1947 – 70 Years Ago
A new wage scale and work-hour requirement was implemented for registered nurses caring for patients needing 24 hour care in hospitals. For years, nurses worked a 12-hour shift for $6 a day, but in 1947, the daily scale was upped to $8, and shift hours were shortened to eight hours. With three nurses, at a cost of $24 a day, a total of $4.50 for their “board” plus an average hospital room cost of $7 a day, a patient needing 24-hour care would face a daily charge of $35.50. Medicines, laboratory fees and incidentals were not included.
1948 – 69 Years Ago
The first Greater Pittston High School Basketball Tournament was sponsored by the Junior Chamber of Commerce. The Pittston High School basketball team received the championship trophy by beating Exeter in the first tournament match. They then went on to defeat West Pittston High School in the semi-finals and Jenkins Township in the finals. Members of the team were Ray Alpaugh, Jack Kelly, Jack Sakowsky, Donald Bryce, John Hoover, Malcolm Tracey, Ross Pierelli, Sam Capitano, Joe Ardoline, Felix Cardascia, Bobby Groves, Robert Ames and Louis DeGrose.
1949 – 68 Years Ago
Excitement was growing over news that the Junior Chamber of Commerce was spear-heading a movement to establish a public library in Pittston. The Pittston City Council, Lions Club and veterans organizations backed the suggestion. The Jaycees held a United Civic Conference inviting three representatives from each of the civic, fraternal and veteran’s organizations to attend. Local residents, hearing of the planned library, were already calling local officials to find out how to donate books for the new library.
An historical marker, erected in 1935, on Wyoming Avenue near Fourth Street was determined to be “in the way” of an owner’s plan to build a service station on an adjacent lot. The monument, a large stone with a plaque attached was originally erected by the Wyoming Rotary with the help of the Wyoming Valley Historical Society. The owner of the adjacent property declared to city council that the monument would be in the way of the service station he intended to build on his property. Borough officials planned to relocate the monument to the tree lawn near the Wyoming Cemetery.
Congressman Dan Flood and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were at odds over building a dike adjacent to the Lackawanna River in Duryea. Also in question was a proposed dike on the Susquehanna River on the west to protect West Pittston and Exeter. Flood received a letter from the Army Corps which stated, “ A levee was constructed by the W.P.A. and Duryea Borough in 1937, which extended approximately 1150 feet along the Lackawanna River upstream from Stephenson Street Bridge. The project cost $49,000 of which $39,000 was federally funded. Flood waters in 1942 broke through the W.P.A. dike from Marcy Street and flooded 75 cellars, causing first-floor damage to eight homes.” The Corp’s decision stated, “On the basis of preliminary review, it appears that the cost of such work would exceed the value of property it would be designed to protect, and a project there would lack economic justification.” A Lackawanna River Corridor Association report issued in 2012 showed flood waters in Duryea and West Pittston were several feet above the 1972 Agnes levels after Tropical Storm Lee and Hurricane Irene hit in September of 2011,
Chiampi Motors of West Pittston advertised the Kaiser-Frazer Traveler as Two Cars in One” for $2,088. The innovative design of the auto, first introduced in 1949, offered a four-door sedan styling with a hatchback and fold down back seat, providing access to more than 130 cubic feet of cargo space. In an effort to beat other auto makers post war production of new cars, Kaiser-Frazer offered their new design. The company kept production high for the new model, but it did not sell well, leaving dealers overstocked. The last Kaisers were built in the U.S. in 1955, but production continued in Argentina.
1950 – 67 Years Ago
In May 1947, the city of Pittston National Guard Unit had two officers and 13 enlisted men. Upon its third anniversary, the roster showed that 163 men enlisted in the unit and 19 men went on to enlist in the regular Army. In 1950, officers and ranking non-commissioned officers of the unit were Captain Ferdinand Co. Endres, Jr., commanding officer; First Lieutenant Robert H. Phillips, West Pittston; Second Lieutenant Owen H. Golden, Avoca; First Lieutenant James F. Holland, Avoca; First Lieutenant Thomas G. Davis, West Pittston; First Sergeant James M. Lavelle, Avoca; Sgt. 1st Class William P. McCabe, Pittston; Sgt. Leonard A. Kupst, Pittston; Sgt. Arthur A. Bartolai, Pittston Township Sgt. Ellsworth James, West Pittston; Cpl. Samuel Bailey, Pittston; Gt. 1st Class Howard J. Jones, West Wyoming; Sgt. Leo A. Madden, Pittston; Sgt. Raymond S. Weeks, Pittston; Sgt. Frank J. McCabe, Pittston; Cpl. Leo DiCicco, Pittston; Cpl. Ralph L. Bidwell, West Pittston; Cpl. John J. Langan, Pittston; Cpl. John M. Gorzkowski, Avoca; Cpl. Bernard E. Laibinis, Exeter; Cpt. Eugene Hammill, Pittston and Cpl. Leo Reedy, Avoca. Enlistments had been frozen at the beginning of 1950, but were open for a short period in order to retain the unit’s allotted quota.
This date in history:
1865 – General Robert E. Lee surrenders his rebel forces to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Va.
1942 – In the Battle of Bataan, American and Filipino forces are overwhelmed by the Japanese Army.
1950 – Comedian Bob Hope makes his first television appearance.
1963 – Winston Churchill becomes the first honorary U.S. citizen.
1968 – Murdered civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., is buried.
1970 – Paul McCartney announces the official break-up of the Beatles.
