Forest City – Mr. Zedar seeks to give Forest City a place of recreation, unequaled for its scenic beauty. The beautiful grove has been transformed into an ideal park with driveways and paths for the comfort of the auto pubic as well as pedestrians. Mr. Zedar has built a dance pavilion and several booths. It is lighted by electricity. It is a quiet spot and no doubt will be well patronized. It is known to old timers as the McLaughlin farm and located just west of the town.

East Rush – A moving van went through the bridge near G. A. Crisman’s store last Friday. Luckily no one was hurt. This bridge was washed out two years ago and a temporary one was erected and it has been unsafe for some time. It is now hoped that the supervisor will erect a substantial structure.

Burnwood, Ararat Twp. – The local motor cycle riders will hold a hill climbing contest at Gelatt on July 20, at 1 P.M. They have a real high hill to climb and will give you some thrills.

Susquehanna – Kermit Brenchley, the Susquehanna boy who was accidentally shot in the back by his brother several weeks ago, is on the road to recovery. He is still a patient in the Barnes Hospital but is able to sit up every day. He can stand on the left leg and move the right. Both limbs were paralyzed by the charge of shot in the back and the paralysis is being conquered.

Harford – The surviving members of the Class of 1856 of the old Harford Academy met again in annual reunion at Rosemont Inn, Montrose, June 18. There were present 17 but only three of the classmates attended, namely Mrs. Betsey M. Jeffers, of Harford, E. W. Bolles, of Fairdale, and H. M. Benson, of Jackson. Hon. E. B. Beardslee, yet living, but unable to be present. Many memories of old school days were told, but one of the most interesting was related by H. M. Benson, who talked about the noisy classroom caused by cowhide boots and good solid calfskin shoes worn by the students. His remedy was to put three loads of sawdust on the floor, which worked nicely—the room so still it seemed like a “dead house.” Each Monday they put three pailfuls of water on the sawdust by sprinkling and it would pack so as not to be hard to walk on.

Marriage Licenses: Richard MacBain and Lillis I. Pratt, both of Hop Bottom; Jas. H. Fordyce and Mattie H. Hogan, both of Susquehanna; Hayden Morgan and Anna Whalen, both of Hallstead.

Soldier’s Monument – The tablets bearing the names of Civil War veterans are again in place around the monument, at the request of the Daughters of Union Veterans. For some years they have been stored in the basement of the court house. These 16 tablets do not contain the names of all the county soldiers who served in the war of the rebellion. Some of the districts never had a tablet constructed as a memorial. The man who originally did the work in the county, a Mr. [Horace] Dean, while riding on horseback in promoting the work, was thrown and killed and the tablets were never completed. It is possible the D. O.V. may endeavor to have all the names engraved on marble, but if this is done the tablets will not be as bulky as those in present use, each tablet weighing about 300 pounds. It is a memorial, however, which should engage the attention and support of all. [A booklet on the monument was published after the monument’s restoration. Careful research found the names of those soldiers whose names did not appear on a tablet.]

Centennial Note: The “Montrose Quick-Step” was used by the Community Band as the opening piece of each concert during the celebration. This lively production was written by Prof. Hamlin Cogswell, when he was leader of the Brooklyn (Pa.) Band and named by him in honor of Montrose. Prof. Cogswell made the Brooklyn band one of the best organizations in the country and at the Philadelphia Centennial in 1876 it was one of the prize-winning bands. He later taught at Mansfield Normal School and in later years at Washington, D.C.

Baseball – The Tri-Borough team, composed of players from Great Bend, Hallstead and Susquehanna, defeated Camp Susquehannock at the Athletic Park on Saturday in a close game. The score was 4-3. The second of the series will take place on Saturday between these teams. The Camp anticipates winning the next two.

Union Soldier Would Not Shoot Gen. Lee  -- An article written by James Melvin Lee, director of the department of journalism, New York University, relates the following: “My impression of Lee, the soldier, has never changed with the passing of the years. The man who fixed it for me was the sexton of my father’s church in the little town of Montrose, Pennsylvania. The sexton of this church was Hyde Crocker, first lieutenant, Co. A, First New Jersey Cavalry.” Mr. Lee went on to relate his meeting Crocker, who asked if he was related to Gen. Lee, of Virginia, extolling so highly in a military way the man who had led the forces of the opposing side. [The Lee relationship was not revealed.] This surprised Mr. Lee who had neither heard nor read anything which paid a finer tribute to the supremacy of Lee on the battlefield. But the great surprise was the remark of the sexton: ‘I once saw General Lee almost face to face.’ “I wish I could remember the exact words that followed. This old sexton mentioned how he had been stationed on sentry duty from the camp. He told how Lee and his escort had come to the brow of the hill. He was very specific as to how the bushes hid him; most minutely did he tell how Lee looked. He spoke of the commanding presence, the wonderful physique and the radiance that came from the face. I recall these words of the old sexton: ‘I was so stunned by the sight that I could not fire. My heart would not let me aim my rifle at the men who stood before me. Had he and his escort advanced any further, I would have done my duty and given the alarm, but I could not shoot to kill.’ “In the two years that my father was stationed at Montrose I came to know Mr. Crocker extremely well. On the roadway that led to the sheds where the farmers parked their carryalls during the services, he traced again and again, in the dust of the road, the diagram of just how the troops were stationed, while he held me and my companions spellbound.” [The Crocker family came to Bridgewater Twp. in 1800. Hyde joined the New Jersey Cavalry in 1861 and was captured in June of 1863. He spent 21 months in four different rebel prisons and during this time started carving canes, several now housed in the County Historical Society’s museum. One has to see the canes to believe their intricacy and beauty.]