 
Hollenback Park is being ruined by culm and other mine refuse from the stream that flows through the park, 
the trees are dying.
7. None
8. Nearly one hundred graduates of Wilkes Barre High School of the class of 1921 intend entering college and 
normal schools
9. 104,562 voters registered in the boroughs and townships of Luzerne County--66,360 Republicans, 33,515 
Democrats, 754 Prohibitionists, 334 Socialists,3,414 not designated.--After having been on strike four days 
over a dispute as to wages, the miners of seven Lehigh Valley colliers decide to return to work and submit 
the dispute to district officers and the Conciliation Board.
10. Death of W B Bertels, aged 87 years, who for eighty-one years lived in Luzerne County, practically all of 
the time in Wilkes Barre,founder of one of the largest tinware establishments in the country.
11. Annual carnival by cottagers at Lake Nuangola attracts several thousand people; Miss Jane Overpeck of 
Wilkes Barre queen of carnival.
12. None
13. Demand for many new polling districts in the county because of the growth in population and the 
enlargement of the electorate by the enfranchisement of women.
14. Much disappointment by many people of Irish descent over the apparent failure of negotiations between the 
British government and the Irish leaders in regard to Ireland, Premier Lloyd George having offered dominion 
government, which Eamonn de Valera in his reply said could not be accepted, the demand being for full 
independence.
15. State convention of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in Wilkes Barre.-- Welsh day at Hazle Park, Hazleton, 
attracts about ten thousand Welshmen from all over Luzerne and adjoining counties. Miners Mills has an  Old 
Home Week celebration.-- Pennsylvania Council of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners holds state 
convention in Wilkes Barre.
16. None
17. Maj. William E Mannear, assistant superintendent of mails in the post office, appointed postmaster by 
president Harding as a result of a civil service examination.-- organization of a board of directors of the 
West Side Trust Co., for which a charter has been applied for to be established at Kingston, is made up of 
N C Honeywell, William Harris, J L Reynolds, John H Bragg,W H Cocking,E M Tripp, Crawford Smith,William 
Walters and William Price.
18. None
19. None
20. None
21. None
22. Plains Township school directors authorize the erection of a high school to cost about $125,000.-- In his 
address to the Grand Jury Judge Henry A Fuller refers to the increase in crime in the county and over the 
country in general, especially among juveniles, and says in the course of his remarks:” From the present 
outlook we surely cannot say that the world is getting better, nor can we say with certainty that the world 
is getting worse, although we have strong suspicion.” -- Citizens of the First and Sixteenth wards organize 
for the erection of a swimming pool similar to the one just opened in the Heights.
23. One bid sent in for the coal under the river common, advertised by the city,--that of the Lehigh Valley 
Coal Co. The Lehigh Valley Coal Co for its bid of $35,000 offered only to remove the coal from the center of 
North street to the center of Market street and from the river warrant lines to the center of River street. 
As an alternative on the recoverable tonnage the company offered to pay $3,000 a year for approximately fifty 
years. Council, surprised at the meagerness of the offer, it having been estimated that the coal under the 
whole common from North to South streets was worth $750,000; the valleys bid excepted coal under the court 
house and under the old canal bed now occupied by the Laurel Line.--Last day for filing nomination papers for 
the primaries for local offices brings an unprecedented rush to the Commissioners office, upwards of 3,000 
petitions. Women aspire to county offices for the first time. Attorney Mary Trescott, a member of the Wilkes 
Barre school board, filed with the state department for nomination for Orphans Court Judge and Miss Gussie 
Brennan, a school teacher in Swoyerville, files for Clerk of Courts. A number of women also file for borough 
and township offices.
24. Another bid received for river common coal. The Glen Alden Coal Co., formerly the DL&W, bids for the coal 
from Market street bridge to the South street, offering a cash sum of $33,000 or a minimum annual royalty of 
$2,700, the company to pay all taxes. The Lehigh Valley Coal Co.’s bid was for coal from Market street to 
North street, as noted above. The offer of both companies is for only $68,000 in cash. Councilmen regard it 
as ridiculously small.--Court creates about fifty new election districts in the county by dividing old 
districts, mostly in anticipation of a large increase in the vote due to the enfranchisement of the women.
25. Mine Workers tri-district board, in session in Wilkes Barre, opposes the proposed constitutional revision 
because of the partisan election of delegates, the power conferred upon the governor to appoint twenty-five 
delegates and because there is no certain way for labor to have representation in the convention.--Anthracite 
operators say they intend complying with the law requiring them to file maps and plans with the mayors of 
cities and with the County Commissioners, the latter in the case of boroughs and townships. They point out 
that if second mining is stopped by municipal authorities on the ground of danger to the surface, the 
production of coal will be seriously curtailed and many miners will be thrown out of employment. The operators
also make a statement that will probably figure most largely in a test of the new law, to the effect that the 
owners of the land subject to subsidence purchased only the surface and were aware at the time of purchase of 
the hazard involved through the second mining, therefore they have no legal redress.--Local alumni of the 
Moody Bible Institute of Chicago form an association.--Christian Deibel, Sr., who has been an Odd Fellow for 
seventy-seven years and is 97 years old, in company of one of his neighbors, Squire Edward H Kulp,78 years, 
who has been an Odd Fellow for sixty years, both of Wilkes Barre, attend the Odd Fellows picnic at San Souci 
Park 
26. Residents of Wyoming Camp Ground reproduce scenes from the Wyoming Massacre with performers dressed as 
Indians, Tories and settlers.-- Local Lithuanians begin the publication of a new weekly paper, “Amerika”.-- 
Court house crowded with candidates and their representatives to draw for places on the primaries ballots, 
according to the new law, which does away with the practice of having names placed by alphabetical order. 
27. None
28. None
29. None
30. Compensation for election officers in the county increased to $10.each.
Governor appoints Attorney Paul J Schmidt as County Controller to fill the unexpired term of Fuller Hendershot,
deceased.--Wyoming valley extends a hearty welcome to John S McGroarty of California, a former resident of 
Wilkes Barre and former County Treasurer, who achieved fame as a local poet and who has won larger fame as a 
writer in the West and as author and producer of the Mission Play.--Another torrid spell after a cool August--
thermometer 93 degrees in Wilkes Barre.

 September


1. Seneca breaker of the Lehigh Valley Coal Co. at upper Pittston razed by dynamite; a new breaker to be 
built adjoining it. The Seneca was built in 1888 and was not modernly equipped.__ Concordia Society, which 
has occupied part of the building at Washington and Northampton streets for thirty-three years, has been 
notified that it must move. The hall to be used for other purposes.__ By warrant of Governor Sproul the 
councils of Kingston and Dorranceton meet to effect a consolidated borough organization. The new borough to 
be known by the name of Kingston. Burgess Rush Treskott of Kingston the burgess of the consolidated 
municipality until a new election. John A Heidrick, who for sixteen years served as president of Kingston 
council and who served as a member of council for twenty-two consecutive years , was elected president of the 
new borough council. Arthur Davenport, formerly secretary of Dorranceton Borough, elected secretary; E M 
Rosser, treasurer; Attorney Burton W Davis, solicitor, Young & Wintermute, engineers, Lewis S Reese, Sr., 
formerly at the head of Dorranceton police department, made chief of police.
2. Mr. And Mrs. J H Seiple of Kingston observe their golden wedding anniversary.__ Drought in some parts of the 
county, particularly in the Hazleton region, causes anxiety over the water supply.
3. The director of the census announces the following preliminary figures from the census of agriculture for 
Luzerne county: Number of farms, 2965, a decrease of 251 since 1910; total acreage of farms,222,448, of which 
127,471 acres are improved land; value of land and buildings, $16,305,910, an increase of $3,745,496, or 29.8 
per cent since 1910. Quantity of principal crops; corn,500,291 bushels; oats,324,623 bushels; wheat, 134,797 
bushels; hay, 37,866 ton. Number of domestic animals reported; horses,5,666; mules, 454; cattle, 13,768; 
sheep, 1,699; swine, 12,000.
4. None
5. None
6. Lehigh Valley removes the passenger coach that has been serving as a station at Sugar Notch; a station had 
been maintained since 1867, the year the railroad was opened as far as Wilkes Barre.__ Addition of new 
election districts increases the number in Luzerne County to 378.__Suit to test the constitutionality of the 
new mine cave legislation filed by H J Mahon and wife of Pittston against the Pennsylvania Coal Co. The 
company notified the Mahon’s that the deed to their property afforded no protection to surface property 
against damage to property due to the removal of coal, and the company was about to conduct mining that might 
result in damage to property and danger to life. The Mahons claimed the benefit of the legislation of 1921, 
which obliges the companies to so conduct mining that surface property will not be endangered.
7. Weather report shows that August was one of the coolest summer months in recent years, following a July of 
record-breaking heat.
8. Officers and directors of the new Union Savings  Bank & Trust Co. of Wilkes Barre chosen as follows; President, 
Harold N Rust; first vice-president, Lawrence B Jones; second vice-president, Martin E Moore; secretary, Neil 
Chrisman; assistant secretary, Nicholas Fox; treasurer, Oscar S Parker; directors--Neil Chrisman, A L Dymond, 
Nicholas Fox, John C Haddock, Lawrence B Jones, Frank A McGuigan, Harry Michlosky, M E Moore, A C Overpeck, 
Harold N Rust, A J Sardoni,M A Schwartzkopf, Vincent B Sheeder, Richard Trethaway and Harry Ulman.__ Coal 
mining department of D L & W now known as Glen Alden Coal Co.__ Blessing of the alters of the new St. Mary’s 
Nativity Church of Plymouth.__ Squad of federal officers in Wilkes Barre Chamber of Commerce rooms examines 
and registers about 300 former servicemen who contracted disease or disability and are eligible for vocational
training or treatment by the government.
9. None
10. Death of Major George W Hammersly of Wilkes Barre, 83 years, last surviving veteran of the Loyal Legion, 
local branch, said to be the highest surviving ranking officer in this vicinity of the Civil War veterans.
11. Address in Wilkes Barre by James W Sullivan of New York, representative in the United States of Eamonn de 
Valera, president of the “Irish Republic“. __Ground broken for the new Talmud Torah or Hebrew Institute 
building on Northampton street, near Park avenue.
12. American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers in convention in Wilkes Barre.
13. None
14. Wilkes Barre’s motorized dental outfit for schools, donated by a prominent citizen at a cost of $4,000, 
makes it’s first appearance.__ Gathering of farmers and businessmen to the number of 2,000 at the Luzerne 
County boy’s school and farm at Kis-Lyn, under the auspices of the Luzerne County Farm Bureau.__ Mr. and Mrs. 
Simon Aicher of Wilkes Barre, celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.
15. None
16. Frank Valoroso of Pond Hill, charged with killing Rev. Felix Nowak and setting his house on fire, in which
 Nowak’s wife and three children were burned to death, convicted of murder in the first degree on 
circumstantial evidence.
17. More than 33,000 voters registered in the three cities in Luzerne County, the total for the three 
registration days, the number greatly augmented by women.
18. Laying of the cornerstone for the new Polish home at 55 North Main street by Stefan Grotowski of New York, 
consul general of Poland. 
19. New home for the blind on Union street, Wilkes Barre, open for work by the sightless; the building erected
on a plot of ground donated by Abram Nesbitt; a campaign to be conducted for the raising of money for the 
building, which is fitted especially for the comfort of the sightless and with convenient facilities for work.
20. Primaries hotly contested because of lively municipal and county fights; large vote polled, including the 
vote of a large number of women. Col. William S McLean, Jr., for several years Democratic chairman, captures 
one of the two Republican nominations for Common Pleas Judge, also a Democratic nomination. Voters of the 
state defeat the project for holding a convention for the revision of the Constitution.
21. None
22. Dallas fair attracts 12,000 people, this year’s fair the most successful in the history of the association.
23. None
24. None
25. None
26. School directors of Duryea are surcharged a total of $54,871.43 by the auditors appointed by the court on 
charges of having violated the school code and of irregularities in the transaction of business.__ Death at 
his home in Plymouth of Stanley W Davenport, former Register of Wills, former Congressman from Luzerne County 
and for more than twenty years treasurer of Central Poor District.__ Mr. and Mrs. Charles Endler of Wilkes 
Barre celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary.
27. Attorney W A Valentine of Wilkes Barre appointed by the Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court as one of 
in regard to proposed new rules for the Supreme Court.__ Osborne C Morgan, engineer employed by council, 
reports that mining conditions in North Wilkes Barre and some parts of East End are such that cave-ins may be 
expected at any time.__ Thomas A Wright, vice president and general manager of the local traction system, 
fatally injured in jumping from an automobile, while coming down the Wilkes Barre mountain, thinking it was 
getting beyond control.__ Epidemic of automobile thefts in Wilkes Barre causes authorities to issue a warning 
to owners to be more careful with machines left standing.__ Wilkes Barre council adopts a resolution accepting
a monument to the memory of Mrs. Henry W Palmer, founder of Boy’s Industrial Association and devoted friend of
working boys, the monument presented by her children and to be placed in the river common, council setting 
October 7 as date of dedication.
28. Contest resulting from primaries, instituted by Tax Collector M F Shannon of Wilkes Barre Township, who 
charges wholesale fraud by the opposing faction; contest also filed by H W Heidenreich, candidate for re-
election of Mayor of Hazleton, on the ground of fraud and irregularities.
29. Department of Internal Affairs says that a total of 551,000 tons of coal, valued at $844,700, were taken 
out of streams passing through the anthracite coal fields in 1920, by dredging operations, some of it as far 
away as Harrisburg. __J M Glace, engineer of the State Department of Health, is of the opinion that cases of 
Typhoid fever in Wilkes Barre and vicinity, can be traced directly or indirectly to unsanitary conditions at 
Harvey’s Lake, because excreta in the summer resort population, in or on the surface of soil, may contaminate 
the water supply. __Majestic Theater in Wilkes Barre sold to Consolidated Theater Corporation of Philadelphia.
30. Clear Spring breaker in West Pittston, abandoned some years ago, blown down by the wind.__ Severe 
windstorm in Wyoming Valley, trees, sheds and other light structures blown down.


 October
 
1. F M Kirby of Wilkes Barre elected chairman of the Republican County Committee.--Mr. And Mrs. R Dennis of 
Dorranceton celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.--Union Savings Bank and Trust open for business on 
West Market street.-- Street carnival conducted by the Eagle Hose Co of Pittston results in gross receipts of 
over  $13,000.
2. Mr. And Mrs. Thomas Ransom of Kingston celebrate their golden wedding anniversary. __State Firemen’s 
convention opens in Wilkes Barre; the city gaily decorated; one of the biggest convention crowds in the 
history of the city expected.--Official announcement made of the sale of the common stock of Wilkes Barre Co 
to Lehigh Power & Securities Corporation, which is controlled by Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. It is expected
to transmit electricity for the local territory from the big plant in Hazleton.__ Mr. And Mrs. John Delbridge 
of Nanticoke celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.
3. None
4. None
5. None
6. State firemen’s convention parade participated in by about 7,000 firemen, great crowds on the streets, and 
a jam at night that made the central streets almost impassable, with all sorts of pranks by the young people. 
__ The city more brilliantly illuminated than ever before in its history for the State firemen’s convention 
and Old Home Week celebration. Buildings gaily decorated and streamers of electric lights in every part of 
Public Square and on adjoining streets, the whole effect most entrancing. __The fiftieth anniversary of the 
incorporation of Wilkes Barre as a city took place in May but the celebration was postponed until this week 
to follow the State firemen’s convention. The celebration begins with the best fireworks display  ever seen 
in Wilkes Barre, given from Riverside Park. __Death of Francis M Nichols, who for ten years-from 1892 until 
1902- served as Mayor of Wilkes Barre, the longest term for any mayor.
7. Great parade to celebrate Wilkes Barre’s fiftieth anniversary as a city; military, civic and fraternal 
organizations in line, together with many allegorical floats and displays by business houses; an hour and a 
half for the parade to pass a given point; immense crowds on the central streets with dancing on Public Square.
8. None
9. Marble statue of Mrs. H W Palmer unveiled on the river common, in memory of her service to the boys of the 
community, she having been the founder of Boys’ Industrial Association for boys who were spending their 
spare time in idleness, many of whom have achieved prominence; the statue presented by her children; the 
presentation speech made by her son, Henry W Palmer, and accepted on behalf of the city by  City attorney 
Charles McHugh.__ St Clement’s Episcopal Church of Wilkes Barre begins its golden jubilee celebration.__ Mr. 
And Mrs. Daniel Gallagher of Parsons celebrate their fifty-fifth wedding anniversary.   
10. In the case of H J Mahon and wife of Pittston against the Pennsylvania Coal Co. Judge Fuller decides that 
the Kohler mine cave act of 1921, which prohibits mining in a way to cause damage to the surface, is 
unconstitutional, on the grounds that it takes private property without compensation and thus invalidates a 
binding contract. The Judge leaves undecided the question whether the Legislature has the power to so regulate
mining that public streets and buildings will not be endangered.
11. Fiftieth anniversary of the Scranton Diocese of the Catholic Church and twenty-fifth anniversary of the 
accession of Rt. Rev. M J Hoban as bishop of the Diocese being celebrated. The Bishop presented with $160,000,
which may reach $200,000. The sum he intends devoting to the charities of the Diocese.
12. Jeremiah McGinley, Wilkes Barre, nominated at the primaries as the Democratic candidate for Clerk of 
Courts, withdraws and Jacob Dembiec of Miner’s Mills is put in his place by the county committee.— Cornelius 
J Gallagher of Wilkes Barre chosen as chairman of the Democratic County Committee. __In ordering that the 
names of 2500 citizens be placed in the jury wheel for 1921 the court says that the persons shall be” male 
and female”.
13. None
14. Mr. And Mrs. Daniel H Evans of Ashley celebrate their fifty-fourth anniversary. --Rev. Samuel E Davies 
installed as pastor of Bennet Presbyterian Church, Luzerne Borough. __ Severe sentences imposed by Judge 
Garman on persons convicted of illegal traffic in liquor, five men given an aggregate of forty years, three 
given a maximum of not less than ten years and a minimum of nine.
15. None
16. Twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of St. Boniface German Catholic Church in Wilkes Barre, observed.
17. None
18. Convention of the Directors of the Poor and the Charities and Correction of Pennsylvania in Wilkes Barre. 
__ Jewel and gold offering to commemorate the golden jubilee of St Clement’s Episcopal Church of Wilkes Barre 
comprises an interesting collection of jewels, family heirlooms, odd pieces of gold and settings of precious 
stones, including a sunburst of over fifty diamonds; the collection to be used to mold a chalice and paten 
for use on special occasions. __ Women representing various organizations petition Wilkes Barre council to 
appoint women on the police force. __ Grover C Hollister, prohibition enforcement officer to this part of the 
state, replaced by Harry N McNamara. __ In United States District Court   Judge Witmer notified United States 
Commissioners that he will remove any official who accepts less than $1,000 bail in a liquor violation case. 
__ Rev. Robert Graham installed as pastor of the Ashley Presbyterian Church.
19.  None
20.  Much anxiety over a strike of railroad employees scheduled for October 30, voted by the men and ordered 
by the union chiefs, against the wage reduction of 12%, put into effect by order of the United States Labor 
Board some months ago and  as a protest against further reduction by the railroad executives which has been 
talked about but not ordered.__ W S Bell, connected with the auditing department of the local traction system 
for twenty years, elected general manager of the company to succeed Thomas AWright, who was killed in an 
automobile accident. __Attorney William J Trembath  of Kingston, elected president of the Association of 
Directors of the Poor and Charities and Corrections of Pennsylvania. __Charles B Kuschke of Plymouth named 
poor director for the Central Poor District in place of Stanley W Davenport __deceased. Report says that 
bears in Fairmount Twp are so numerous that farmers threaten to shoot them before the beginning of the season 
in order to keep them out of their corn fields. __Approximately $35,000 raised in Luzerne County towards the 
$14,000,000 American reconstruction fund for suffering Jews in Europe. __Announcement of the gift to St. 
Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Wilkes Barre, of the present Westmoreland Club property by Mr. And Mrs. William H 
Conyngham and their son, William L Conyngham, second, as a memorial to William Lord Conyngham and Olivia 
Hillard Conyngham. The building is valued at $75,000. It is to be used for parish house purposes. Announcement 
also made that St. Stephen’s parish will erect a memorial to the late Rev Dr Henry L Jones for forty years 
rector, in the form of a Sunday School  building, on the site of the present parish house and adjoining 
property in the rear.  
21  None
22. Miss Mary Trescott, who received the Socialist and Prohibitions nominations for Orphan’s Court Judge, the 
first woman to be nominated for a county office, announces her withdrawal, though by a defect in the law her 
name must appear on the ballot. __Judge Garman says that Luzerne County is a bootleggers paradise and warns 
the constables that if they do not do their duty in looking up evidence against the violators of the liquor 
law they will be dismissed. 
23. None
24. None
25. Dr. Nathaniel Ross of Wilkes Barre, chosen Supreme Commander of the national organization of the Knights 
of Malta.
26.  Wilkes Barre’s medical officer and food inspector make a survey of food supplies in Wilkes Barre in the 
event of a railroad strike and find that there is sufficient to last from a few days to a couple of months, 
according to the nature of the commodities; fresh meat would last about three days unless local cattle were 
killed, but the wholesale houses have large supplies of canned goods and vegetables. __William J Bryan 
lectures in Glen Lyon under the auspices of the American Legion of Newport Township on “Man’s relation to his 
government, society and God.
27. None
28. Local tension relieved by the calling off of the proposed railroad strike by heads of union.
29. Fire breaks out in the shaft of the Hollenback colliery, Wilkes Barre, and several men have narrow escapes;
accident would probably have resulted in many fatalities if practically all of the men had not been absent 
because of the observance of  Mitchell Day. __Dr. and Mrs. Isaac H Moore of Wilkes Barre celebrating their 
fifty-fourth wedding anniversary.
30.  East End Primitive Methodist Church, Rev. Anthony Iveson, pastor, burns mortgage and is free of debt. 
__Building fund for the blind, for the home and furnishings goes over the top; more than $50,000 raised by 
popular appeal.     
     
 November

1. Metal workers in Wilkes Barre, Pittston and Scranton go on strike against another reduction in wages, about
1,000 men. __Heavy thunderstorm passes over Wyoming Valley.
2. Auditors of Pittston Township school district surcharge the directors with $1,193.83, excessive commissions 
paid to tax collectors.
3. Cave-in on North Pennsylvania Avenue, over mines of the Hudson Coal co., causes cracks and settling in the 
streets and threatens homes; city authorities much exercised and residents alarmed. __Sacred Heart Slovak 
congregation of Wilkes Barre purchases forty acres of land, partly in Dallas Borough and partly in Dallas 
Township, for a new cemetery.
4. Rev. A L Whittaker installed by Bishop Talbot as rector of Grace Episcopal Church, Dorrenceton, the church 
ceasing to be a mission. __Death of Rev. J F Jedlicka, rector of SS  Cyril and Methodius Slovak Church in 
Edwardsville, one of the best known priests in Wyoming Valley. __Mrs. Ruth Barber dies at her home in Forty 
Fort at the age of 92 years.
5. Death of Edward A Lynch of Wilkes Barre, one of the most prominent attorneys in the county.
6. Ministers in a number of churches preach special sermons on world peace and disarmament, in preparation for
Armistice Day and the convening of the Washington conference.
7. None
8. Fair election weather; the election confined to county and municipal candidates; the Republican ticket in 
the county wins out large pluralities. __Civic Club of Wilkes Barre takes an option on the Cotton Smith home 
on North Franklin Street for club purposes.
9. Union Savings Bank and Trust Co of Wilkes Barre, recently organized, buys the Engle property at South Main 
and Northampton streets for permanent quarters.
10. Fire destroys the plant of the White Haven printing Co., property loss estimated at between $75,000 and 
$100,000. __Mr. And Mrs. T D Carle of Kingston observe their golden wedding anniversary. __Sophie Braslau, 
contralto, in Irem Temple concert.
11. Armistice day and the burial of the unknown American soldier in Mount Arlington Cemetery observed in 
Wyoming Valley with parades and mass meeting in some places and with services in many of the churches. From 
noon until two minutes thereafter the people were requested by President Harding to offer up prayer for the 
welfare of the nation and for the success of the international conference on limitation of armament to 
convene the following day in Washington.
12. Death of Christian Diebel of Wilkes Barre, 98 years, for sixty-eight years an Odd Fellow. __Washington 
conference on limitation of armament convenes.
13. None
14. President Harding issues a proclamation declaring a state of peace between the United States and Germany, 
following ratification of treaty. __About 10,000 miners of the Pennsylvania Coal Co. in the Pittston region 
again on strike, the main grievance being the refusal of the officials at one colliery to promote a 
blacksmith’s helper to the position of blacksmith, one of several strikes by the miners of this company in 
little over a year.
15. State Department of Health notifies Wilkes Barre that it must show intention to proceed with the 
reconstruction of its sewer system and the erection of a disposal plant or suffer the penalties for neglect. 
__ In a liquor case in the local court Judge Fuller decides, in accordance with the constitution, that 
premises may not be searched or an arrest made unless a search warrant is sworn out, describing the premises 
to be searched and the person or thing to be seized.
16. None
17. R Nelson Bennett of Wilkes Barre killed in an automobile accident on the Pocono Mountain, one of the most 
prominent residents of the city and for many years a councilman. __Knights of Pythias new home in Plymouth 
dedicated. __Miners of the Pennsylvania Coal Co. return to work to submit their grievances in regular order.
18. A few days of warm weather, thermometer 71 degrees in Wilkes Barre. __Abram G Nesbitt donates $10,000 
worth of radium to Nesbitt West Side Hospital. __Mr. Amd Mrs. Andrew VanCampen of Shavertown celebrate their 
golden wedding anniversary.
19. None
20. Miss Edith Stewart, A teacher in Wilkes Barre High School, drowned in the Hudson River at New York by an 
automobile going over the end of a ferry boat.
21. Judge Garman notifies jurors that he will not permit the chewing of gum in the jury box, stating that it 
makes them look like cattle in a pen chewing cuds; in a previous order the Judge tabooed the chewing of 
tobacco. __A train of two Laurel Line cars goes into a cave-hole near Inkerman; a number of passengers slight-
ly hurt and badly scared, fearing to go out of the cars because of highly charged wires or to remain in them 
because of the danger of further caving.
22. Turkeys for Thanksgiving sell for 60 cents a pound; high prices said to be due to meager shipments from 
the farms owing to warm weather. __Governor Sproul names the three members of the Mine Cave Commission 
provided for in the Fowler bill of the 1921 Legislature, which provides for payment of 2 percent of the value 
of the anthracite coal mined for remedying the cave-in menace and for the payment of damage done; companies 
that accept the provisions in the Fowler act are relieved from the provisions in the Kohler act, which 
provides for municipal regulation of mining and penalties of fines and imprisonment for mining in a way to 
cause danger to the surface. The members are James B Smith of Scranton, chairman; Philip R evan of Kingston 
and Thomas H B Lyon of Mahanoy City. They are to take charge of the administration of the fund and the 
enforcement of the provisions of the Fowler act.
23. None
24. Rainy and chilly Thanksgiving weather. __Mr. And Mrs. Andrew T Newberry of Wilkes Barre celebrate their 
golden wedding anniversary. __A number of specimens of curios recently added to the collection of the local 
Historical Society, including books pertaining to prominent local families, two gold headed canes owned by 
the late Governor Hoyt of Wilkes Barre, a fireman’s hat and belt of the period of 1860, a large stone mortar 
from a farm in Wyoming, and other Indian relics. __First Methodist, First Presbyterian and St Stephen’s 
Episcopal churches hold union Thanksgiving services in the First M E, with sermon by Rev. James N Farr, D. D.
__ Fox Hill Country Club, organized by Pittston and West Pittston people, formally opens its club house.
25. None
26. None
27. Death of J C Bell of Wilkes Barre, former cashier of the Deposit & Savings Bank, and school director.
28. In its fall concert Concordia Society has Magdeleine du Carp, pianist, as the additional attraction. 
__Because the court house lacks accommodations for women jurors, the name of only one woman was placed in the 
jury wheel for 1922, that of Alma M Bertels, matron of the United Charities, this was done to comply with the 
law.
29. Local court decides that the reduction in liquor licenses is effective for the current year. According to 
this decision many saloonkeepers will be entitled to a remission of the amounts they have overpaid in their 
monthly installments, and the municipalities that have received the full amounts for the year on the higher 
allotments will have to pay back the difference.__ Charles E Ash of Kingston, appointed to the position of 
secretary-treasurer of the Lehigh and Wilkes Barre Coal Co.__ Owing to several days of heavy rain the river 
goes up to an unusual height for this time of year_22.4 feet at Wilkes Barre. __The heavy rains cause serious 
landslides_ one on the state road between Shickshinny and Hunlock Creek, part of the mountainside slipping 
upon the road; another on the county road near Luzerne Borough power station, blocking traffic. __Mr. And Mrs.
Anthony Cragle of Shavertown celebrating their sixty-fourth wedding anniversary. __League of Women Voters of 
Pennsylvania holds its convention in Wilkes Barre.
30. City council by vote of three to two discharges four police patrolmen after investigation on the charge of 
assault and battery upon a citizen, and unbecoming conduct. __Farmers of the flats between Wilkes Barre and 
Kingston sustain considerable loss by the high water covering the places where they had celery and beets 
buried. __Five and five-hundredths inches of rain in Wilkes Barre in November, an unusual record for the 
month. __Plymouth Chamber of Commerce petitions the County Commissioners to take over the Carey Avenue bridge 
of the Plymouth Bridge Co. and repair it and open it to traffic. __Miss Mary Trescott and David Rosenthal 
appointed referees in bankruptcy for this federal district in place of E Foster Heller, elected Judge of 
Orphan’s Court. 
Nothing

Typed by Edna Schlauch,  December, 2004