RECORD OF LOCAL EVENTS Principal Happenings in Luzerne County For The Year Which Begins December 1, 1937, and Ended November 30, 1938 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 It is not to be published to any other web site, mailing list, group, etc.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 1937 1. St. Stephen's Episcopal Church marks 120th anniversary with dinner..........Railroads in State received freights rate increases on all but anthracite. 3. Young Men's Division of Chamber of Commerce broached. 5. Atlas Powder Company to pay 200 employees $10,000 Christmas bonus..........Pending litigation prevents dramitization of Fugmann trial on nationwide broadcast. 6. Bar Association defeats proposal to give free legal service to persons without means..........New factions rule some school boards after annual reorganizations. 7. Judge Anna Kross of New York City speaks at Jewish Women's Institute.........City Council approves appointment of 14 to Fire Department..........Estimated revenues from personalty tax up 15 per cent from 1936. 8. Attorney Joseph R. Sherman resigns assistant district attorneyship.....General Election cost Luzerne County 33 cents a vote. 9. Two mortars taken to West Side Armory from G.A.R. Hall on South Main Street..... Court quashes contest instituted against Councilman-elect Evans by Democratic nominee Flannery. 10. Captain John Henry Newton, Pittston native, named rear admiral by Naval Board. 11. Harold N. Rust resigns as vice-president of Wyoming National Bank to go to Philadelphia as secretary of Grand Lodge, F. & A.M., of State. 12. Early morning fire levels two Trucksville grade school buildings... Major Inglis denies that Glen Alden will operate bankrupt Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company mines.....Nine day frigidity near climax as mercury dives..........Concordia presents its first "pop concert." 14. Attorney Mitchell Jenkins named an assistant district attorney. 15. Mr. and Mrs. B. T. Veroe of Kingston wed 50 years.......... Anthracite operates press for 50-75 cents a ton freight rate slash..........Freezing rain glazes roads. 16. Chauncey Coal Company miners strike over rate sheet...........Nanticoke City employees paid in credit slips on money advanced them by treasurer...........Pittston-Jenkins Poor District enters test of Goodrich Act. 17. J. Arthur Bolender new Chamber of Commerce Secretary. 18. George Ratz of Yatesville fatally shot. 19. Rev. Fred M. Sellars of Shavertown accepts call of Staten Island parish. 20. Strike J. B. Carr Biscuit Company workers settled..........Governor Earle names seven to Luzerne County Assistance Board..........Wyoming Valley Colleries Company sees stabilization of coal industry only hope for reorganization of company. 21. Checks mailed to depositors of closed Plains State Bank, Pennsylvania-Liberty Bank and Heights Deposit Bank..........State and county officials agree to abolish "bottleneck" on Luzerne highway. 22. Jimmy Mattern, flier, visits Wilkes-Barre Airport..........Christmas mail reaches all-time peak at Wilkes- Barre postoffice.......Dr. A. W. Grover, succeeds Murray S. Scureman, resigned, on Kingston School Board. 23. Captain William A. Clark of State Motor Police advanced to rank of major..........Public Utility Commission bars low rate taxicabs of Scranton concern in Luzerne County. 24. Glen Alden to tap coal for 25 years through new shafts at Askam..........Extortion plot against Dr. J. Harold Beckley of Nanticoke thwarted by police..........Post Office Department orders closing of North End station in Miners Mills. 26. Mrs. Martha Bryden marks 101st birthday..........Wilkes-Barre newspapers announce increase in subscription prices. 28. Grace Jessie Kirby introduced to society...........Attorney Abram Salisburg elected chairman of new assistance board..........City Council retains millage of 13..........Pittston City Council adopts 12-mill levy. 29. Florence Crittenton Shelter Home to be closed January 31..........Warrants charge 27 with voting law violations..........Kingston American Legion Post gets new quarters. 30. Birthrate for 1937 in Wilkes-Barre lowest since 1933..........County commissioners dismiss 28 employees. 31. State sues 500 stockholders of closed Pennsylvania-Liberty and Heights banks..........Lehigh Valley Railroad merges two divisions into one, with Frank S. Mitten as head..........City fare loss for 1937 at new low. JANUARY 1938 1. State Senator Andrew J. Sordoni decides not to run for reelection. 3. Municipal governments reorganize..........Mary Orme Markle of Hazelton introduced to society in New Or leans...........Judges Thomas Farrell and John J. Aponick sworn into office. 4. Thomas Ivanchik arrested in fatal stabbing of Veronica Patera in Swoyerville..........State Representative John Yourchin indicted on charges of violating State election code..........Charles DeWees appointed to Luzerne County Assistance Board..........Feud of an Ashley family makes 28th appearance in court. 5. 1,400 employees of closed Wyoming Valley Colleries stand to lose $140,000 in wages................... Hoyt Library celebrates 10th anniversary. 6. PWA engineer informs Nanticoke School Board delay in tabulation of bids deprives district of $347,800 school and annex..........Luzerne County tax evaluation $318,285,651..........Rev. Charles B. Smith installed pastor of Stella Presbyterian Church at Forty Fort. 7. Rev. Russell J. May of Courtdale and Larksville called to Shavertown M. E. charge. 8. W.W. Inglis, president of Glen Alden Coal Company, paid salary $50,000 in 1936. 10. Free hospital service in Wyoming Valley during 1937 cost $178,836..........Police records show city free of murders in 1937..........Ashley high school students protest switch in football coaches in 2 1/2 hour strike. 11. Surface settlement causing heavy damage at Hughestown..........Attorney Joseph Molitoris of Hanover Township named city solicitor of Warren, Ohio..........Changes few as valley banks reorganize.......... Anthracite pea size market in New York cut by decision of Bituminous Coal Commission to reduce price of soft coal at mines. 12. Automobile driving tests given 25,032 in region during year. 13. Citizens move to take over Bucknell Junior College. 14. Wilkes-Barre Record captures P.N.P.A.'s best production award for second time in two years....................... Young Men's division of Chamber of Commerce launched. 16. Duplan Silk Corporation to open mill in Virginia..........Arthur Newman of Wilkes-Barre and Carl Nagle flee Wyoming County prison..........Melting snow freezes, making hazardous traffic. 17. William Aten disputes Frank O'Neil's right to seat on Kingston Council in court case..........Zelda Popkin former Wilkes-Barre resident, writes mystery novel..........City Clerk Harvey Weiss to retire February 1, when he will be succeeded by Lucius K. Eldridge..........Bell Telephone Company honors 16 employees who drove 100,000 miles safely Internal Revenue Collector James F. Mundy files claim for pension from city........ Z.S. Leymel, Wilkes-Barre native, candidate for California Republican gubernatorial nomination. 18. Governor Earle will request President Roosevelt to back purchase by government of anthracite mines...... Erie Railroad files application with U.S. District Court for reorganization. 19. Flames cause $6,000 damage to Lawrence School in Swoyerville..........Pittston relief cost termed "outrageous" by County Assistance Board..........Mike McNally reappointed manager of Wilkes-Barre Baseball Club............Irem Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S., reelects officers. 20. Paul G. Kopack of Edwardsville first president of County Board of School Directors..........Court confirms Percy McLean estate accounts, terminating contest instituted by widow..........Rev. Charles A. Murray named pastor of St. Patrick's Church and Rev. Thomas M. Jordan pastor of St. Dominic's Church, Parsons, in changes anounced by Bishop Hafey of Scranton Diocese. 22. Odd Fellows confer third degree on 42 members of order at Irem Temple. 24. Railway executive outlines nine-point program for local trackless trolley operation..........Wilkes- Barre & Eastern Railroad engineers suggest company's roadbed be transformed into State highway at hearing on proposed abandonment of line..........Attorney's Francis E. Gibbons, Frank Townend and Jarrett W. Jennings admitted to Luzerne County bar........Five hundred homes in darkness during storm as high wind causes numerous fires in city. 25. County Commissioners told court house too small..........Franz Schneiderhan, Australian and director of International Rotary, guest at local club..........Newcomer to Plymouth proposes to rid town of stray dogs..... Demolition of Lehigh Valley Railroad bridge across Susquehanna at Forty Fort resumed..........Msgr. Stephen S. Woznicki, Plains native, elevated to post auxillary bishop of Detroit archdiocese. 26. Order closing Miners Mills post-office substation rescinded after protests....................... Nanticoke hospital board named by Governor Earle. 27. State Supreme Court opinion sets aside conviction of Emerson Jennings and Charles Harris in Valentine automobile bombing case, citing new evidence supports frame-up' contention..........Statewide net flung out for ex-convict Carl Nagle..........Flames destroy double dwelling in Plains at cost of $10,000 28. Eight transfers, five of them involving pastors, announced by Bishop Hafey of Scranton Diocese...... Collapse of Niagra Falls bridge attracts local interest..........Anthracite price war ends as majority of companies agree to stabilization plan..........State rules relatives must help needy aged. 29. Forty Fort Theatre opens..........Superior Court Judge Arthur H. James of Plymouth announces his candidacy for the Republican nomination for governor. 30. Radio Station WBRE joins National Broadcasting Company systems. 31. Supreme Court affirmation of Goodrich Act gives supervision of poor districts to county commissioners... Ten under arrest in expose of lottery ring in Pennsylvania. FEBRUARY 1938 2. City to try shorter time on traffic light changes...........White Haven Council names Mrs. Arthur Meixell burgess.......County school districts get $200,000 aid..........Joe Rice, ex-six-day bicycle rider, in good condition after 21-day fast. 3. Airport radio beam aid is sought of Federal and State governments. 4. American and Atlantic Refining Company purchase local connections of Republic Oil Company...........John Rigoni to quit local newstand on Public Square after 22 years...........Jurors disagree in election fraud case charges against Representative John Yourishin of Hazelton..........Captain Oscar Smith, city native, named to command new light cruiser,U.S.S. Honolulu. White Hardware Store safe robbed of $700..........Ben Johnson, Plymouth track star, sets world record of 60 yards in six seconds at Madison Square Garden. 7. County asked to sell publicly realty on which taxes are owed. 8. June Clayworth, film actress from Wilkes-Barre, and Sid Rogell, director, wed in Wilkes-Barre......... Plymouth Council to furnish chamber as library. 9. Price Street School in Edwardsville among four in region ordered closed or abandoned................. 5,000 persons view Boy Scout circus. 11. Court orders Plains Borough to seat Dominick Antonio as 8th Ward Commissioner...........59 per cent of 62,000 relief job applications fail in State examinations. 12. Frank Stzralka, named by court to succeed late father as a Newport Township commissioner..........Liquor Control Board reports $2,657.32 spent in liquor stores during 1937..........Junior League presents "Gaieties of 1938" at South Main Street Armory..........Thomas Cooney of White Plains fatally shot by father of girl friend in Jeddo. 13. Recall of Grand Jury to probe deadlocked juries seen. 14. Teacher Dorothy Stewarts defends herself against whipping charges at Duryea School Board hearing. 16. Third Squadron Command post of Motor Police at Wyoming to have 19 substations..........Dismissal orders to go to 325 public assistance employees. 17. One miner killed, seven others trapped for 18 hours when rushing water floods Slope Mine No. 1 of Lehigh Valley Coal Company at Jeanesville..........Earl Boston Coal Company to be reopened after seven months idleness. 18. Two Plains Township highway workers convicted of padding payroll. 19. Spring Brook breaker in Moosic Borough destroyed by fire..........Frank Duffy, wanted in connection with shooting in Forty Fort in March, 1937, arrested in Louisiana..........Druggist Howard Aston of North Wilkes- Barre kidnapped and store safe robbed of $350. 20. Five Wilkes-Barre firemen rturning from Louisville injured in auto crash at Lancaster..........Patrick Mangan of Plymouth fatally injured on Narrows Road by hir-and-run driver. 21. Edwardsville Borough fixes 1938 millage at 13..........David Morgan, Jr. of Kingston seriously injured in accidental discharge of rifle. 22. Little Theatre offers "Smilin' Thru." 23. Five arrests solve many crimes, including Aston kidnapping..........Radio Staton WBAX granted full-time operation permit....Exploding dynamite cap injures Hanover Township school children at class..........Scranton Spring Brook Water Service Company wins two million dollar equity suit brought by Susquehanna Coal Company... Wyoming Avenue Christian Church burns mortgage. 24. Kingston and Wilkes-Barre ordered to pay $66,345 and $15,000 respectively, for Market Street, Kingston, land damages. 25. Alderman Thomas Donahue of Parsons fatally shot by Joseph Rybotycki, who escapes capture for 20 hours.... $7,500 fire manaces property at 47 North Main Street, Pittston..........Democratic Party nominates Senator Leo C. Mundy as candidate for lieutenant governor............86 arrested in liquor ontrol board raids in city..........Public Utilities Commission pares anthracite rail charges to meet independent truckers..... 100 Assistance Board appointments changed. 26. Ex-Senator Frederick Steiwer of Oregon, speaker at Judge John S. Fine testimonial dinner............ Examiners charge assistance board violates principle of merit system in filling jobs. 28. County Commissioners adopt budget calling for cut of 1.3 mills from tax levy..........Henry Graham renamed Assistance Board executive director and 37 employees provisionally reinstated. MARCH 1938 1. New $45,000 St. Aloysius' Church rectory occupied for first time..........Scranton Tribune newspaper sold to Scrantonian interests..........Major General Julian L. Schley, chief of Army engineers, views flood control work. 2. Continental Can Company reconsiders decision to discontinue operation of plant in city..........Supreme Court Justice George Maxey speaks at St. David's Day dinner..........One-way telephone service impends for Nanticoke City employees when pay stations are installed over non-payment of bills. 3. Charter granted to Children's Service Center of Wyoming Valley..........State extends inquiry into delinquent tax collection to Kingston firm..........Dent Legislative Commission told "terrific" taxes are inducing flight of business from State..........Sixty Hazelton residents indicted by grand jury in voting cases..........Rev. Roy H. Sinclair resigns as pastor of Wyoming Presbyteian Church. 4. Radio Station WBAX joins Mutual network..........Hudson Coal Company stockholders seek reorganization under bankruptcy law. 5. Former Councilman Tom E. Williams acquitted by grand jury of conspiracy charge preferred by John Nobel. 6. Rev. J.E. Lynott installed as pastor of Holy Saviour Church..........Early morning fire does $8,000 damage to Resurrecton of Our Lord Polish National Church in Edwardsville. 7. Motor Police set up "speeder court" at Kingston..........Pierre S. duPont cintributes additional $80,000 to White Haven Sanitorium..........J.R. Merkel to retire as Kingston school superintendent ..........Bill Speary of Nanticoke retains national amateur boxing crown in New York fight. 8. ICC imposes 10 cents a ton increase on anthracite in new freight rate rise..........Miss Jane Button new YWCA secretary. 9. Thomas Kennedy of Hazelton announces candidacy for Governor, subject to Democratic primary......... Nanticoke City telephone battle comes to end with payment of $1,800 on account..........Hess Goldsmith and Company announces Blackman Street plant to be abandoned. 10. Charles Freeman district supervisor of Luzerne County WPA..........Homer Chaillaux, American Legion official, cites at Irem Temple meeting groups he sees in growing Communist network...........Wyoming Baptist Church wages campaign to avert foreclosure..........Rev. James G. Evans resigns as pastor of Pilgrim Congregrational Church at Plymouth. 11. Lehigh Valley Coal Company reports $938,854 loss for 1937..........Bishop Stephen S. Woznicki of Detroit arrives at home parish in Plains for reception in his honor. 13. 2,000 attend mass celebrated in S.S. Peter and Paul's Church, Plains, by Bishop Woznicki. 14. New 85-foot, $16,000 aerial ladder truck arrives for City Fire Department..........John L> Brace resign from Plymouth School Board, brother Richard being appointed in his place. 15. Harry J. Williams, Hanover Township, succeeds Joseph G. Schuler as WPA administrator in county..... City's financial report for 1937 shows balance of $286,286. 16. State closes certain school buildings in Edwardsville, Duryea and Denison Township for repairs.......... Wilkes-Barre Council rejects plan to sell advertising space on parking meters..........Kingston Council hires three additional fire truck drivers. 17. Joseph G. Schuler claims he will fight his removal as WPA administrator in county. 18. Possibility of no primary elections in county seen, due to delay in appointing employees for Registration office......River rises to 13 feet here due to week's rain. 21. Children's Service Center of Wyoming Valley is organized with Gilbert S. McClintock, president, and Conrad Van Hyning, executive director..........Supreme Court denies Michael Fugmann's appeal from death sentence.... 3,500 attend dinner to Dr. Leo C. Mundy, Democratic candidate for Lieutenant-Governor. 22. $6,000,000 delinquent tax bill in County is due to laxity on part of municipalities is claim.......... Court en banc orders appointment of 52 persons to County Registration Office..........Mr. and Mrs. William T. Pettebone, Forty Fort, married 55 years..........Edward Moran named Pittston Chief of Police. 23. Approximately 35,000 people go to Plymouth for opening of Arthur H. James campaign for Republican nomination for Governor. 24. Plan to extend Airport runway another 1,000 feet announced..........Wyoming Bridge closed again due to settling........ Mr. Greenwood and Dallas organizations start move to consolidate Dallas and other back mountain municipalities........ P.U.C. does not allow railroads to increase freight rate on anthracite. 25. City officials study lighting contract in effort to save $15,000 yearly..........J. Andrew Boyd resigns as Thomas C. O'Reilly of Scranton Roman Catholic Diocese..........President Roosevelt approves $1,972,253 WPA work in county..........Dorothy Kreuzer, Wright Township grade student, wins county spelling bee here. 27. Rev. James G. Evans, pastor of Pilgrim Congregational Church, Plymouth, resigns to go to Scranton. 28. Will of Jane A. Shoemaker disposes of $225,000 estate..........First concert of Bach Festival given here before large audience. 29. Fifty-five people file as candidates for Legislative posts from County...........Albin Grumblis appointed Chief of Police in Luzerne. 30. Robert W. Johnson named editor of the Record..........Work completed on $103,000 receiving ward and administration building at Retreat. 31. Miss Sarah Krewson, director of nurses at General Hospital, retires..........William L. Powell, 78, retires from Record's employe..........Major Edmund D. Camp retires after 40 years' service with local postoffices...........Ouster of 7 Hanover Township Commissioners asked of local courts..........Thousands attend funeral of Bishop O'Reilly of Scranton. APRIL 1938 1. Twelve student troopers assigned to localState police and Motor Patrol..........Patrick J. Ramsey, veteran courthouse report, pensioned by the Record. 3. Record pensions Mr. Bertha Kuschke, employee for 40 years..........Bach Festival concert given at Irem Temple is heard around the world..........Death of Richard J. Walsh, former Pittston councilman. 4. Boston Store purchases South Main Street building for $141,000..........New garmet factory, to employ 150 men,leases plant in Swoyerville..........Wilkes-Barre School Board dismisses seven custodians at stormy meeting.....Death of Charles A. Allabach, auctioneer, Forty Fort..........Mrs Victor E. Lewis, Edwardsville, dies. 5. Lehigh Valley Railroad announces withdrawal of two trains to New York..........Miss Norma Kroll, Nanticoke, named assistant executive director of Luzerne County Public Assistance..........Death of Rev. P.J. Gaffikin, Scranton, formerly of White Haven. 6. Fourteen-hour snowfall covers the county..........38 ministers ask District Attorney and municipal officials to stop bingo games here. 7. Fourteen women are drawn on jury panels here..........Hanover Township School District decides to break away from county superintendent's office and elect own superintendent..........Death of A. Wesley Heller, 84, Wapwallopen. 8. Rear Admiral Harold R. Stark, city native, is promoted to command Battle Force Cruisers of United States Navy........Death of Charles J. McGough, Harrisburg, former president local Chamber of Commerce..........Fred W. Payne, Plymouth printer, dies. 10. Mayor Loveland disagrees with city officials who hold that bingo games are only "simple amusements.".... Army engineers decide to use electric pumps in pumping stations on new dike..........Leonard M. Utz, 69, city grocer, dies. 11. Bus drivers and shopmen of Martz Bus Lines vote to strike..........Death of Rev. John J. Reggio, pastor of St. Rocco's Italian Church, Pittston. 12. A.P. Cope re-elected County Superintendent of Schools with $1,500 yearly increase in pay..........Bela B. Smith, Connellsville, heads Kingston Schools. 13. Army engineers approve change in flood control plan here, resulting in erection of earthen levee along Riverside Drive. 13. Death of Sister Gertrude, Mary, mother superior of St. Vincent's Convent, Plymouth. 14. Settlement reached between Martz Bus management and employees..........Anthracite operators sign permanent price stabilization agreement. 15. Anna Costine, 11, dies in $10,000 fire which destroys home at Franklin Township...........Death of Andrew J. Rubiscak, 55, city, coal company president. 17. Merchants report Easter business best in several years. 18. Plans filed for construction of $21,500 auto service station in Central City..........Mr. and Mrs. E.L. Buss, city, married 50 years..........City School Board rescinds its discharge of seven custodians.......... Army engineers list $1,288,480 for additional flood control work in Valley...........Mr. and Mrs. Richard Thomas, Ashley, celebrate golden wedding anniversary. 20. Plymouth School Board decides to borrow $140,000. 21. Death of Miss Margaret Jackson, librarian of Hoyt Library, Kingston. 22. Naturalization Court admits 162 people to citizenship here..........Frank Koronkiewicz named super intendent of Nanticoke State Hospital. 24. Rev. Mathew Sedlacko, celebrates his first mass at St. Joseph's Slovak Church, city..........Gideon Society holds annual convention here........Death of Attorney John F. Reynolds, Tunkhannock, Wyoming Seminary trustee............Death of Fred J. Beach, 90, civil engineer. 25. Rev. A.D.Behrends, Avoca, named moderator and Rev. W.H. Sugden, city, vice-moderator of Lackawanna Presbytery........B.G. Grandall rsigns as associate secretary of Chamber of Commerce...........Army engineers find that small sizes of coal were once used as fill along River Common. 26. Mr. and Mrs. John Sponauer, city, wed 50 years..........Henry M. Graham, executive director of Luzerne County Public Assistance, resigns to become executive director of United Charities..........Revolutionary War burial place uncovered in Kingston..........Annual Wyoming Conference of Methodist Episcopal Churches opens at Kingston M.E. Church. 27. City School directors retain 16 1/2 tax millage...........Annual conference of American Primitive Methodist Churches opens at East End P.M. Church. 28. Mr. and Mrs. Adam Buttman, Plymouth, married 50 years..........John C. Haddock heads Community Welfare Federation..........Forest fire on East End Mountain is fought by 750 men..........Electrical service to back mountain communities is disrupted by storm. 29. Death of Harry Goldberg, city, retired merchant. 30. Luzerne County Spanish War Veterans hold 40th reunion here..........Dr. Joseph F. Elward of Washington, Plains native, elected secretary of American Therapeutic Society...........Commonwealth's case against Emerson Jennings and Charles Harris nol prossed. MAY 1938 1. Lehigh Valley retires from local passenger station Louis Frank, 30 years station master, Herbert Brainbridge, nightman, and Gus Long, veteran porter. 2. Seven of 26 ministerial changes for Wyoming Conference in Wilkes-Barre district..........Richard C. Davis, Ivo Giannini and David Yelen admitted to practice before Luzerne County bar..........Merchants ask City School Board to cooperate with Federal and State Governments in schooling for store workers.....Investigators arrive to study WPA case records..........Unification with Methodist Protestant Church referred to churches by closing State Conference of Primitive Methodist Church..........Kosciuszko pageant at Irem Temple.......... Parking meters net new high in April with $3,922..........Ashley sponsors WPA project for widening boulevard. 3. Final session of Jewish Women's Institute hears Lillian Miller Sosnow..........Lutherans hold 86th convention in Scranton......George Powell to build Wright-Slocum road for $30,000..........Presbytery of Lackawanna membership falls off 213...........F.J. Weckesser will give kitchen to Girl Scout Camp Wildwood... Ex-soldier attempts life of Miss Nellie Loftus, welfare nurse..........Registration will purge voters' list of 3,000..........Pennsylvania Power & Light Company claims it can save city $4,000 a year..........American Mining Congress meeting in Cincinnati predicts mammoth lake under Wyoming Valley coal fields if companies now pumping water to surface find costs prohibitive. To each ton of coal mined here 26 tons of water are pumped.. Price on parking meters to city drops $20 each. 4. Mr. and Mrs. Burton B. Compton, Mehoopany, wed 50 years..........Mr. and Mrs. John Scott, Kingston, wed 54 years........Miss Elsie E. Bennett named Y.W.C.A. Camp directress..........Unclaimed $61,982 in County banks, belonging to depositors may be escheated by State..........Lackawanna Presbytery says "the prevalent gambling mania is a social disease and cancer.".....Governor Earle grants Good Friday bomb slayer Fugmann reprieve and psychiatrist is appointed..........Edwardsville offers $70,000 school bonds to highest bidder. 5. Hard coal urged as better filter than sand for Hollenback swimming pool..........William A. Hughes marks 40 years with Bell Telephone..........Judge Fine swings from neutrality to indorse Pinchot for governor.... City Council favors sale of cemetery coal..........Boys and dogs kill wildcat at East End. 6. President Martz calls Bucknell here financial drain on parent college..........Miss Cassedy's pupils dance for milk fund.....Approval given Bucknell Junior College drive for $30,000. 8. Rabbi Louis M. Levitski addresses Synagog convention in Chicago..........General Hospital listed largest in State outside Philadelphia and Pittsburgh..........Local Jews unite against world oppression......Harvey's Lake taxpayers issue map of mountain area..........Local forest fires show big 1938 gain. 9. Expert instructs toward catepillar war..........Knights of Malta begin 46th State convention.......Mr. and Mrs. David J. Williams, Heights, wed 50 years. 10. Attorney Charles B. Waller, succeeds Anne Dorrance, president of Wyoming Commemorative Association..... County to contest refusal of schools and fire houses as polls..........County list purged of 2,395 voters. 11. Wyoming Baptists hold 96th convention at Mehoopany...........State approves $2,000,000 dike here.... Concerts mark 100th year of teaching music in public schools. 12. Open house at hospitals marks National Hospital Day...........Rally at Temple hears former Governor Pinchot.......Welfare agencies back State's merit system. 13. Paul Shonk, 57,alias Dull, Edwardsville, attempted killer of Welfare nurse, Loftus, found "insane" and committed to Fairview Hospital..........Welsh Baptists hold 83rd convention at Parsons. 14. Judge James terminates gubernatorial campaign at crammed Armory..........Bishop Hafey confirms 500 at St. Mary's.......Canadians want duty-free anthracite..........Motorcade brings 100 hotel executives from 30 States. Northeastern Pennsylvania Osteopaths meeting here examine 200 free. 16. Diptheria drive starts..........City high schools list 853 graduates..........New air stamps in heavy demand.......Commission merchant builds $3,000 cooling plant..........Judge Farrell sees Bucknell boon to city...........Glen Alden explosion kills one, hurts three..........Eleanor Jane Burns, Misericordia pupil, gets first Pennsylvania award from Trinity College, London. 17. Arthur H. James wins Republican gubernatorial nomination..........Valley schools employ 3,000. 18. Township Commissioners' State Association meets at Sterling..........Local air mail up 1,500, honoring 20th anniversary of air service. 19. Pennsylvania Retailers make Percy A. Brown vice-president..........Nanticoke draws 20,000 to 10th annual Eucharist.......Demonstration clinic for 150 County midwives. 20. Miss Norna Knoll succeeds H.M. Graham as head of County Pulic Assistance. 23. Boy Scouts start three new troops......E.J. Quinn, new Valley Chamber of Commerce head.....Bucknell drive nets $27,000. 24. Frederick J. Stegmaier, Jr., injured in plane crash. 25. Rexford J. Noack, Nanticoke, succeeds Hoyt E. Heller, Wapwallopen, as assistant county school superin- tendent........Jury rules "manslaughter" against William David Jones, Oakdale miner, slayer of daughter's sweetheart. 26. Con McCloe first president from Pennsylvania for Field Club.........."Rip Van Winkle" at Children's Theatre.......New phone system in court house includes 76 grand sets..........Concilation Board warns United Mine Officials illegal strikes are hazard to anthracite...........Operators strike Martz and White bus companies. 27. Funeral of W.P. Gallagher...........Governor grants Fugmann, "Easter Gift" bomb slayer, reprieve until July 18.......Busses instead of trolleys to Harvey's Lake and Courtdale approved by State..........City school levy stays at 16 1/2 mills. 28. Dickinson College to give Judge Arthur H. James doctor of law degree. 30. Pleas for return to American ideal mark Memorial Day. 31. Little Theatre gives "The Ghost Train"..........Twenty-six Shriners and wives entrain for Los Angeles convention.......State approves $750,000 WPA jobs ..........Joseph Rybotycki, 40, Scranton derman Donahue, Parsons..........Gang of five passes bad $5 bills. JUNE 1938 1. American Legion gives ambulance to city..........Recently established Communication Station at airport furnishes hourly weather and atmosphere reports to United States Weather Bureau..........John C. Haddock heads new Contributors' Council of Welfare Association. 2. Charles W. Millard starts 51st year with Second National Bank..........Wyoming Valley Aotobus and White Transit companies contest for new lines..........Court asked to void Hudson Coal Company bonds..........Police catch three West Side girl runaways..........Volpe mine blast at Butler Colliery kills 10 and hurts six. 3. Miss Emma Bellamy, Plymouth, succeeds Miss Sarah Krewson, directress General Hospital School for Nurses. Smoke complaints prompt Lehigh Valley Railroad to supplant coal engines with Diesel type..........Ernest H. Bennett succeeds James Harrison as Wyoming Seminary music director..........Spurt in coal output gives $2,500,000 pay to miners...Funeral of Rev. Patrick J. Colligan at Plymouth. 4. Park program marks 14th annual Kirby Park. 5. Freak wind and hail storm wreaks havoc..........Governor Earle and Bishop Hafey at dedication of $100,000 home for Polish Union of North America..........Scranton University graduates 142..........Valley high schools will graduate 4,000. 6. Lehigh Valley Railroad to dismiss many from office staff in economy move..........City playgrounds need 60 instructors........College Misericordia graduates 54. 7. Regional convention of America Guild of Organists..........County lawyers land Federal Court sessions for city in April and September.......Groups move to avert local L.V.R.R. staff cuts........Luzerne borrows $10,000 to pay borough officials. 8. Samuel Oppenheim leaves $15,000 to niece and nephew..........County silk industry spins yarn annually for 100,000,000 pair women's hose..........Anthracite rehabilitation plan suffers when main producers carry large tonnage into June at May prices..........Mayor defends finance details of $400,000 WPA project. 9. State moves to collect $216,700 on promisory notes in local closed banks..........Children's Service Center will pay $73,000 for two modern cottages at Home for Friendless Children..........Six of eight in Hazelton 11-miles-of-copper-wire theft sentenced to prison..........Community Welfare 1938 collections are at 61.4 per cent compared with 53.2 a year ago.....WPA $87,000 project will occupy 110 men for eight months to beautify the City River Common..........Northern Anthracite Bankers meet at Irem Temple Country Club.... Bucknell Junior College gives certificates to 44..........Security League asks monthly minimum of $95 for WPA workers. 10. Wilkes-Barre Institute holds 84th commencement. 11. Judge Arthur H. James gives key-note campaign speech at Philadelphia. 13. West Side school districts get $15,000 income from coal lands set aside by early settlers for education. State Pharmaceutical Association holds 61st convention at Irem Temple..........Nuangola Theatre summer season opens with "Yes, My Darling Daughter." 14. Lehigh Valley Railroad abandons city round house..........Chamber of Commerce asks governor not to shift Kingston Motor Police barracks..........Service clubs mark Flag Day..........Tuberculosis summer camp will serve 136. 15. G.A.R. High School graduates 229..........State Odd Fellows to come here in 1939. 16. Mr. and Mrs. William A. Williams, Miners Mills, wed 50 years..........Noted attorneys appear before court en banc which hears $3,000,000 lawsuit dating back to Civil War days..........Coughlin High School graduates 381..........County Relief Board appoints 20 file clerks..........Pharmacists will meet at Johnstown in 1939. 17. City issues new trafic code..........Local silk industry adds $10,235,000 yearly to community's buying power......Philadelphia specialists treats 62 here for Crippled Children Association..........Lehigh Valley lops off two trains to New York and two to Hazelton..........Lewis and Bennett Hardware Company marks 112th year. 18. College Entrance exams at Coughlin High School. 19. Kingston host to Six-County Fireman's Associations....St. Mary's High School graduates 48...$700,000 Mahanoy City High School. 20. City residents lose $20 and insurance companies $6,126 in May fires..........State rules counties must pay dental and medical costs for delinquents..........Dr. Frank E. Dougherty named city school dentist with $1,200 salary. 21. Nuangola Theatre shows "Tovarich"..........Episcopalians buy plot on Dallas highway for church.....City Council appoints three new fire lieutenants..........Federal Court dismisses $25,000 libel case against Postal Telegragh........City withholds airport payment..........County will spend $100,000 to sell 10,000 parcels of tax-delinquent lands valued at $5,000,000. 23. Strike stops Ringling Brothers-Barnum & Bailey circus here..........34 playgrounds open for season.... Edward F. Finney made president Central Labor Union..........Trade unions protest use of NYA labor at Nanticoke..........Firemen parade three miles on West Side before 40,000..........Avoca $56,723 WPA job will give sewing to 40. 24. Court permits drive on tax-delinquents through August..........Lytle Coal minority stockholders lose court case.........Medical Society surveys county needs..........Plymouth dedicates library. 26. General Hospital names 12 new internes.....Mercy Hospital to have six new internes.....Irem Temple safe robbed of $300........Commission orders milk price to drop from 13 to 11 cents. 29. New lamps on South Washington Street will save city $570 a year..........Medical Council 12th District meets at Irem Temple Country Club..........Officials pick east corner of Miner Park for swimming pool. 30. First half of year shows $250,000 decline of building operations in city a against a year ago.....Lehigh Valley Railroad sells $1,000,000 Wyoming Valley Water Supply bonds..........Hanover School Board dismisses 21 workers....Alden Coal Company buys $100,000 equipment..........Death of Mrs. Helen Ripley of Forty Fort. JULY 1938 1. Pringle bus taps new area..........Teamsters' Union calls strike at city department, hardware and furniture stores.....Motor Police sub-station at Kingston ordered transferred to Wyoming Barracks. 2. Four members of Freeland family and two guests killed in collisiom near Allentown..........Roy E. Stahl of Boyertown elected cashier of Nanticoke First National Bank..........160th anniversary of Wyoming Massacre observed with address by Dr. Frank Monaghan of Yale University. 4. New Holy Rosary Church at Duryea dedicated..........One killed, score injured in county, despite appeal for safe, sane Fourth of July. 5. Bela B. Smith takes up new duties as superintendent of Kingston Borough Schools..........Paper box company to move operations from Williamsport to Kingston...........Thomas J. Callahan of Swoyerville new chief clerk of State House of Representatives..........Death of J.C. Knorr, businessman. 6. Robert W. Bowen appointed general manager of Luzerne County Institution District..........Joseph G. Schuler appointed deputy receiver of closed banks in county..........Flood control decisions by Army engineers stir West Side community officials..........Hanover Township Commissioner Board ouster hearing opens. 7. Catherine McNelis, John McNelis, Joseph D. Flynn and E. Frederick Low of Tower Magazines, Inc., indicated by Federal Grand Jury in Nw York on charges of using mails to defraud. 8. Hanover Township School Board accepts new stadium..........Tobyhanna military reservation thrown open to game hunters for first time. 9. Lightning kills Larksville youth as rain floods valley..........Three million dollar increase noted in income taxes paid in 12th Revenue District for 1937..........109th Field Artillery departs for annual encampment at Indiantown Gap. 10. Northeast District of Sportmen's Clubs riticize Judge Leach of Lackawanna County for condoning the catching of fish with hands..........Charles F. Henning, West Pittston civic leader, dies. 11. Collapse of bridge at Benton camp kills Bloomsburg Boy Scout.............Warfare of Luzerne school directors goes back to court..........Louis Chesna of Hanover Township electrocuted by live wire near Miami, Fla..........Dial Rock Coal Company pays $288,325 in royalties. 12. Workmen begin destruction of Hillard block on northeast corner of North Main and Union streets...... Pittston City Council takes steps toward new city hall..........Plains High School annex plans approved by State. 13. Body of man found murdered at Tamaqua identified as Peter Genelli of Wilkes-Barre..........1,700 Susquehanna Collieries Company employes vote to strike..........DuPont engineer and pilot escape in plane crash at Blakeslee..........New Upper Lehigh Coal Company at Freeland leased to Charles H. Walker of Kingston Township. 14. Howard Hughes and flying companions pass over Scranton in 3-days, 19-hour flight around the world. 15. Large unpaid indebtedness of Pittston Company of Pittston Company ordered subordinated by Pennsylvania Coal Company.........14 barbers give haircuts to 3,800 CCC boys at Tobyhanna..........Conrad J. Lipp, retired businessman, dies. 16. Local Germans disavow Nazi movement. 17. Michael Fugmann of Hanover Township dies in electric chair at Rockview Penitentiary for Easter gift bomb slayings in 1936. 18. Abondoning of Wilkes-Barre & Eastern Railroad line hotly opposed before Public Utility Commission... Mayor Loveland invites court test of decision to stop bingo games after August 15..........Georgetown Settlement Camp at Meadow Run dedicated. 19. Local legislators summoned to Harrisburg for special session..........Shake-up follows new majority in Nantioke City Council..........Fifteen waitresses reject union in secret vote in mayor's office. 20. State propses three 4-lane highway for Luzerne County projects..........2,500 greet Illustrious Imperial Potentate Andrew A.D. Rahn of Minnesota at Irem Temple..........Cole Brothers' circus plays at Miner Park. 21. National Resources Committee reports net decline of 42,000 jobs in anthracite mines since 1929......... No. 6 Colliery employes of Susquehanna Collieries Company declare holiday..........D. & H. Railroad locomotive turns over after ramming stalled Central Railroad of New Jersey train at Yatesville. 22. Governor Earle asks Interstate Commerce Commission to rescind its 11c-a-ton increase in anthracite freight rate.......109th Field Artillery returns from camp at Indiantown Gap. 24. Heavy rains raise river and creeks here..........West Wyoming M.E. Chapel opens 50th anniversary observance.........Mrs. Ellen A. Kane, city, dies. 25. S.S. Peter and Paul's Ukrainian Catholic Church, city, announces plans for new $17,000 school........New England General Contracting Company gets $73,500 Kingston Post Office job..........Wilkes-Barre School Board rejects proposed $1,000,000 building program..........seven homes and railroad track damaged by mine subsidence at Hughestown. 26. Narrows road, Kingston, closed while road is being built over dike. 27. Gen. Max Tyler of United Sates Army engineers visits here to inspect site of Edwardsville flood control dispute........City Commissioner Thomas Toole resigns from State Legislature..........Plains School Board rescinds part of PWA loan request and decides to sell bonds for money to build school. 28. Rev. Montreville Seely, East Lansdowne, named pastor of Kingston Baptist Church. 29. Patrick J. Connolly, Forty Fort, named permanent manager of Wilkes-Barre Unemployment Compensation Office.......Pittston City Council protests removal of L.V. Railroad repair shops from Coxton to Sayre. 31. Holy Savior parish, East End, gives reception and $1,000 purse to Rev. William McAndrew, curate, recently appointed pastor at Bear Creek. AUGUST 1938 1. Five injured when lightning sets off two explosions in DuPont powder plant at Moosic..........Ben W. Goldberg and Francis J. Beckley appointed assistants to district attorney..........P.A. Golden elected principal of Kingston High School....Beer sale at picnics barred by Liquor Control Board unless permit obtained. 2. Councilman Frank O'Neil of Kingston ordered to turn seat over to William Aten by court en banc decision ........Narrows road at Edwardsville raised as part of flood control barrier. 3. City engineers report indicates 20, 500 tons of coal mined beneath City Cemetery under 49-year-old agreement.......Coroner's jury terms blast at Butler slope of Volpe Coal Company unavoidable..........Early morning fire causes $25,000 loss at Mascari building on South Pennsylvania Avenue........Government declines to sponsor mine-flushing operation in Scranton. 4. 1,000 stripping workers in Hazelton area strike..........Plains wins county American Legion junior baseball title. 6. Believing Venezula oil cuts in on anthracite sales, Chamber of Commerce objects to proposal to reduce or cancel existing fuel-oils duty.......Superintendent Gebhardt denies rumor Lehigh Valley will discontinue passenger service here.....Kingston residents protest erection of horse stable, 235 Rutter Avenue. 7. First National Bank celebrates 75th year..........Historical Society holds large benefit on Sordoni estate at Harvey's Lake. 8. Fire Chief Saricks orders orders inspection for leakage under all underground gasoline tanks....State Motor Police Commissioner Foote tells Rotary 42 per cent drop in motor deaths due to new 50-mile speed limit law..........Fifty WPA workers begin filling stagnant pools left from dike construction on North River Street below greenhouse............Flower Club urges planting of iris as valley-beautiful project..........I.C.C. denies request of Citizens Anthracite Conference for local hearing on coal and freight rate dispute....Pressed steel company to build $11,000 addition..........WPA builds 100 miles of highway in county with 9,000 workers at $1,000,000 a month. 11. At Benton Park 2,000 stand in rain an hour to hear Judge Arthur H. James. 12. Glen Alden Coal Company pays $50,000 taxes in advance to Hanover Township..........Edward Griffith, Glen Alden executive, predicts less working time for miners and additional burdens on anthracite industry if United Mine Workers' proposed regulatory bill passes State Legislature. 15. State condemns caving half-million dollar Hanover school..........Shirley Henry, 14, Kingston, saves 16-year-old girl from drowning..........Rev. Francis L. Kasaczum, Sugar Notch, marks 30 years a priest...Welsh Day, Fernbrook Park, draws 3,000 largest crowd in 15 years, to hear Judge Arthur H. James..........Forty Fort Burgess objects to alleged use of Communist flag by WPA workers to direct traffic. 16. William Morgan, 16, Ashley, drowns in Harvey's Lake..........Fire Department lietenants ask City Council for same pay as captains..........United Mine Workers propose three-man commissions for hard coal industry revival..........Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Charles A. Jones, visits city..........Edgar M. Simonis of Scranton to manage new Comerford Theater. 17. Scranton Mayor vetoes move to annex Dunmore Borough..........Hugh V. Brown of Tamaqua re-elected president of District 7, United Mine Workers of America..........overflow audiences see "Alexander's Ragtime Band" at opening of new Comerford Theater. 18. State American Legion opens 20th convention in Scranton..........WPA will employ 120 on white-collar jobs to survey local housing conditions..........West Pittston residents protest culm-pile heat which burns paint from houses and makes tenants ill..........Thousands beseige Wilkes-Barre and Nanticoke Unemployment Bureaus filing claims for compensation. 19. County physicians agree with Board of Public Asistance on $i for office visits and $2 for home calls... Scranton sees 5-hour march of World War veterans..........Legion to meet in Williamsport in 1939. 21. Susquehanna Collieries workers, Nanticoke, striking since July 13, will ignore order of U.M.W.A. President Lewis to return to work. 22. Francis (Scoop) Begley, 36, Pittston, killed and two others injured in mine locomotive boiler explosion.. Completion of Nanticoke State Armory among 6 WPA projects approved at cost of $62,000.......... Leading anthracite producers announce 10 to 25 cents a ton increase in mine prices, effective September 1.......... Proposed by-pass from Ashley Boulevard to Stanton Street abandoned because of cost. 23. Rev. and Mrs. Abram Lewis, Sr., wed 50 years..........Narrows road opened to traffic, Kingston to Plymouth.....Col. Ernest G. Smith advises sponsors be appointed to assist boys leaving Kis-Lyn School...... Eighteen local coal companies will distribute $1,000,000 to workers this week..........Andrew B. Dunsmore, 68, Wellesboro, drops dead in Tioga County court room. 24. P.U.C. approves Trackless Trolley Company here..........Kingston girl saves life of man who intends suicide on Market Street bridge..........Pennsylvania Public Utility Company rejects complaints against Scranton-Spring Brook Water Company brought by Scranton Taxpayers' Association. 25. D & H Railroad recalls 30 from furlough, due to sudden pick-up in coal and freight..........County coal mining firms spent $300,000 and farmers $27,000 in 1938 for new equipment. 26. Local unions from C.I.O. Valley Council "for co-operative action to advance the cause of industrial unionism".......Thousands see 2,000 playground children in Kirby Park pageant..........Harvey's Lake property owners favor sidewalk to safeguard pedestrians. 27. Mr. and Mrs. D.J. Corbet, Wilkes-Barre, wed 50 years..........Judge Arthur H. James places blame for unemployment on "New Deal's hymn of hate against business." 28. Irish Day draws 20,000 to Sans Souci Park..........Moriah Congretional Church, Nanticoke, marks 50th anniversary. 29. John C. Kehoe pressing collections from "tax-dodgers" declares two-year moratorium on Pittston school taxes possible if all delinquent taxes were paid..........Rr. Rev. R.F. Wilner, Episcopal Suffragan Bishop of Philippine Islands, and family arrive for six months with his mother in Plymouth, to provide American education for the three children. 30. Chief engineer, Major Hyde, tells Rotary $1,200,000 of $1,930,000 spent to date on local flood control went to workers, 93 per cent of whom were local men..........Mr. and Mrs. Llewellyn Lewis, Edwardsville, wed 54 years..........President Roosevelt allocates $270,000 WPA projects to county..........Forty Thousand dollar loss when fire destroys abandoned Parrish Street school. 31. County Public Assistance Department lists 216 appointments to staff, largest single number ever to qualify by Civil Service examinations..........Two-inch rainfall ends devastating 14-day drought.......... Miss Frances Dorrance succeeds the late Miss Margaret Jackson as librarian at Hoyt Library, Kingston....Mr. and Mrs. Charles Herdman, Kunkle, wed 50 years. SEPTEMBER 1938 2. Third-class cities approve Mayor Loveland's plan for continuing central suspension of traffic lights instead of hanging them from curb standards..........Descendents of Mathias Hollenback hold reunion at Conyngham Hillside estate. 4. Annual convention of Polish Alliance of America opens at Plymouth where it was organized 42 years ago. Ukranian Youth Chorus in 6th annual convention, Pittsburg. 5. Five injured in auto crash on Effort Mountain. 7. Mrs. Celeste Priuzman, 84 Shavertown, wins Dallas Union W.C.T.U. medal..........City teachers hold institute. 8. Retreat Poor Farm and Mental Hospital valued at $2,669,012.59..........City schools reopen. 11. Wilkes-Barre Council approves electric instead of gasoline motor pumps for five stations along flood control levee. 12. Charles Deal, Huntsville, injured at Wyoming Valley Airport when his airplane crashed before take-off. 14. Deficit of $177,000 raises Wilkes-Barre's indebtedness to $377,000. 15. Attorney William J. Fahey, Kingston, named special counsel for State Water Power and Resources Board in Wyoming flood control district........State awards $150,000 contracts to Chestnut Hill contractor for long advocated Luzerne by-pass. 17. Constitution Day mass meeting in Irem Temple presided over by Attorney Charles B. Waller and addressed by William S. Livengood, Jr., Salisbury. 18. Second National Bank, Wilkes-Barre, celebrates 75th anniversary..........Five motor injuries on rain- drench streets. 19. Three-day session of training institute of County WPA Educational and Recreation Division addressed by Dr. A.D. Thomas, veteran superintendent of Hazelton schools..........Chamber of Commerce co-operates with Luzerne Civic Association to get State to repave Bennett Street, Luzerne..........City Clerk Lucius Eldridge discovers 95-year old parchment map of Wilkes-Barre..........Kingston officials and clergymen collaborate on distribution plan for output of WPA sewing project..........West Side Flower Club holds 5th annual show at Wyoming Avenue Church........Wilkes-Barre school directors elect five teachers and a fireman at stormy session. Rotary visits model dairy farm of Andrew J. Sordoni, Harvey's Lake. 21. Battle cruiser Honolulu, in command of Captain Oscar Smith, appears unannounced at England.......Wyoming Valley Council Boy Scouts celebrates 22nd anniversary..........Lottery exposed through sale of $10 books of WPA workers.....Five-day rain and swollen streams is all that Valley feels of Atlantic Coast hurricane. 22. Sordoni Construction Company rushes workers and trucks to hurricane-stricken Connecticut.....Confiscated gambling devices ordered destroyed by court..........Kingston Borough chooses electric pumps for three stations along flood control levee. 24. Mr. and Mrs. Merritt L. Line, Wilkes-Barre, wed 50 years. 26. Hotel Sterling will pay $4,100 for concrete smoke stack..........Enio Regina, 24, Hilldale, pleads guilty to fatally shooting wife Jean in April..........United Mine Workers see European war threat as boon to anthracite industry..........Nanticoke accepts bequest of late Samantha Mill for public park and library. 27. Pittston issues $70,000 bonds toward new city hall on lower Broad Street..........Health Center sponsors two-months war on rats and mice..........University of Pennsylvania Extension School inaugurates classes in journalism..........Primitive Methodist Church of America holds 13th general quadrennium at First P.M. Church, city..........PWA grants $17,818,for East End grade school..........D. & H. R. R. car men celebrate 14th year without accident. 28. Plymouth Township sewing project reopens after summer's controversial closing..........New York woman pleads guilty to shoplifting $2,000 drygoods here in February..........Toby's Creek culvert dispute is settled and work starts.......Central Y.M.C.A. marks fourth year in new building. General Secretary Devendorf rounds out 40 years' service and Physical Director Anderson 30 years. 29. Governor Earle signs Shapiro Bill, giving "governmental headaches" to county commissioners in refinancing Retreat............Henry Resse, 74, becomes honorary 3rd Degree Mason, for 35 years' Masonic service..... President Judge William S. McLean resigns from Luzerne County Common Pleas Court because of ill health.... Marble statue of Mrs. Henry Palmer on North River Common is among markers to be relocated, due to the new dikes. 30. Judge B.R. Jones becomes president judge..........Eleven from county pass bar exams..........Mayor proclaims local theater drive starting Monday, honoring 15th year of Little Theater.......Bell Telephone sends crew to aid New England flood areas. OCTOBER 1938 1. Wilkes-Barre Chapter, 120, American Newspaper Guild, called a strike on the four Wilkes-Barre papers, The Evening News, Sunday Independent, Record and Times-Leader. All three daily papers publish as usual. 2. Sunday Independent is published on Sunday as usual. 3. All three daily papers publish regular editions despite Guild strike..........Joseph Sullivan, newly appointed to Duryea Council, is ousted by courts..........Culm bank fire at Harry Colliery, Plains, extinguished after three weeks. 4. All three daily papers suspend publication indefinitely on account of Guild strike. 5. Charles A. Brader, Wyoming, dies. 7. Arthur Hull, 50, Trucksville, dies suddenly.......Death of Henry W. Merritt, druggist and former Wilkes-Barre postmaster...Edward J. Lokuta, Dupont undertaker, dies. 8. State Federation of Bible Classes meets. 10. Flagrant violations of the registration laws are uncovered at Court House..........2,750 striking miners at Nanticoke agree to a four-day truce while mediators try to adjust grievances. 12. Unites States Senator James J. Davis asks United States Senate to probe WPA political activities in Luzerne County. 13. Senate committee promises full investigatin of WPA charges here..........James L. Williamson, city, insurance broker, dies. 16. Paul Gies directs a concert on old instruments at First Presbyterian Church, city. 18. Mr. and Mrs. Clinton Honeywell, Luzerne, wed 50 years..........Joseph Capozzi, Wilkes-Barre, pleads guilty to conspiracy to violate Intenal Revenue law and is sent to Federal prison..........Two girls escape from new Woman's Detention Ward of County Jail..........Little Theater presents "First Lady." 20. Death of Francis Devlin, theater manager. 21. Ex-Senator Patrick F. Joyce, 71, Pittston, dies. 22. Mrs. P.F. Joyce dies day following her husband. 25. Senate Campaign Expenditures Committee upholds some of the charges made by Senator Davis on WPA political activity in Luzerne County..........F.J. Weckesser gives West Northampton Street property to Bucknell Junior College. 26. County solicitor is instructed to bring action against minors who falsified their ages before County Registration Board. 28. Miners at Nos. 6 and 7 collieries, Susquehanna Collieries Company, get $270,000 unemployment compensation after ruling on their three-month "holiday"..........Work begins on Kingston Township grade school. 30. Wilkes-Barre school directors acept $171,818 PWA grant for a new East End school..........Mary N. Baker is elected president of Pennsylvania Library Association..........Scare caused by realistic horror play broadcast from New York radio station. 31. Margaret Mitchell first woman foreman of a county Grand Jury..........Court in banc ignores pleas on behalf of Democratic candidates who ask nullification of purge of 8,000 voters' names. NOVEMBER 1938 1. Abandoned Centennial School on Moyallen Street to be razed..........Sergeants Norman E. Annich and Stanley Smith promoted to lieutenants in State Motor Police; Sergeant John Carr made first sergeant; and Sergeant Joseph H. Miller made first lieutenant. 2. At Courthouse 100 voters appear to complain against contemplated purging of their names from voting lists......Death of Rexford J. Noack, 45, Forty Fort , assistant County Superintendent of Schools. 3. Samuel C. Chase, civic leader, dies suddenly............WPA political charges are upheld..........Five minors are arressted for false and fraudulent registration. 4. Mine foreman examinations taken by 58..........County banks will distribute $1,000,000 in Christmas savings funds....County Christian Endeavor has annual convention at Memorial Presbyterian Church, city...Death of Con J. Johnson, 62, Freeland band leader..........Four men are arressted for conspiracy to reister minors. 6. Agnes Davis, soprano, in concert at First Presbyterian Church. 7. Enio Regina, Hilldale, gets 10 to 20 years' sentence for shooting his wife..........Registration figures show 113,711 Democrats and 10,725 Republicans in county..........Nanticoke gets $29,655 PWA grant for new station. 8. Arthur H. James, Plymouth, elected Governor of Pennsylvania as Republicans sweep State; Republicans get two local seats in State Legislature..........Wilkes-Barre City goes Democratic. 9. Death of Mrs. John J. Walsh of Plains..........Repubicans will control House but lack two seats for majority in Senate. 11. Welfare Federation drive opens with $360,000 as goal..........Kingston Council adopts ordinance providing for removal of trolley tracks on Wyoming Avenue..........Armistice Day parade has 5,000 in line of march..........Northeast District Luther League convention held at St. John's Lutheran Church. 13. Rev. Richard J. Curnow, 63, pastor of Schickshinny Presbyterian Church, dies..........Death of William Brace of Plymouth. 15. Henry W. Heidenreich, 82, former mayor of Hazelton, dies.........George E. Gwilliam, Plymouth, sails for British Isles with Senator James J. Davis..........Andrew J. Sordoni is to control Arlington Hotel, Binghamton..........Hazelton franchise in Eastern Baseball League goes to Scranton........Miss Bettie Jessup Morgan, Kingston, and Frederick Charles Kirkendall, city, wed at Brookline, Mass..........Death of T. M. Conniff, 85, Plains lawyer. 16. Death of Miss Jean V. Quinn, chief operator for Bell Telephone Company. 17. County Commissioners drop charges of irregularities against 36 election boards in county and direct prosecution of two other boards..........William S. McLean, Jr., retired presient judge of Luzerne County Common Pleas Court and brigadier general in command of 53rd Field Artillery Brigade, dies at North Mountain. 18. Election Board throws out vote in two county districts because of alleged fraud............. New hosiery mill will hire 150 employees. 19. Seven crippled boys and chauffuer, on way to Kirby Health Center for treatment, are drowned when automobile plunges into water-filled mine hole in Wilkes-Barre Township..........Death of J.K. Weitzenkorn, retired merchant. 22. Pittston Community Chect drive goes over top by $2,000..........Death of Jesse A. Alden, 75, Hazelton, former county assistant superintendent of schools. 23. United Mine Workers forsee delay of month or more in calling tri-district convention..........Plymouth Council approves new $17,000 fire engine..........Mrs. Anna Goode Stahl, teacher, dies in classroom at Coughlin High School. 24. State Insurance Commission appoves non-profit hospitalization plans for Wilkes-Barre and vicinity... Church of Most Precious Blood, Hazelton, is rededicated by Bishop William J. Hafey............Nine-inch snowfall for Thanksgiving. 25. Verdict of $5,000 each awarded 10 boys for injuries received in a D. & H. wreck at Avoca in 1933..... State Department of Forests and Waters takes over 13,105 acres of land at Kingston Creek and Rickets Glen.... $72,000 to be spent in city for housing survey..........Welfare Federation drive nets $310,117....W.W. Burleigh, cashier of Luzerne National Bank, resigns to become executive vice-presient of First National Bank, Hudson, N.Y......$15,000 fire at F.J. Grontkowski garage, Plymouth. 27. Cornerstone of St. Michael's Carpatho-Russian Greek Catholic Church, Hazelton, is dedicated by Bishop Orestes P. Chornak. 30. Razing of Warner homestead and dental offices, North Franklin Street, built about 1865, begins. Typed by Janie Symons, May 2004