WILKES-BARRE RECORD ALMANAC

RECORD OF LOCAL EVENTS

Principal Happenings in Luzerne County For the Year
Which Began December 1, 1938 and ends November 30, 1939

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 It is not to be published to any other web site, 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, 1938

1. Frank Rezwillis, accused of breaking county jail in 1924, arrested in New York City. He was later freed by 
Judge Valentine . . . County court holds fair sales act unconstitutional . . . Michael F. McDonald appointed 
successor to late Judge William S. McLean.

2. Charles W. Monie new superintendent of water company’s Pittston district.

6. Arnold Heatherby killed in explosion of blow torch.

7. Ewen Colliery at Pittston resumes work after five-month shutdown.

8. L. L. White new president of Pennsylvania Coal Company, formerly Pittston Company . . . John Kehoe appeals 
$316,846 Federal tax deficiency and penalty assessment.

12. State pushes Luzerne County investigation of alleged payroll padding.

13. Dozen WPA workers injured when truck hits tree on Suscon Highway.

15. Last of million dollar loan refunded by county.

16. Commission investigating Volpe Company’s Butler Slope disaster on June 2 resumes hearing . . . Luzerne 
County Court rules James carried county by 388 votes; Democrats promptly appeal to State Supreme Court.

17. Rev. Francis P. Donnelly, Pittston native and professor at Fordham, celebrates 50th anniversary as Jesuit 
priest.

20. Robbers crack safe in Pittston furniture store for $2,000 . . . Public Utility Commission orders 
Pennsylvania Power and Light Company to reduce rates $2,300,000 a year . . . State announces warrants will be 
issued for 4,000 Luzerne County residents for obtaining relief under false pretenses.

21. Body of Margaret Martin found trussed in burlap bag immersed in Keelersburg Creek, North Moreland Township, 
Wyoming County.

27. Three structures in Ashley business section burn in midnight fire . . . Governor-elect James confers with 
leaders on anthracite situation . . . Cold wave grips region.

28. Fire badly damages Sky Club on East End Boulevard.

JANUARY, 1939

1. John Regalis, student flier, killed when monoplane plunges 3,500 feet into Exeter Borough river land.

10. Grand jury blames “many persons and corporations” for drowning of eight in Wilkes-Barre Township cave hole 
November 19 . . . Plymouth Dry Goods Store gutted by fire.

11. Raymond J. McQueen fatally shoots Avoca neighbor and kills self . . . Miss S. M. R. O’Hara is named 
Secretary of Commonwealth.

12. Col. Robert M. Vail of Kingston succeeds late Judge McLean as brigadier general of 53rd F. A. Brigade.

13. Heavy snow blankets region . . . Retiring Governor Earle names new mine inspectors.

14. Liquor agents seize $10,000 cache in Freeland raid.

16. Nanticoke fire engines collide in rush to $35,000 home fire.

17. Arthur H. James of Plymouth inaugurated as Governor of Pennsylvania.

18. Sunday Independent signs contract with Newspaper Guild, ending strike against that newspaper . . . 
Congressman Martin Dies of Texas speaks at Scranton.

22. Sunday Independent publishes first local regular newspaper in 16 weeks.

24. Judge Farrell postpones until May 1 tax sale of 60,000 properties . . . Elimination of hairpin curve on 
East Boulevard proposed to county commissioners by State . . . Captaincy asked for Faustin Wirkus of Dupont, 
former “king” of La Gonave.

26. Two Hazelton miners rescued from caved-in tunnel 1,000 feet underground.

27. Lawyers urge naming of Judge Valentine to State Superior Court vacancy . . . City teachers hold institute.

31. Osterhout Library observes golden anniversary.

FEBRUARY

1. New Huber Colliery of Glen Alden Coal Company opened at Ashley.

3. Sleet makes motor travel in mountains dangerous . . . Rev. Charles D. Gallagher new pastor at St. Theresa’s
 Church.

4. Lackawanna Railroad reopens Kingston roundhouse, shut down since April . . . Attorney Joseph McDonald of 
Dunmore new internal revenue collector.

5. George Kaschak of Edwardsville burned to death when fire destroys home.

7. John F. McLaughlin elected president of First National Bank at Avoca.

8. Six Susquehanna Collieries Company miners refuse to stand trial on dual unionism charge before UMWA 
tribuna l.

9. Catholics mourn death of Pope Pius XI . . . State Department of revenue exempts Woolworth stock from 
personal property tax . . . County pays $16,000 for former Reichard & Weaver Brewery plant.

10. J. Gordon Mason named deputy attorney general by Governor James. 

15. Enlarged unemployment compensation area moved to city from Scranton.

16. Wilkes-Barre Teachers’ Association hears Fulton Oursler, editor . . . Will of late M. E. Comerford gives 
Frank C. Walker power to direct Comerford Theaters . . . Governor James puts anthracite plan up to operators.

17. County Controller Bierly flies annual report for county institution district . . . referee rules carrier 
boys are employes of newspapers and subject to unemployment compensation. 

21. “Chaotic” prices of coal blamed on Glen Alden by Walter Oliver, Kingston Coal Company general manager.

22. High water forces closing of Wyoming Avenue near airport as river damages 14 lowland homes at Plymouth . .  
Sixty-three miners stay underground at Oneida, near Hazleton, demanding back wages.

26. Shouts block efforts of A. F. of L. to organize Nanticoke miners at rally.

27. Forty-nine registration clerks fired . . . Hazleton miners call off “sit-down” strike after one week 
underground . . . Glen Alden stockholders told firm’s future good . . . Pittston-Duryea Coal Company seeks 
reduction from Pittston City in valuation of Seneca Colliery. 

MARCH

1. Anthracite prices drop to lowest figures in 39 years . . . Federal Court approves reorganization of German 
Bakeries Inc., at Forty Fort.

3. Three-day work week at mines set to check price-cutting . . . Central Colliery at Avoca being dismantles . .  
Warrior Run students stage one-day sit-down strike.

7. Court authorizes grand jury investigation of alleged State Highway payroll padding.

8. Col. Carl Estes, advisor to Governor James, stricken while visiting here.

10. County seeks transfer of $80,000 from institution district fund to general fund.

11. State Policeman Hess, Santilli and Santee appointed sergeants; Werst and Connolly corporals.

12. Snow blankets area.

13. Annual Red Cross roll call drive opens . . . Henry Horvat awarded year’s salary by court verdict against 
Jenkins Township School District.

15. Admiral Harold R. Stark of Wilkes-Barre appointed chief of U.S. Naval Operations by President Roosevelt.

16. Charles Dorrance named president West Virginia Coal and Coke Company.

17. 51st annual St. Patrick’s Day eisteddfod at Edward’s Memorial Church . . . Mine cave affects Duryea region
 . . . Pittston School Board to appeal court reinstatement of Mary Langan to staff . . . Court refuses to oust
 Hanover Township commissioners on petition of 141 property owners.

20. Engine of Black Diamond express derailed at Sugar Notch . . . State Senator Leo C. Mundy charges effort 
made by U.S. Senator Guffey to oust him from Democratic leadership of Luzerne County.

22. Tri-District convention of U. M. W. A. opens in New York City . . . Court discharges deadlock jury in 
reward case involving capture of Peter Ducca, convicted slayer of Reilly and Campbell . . . Newspaper Build 
accepts contract ending 5 ½-month strike against daily newspapers.

23. Milk Commission orders two-cent cut in Scranton area prices April 1 . . . Four-day Bach festival opens at 
First  Presbyterian Church.

24. Decker Paint Store fire menaces second block of South Main Street . . . rev. Thomas A. Ahearn appointed 
pastor Church of Blessed Sacrament in Miners Mills . . . Forty WPA workers strike at Dupont.

25. Rev. Paul Silas Heath, formerly of Wilkes-Barre, called to Kalamazoo, Mich., Railroad.

27. Glen Alden directors omit quarterly dividend.

29. Independent coal operators vote against retention of three-day work week after April 1 . . . Pilot Edwin 
Ulco and companion of Duryea uninjured in forced landing on Towanda farm . . . Duryea School Board decides 
against April 1 closing of schools on receipt of $3,000 in tax money.

30. Four-day work week set at meeting of coal operators with governor James at Harrisburg . . . Jackie Munley 
of Scranton wins decision over Jackie Carter of Philadelphia.

APRIL

4. Daily newspapers resume publication after six-month shutdown caused by strike of non-mechanical employes, 
members of American Newspaper Guild . . . City Council approves by 3-2 vote sale of coal under City Cemetery .  
Jackie Williams, 10, burned to death in West Wyoming shack . . . Ancient well found on east side of Public 
Square by utility workmen digging trench.

5. Four hundred Luzerne County teachers join in Harrisburg protest against amending tenure act . . . Local 
membership enrollment in Boy Scouts shows 30 per cent gain in year.

6. Luzerne County Grand Jury urges indictments for 47 in State Highway fund inquiry involving alleged waste of 
$1,300,000 . . . Hard coal operators announce own legislative program for rehabilitation of industry . . . 
Dr. W. F. Davison of Kingston new county medical officer . . . Hard  coal pact talks put over until April 18 .  
Closing of East End road on eve of World’s Fair opening brings protests . . . 1,000 former employes of 
bankrupt Wyoming Valley Collieries Company lose move to gain title to coal pledged as collateral to Federal 
reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

7. Liquor agents seize Slocum Township still . . . $400,000 in new equipment purchased by county firms.

8. Special March Grand Jury returns 46 true bills in State Highway payroll inquiry . . . WPA issues report of 
three-year work in State and Luzerne County.

9. Easter arrives amidst biting wind and snow . . . Bill before Legislature would ban use of soft coal or oil 
in Northeastern Pennsylvania . . . Miss Leila Sterling fatally stricken at Little Theatre rehearsal of “Death 
Takes a Holiday” . . . Jersey Jewels win American pro basketball championship at New York City. 

10. Alden Coal Company miners asked to take 10 per cent wage cut by owner John C. Haddock . . . Pierce Street 
raising plans approved . . . School Board removes “I Went to Pitt” from high school libraries as result of 
protests.

11. Walter H. Hitchler, Plymouth native, dean of Dickinson School of Law, named to Liquor Control Board by 
Governor James . . . Larksville fire and police strike ends after 10 hours . . . UMWA obtains court injunction 
restraining Progressive Miners’ Union from seizing $4,000 on deposit in name of Anthracite Miners of 
Pennsylvania.

12. Anthracite operations adopt five-day week to prepare for any fuel shortages caused by soft coal work 
suspension . . . Winter rides back to valley on snowstorm . . . Richard Roberts of Wheeling, W. Va., walks 250 
miles to visit Edwardsville relatives . . . Wyoming Conference reports 2,000 membership gain in Wilkes-Barre 
District of M. E. Church.

13. Dr. Boyd Dodson observes 50th year as physician . . . Vulcan Iron Works studied as to wartime needs by 
Army officers . . . Thomas Kennedy principal speaker at Jefferson Day dinner in city . . . Duncan J. Kerr to 
quit presidency of Lehigh valley railroad . . . District 1 leaders of UMWA retain posts for two more years . .  
Clarence Aicher draws second perfect bridge hand in six months.

14. Rev. Russell W. Annich resigns pastorate at Grant Street Presbyterian Church . . . $100,000 given General 
Hospital on first day of drive to wipe out indebtedness.

15. Tom Kennedy denies shutdown scare for anthracite . . . Field work ended in city’s real property survey.

16. Kingston Coal Company operations discontinued indefinitely when mine locals refuse to accept wage cuts . . 
Only six Wilkes-Barre District pastoral changes made at Wyoming Conference session in Endicott . . . Jacob 
Wasnalas killed in collapse of “bootleg” mine shaft in Georgetown.

17.  Katherine Gangi of Ohio held as suspected counterfeit passer . . . Rev. Henry C. Banks of Peckville new 
moderator of Lackawanna Presbytery.

18. Lily Pons. Metropolitan Opera soprano sings at Irem Temple.

19. Mr. and Mrs. M. A. Rifenberry of Luzerne mark 50th wedding anniversary . . . Plymouth Borough Council 
adopts parking meter ordinance . . . Judge Eugene Bonniwell of Philadelphia speaks at annual YMCA sports 
dinner . . . Rocco Garramone and Corby Goreman of Hazleton sentenced in closing chapter of Kelayres Massacre. 

20. Kingston Borough and county agree to pay two-thirds of damages incurred in proposed four-lane highway of 
Union Street . . . Body of John Sarnicki, Retreat patient, recovered from river. 

21. Ten thousand drawn to bingo game . . . Joseph Gallagher of Hazle Township schools new district president 
of State Educational Association . . . Wilkes-Barre Publishing Company chartered. 

22. Major General Robert M. Vail of Kingston views 2,100 National Guardsmen at Scranton on eve of retirement .  
School district survey indicates 3,872 illiterates and 2, 789 aliens in city . . . Lieut. Col. Ben F. Evens, 
deputy adjutant general, honored at dinner.

23. Mrs. Clara Kessler of Benton observes 101st birthday anniversary.

24. School Board ponders $200,000 deficit . . . Buses to supplant street cars on Dallas line, effective May 1 .   
Choral groups seek reinstatement of Eisteddfod program at New York World’s fair . . . Fire damages three 
Pittston homes . . . Pittston School Board keeps millage at 22 . . . Mr. and Mrs. Henry J. Beck mark 45th 
wedding anniversary. 

25.  General Hospital debt-refunding campaign . . . River victim identified as Mrs. Josephine Maggi of Hudson .  
Japanese cherry blossoms bloom on River Common . . . Adolph Hansen marks 50th year as Concordia director .  
Ex-heavyweight champion Jess Willard referees CYO bouts at West Side Armory . . . Luzerne line to get busses, 
effective May 1. 

26. Increased expenditures of $1,600,000 in Luzerne County during first half of November, 1938, laid to 
“payroll padding” by State Secretary of Highways. 

27. Governor Arthur H. James throws first ball at home season opening game at Artillery Park . . . State money 
sent Duryea, Swoyerville, Foster and Hazle Township school districts . . . 1,6000 employes in one-day strike 
at new Huber Colliery of Glen Alden Coal Company.

28. Mr. and Mrs. John Repa wed 50 years . . . Francis J. Clarke of Ashley killed by train . . . Dr. Ralph D. 
Hetzel, president of Penn State College, addresses Alumni Club.

30. The Evening News merged with Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader at 44 West Market Street . . . Gas explosion 
injures five at colliery in Inkerman . . . Early morning fire damages Gibbs Milling and Feed Store at 
Nanticoke. 

31. Patsy Conno of Parsons dies of beating inflicted by robbers . . . Dallas car rams automobile on last day’s 
run.

MAY

1. Kingston school levy raised 2 mills to 25 . . . Frank W. Walp named supervising principal of Forty Fort 
schools . . . Polish residents begin fund raising campaign for Poland’s military defense . . . 1,000 attend 
patriotic meeting in Irem Temple.

2.  Rev. Ebenezer Flack of Kingston Presbyterian Church decides to retire . . . Coal tonnage shipments doubled 
in April.

3. Radio range station for airport nears completion at Exeter . . . Osterhout Library may close two branches 
because of money shortage . . . City tax collector reports nine of ten realty owners paying school taxes . .  
40 hour week at lower pay among demands made for miners by coal operators at New York conference . . . Mrs. 
Audrey Ferguson tells police she was kidnapped by three youths, who released her in central city after short 
ride.

4. Pittston store blaze causes $5,000 damage . . . Arlene Kohl and Mrs. Michalena Krawczyk die on railroad 
tracks in two accidents . . . New administration building at Retreat Hospital formally dedicated . . . Lehigh
 Valley Coal Company invokes plan for delayed interest payments and modification of sinking funds.

5. Gilbert Harris’ second automobile fatality of year in Wilkes-Barre . . . Helen Yauk found to have worked 14 
years in wrong office at courthouse . . . E. J. Quinn retained as Chamber of Commerce president . . . Hard 
coal pact extended another week . . . Missionary Bertha Dommermuth of Avoca seeks to adopt Paolo Vassiliadou, 
Ethiopian youth. . . South Wilkes-Barre Colliery miners in one-day strike.

6. James Redington, deaf mute, killed by railroad engine near Pittston . . . Triplets born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Michael Grivener.

7. Week-end forest fires sweep hundreds of acres . . . Rev. W. Owen Williams to retire as First Welsh 
Presbyterian Church pastor . . . John T. Samuel, Mrs. Mollie Kent and Mrs. Edith Jones to retire as teachers 
in city schools at end of term. 

8.  Mine mules reclaimed temporarily by idle workers with rifles at Nuremberg . . . Rev. L. L. Collins named 
pastor at Avoca P. M. Church with Rev. Thomas Cook going to Morris Run . . . River levee height irks Riverside
Drive residents . . . Hard coal negotiations at New York sent to sub-committee of eight . . . St. Nicholas 
High School seniors leave for Montreal . . . Luzerne County Board of Public Assistance confirmed. 

9. Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem opens 68th diocesan convention at Grace Church, Kingston . . . Law for vote 
on merger of Wilkes-Barre and Kingston sought in Legislature . . . Retaining dams for upper Susquehanna 
considered by Army engineers on tour of region . . . 20th anniversary of return from France to United States 
of 109th Field Artillery . . . Government to spend $85, 000 on Pittston postoffice improvements.

10. Hard coal production since January 1 exceeds previous year’s output for same period by 16 per cent . . . 
County high school will graduate 5,300 students in May and June . . . State moves to recover relief money paid 
2,000 who held highway jobs in county . . . Lyndwood school closed by Hanover Township authorities following 
mine settlement . . . Wyoming Baptist Association opens 97th annual convention at roaring Brook.

11. Dr. W. W. Waters continued as moderator of Wyoming Baptist Association.

12. Mine contract continued another week . . . J. H. Rockel postmaster at Wapwallopen for 44 years . . . West 
Pittston abandons its police bicycle for modern cruising car after 20 years. 

13.  “Test case” motion made before court by counsel for highway graft indictment defendants . . . Railroader 
Thomas Flannery killed under train at Hudson yards of D. and H. Railroad.

14. Sacred Heart R. C. Church, Duryea, observes golden jubilee . . . Fire drives seven of Metro Sop family 
from Larksville home . . . Week-end false fire alarms stir Fire Department.

15. Carey Avenue Bridge span burns for three hours, disrupting traffic between Plymouth and Wilkes-Barre . .  
Kingston Coal Company Colliery to be permanently closed because of high cost mining . . . Independent coal 
operators attack legislative bill for anthracite rehabilitation . . . Property owners ask school board to 
reduce $126, 860 expense of school supervisions . . . Governor James signs bill banning fireworks except toy 
pistols and caps. 

16. Louise Wohl of Wilkes-Barre to fight deportation order before House committee in Washington . . . Harry 
Drum killed in front of home, fourth auto fatality of year . . . City buys land for airport radio beam . . . 
Congressman Walters of Easton asks Justice Department to investigate Hotel Sterling trusteeship.

17. Low rent home appeal in valley reveals grave problem as evictions increase . . . Mrs. Martha James Edwards 
of Forty Fort to be hostess at dedication of Pennsylvania Building at World’s Fair on May 19 . . . Report 
indicates Alden Coal Company losing money before shutdown two months ago . . . Episcopal parish at Dallas 
plans church . . . Master Plumbers conclude annual convention.

18. City to collect fee on underground gasoline storage tanks under 22-year-old ordinance . . . Kenneth J. 
Guest appointed Plymouth Borough controller.

19. New $300,000 highway near airport proposed by State . . . Rudy Vallee refutes claim James Opie Brokenshire 
wrote music to “The Maine Stein Song.”

20. Two Miners Mills sisters suffocated, third overcome in near midnight fire . . . Robert A. Eyerman, Jr., 
state president of new Junior Chamber of commerce . . . John Lucas of Plains wounded by bullet from gun being 
used by friend to kill stray cats. 

22. R. Ramsey Mebane new president and Thomas J. Collins new vice president of city school board after Edwards
relinquishes job . . . Mr. and Mrs. George Hoats wed 60 years . . . Rev. Joseph Pennell and daughter,Beatrice,
to get degrees same day at Dickinson College . . . Balloting of Kingston Coal company miners interrupted by 
theft of ballot box . . . Wyoming Valley Jews take new pledge to continue fight for homeland in Jerusalem .  
96th anniversary of first passenger train to Wilkes-Barre . . . City schools issue annual graduation lists 
involving 885 pupils.

23. Walter P. Johns resigns as city engineer to accept position with Caldwell Consistory,Scottish Rite masons, 
at Bloomsburg . . . Guy B. Walker new city engineer . . . Pringle Borough picked for dam in flood control 
system . . . Elm Park Church of Scranton first to switch to new principals of newly-united Methodist churches.

24. Edward Benning claims to be oldest former newsboy for daily Record . . . Highway Department probe cases 
postponed to another term . . . Poland gives gold medal to Stanley Warakomski of Nanticoke.

25. Alden Coal Company workers ballot to return to United Mine Workers of America from Progressive Miners 
Union . . . John Lucas of Plains dies of bullet wound accidentally received on May 20 . . . Betty Clarke, 
Selma Freed and Carol Hippensteel awarded college tuition as winners of American Legion essay contest . . . 
Miners swarm over State Capitol in protest against bill fixing production quotas . . . Attorney Arthur 
Silverblatt new Social Council head . . . Public Utility Commission approves use of trackless trolleys by 
local railway on West Side lines.

27. Anthracite operators and mine workers reach new two-year agreement after six weeks deliberations.

28. State Senate junks proposal for Government regulation of anthracite industry . . . St. Stanislaus’ Slovak 
Church convent dedicated . . . Forty former BIA boys attend rededication of Ellen W. Palmer memorial on River 
Common.

30. John Carr of Sugar Notch and Anthony Gorman of Plains inducted into Franciscan Order at Washington . . . 
Ideal weather marks Decoration Day observance . . . State Trooper Harry Christ of Wilkes-Barre slashed with 
knife in performance of duty at Doylestown . . . Legislature raises amounts State will contribute to valley 
hospitals.

31. Building permits for month show $80,000 increase over like period in 1938 . . . Three Pittston area youths 
drown in Susquehanna River . . . Kingston Coal Company employes vote return to work if wage scale is same as 
prevailing before shutdown in mid April. . . Mine settlement closes two Wyoming Borough schools . . . Kingston
School Board sets millage for 1939 40 at 25 . . . R. W. Barrett named acting president of Lehigh Valley 
Railroad.

JUNE

1. Arthur G. Davis of Lackawanna County succeeds Joseph G. Schuler as deputy receiver for State Banking 
Department . . . Nanticoke School Board adopts 28-mill levy, a reduction of two mills.

2. Lehigh Valley inaugurates “clean-lined” train on New York run . . . County once paid $40,000 for courthouse 
air-conditioning system used only one day . . . 27 priests assigned to Scranton Diocesan posts by Bishop 
William J. Hafey . . . Rev. James C. Leeper installed as pastor of Wyoming Presbyterian Church, succeeding 
Rev. R. H. Sinclair.

3. Rev. John Gorman, Rev. Jacob G. Wideman, Rev. Frank Baranowski, Rev. John A. Madaj ordained in class of 14 
at Scranton’s St. Peter’s Cathedral.

4. Fred M. Kirby honored at annual Kirby Park exercises . . . Midnight train collision on D. L. and W. in New 
Jersey injures five local persons.

5. City school teachers’ pay reduced $18,600 yearly as board slices budget and boosts tax rate one mill to 17 
½.

6. Cole Brother’ circus performs at Miner Park . . . Councilman Tom E. Williams charges Osterhout Library 
possesses “Communistic literature.” Which is denied by library . . . College Misericordia commencement . . . 
Police called when George S. Sobeck refuses to leave seat after dismissal as Luzerne Borough secretary.

7. Excessive cost of Luzerne County WPA projects reported to U. S. House of Representatives committee . . . 
Trolley tracks to be removed in Heights and Rolling Mill Hill sections . . . Sixty Wyoming Barracks State 
policemen sent to Williamsport region to guard King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of England on their train 
trip through central Pennsylvania to Washington June 8 . . . Edwardsville Borough School Board has four 
chairmen in 10 minutes as fathers sign diplomas of graduating daughters. 

8. Rear Admiral Harold R. Stark and Dorothy James among guests presented to King George and Queen Elizabeth at 
Washington . . . Bucknell Junior College graduates 49.

11. Hail and thunderstorms bring 22-degree temperature drop in five hours from peak of 92.1 . . . Odd Fellows 
arrive for 116th annual State session.

12. Police clear hall as election of Local 1138 of UMWA at Edwardsville turns into battle . . . Cleveland 
Indians blank Wilkes-Barre in exhibition baseball game, 7 to 0.

13. Wyoming Seminary commencement . . . Rev. Arthur Mayo new minister of St. Andrew’s and Bennett Memorial 
Church . . . John Wysocki of Hanover Township appointed football coach at Clifton Heights . . . School board 
orders destruction of two-room school building in Port Griffith . . . First of a series of articles on the 
history of the North Branch Canal. 

14. Daniel C. Roberts named “Bucknell’s Man of Year” at commencement exercises.

15. Vandals cause $1,000 damage at Hamline Methodist Church, near Shickshinny . . . Back Mountain residents 
complain of water shortage. 

16. Forty independent producing companies adopt coal production quota for three-month period. . . Mollie W. 
Kent and Edith Shaw Jones retire from Coughlin High School faculty Reopening of School Shaft at Exeter 
expected within week . . . President Roosevelt submits name of Rear Admiral Harold R. Stark to Senate for 
confirmation as chief of naval operations . . . Police to enforce quarantines of homes with meningitis as 
epidemic spreads.

18. State Aerie of Eagles opens 28th annual convention . . . Rev. Leon Harter of West Pittston celebrates 
first mass.

19. New Kingston branch postoffice opened . . . City school board and council accept tax abatement plan . .  
Jersey Central Railroad files plan for ICC for readjustment of capital structure . . . Army engineers complete
government construction of Toby’s Creek conduit . . . Ida Eyer retires from city school faculty after 41 
year’s service.

20. Chauncey mine to reopen . . . 229 county lawyers urge Judge W. A. Valentine to run for reelection . . . 
Police investigate death of James M. Cain of Edwardsville . . . Borough officials and citizens seek to 
forestall closing of Kingston Coal Company mine . . . Three West Pittston residents benefit by $344, 000 will 
of Jessie Ford Smith, former Pittston resident.

21. Six-County Firemen’s Association in convention at Hazleton . . . Ralph Morris installed national vice 
councilor of Jr. O. U. A. M.

22. Rev. Paul Silas Heath receives honorary Doctor of Divinity degree at Princeton University commencement .  
John Strzelicki, 15, of Honey Pot, rescued from 250-foot ledge . . . Woodward Colliery employes call holiday 
because schedule precludes jobless insurance . . . R. W. Barrett of New York acting president of Lehigh Valley
Railroad . . . Sliding scale reductions in railroad fares effective July 1 . . . Thomas V. Brennan renominated
Plymouth postmaster.

23. Razing of Children’s Home on South Franklin Street planned . . . Asher Blockof Heights elected rabbi of 
New York City temple . . . Kingston Coal Company files bankruptcy petition . . . Rev. Robert E. Graham new 
Shickshinny Presbyterian Church pastor.

25. Roy E. Brownmiller convicted by Dauphin County jury of permitting the $600,000 overloading of Luzerne 
County payroll while Secretary of Highways . . . Henry Picard wins $5,000 Anthracite Open Golf tourney at 
Scranton County Club.

26. Attorney Leo G. Knoll, Nanticoke native, appointed to State Workmen’s Compensation Board . . . Mine 
operators and union form pact committee for interpretation of new agreement . . . Kis-Lyn Board members 
reappointed by court . . . Public Assistance Secretary Howard Russell addresses social workers . . . John C. 
Metcalfe, Dies committee investigator, speaker at Meyers High School meeting . . . New State penal code 
sponsored by Attorney Frank P. Slattery signed by Governor James.

27. Governor James signs bill extending license plate deadline from December 31 to March 31, 1940, and voiding
drivers’ permits January 31 . . . John Kehoe of Fittston wins $316,846.97 decision by U. S. Circuit Court of 
Appeals in income tax deficiency case . . . National American Legion Commander Stephen Chadwick guest of 
Pittston post.

28. National Safety Council report for 1938 automobile fatalities rates Wilkes-Barre in ninth place tie with 
5.7 deaths per 100,000 population . . . Heights swimming pool closed as more meningitis cases are found . . . 
$500,000 assigned to local hospitals by State.

29. Scranton Diocese buys Coughlin estate near Tunkhannock for Catholic Boy Scout camp . . . Anthony Piasecki,
janitor, electrocuted at Ashley . . . Laurel Line motorman victim of heart attack as train approaches city .. 
UMWA told Reconstruction Finance Corporation has acted to avert flooding of local mines following Kingston 
Coal Company shutdown . . . Lehigh Valley Railroad orders 500 coal cars.

30. Storm ends driest June in 43 years.

JULY

1. Four thousand released from WPA jobs. 

2. Valley begins record exodus over holiday . . . Coal mining shows slump . . . Norman Reilly Raine, author, 
returns to Wilkes-Barre for visit . . . Rev. Bernadine Rypinski, Mocanaqua, reads first mass . . . Two more 
Luzerne by-pass sections thrown open . . . Busses go through to Harvey’s Lake.

3. Wilkes-Barre School Board suspends nine teachers to make room for as many older kindergarten teachers whose 
departments are eliminated . . . Eight teachers retired at age of 68 . . . Mosquitoes irk residents . . . 
Dallas Township School Board seeks estimate on cost of completing Goss Manor school . . . City permits 
trackless trolley terminal on Public Square . . . Third meningitis death.

4. Estimated 50,000 persons spend July 4 at amusement parks . . . Day passes without injury by fireworks . . 
Glen Alden to bunch working and idle days to permit employes to get compensation checks.

5. Kingston coal assets exceeded liabilities in bankruptcy petition . . . Chamber of Commerce protests 
proposed development of hydro-electric plants . . . Residents urged to cooperate in mosquito extinction . . . 
Kis-Lyn bans visiting due to meningitis outbreak.

6. Seven Avoca residents killed in auto crash near Daleville . . . Old Beaumont home razed . . . No agreement 
reached between old line and independent coal companies for curtailed operations . . . Robert Russell, father 
of Rev. A. B. Russell, nears 90th birthday  . . . Kingston Coal Company bankruptcy hearing called.

7. Dickson City and West Nanticoke men killed in Loomis Colliery rock fall . . . Fire damages C. F. Goeringer 
home at Lake Louise . . . City’s 16th meningitis victim reported . . . Mercury hits 93 degrees . . . June 
Carlson, actress, visits her grandmother, Mrs. J. A. Rogers, Huntsville.

9. Thomas Cannon of East End killed when auto hits pole . . . Wyoming Valley swelters with temperature in 90’s
. . . Anthracite operators urged to oppose bills for Federal mine inspection by Louis C. Madeira, 3rd, 
executive director of Anthracite  Institution . . . Exeter Colliery, Payne Coal Company, reopens after six 
weeks’ suspension . . . Governor James attends Republican-Democratic baseball game at Artillery Park.

10. Bodies of Samuel Pietraceini and Julius Petraitis recovered from Susquehanna River . . . Body of Charles 
Deeker recovered from Lake Winola . . . Independent coal operators to try stabilized prices and output 
supervision for months . . . Rev. Francis R. Edwards, Shenandoah, elected pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church  
25 appointed to set up DPA workers’ list  . . . 12-ton trailer truck loaded with paint upsets near Ashley .   
Luzerne and Lackawanna WPA offices may be merged.

11. 700 Plains residents sign petition asking vote for merger with Wilkes-Barre . . . Attorney Joseph P. 
Olexy, Plymouth, named workmen’s compensation referee . . . Luzerne County’s 69th meningitis case reported . 
Unions call strike on WPA . . . Rev. J. J. O’Leary to note silver jubilee . . . A. C. McHenry is 90.

12. Anthracite delegates joined by many other interests in fight on Delaware River power dams . . . Lackawanna
trains use relocated tracks at Shickshinny while new highway is under construction . . . 35 highway projects 
ratified and men will be recalled by WPA . . . Dismissed sewing project women picket Governor James’s home.

13. $1,723 in costs won by Alderman Frank B. Brown in court case . . . Burgess Samuel Brokenshire, Plymouth, 
sends police to stop Mrs. Elizabeth C. Flynn, admitted Communist, from speaking . . . Rev. Francis P. McHugh 
marks 25th year of his ordination.

14. Wilkes-Barre Council passes resolution for merger vote with Plains . . . Action on rate sheet delayed by 
Alden Coal Company mine workers, idle since March . . . Mines enter slack season as companies try to move 
anthracite jam to market . . . 11 taproom owners cited.

16. Grass blazes plague city’s fire fighters . . . Fire damages Carey Avenue bridge . . . Sale of beer at 
Valley View picnic stopped by liquor agents . . . Fire rages along mile front between Noxen and Beaumont.

17. Carey Avenue bridge to reopen August 1 . . . Cultures to be taken of 1,500 Loomis workers to halt 
meningitis spread . . . Plains gets $17,700 to pay its teachers . . . Wilkes-Barre School Board passes up 
textbooks criticized by American Legion . . . 30-hour week requested by postoffice workers at convention . . 
White Haven residents criticize road repairs and petition for better materials . . . Marion Thompson, 
Nescopeck commission merchant, gets year in jail for Nescopeck National Bank falsifications . . . Wilkes-
Barre schools’ debt lowest in state . . . Manuel Marquis, Pittston, and Manuel Caselas, Hughestown, stabbed in
free-for-all fight.

18. Abandoned cooperative creamery at Dorrance Corners leveled by fire . . . Luzerne County Gas and Electric 
Corporation gives up use of river coal . . . Pennsylvania Railroad officials confer with Chamber of Commerce 
on possibility of making Wilkes-Barre divisional headquarters for railroad.

19. Norma Knoll, director of DPA since May 1, 1938, dismissed by county boar . . . Completion of pave between 
Stoddarsville and Blakeslee expected by August 11 . . . Twenty independent coal operators continue moves for 
regulation . . . 2,000 nobles see largest class of novices initiated at Irem Temple Country Club . . . Second 
Loomis Colliery employe dies of meningitis, making ninth death in county from the disease.

20. 40,000 spectators see flames level Robbins Lumber Company buildings on Carlisle Street, with $135,000 loss
5,000-ton gain shown by Glen Alden this year . . . Alden Coal Company employes accept pact for reopening of 
mines . . . 71st case of meningitis reported.

21. Elisabeth Wolfe, 11, Plymouth meningitis victim . . . Shorter mine week discusses by Anthracite Board of 
Conciliation . . . William M. “Little Bill” Phillips, Kingston, appointed deputy director of motor vehicles 
at $4,000 a year . . . Lehigh Valley Coal Corporation losses cut sharply.

23. Sweet Valley man is 73rd victim of meningitis in county since January 1 . . . Mrs. Gladys Endler, 23, 
Wilkes-Barre, drowns in Susquehanna River at West Falls . . . Body of Mrs. Nellie Mundy, West Pittston, 
recovered from Susquehanna River . . . Wilkes – Barre Lace Manufacturing Company places problem of mined 
anthracite usage on coal companies . . . Sprinkle of rain first since early June to terminate drought . . . 
Thirty forest fires char 300 acres in Luzerne County.

24. 7,000 file petitions for primary election . . . Fees net $8,520 for Luzerne County treasury . . . John C. 
Kehoe retires from Pittston school director race . . . WPA projects indicate boom, with 425 men recalled . .  
Temperature hits 93 as dry spell continues . . . Indictments charging 46 defendants with waste of $800,000 of 
State Highway Department funds are voided by court.

25. Record established by 28-day drought, greatest since 1900, with temperature at 95 . . . State prepares 
enlarged force to fight forest fires . . . Dr. Emmett L. riley, 27, resident physician at Pittston Hospital, 
and Joseph Turel, 19, of Port Griffith, orderly, killed in Moosic automobile accident . . . Luzerne by-pass 
pave nears finish . . . Samuel K. Mitchell, Forty Fort, elected director of Second National Bank.

26. Lack of water may lead to closing of collieries . . . Young Men’s division and Sales Executive Council of 
Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce outing at Irem Temple Country Club breaks attendance record . . . Rev. C.A.
Staib, pastor of St. Nicholas’ Church, celebrates 25th anniversary of ordination . . . County WPA headquarters
office force cut . . . R. F. C. Considers loan to Kingston Coal Company.

27. Day-long downpour breaks drought damaging Luzerne crops; cloudburst hits Berwick . . . Wilkes-Barre 
Council plans passage of resolution permitting use of trackless trolleys around Public Square . . . United 
Mine Workers to act on usage of river coal by concerns . . . 73rd meningitis case in county reported in 
Hanover Township.

28. Appeal procedure in quashing of highway indictments begun as district attorney presents 52 exceptions to 
court . . . Edward Brown, Jr.. 13, Hanover Township, meningitis fatality . . . DPA completes labor roster .  
Valley’s longest drought in nine years ended by five-hour downpour . . . Lois Taylor, 6, Kingston, drowns 
trying to save cousin.

30. Thirty-eight remain in races for ten county posts; 50 abandon candidacies . . . Valley deluged by 
torrential rain in third downpour of day . . . 2,000 WPA workers hope to avoid furlough.
July 31. Valley enjoys mild weather after storm . . . David Mahler son of Trucksville minister, killed in 
motorcycle accident . . . Letter from President Tyler in 1844 found at Forty Fort . . . State Liquor Control 
Board suspends 19 additional licenses in city . . . George H. Horst marks 50 anniversary with Benesch’s Store .  
Month’s rain falls in two days.

AUGUST

1. Trackless car permit passed by councilmen . . . Stanley Szyzyk, 33, dies after family fight . . . June 
business in city on upgrade . . . Nine women get degrees at College Misericordia.

2. Richard Sedor, 12, strangles while ducking in wading pool . . . Miners Mills home damaged by lightning .   
Colnrad Lukachik, 9, deaf mute, train victim.

3. Joseph Mackrowski, 32, Scranton, electrocuted at Ewen Colliery . . . Lightning bolt kills Leo Probutkiewicz, 
6, Kingston . . .New State administrator closes local WPA offices, Harry Williams dropped as manager . . . 
Road to Pocono area opened . . . Robert Moyles, 11, Pittston, strangled while playing with rope . . . Free 
Methodist Church Camp opens at East Dallas.

4. Mining board studies wage and hours of 4,000 miners . . . 109th Regiment shoves off for army war games in 
Virginia . . . Carey Avenue Bridge reopened for traffic after three months’ repairs.

5. Woolworth stockholders exempted from tax . . . Glen Summit Casino destroyed by fire . . . 150 will get jobs
in reopened dress firm at Plains . . . 2,000 visitors witness Camp Acahela Follies.

7. Luzerne School Board fights buying rest of grid field . . . Dallas Township votes to build more school 
rooms and abandon Goss building . . . Fire damages South Main Street Stores, including McCrory’s . . . Mrs. 
Dorothy Hawke, widow of William N. Hawke, appointed Ashley Borough auditor.

8. Bishop George Leech of Harrisburg and Bishop William Hafey of Scranton attend 60th anniversary celebration 
of Sugar Notch church.

9. Federal measure paves way for reopening of Wyoming bridge . . . Mrs. Sarah McGuire, Kingston, named to 
state post of 8 and 40 auxiliary.
	
10. Mrs. Rachel Wyckoff, 91, Kingston, recalls Lincoln as President . . . Luzerne fires Joseph Dukinas as 
health officer . . . Eight pumps arrive for flood control dikes . . . Kirby books go to Lafayette College.
	
11. Two men killed in Henry Colliery rock fall, breaking recognized safety record.
	
13. Trees blown down as .7 inches of rain sweep Wyoming Valley . . . Salvation Army acquires property for 
playground. 
	
14. John Graham dies in hospital after knife wounds . . . Peter Wanko, Jr., 6, Edwardsville, councilman’s son,
killed by truck . . . Ireland considers statue offer from John J. McDevitt.
	
15. 7,000 attend cornerstone laying by Bishop Hafey at St. Stanislaus’ Orphanage . . . Governor James speaks 
at Welsh Day with Senator J. J. Davis . . . St. Charles’ Church, Sugar Notch, observes 60th anniversary.
	
16. Mrs. Marion Williams, 91, Plains heads family of five generations . . . Bishon Hafey officiates as 14 
sisters take vows . . . Penny meters cut down cars on Plymouth streets.
	
17. Francis Kozich, 9, Plains, drowns in McCullough’s Pond.
	
22. $40,000 to be spent on Kirby Health Center repairs . . . Leroy Honeywell, Plymouth, State guard of 
P. O. S. of A.
	
23. RFC forecloses against East Boston Coal Company for $366,000 note and interest . . . 434 persons sign 
petition to preempt Communist party for election in November . . . Broadwell Colliery resumes work.
	
24. Publisher Bert Howard punched twice by Councilman Houser . . . Miners refuse to merge 1,600 unemployment 
compensation appeals . . . T. G. Wadzinski sworn in as county commissioner . . . 60,000 Scrantonians pay honor
to juvenile star Gloria Jean . . . Man attempts to kidnap Emma Ruth Shaver at Shavertown.
	
25. Osterhout Library ends book buying.
	
26. John E. Cule drowns at Harvey’s Lake

27. Nineteen lives endangered by Pittston blaze.

28. Coal prices revert to April level . . . $718,631 paid Glen Alden by U.S. Government . . . School board 
finds money for transportation of pupils from Parsons and Miners Mills areas.

29. Union drivers go on strike against Merchant’s Association . . . Joseph Yenchis, Nanticoke, killed in 
Truesdale Colliery.

30. Marvin French, Kingston Merchant, killed when hit by car on Wyoming Avenue . . . 700 Pittston District 
mine works recalled . . . Jersey Central may use Lehigh Valley tracks.

31. Anthracite Operators’ Association hear reports on regulation of output, price stabilization and adoption 
of fair code of practices to govern marketing . . . Attorney Peter Jurchak, Mt. Greenwood, assumes duties of 
deputy attorney general under State Liquor Control Board . . . Burgesses Lewis S. Reese, Kingston and Samuel A. 
Boyd, Forty Fort, start safety drive after five fatalities . . . Children’s Service Center cottages open for 
public inspection . . . August rains are light.

SEPTEMBER

1. W. W. Inglis, Glen Alden Coal Company president, tells operators to end battles and sees European war as 
boom for anthracite.

2. Columbian Squires run city government for a day.

3. Holy Name Society rally held at Hazleton . . . Electric storm hits valley, but damage is slight.

4. Wyoming Valley marks Labor Day quietly . . . Governor Arthur H. Day attends Junior Mechanics’ picnic at 
Harvey’s Lake.

5. Wilkes-Barre School Board names seven high school teachers . . . Wilkes-Barre Council approves new terms in
trackless trolley pact . . . communists lose fight to preempt county party. . .Three more meningitis cases 
reported, making 83 in county since January 1 . . . County Commissioners Riley and Wadzinski fire 22 in 
registration office. 

6. Wilkes-Barre Teacher’s Institute at Coughlin High School . . . Wilkes-Barre wholesale grocers predict 
little chance of sugar shortage due to European war . . . R. J. Bartow, Kingston, new director of Luzerne 
County Department of Public Assistance . . . Plymouth Council approves tentative plans for dike construction 
at $700.000.

8. Sordoni’s riding Academy at Harvey’s Lake destroyed by fire . . . 15th meningitis death is reported . . . 
Thomas Kennedy, international secretary-treasurer, relates U. M. W. A. History at NLRB hearing involving 
dispute at two collieries.

9. County again leads in relief . . . O. Louis Ehmann, Wayne, elected Pennsylvania Building and Loan 
Association president as 62nd convention ends . . . Edwardsville gets community ambulance.

11. Old Reichard and Weaver brewing plant is saved from serious fire damage . . . More than 50 priests of 
Polish Roman Catholic Churches plan raising funds for Poland’s war sufferers.

12. Increased car loadings give local railroaders work . . . Plains votes down annexation.

13. Anthracite Relief Committee for Poland organized . . . Terms of officers of District 1, U. M. W. Of A. 
Increased from two to four years at biennial convention . . . Executive committee of Community Welfare 
Federation sees need for minimum of $360,000 for social welfare agencies . . . Kis-Lyn Industrial School crops
hard hit by drought.

14. Luzerne County’s 84th meningitis case reported . . . Michael Linso New Edwardsville school director . . . 
First Welsh Presbyterian Church opens 75th anniversary celebration . . . Rev. Francis R. Edwards pastor of St.
John’s Lutheran Church.

15. NLRB hearing in jurisdictional dispute at two collieries terminated . . . Attorneys Joseph Fleitz, Wilkes-
Barre, and Adrian Jones, West Hazleton, dismissed as county assessors.

16. Luzerne by-pass is formally opened.

18. Wilkes-Barre School Board appoints William O. Roberts supervisor of music . . . Deputy Fire Chief Stanley 
Williams and four privates escape uninjured when car hits Laurel Line train . . . Clement Maslowski new band 
leader in Plymouth schools . . . Wyoming Valley’s fourth observance of Anthracite week begins with exhibits on
Public Square.

19. Thousands pass bier of Arthur H. James, Jr. . . . Lackawanna Presbytery accepts resignation of Rev. 
Ebenezer Flack from Pastorate of Kingston Presbyterian Church . . . Wilkes-Barre Council approves new 
ordinance permitting abandonment of rails. 

20. James H. Gansel, Kingston, observes 90th birthday anniversary . . . Twelve graduated from Wyoming Valley 
Homeopathic Hospital . . . 86th meningitis case reported . . . Demand for coal due to war and weather brings 
coal car shortage . . . First coal boost goes into effect.

21. Overall sales rise 200 per cent as valley shops, mines call more to work . . . Surface subsistence shakes 
20 residences in Hughestown . . . Abandoned ice house near Butler Street viaduct gutted.

22. State Police rodeo attracts 12,000 to Artillery Park

24. St. Joseph’s Polish Church, Plains, jubilee celebration . . . Shawnee Choral Society sings at New York 
World’s Fair . . . Rev. Dominic J. Lombardi, O. S. J., Says first mass in St. Anthony’s Church, Exeter . . . 
Rev. John J. Kutsky is honored at testimonial dinner.

25. Anthracite coal output three million tons ahead of 1938 . . . Two Pittston teachers reinstated with back 
pay.

26. County farmers hit by year’s worst drought . . . More than 150 from 28 Methodist Churches attend World 
Service Conference in Kingston Methodist church.

27. Prison Board restrained from making jail discharges . . . Howard K. Russell secretary of DPA, give advice 
to 500 staff members at Meyers High school . . . Mayor Loveland starts drive for safety, courtesy . . .. Rain 
falls to effect drought . . . River lowest in 17 years.

28. News reporters barred by Democratic assessors as they secretly fire 38 and appoint  26 . . . Injunction 
issued forbidding possible dismissals in institution district . . . Rev. Carl P. Cummings feted . . . Wilkes-
Barre’s August fire loss fixed at $137,100.46.

29. Staff Sergeant Joseph Weimar reports 139 valley youths joined army in month . . . Rains bring temporary 
end to threatened drought.

OCTOBER

1. Two thousand witness airplane meet of Wyoming Valley Flying Club . . . Rev. W. Owen Williams, Heights 
pastor, retires . . . Six killed, score hurt in auto accidents.

2. Lehigh Valley Railroad reestablishes three divisions to meet expanding business . . . fire damages Fort 
Durkee Hotel . . . Prison Board restrained from discharging employes . . . Bids for sale of Wilkes-Barre and 
Eastern Railroad run $147,000 above estimates.

3. 1.35 inches of rain end long dry spell.

4. Anthracite operators file briefs seeking reduction in freight rates . . . Lehigh Valley Coal Company crew 
fights underground fire at Harry E. Colliery.

5. Parents seek $50.000 for five Wilkes-Barre Township cave deaths.

6. Fairview Township children are shaken when school bus overturns . . . Y. M. C. A. Opens membership drive.

8. Truck driver rescued from storage tower in Huber Colliery yards . . . Polish National Alliance gives 
$150,000 to American Red Cross . . . Samuel A. Rodgers heads National Association of Post office Custodial 
Employes.

9. Ten Woodward Colliery employes crushed when loaded mine car runs onto crowded cage . . . State closes 
Pierce Street and starts work on bridge extension over dike.

10. Welfare Federation sets $400,000 as 1939 campaign goal . . . County commissioners hire 29, fire 11. Salary
board creates 12 positions.

11. 160 voting districts in county termed too large. 

12. Bishop Hafey celebrates 25th year of ordination, gives $112,000 donation to Scranton Diocesan charities.

13. District Attorney Schwartz issues warrants for arrest of 60 in highway funds scandal.

14. Valley records first cold wave at 32.

16. Twenty-six named to teach city night school.

17. Two anonymous contributors provide money for park site in Parsons area . . . 34 furnish ball for alleged 
misuse of highway funds . . . Vincent Znaniecki succeeds Stanley B. Janowski as Nantikoke postmaster. 

18. Y. M. C. A. Campaign goes over top . . . More than 1,800 Luzerne County teachers attend annual convention. 

19. Two Larksville boys accidentally shot while playing football.

20. Traffic jams result from closing of North Street Bridge . . . DPA board charges WPA is evading lay-off 
rule and increasing assistance load.

22. Seven injured in week-end accidents . . . Rabbi Samuel Wolk feted on anniversary . . . Freak weather 
raises havoc for second day.

23. Firemen lay hose 4,000 feet to Wilkes-Barre township blaze . . . Snow falls and mercury sinks . . . 
Attorney John R. Hessel and James M. Stack appointed registration viewers by court.

24. Blue Ridge Stone Company, Inc., New Tripoli, awarded $67,241 contract to construct Wyoming Bridge.

25. Mr. And Mrs. H. C. Millard, Academy Street, killed near Almedia . . . Wilkes-Barre receives century-old 
map of city from Mrs. Blanchard Chapman.

27. Robert H. Garrahan awarded $126,500 by court for Wyoming Valley Airport ground.

27. G. O. P. Tries to halt purging of 3,0000 names . . . DPA board adjusts 14,000 records to meet increase in 
milk relief. 

29. Testimonial dinner in honor of Dr. Leo J. Brown, Supreme Director., Knights of Columbus, attended by 400 .  
Dr. Francis T. O’Donnell appointed state chairman of Child Health Society . . . Two die in week-end mishaps.

30. Luzerne County Agricultural Extension Association dinner . . . Bomb wrecks North Main Street barber shop . 
Night school enrollment 967.

31. Petitioners request court to name seven additional men Kingston Council . . . Farm Bureau has jubilee 
dinner.

NOVEMBER

1. Wyoming Council directs land be condemned for bridge approach . . . Large audience attends Little Theater 
play, first in some time produced without a paid director.

2. Trees are moved along River Common . . . United Mine Workers’ district vice-president headquarters shifted 
from Scranton to Wilkes-Barre.

4. Slippery, rainswept streets responsible for dozens of auto accidents . . . Attorney Charles Rozmarek, newly
elected president of Polish National Alliance, honored at testimonial dinner . . . 109th officers visit 
Tobyhanna.

5. Army-Notre Dame grid fans go through snow for third time in five years over Poconos . . . Season’s first 
sled mishap reported on East End Boulevard.

6. Twenty-three banks announce approximately $1,000,000 will be distributed to Christmas Club members . . . 
Pittston Township Board fires all but teachers, principal . . . New building activity shows big increase.

7. Mrs. Catherine Kunkle Kresge, mother of  S. S. Kresge, founder of Kresge Stores, observes 100th birthday.

9. Col. Ernest G. Smith named county chairman of Job Mobilization campaign by Governor Arthur H. James . . .
Memorial service for Attorney Evan C. Jones held at courthouse . . . Kingston Council directs solicitor to 
oppose legal action to increase council from 7 to 14 members . . . Nanticoke School Board appoints 10 teachers. 

10. Luzerne County Christian Endeavor Societies open 40th convention at Kingston Presbyterian Church . . . 
Operators want state to police mining of coal . . . 20th death of spinal meningitis reported . . . Sullivan 
Trail Company buys Harry E. Colliery equipment.

11. Mrs. Amelia Bentz, Wilkes-Barre, Celebrates 90th birthday anniversary . . . 98th meningitis case is 
reported . . . 7,500 take part in valley’s Armistice Day celebration and parade.

13. Bart J. Black named Ashley school director . . . Wyoming valley’s 19th Community Welfare Federation drive 
gets underway . . . Wyoming Baptist Ministers’ Fellowship is formed.

14. Empty steel cage plunges to bottom of Bliss Shaft.

15. Attorney James Hyman, Wilkes-Barre, appointed liquor control board examiner in this area at $4,000 a year .  
222 vote cards reported missing from registers . . . More than 2,000  seek 400 temporary Christmas rush jobs 
at Wilkes-Barre Post Office . . . John H. Dando resigns as First Assistant District Attorney to become General
State Authority’s chief counsel at $7,500 a year.

16. Dr. Walter S. Steward notes 83rd birthday anniversary . . . Busses replace Plains trolley cars . . . 
Pittston Township School Board appoints 12 . . . Mrs. John V. Kosek named court officer.

17. Fifty New York University students inspect Huber Colliery workings.

18. 109th gunners perform well in Tobyhanna field maneuvers . . . Attorney John C. Phillips named Lehigh 
Valley Railroad solicitor . . . Glen Alden declares dividend of 25 cents a share.

19. Flames level home of Edward Stubbs, Pittston Township.

20. Sergeant Joseph Miller of State Motor Police appointed acting chief of county detectives by District 
Attorney Leon Schwartz in creation of a criminal intelligence unit . . . three more cases of spinal meningitis 
boost total to 103 . . . Working members of U. M. W. of A., in District 1 levied $1 assessment in December .  
Stanley Rasmus is named Nanticoke Councilman by court en banc . . . Dr. George W. Carr, eye specialist, 
retires.

21. Wilkes-Barre City Council Authorizes $150,000 loan to continue operation of city for duration of year . . 
Rev. Michael A. Hally, Wilkes-Barre native, appointed commander in U. S. Naval Reserve . . . Crew Fights 
forest fire on mountains behind West Wyoming. 

22. $329,420 raised for Community Welfare Federation . . . Coal tonnage plan devised by operators.

23. Thanksgiving Day peaceful . . . Greek Rite mass sung at St. Aloysius’ Church, marking first time locally 
for such a mass to be celebrated in Latin Church . . . community Welfare Federation workers continue drive 
for additional $30,000 . . . St. Adalbert’s Church, Glen Lyon, ends its golden jubilee celebration.

24. Wilkes-Barre Connecting Railroad Company offers to buy Plains section of bankrupt Wilkes-Barre and Eastern
Railroad.

27. Forty-five business leaders establish ground work of drive to raise employment in Wyoming Valley . . . 
Ashley returns to county school system.

28. Order temporarily restraining sale of East Boston Coal Company issued . . . 56 registration employees 
released . . . 3,000 attend  Wilkes-Barre Firemen’s ball.

29. Luzerne girl is 21st victim of spinal meningitis . . . Sterling bankruptcy case formally ended. 

DECEMBER

1. Few deer and many accidents on first day of season.

2. Strike at Nos. 5 and 7 collieries, Susquehanna Collieries Company, ends . . . Heavy rain causes many 
automobile accidents . . . Wilkes-Barre police open drive on youths wandering streets after dark.

3. J. Fowler Richardson, organist for 30 years at St. Stephen’s, honored at reception . . . Narcis Kutz, 27, 
killed by railroad train at Honeypot . . . Fred Pritchard, druggist, appointed to Luzerne Borough ouncil, 
replacing Eugene Brennan, who resigned to become school director.

4. Dr. Charles S. Rousch enters 20th year as pastor of First Baptist Church . . . John A Carr returns from 
Towanda to Wyoming Barracks as first sergeant . . . R. Ramsey Mebane reelected president of Wilkes-Barre 
School Board . . . Operators agree to close mines for one week to reduce surplus.

5. Wilkes-Barre Lace Manufacturing Company begins to raze old yarn plant.

6. North Street Bridge reopens for traffic after having been closed down since October 7 for extension over 
dike . . . Attorney Leo W. White, Pittston, appointed counsel for closed banks in Luzerne County.

7. Nanticoke School Board approves floating of $50,000 bond issue.

8. Anthracite Ambassadors organize a permanent unit . . . removal of rails, ties and property of Wilkes-Barre 
and Eastern Railroad ordered by Public Utility Commission.

9. G. O. P. reveals drastic cuts in Luzerne County State Highway department . . . Robert C. Miner elected Head
of Westmemoreland Club.

10. Parsons P. M. Church awarded first prize in Bible displays . . . 109th Field Artillery ends seven days of 
winter field maneuvering.

11. Mercury drops to 17 degrees above zero . . . Concordia begins 60th year with concert in honor of Director 
Adolf Hansen’s 50th anniversary as conductor . . . First reunion in 41 years of o. D, Ninth Infantry, 
Pennsylvania Volunteers, Third Army Corps, predecessor of 109th Field Artillery.

12. Wilkes-Barre Board of Health rules milk sold in city after January 1, 1940, must be pasteurized . . . 
Retiring register of Willis Joseph Morris feted by departmental employes . . . WPA headquarters announces four
new projects for Luzerne County giving employment to 900 men.

13. Season’s first snowfall blankets valley with depths from one to four inches . . . Emanuel Horowitz’s 
first book offered for sale on 29th birthday . . . State Game Commission wins Federal approval to secure game 
land in county.

14. Walter D. Fuller, Philadelphia magazine publisher, sounds keynote speech in Luzerne County Give-a-Job 
Campaign . . . ICC approval of lower rates for multiple-car shipments hailed as boon to anthracite producing 
companies . . . Luzerne County pays off in full million dollar loan to New York bank . . . Joseph M. Kehoe, 
Pittston, found guilty of involuntary manslaughter at Strousburg, resulting from automobile accident near 
Delaware Water Gap, July 1.

15. C. I. O. Council of Wilkes-Barre area adopts resolutions to organize the unorganized in Wyoming Valley .  
Rev. Joseph G. Kane completes ten years as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Nanticoke . . . Earl G. 
Harrison, president of Public Charities Association of Pennsylvania, addresses Luzerne County Law and Library 
Association.

16. William S. Livengood, Secretary of Internal Affairs, speaks at Republican victory dinner in Irem Temple.

17. Samuel Block. Jr., elected president of Y. M. H. A. . . . Andrew J. Sordoni announces Hotel Sterling will 
be enlarged by connecting it with Elks’ Home.

18. City Council raises tax rate one and a half mills to 14 ½ mills for 1940 . . . Retirement Life Payments’ 
Association, first “Ham and Egg” pension plan in county, petitions court for charter.

19. Prominent bankers in northern section of State organize Northern Anthracite group of Pennsylvania Safe 
Deposit Association . .  Board of Health reports 170 cases of contagious diseases n Wilkes-Barre for November. 

20. Wilkes-Barre Hosiery Mills, Inc., Gilligan Street, loses appeal to Wage-Hour Division to have learners’ 
exemption certificates extended . . . Mrs. Martha Bryden, Wilkes-Barre, celebrates 103rd birthday . . . Mine 
accidents claim three lives . . . John A. Riley appointed mercantile appraiser for Luzerne County.

Typed by Robin Stone,  May 2004