1931 W-B Record Almanac, Luzerne County in 1930 Typed by Irene Transue An amazing expose of alleged corruption and extravagance in connection with the administration of the county commissioner' office during 1928 and 1929 provided a series of sensations during the year. Following filing of exceptions to the audit of the county controller for the year 1928 by Osborne Morgan, local mining and civil engineer and a group of taxpayers on April 29, 1929, an investigation extending over a period of eight months resulted in the filing of a bill of particulars on December 13,1929 by the appellants, alleging that certain expenditures approved by the county commissioners and the county controller during 1929 were "illegal, unwarranted, improvident, wasteful and in excess of actual work." The expenditures attacked included those in connection with Market street bridge; shifting of trolley car tracks and other work let on a cost-plus basia on Route 11, between Luzerne and Trucksville, to D. W. Davis & Sons, Inc.; the purchase of road oil; rental of equipment and work done on Dorrance-Hollenback road; Ashley-Bear Creek road operations; jury room work, and other items. Sitting in banc, the court conducted hearings on the audit appeal starting on April 18 and continuing for almost a month. At the conclusion of these hearings. the court directed the district to prepare information and on May 29 President Judge William S. McLean signed bench warrants for the arrest of county commissioners David M. Rosser, Leslie J. Harrison and Patrick J. Conway; former county controller Harry T. Butts, Merle B. Breese, county engineer; W. A. Williams, oil salesman; George C. Hess, James W. Boyle, John B. Dodson, D. W. Davis, George Davis, and W. W. Davis, alleged "favored" contractors; Enoch Thomas, former county road superintendent; George R. Schroeder, architect and J. B. Woodworth, automobile dealer. On June 6 the grand jury returned indictments against the various defendants. Five trials were held during the year, the first on June 23 charging the county commissioners with misdemeanor in office in connection with work on Route 11. which it was alleged was done without proper advertising for bids or written contract. The jury disagreed. The second case called on June 30, was on a charge involving the three commissioners and Merle B. Breese and W. A. Williams charging conspiracy in connection with the sale of oil. The commissioners were found not guilty and Breese and Williams each found guilty. The two men were subsequently sentenced to three to four years in Eastern Penitentiary. The third trial, begun on September 9, was a retrial of the first case on a misdemeanor charge involving the three commissioners. A jury returned a verdict of guilty and the commissioners were sentenced to one year in jail, ousted from office and fined $500 and costs. Defendants appealed, won writs of supersedes and at the time this almanac went to press, no decision on the appeal had been made by the Superior Court. At the time the commissioners were ousted, the court immediately named George M. Wall, of Kingston, serving as county treasurer, and John MacGuffie of West Pittston, Republicans, and John A. Carroll of Larksville, Democrat, to comprise a new board of commissioners. Mr. MacGuffie and Mr. Carroll took their oaths of office immediately and occupied the office for two days at which time writs of the Superior Court restored to office the original commissioners. Mr. Wall had delayed taking the oath, retaining his office as County Treasurer. The fourth case, called on September 16 charged W. W. Davis and George Davis, of the firm of D. W. Davis & Sons, Inc., with larceny and receiving in connection with work done on Route 11, Luzerne-Trucksville highways. George Davis was found not guilty and W. W. Davis, guilty. No sentence has been imposed on W. W. Davis to date, the jury finding him guilty on one count of twenty-six in the indictment and recommending him to the extreme mercy of the court. The fifth case, called on November 25, charged the commissioners as well as Harry T. Butts, Merle B. Breese and George C. Hess with conspiracy in connection with the rental of equipment and contract on Dorrance-Hollenback road. The last two named defendants entered pleas of non vult contendere and the three commissioners and Mr. Butts, following trial, and after stoutly denying guilt, were found guilty. During the trial it was testified by Hess that he had paid more than $27,500 graft to the commissioners and Mr. Butts during the years 1928 and up to May. 1929. Mr. Hess had made a statement to the district attorney's office to that effect and repeated it on the stand during the trial. Mr. Breese, brought here from Eastern Penitentiary, also testified for the commonwealth that agreements were made through him, with Hess, in behalf of the county commissioners to provide graft payments. The defendants petitioned for a new trial and disposition of the petition was pending at the time the almanac went to press. Among important developments in municipal affairs during the year was the Supreme Court's decision on the coal valuation appeals taken from the 1925 county assessment by coal companies, and the subsequent agreement between the county and the coal companies that throughout the county the values of coal lands for assessments should be 65 per cent. of the original 1925 valuations. Decisions were rendered by the Supreme court in Glen Alden Coal Co.'s appeal in Newport township and Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Co.'s appeal in Wilkes-Barre city. As result of the agreement to slash 35 per cent. from the 1925 coal assessments, all municipalities, except Wilkes-Barre city, found themselves indebted to the coal companies, which had paid 771/2 per cent. of the 1925 assessment for three years. Arrangement was made to have the municipalities refund the money owed to the coal companies through twelve annual payments. Wilkes-Barre city, which had accepted but 55 per cent., obtained $156,000 from the coal companies in settlement of the litigation. Because of the 35 per cent. decrease in assessment, borrowing power of cities, boroughs and townships, as well as school districts and poor districts in these municipalities, was curtailed. In many instances school district employees did not receive the salaries for several months. The decrease in assessed valuation was about $65,000,000. ------- - After more than two years of controversy, taking of testimony and legal fighting, the Public Service Commission, on December 10 handed down its decision in the water rate case. In its order, the commission directed Scranton-Spring Brook Water Service Co. to file a new tariff, effective January 1, 1931, "reducing the gross annual revenues of the company to an amount not in excess of $4,219,000, such reduction to be applicable to the rates to domestic users." The decision placed a valuation on the combined properties of the commission at $43,650,000. The complainants had sought a valuation of approximately $35,000,000 on all properties and the water company a value of about $58,000,000 on all properties. Steps were underway at the time the almanac went to press to contest the decision. -------- The county commissioners announced during the year that they would make use of an act passed in 1929 to collect unpaid taxes. The act directs the tax collector of any county, borough, township, school board or poor district to make a return of such taxes assessed, levied and unpaid on seated lands to the county commissioners not later than the first Monday in May in the year succeeding the year in which the taxes were assessed and levied. The county commissioners must then certify the returns to the county treasurer who is authorized to sell the lands. He must also advertise the sale and notify the owners of the property. Property owners have the right within two years after the sale, to redeem their properties upon payment of accrued taxes, penalties and costs. weather for the year.--There were fewer rainy days in 1930 than in 1929, and the quantity of rain that fell was 8.15 inches less than last year. The least rain, 0.79 inches fell in October compared with 5.89 inches in the corresponding period of 1929. In September the rainfall was only 2.31 inches, while the average for that month during the last fourteen years was 3.39. In November the precipitation was 1.56 inches, with five rainy days, while last year with but three rainy days it was 2.30 inches. In July 3.56 inches of rain fell on five days, while May with eight rainy days gave only 3.50. The highest temperature since January was on August 4, when the mercury reached 100, and the lowest was January, 19 and 20, and February 17, when it dropped to 3 above zero. January showed a variation of 62 degrees between the 8th and the 19th. The general average for high during the month was 39. and for low, 24. February reached 69 for high, and 3 for low. October 14 was the warmest day of that month, with a temperature of 82. The mean of the maximum for November was 54.5, and the minimum 34.7. Thanksgiving, November 27, was the coldest day of the month, when the mercury dropped from 36 to 11 degrees. The drought, which lasted all summer and well into autumn, worked great hardships on farmers and residents of parts of the county where the water supply was not plentiful. Crops were damaged to some extent by the continued scarcity of rain, while in some parts of Luzerne county the residents were forced to curtail the use of water and to carry it from other places. Forest fires were numerous throughout the summer and burned over considerable land in the mountain areas at a loss of several thousand dollars. The State paid out several thousand dollars in wages to hundreds of men recruited to fight the fires. Toward the end of the year several rainy days helped greatly to alleviate the situation. -------- Early in the year the census enumeration attracted a great deal of attention here. Cuthbert W. Smiles was appointed census supervisor for Luzerne county and established offices in Wilkes-Barre. A staff of 200 men and women covered the county and enumerated the inhabitants. The county with a population of 444,689 showed a growth of 53,698 residents over the 1920 census. Wyoming valley's population numbered 315,000, a growth of more than 40,000. Increases in population were noted in practically all of the smaller municipalities of the county. -------- Willkes-Barre and Hazleton Railway, means of transportation between the two cities for many years, was sold at auction in New York for $165.000. The purchasers continued to operate the road. -------- Judge William S. McLean, Jr., was appointed chairman of the Community Welfare federation's annual campaign for funds. A goal of 530,000 was set and through the efforts of Judge McLean and his corps of assistants the goal was exceeded by several thousand dollars. -------- The giant dirigible, Los Angeles, paid two visits to Wyoming valley during the year. The first visit was made in the morning and not many people saw it. Later, through the efforts of the Wilkes-Barre Record, the airship made a daylight visit to the valley, A member of the news staff of the Record was on board. Thousands of persons saw the dirigible and in many instances business was suspended temporarily while employees of the stores and factories watched it sail slowly about the valley and circle over Wilkes-Barre. -------- Construction of the new Wilkes-Barre-Scranton highway, running from the East End boulevard to Dupont, was started. The road travels along the mountain and dispenses with the necessity of going through several populous communities to reach Dupont. However, on the Ashley boulevard-East End boulevard section of the road, much opposition was voiced by the Hazleton and Wyoming Valley Motor Clubs and Ashley borough. The motor clubs objected to the proposed route of that section of the highway on the ground that it added several miles to the distance between the two points and that it would go through a territory that, for years had been subject to mine fires. Several conferences were held with engineers of the State highway department to map out a new route. -------- During the year the tree-perching fad, which swept the entire country, hit Luzerne county and many children moved into trees where they remained until they were forced down by parents, police or by physical weakening. The craze continued throughout the summer and a few youngsters held records of a thousand or more hours' continuous perching in a tree. The endurance contest fad also found an outlet in baseball throwing and bicycle riding. -------- During 1930 three men were sentenced to pay the death penalty in the electric chair for murder. Wilfred Flood, tried for slaying a young man in the holdup of a gasoline station in Kingston in December. 1929, was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. Governor Fisher fixed the week of December 29 as the date for Flood's execution. John Nafus and Sigsmund Szachewicz were sentenced to death after conviction on a charge of first degree murder in dynamiting Glen Alden Coal Co.'s paycar in January killing four men and injuring two others. Frank Tawza, who was convicted of fatally shooting a Luzerne policeman in 1929, was electrocuted for the crime. He was the first man from Luzerne county to be electrocuted in eight years and the third man from Luzerne county to pay the death penalty in the electric chair. -------- Luzerne county suffered few disastrous fires during the year, only three being of any great loss. The Lake Breeze hotel at Harvey's Lake was destroyed with a loss of $25,000; the Florence Colliery at Dupont was destroyed with a loss of $150,000, and a fire on the Wilkes-Barre Connecting Railway's trestle at Kingston caused damage amounting to $100,000. About $50,000 damage was caused by a fire which burned a wholesale shoe store and damaged a hotel on South Pennsylvania avenue, Wilkes-Barre. The end.