The Tribune from Scranton, Pennsylvania • 3

Threa THE SCRANTON TRIBUNE, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1943 ours Boys Wander Out of East End Mine After Being Lost 24 Scranton and Wilkes-Barre Area I i Shows 11 Pet. Drop in Population Boy, 14, Hops Ride, Killed by Truck Joseph OMalley, North End, Drops From Vehicle and Is Struck by Another; 4 Pals Unhurt Joseph OMalley, 14, son of Walter OMalley, rear 317 West Market Street, was killed last night at 8 oclock when he dropped from a coal truck and was struck by another truck in the 800 block of West Market Street. (Youngsters Sought Missing Half-Dollar Spent Night in Chamber of Worked Out Vein; Found Escape by Walking Against Air Current Numbed with cold and weakened by hunger, exposure and injuries, two East Scranton boys, for whom a search had extended to the Focono woodlands, emerged from a mine slope a short distance from fiieir homes at 4 p. m. yesterday after spending.

24 harrowing hours in jfihe stygian recesses of the abandoned underground workings. Everything happened while the envied Boys Tell of. Night 1 In Old Mine youths were playing with a slingshot and marbles close to the slope. The youngsters, Robert Richie, 13, son of Mr. and Mrs.

Thomas Richie, 970 Union Avenue, and Paul Foytack, 12, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Foytack, 2113 Myrtle the theft of a bicycle in the 300 block of North Washington Ration Books In County Rise To 179,571 Reach 78,082 Mark In City as 28,908 More Are Given Out So far 179,571 No. 2 War Ration Books have been issued in Lackawanna County. The number issued yesterday was 74,319.

A total of 279,413 No. 2 Books were given out in the 10-county district bringing the figure to date up to 731,608. A total of 28,908 books were issued in Scranton, bringing the three-day total to 78,082. The number of coffee stamps removed from Book One were 62,798 for the day, making the amount so far 119,874 for the city. Stamps tailored out of Book Two totaled 4,186 yesterday.

The total for three days is 8,423. There were 173,219 coupons tailored from No. 1 Books during the day in Lackawanna County. This brings the total deducted from No. 1 Books in the county to date to 370,609.

A total of 7,889 coupons were detached from No. 2 Books in the count' raising the figure to date to Coupons deducted from No. 1 Books in the 10 counties yesterday amounted to 619,916, making this total to date 1,373,9 48. There were 44,173 coupons tailored from No. 2 Books in the 10 counties bringing the total to date to 131,428.

HONOR HILLER TODAY The Sawtelle-Emmons Thursday Noon Bible Class will pay tribute to Harry Hiller class secretary, at todays meeting in the Scranton Y. M. C. A. He will leave to assume the position of general secretary ef the Berwick Y.

C. A. next week. The lesson topic to, be discussed at this meeting is, "Jesus Restores Lazarous to Life." John, Chapter 11. The Rev.

Dr. Peter K. Emmons will teach the lesson. The boy was pronounced dead upon admission to the State Hospital. Dr.

M. Freda, Dr. P. E. Sirgany, deputy coroner, and Dr.

William Yevics were In attendance. Four other boys who were riding on the rear of the coal truck narrowly escaped a similar fate, police said. The driver of the second truck, Albert Matthews, 118 North Everett Avenue, swerved the vehicle in an attempt to hitting the OMalley youngster. The truck is owned by Eschenbach Rodgers, Police learned that the boys hopped the coal truck when it stopped for a stop sign on North Keyser Avenue. The second truck was following close behind.

Morris Dennis, 7 Thorpe Street, Binghamton, was the operator of the coal truck. Matthews was arrested by Patrolmen Albert Rosar, Albert Perry and Everett Jones on involuntary manslaughter charge. He entered bail before Alderman Edward Bellen. The1 victim, who recently removed from Olyphant with his family, suffered fractures of the skull, left shoulder, left thigh and neck and a dislocated jaw. Surviving are his father, three brothers, Robert, in the U.

S. Army; Walter and James, and four sisters, Grace, Alice, Mary and Kathleen, CONTO LETTERS Letters of administration were granted yesterday to Peter Conto, this city, in the $500 estate of his late father, Francesco Conto, also of Scranton. BICYCLE STOLEN Robert C. Kaufman, 517 Prescott Avenue, last night reported Decline Since 1940 Census Is Fourth Largest In Nation; Shift to War Plants 'Prime Factor The drop in population in the Scranton and Wilkes-Barre area through shifting of residents to war industry towns is the fourth sharpest such decline in the entire United States, the Bureau of the Census reported last night in Washington. Pointing to the latest revised estimates, the bureau reported that 81,749 persons or 11 per cent of the 1940 census moved out of the Lackawanna-Luzerne area.

Heaviest drop was in the Topeka, area amounting to 12.7 ber cent Next was St. Joseph, 11.9 per cent; third was Oklahoma City, 11.3 per cent, and 'fourth was the Scran-ton-Wilkes-Barre sector. Heavy flow of people into centers of war activity raised the civilian population of metropolitan counties by 2.5 per cent in the period from 1940 to 1942, the bureau reported. HAVE MORE THAN AVERAGE "Population gains have been confined to about two-thirds of the metropolitan counties and to a -tew scattered rural counties, the report read. In the main, these are the counties that have had more than average wartime activity in connection with shipyards, aircraft factories, muni-tidn plants, other heavy industry and military establishments.

The bureau added that newest estimates show a total civilian population of 130,982,277 for continental United States as of May 1, 1942, a drop of 340,859, or 0.3 per cent, between April 1, 1940, and that date. It ascribed the overall decline to entry of large numbers of men into the armed forces more than an offset to the still rising birth rate and a net foreign immigration. Tabulating figures by metropolitan areas or groups of counties, the bureau reported that Mobile County, including the City of Mobile, showed the largest percentage gam, 36.9 per cent, of any area in the nation during thp two-year period. It rose from 141,515 to 193,709. These totals are for civilian population only.

LOSS IN NEW YORK New Yorks metropolitan area lost 404,074 persons, but this was -a percentage drop of only 3.5. The Pittsburgh district drop was 67,495. the registration for War Ration Book Two will be a close check on latest census for this region. OPA 'figures show that 141,767 copies of the No. 1 Book have been issued in the City of Scranton and 277,401 in the county at large, including the city.

The bulk of these was distributed during the registration in- schools May 4, 5, 6 and 7. However, these figures since have increased. On the basis of returns1 the day following the four-day signup period, these increases have been heavy. A total of 124,000 was issued in the city and 257,994 in the county, records show. These figures proved a substantial decrease in the 1940 federal census.

The city was listed at 140,404 and the county at Comparison of the totals of May 7 with those listed by the OPA show an increase of 19,407 in the county and 17,507 in the city from that date to the present. (EpQSGE 4 4 Weatherman Warns Temperature Today Will Take Big Drop Meteorologist Ralph C. West yesterday said the warm spell is over and warned a cold wave is 'approaching on high winds. He predicted a drop to near 10 degreed above zero and possibly lower. High temperature yesterday was 56 degrees and the low was 40.

Harding Denies Use of Salt at Traffic Circle Replies to Charges Preferred by State Highway Engineer Neither salt nor calcium chloride were used in snow and ice removal work on the traffic circle. Bernard Harding, director of public works, in these words last night denied charges of John L. Herber, district highway engineer, that the pave was seriously damaged by the use of one or the other of the compounds. "If there is any fault with the pave on the traffic circle, no one can attribute it to salt or calcium chloride, Harding emphasized. Harding said he was at a loss to understand why any such complaint be made at this late date.

In January, 1942, he said, a letter was received from the highway department' requesting the city to refrain from using salt or calcium chlorid in handling snow and ice. Harding said the city agreed to comply. SECOND COMPLAINT On Nov. 24 last, Harding continued, another letter was received, from Herber, complaining of the use of salt in piles of cinders to keep the cinders from freezing. Harding stated he assured Herber these cinders would not be used on the circle.

He said these stockpiles were employed exclusively in treating dirt streets. None was used on the rotary pavement, he added, The complaint traveled a circuitous path in reaching City Hall. Mayor Howard J-. Snowdon yesterday received a letter from T. C.

Frame, Harrisburg, chief highway engineer, in which the complaint from Herber was cited. Herber was quoted as stating that he was assured of Hardings cooperation on the salt problem but has found that cinder piles adjacent to the traffic circle were treated with salt to prevent freezing. Later we found that cinders collected fmm the surface of this pavement contained salt, and the surface of the pavement now clearly demonstrates the damage which has been occasioned by the application of cinders containing salt. WRITES MAYOR This project was a very fine piece of pavement when finished, and it is unfortunate to have It seriously damaged in this manner. Wont you kindly, see to lt that there is positively no further use of salt or even calcium chloride in connection with the maintenance of this new pavement, Frame said in the letter to the mayor.

TIRE REGULATIONS Motorists who drive little will not be eligible -to get new war" tires of reclaimed rubber, the OPA said yesterday. Those with a monthly mileage ration of more' than 560 miles qualify. Others below this figure may get recaps or used tires. Miners Pledge Full Support To Red Cross "McDonald Praises Men for Donations In 1942 Campaign One hundred per cent cooperation in the Red Cross drive was pledged last night by representatives of every colliery local in Lackawanna County at a meeting in the United Mine Workers headquarters, Miller Building. Hubert Farrell, vice president of District 1, presided.

Attorney Joseph T. McDonald, revenue collector and drive chairman, spoke. McDonald declared the county's quota this year is $185,000 as compared with $250,000 in 1942. Of this latter amount, $196,000 was collected, McDonald said. He said the allocations in Bridgeport, Newark, Erie and other war production centers were triple last years quota.

The chairman stated a large portion of last years contributions came from the men of the mines in Lackawanna County, their wives, families and children in schools. -AID SERVICEMEN Wherever there is a detachment of American soldiers, sailors or marines, you will find representatives of the Red Cross, McDonald stated in explaining duties of the humanitarian organization in World War 2. He related an incident involving a local naval officer. Commodore Arthur Maher, Dunmore chief gunnery officer, was aboard the ill-fated cruiser, the Houston, McDonald said, when it went down in the Macassar Straits in the Java Sea battle early in the war. Maher, McDonald said, was one of the few survivors.

The Red Cross, he declared, learned of this and notified his family that he was alive and interned by the Japs. CITES DEDUCTIONS McDonald stated he realized that pay envelopes lose several layers of thickness through deductions for the Victory Tax, payments for war bonds and other war obligations that are a drain on income. Edgar Weichel, Hudson -Coal Company, is chairman of the mines division. Cochairmen in addition to Farrell are: William J. Brennan, compensation claims adjuster for the U.

M. George Dorsey, district board member; Joseph Motley, Motley Coal Company; Peter Minicello, Minicello Coal Company; John Reid and Earl Hallock, Hudson Coal; T. Lester Oliver, Glen Alden Coal Company; F. D. Shoemaker, Penn Anthracite Collieries ompany, and Charles Pompey, Pompey Coal Company.

Navy Officer Here To Aid WPB Staff Lt. Lyon 6. Borden, U. S. N.

has assumed duties as Naval procurement adviser to the Scranton District, WPB, J. P. Eyre Price, manager, said yesterday. Lieutenant Borden is to assist the general staff the over-all industrial work in this six-county district as well as seek industries that can be geared to production for the Navy, Street, were attracted to the drift, situated near Union Avenue and Gibson Street, by the loss of a half dollar Tuesday afternoon. They chased the elusive coin after it rolled into the opening until they became lost themselves, according to the story related by the boys.

The half dollar fell out of Roberts hand into the mine after he extracted the silver piece frqpi his pocket together with several marbles. The mine formerly was operated by the defunct Richter Coal Cqmpany. An immediate decision to recover the half dollar was made by the boys. Robert went home secured a flashlight and the hunt was started. The floor was probed thoroughly by the youngsters as they traveled further and further along a gangway and possibly onto other mine passages and airways.

While' the boys were eagerly engaged in the hunt for the coin, a search was started through Nay Aug and over the mountain by Boy Scouts. City police joined the expedition yesterday morning, The youngsters pushed ahead in the dark surroundings, Robert and Paul told Detectives Leo Marcus' and Leo Ruddy, until the way back became a mystery. Difficulties piled up when the battery burned out, leaving them in a complete blackout. ONE FALLS ASLEEP Overcome by weariness, one of the boys fell asleep. Upon awakening he was both cold and tortured by the pangs of hunger.

Clothing was soaking wet from the roof drippings. The boys continued their derings in hopes of finding an let yesterday. Finaly Robert or it may have been both of them, they informed Ruddy and Marcus, detected a current of fresh air. They walked against the draft and returned to the moutl of the slope amid familiar neighborhood surroundings about 4 p. m.

The boys went directly to their homes. Roberts face was cut. Paul had some bruises. Both were hungry, tired, wet, cold and happy to forsake the unfriendly chambers of a worked out vein. The boys left their homes about 3:30 p.

m. Tuesday. When they did not appear the evening meal their parents ecame alarmed. Raymond SteVens, scoutmaster of Troop 12, Myrtle Street Methodist Church Boy Scouts, of which Robert is a member, started a search Tuesday evening. Police were notified of the missing boys at 11:58 p.

m. Tuesday. Names and descriptions were placed on the teletype. The hunt was resumed yesterday morning. Capt.

George Donaldson assigned Ruddy, Marcus and Patrolman Daniel Anderson to assist in the expedition. Particular attention was paid to the Roaring Brook Gorge, woodlands on the East Mountain, Nay Aug Park and east to the Pocono Mountains. The Rev. Clarence R. Hickok, pastor of the Myrtle Street Church, joined the searching party at 7 a.

m. yesterday. He said cars were used in hunting clues that might lead to the missing boys in addition to woodland scourmgs on foot. "I wonder what my customers 5 did without their papers this morning, Bobbie Richie," Tribune carrier boy, worried as he lay i' back among the pillows of his long wishedcfor bed. It was as if he had just realized that a whole day and night had passed since he jknd his young friend, Paul, had started on their ill-fated adventure.

It was a 50-cent piece that sent scores of Boy Scouts, neighbors and police to scouring the country-aide, that kept two frantic mothers Wide-eyed all night, that brought two anxious fathers home from work in distant cities, and that gave two little boys a real nightmare that they will never forget. I was picking marbles out of ny pocket, explained Bobbie, 'when the half dollar dropped out and fell down into the hole. We got a flashlight and crawled down to look for it. When we couldnt find it, we started exploring. PAUL DESCRIBES CAVE Pauls description of the cavern emphasized its blackness.

There IJvere a lot of old posts, all cracked 1 and crumbling to pieces, he said. 1 Tt didnt look as if theyd ever I jbined there. It was just like a puzzle." One turn in a black labyrinth dan disaster, for walking in 1 darkness' there is no Way of dis-j tinguishing a left turn from a fight. te Around 3:30, Paul estimated, they dissevered they were lost. We wflTted and walked.

We must have walked miles, in circles. It didnt seem real. It was so dark, jour eyes glowed whenever we turned off the flashlight. I prayed, he added naively. When asked if they ever sat jflown to figure a way out, Paul replied, a couple times.

But not long. We couldnt think. 1 1 They lay down for awhile "on a -pig flat rock and huddled together in a futile attempt to get warm. Bobbie couldnt sleep, but Paul, a year younger, thinks he 1 talept about three hours. "I was numb when I woke up, he re-Jtnembered.

When asked how they found their way out, Bobbie replied we 3 felt a streak of cold air, and fol-i lowed it. Then we saw a little i light and finally we came to the hole. We had to crawl up on our hand? and knees to get out. 1 The boys clothes were thor-, cughly soaked and coal black when i they reached home a little after 4 Oclock yesterday afternoon. The thing Paul said when he got in the door, declared his mother, Im hungry.

"Ready to try it, again, son? the photographer asked him later. I The young man was explicit: I nope. Not me. Authorities are agreed that Bob- jbie isnt ready either. -fr 1 Police Ask Parents To Report Missing Kiddies Immediately Capt.

Harry Scull, in charge KAPLAN'S- IFEEIBIRIMRSf SAME Bernstein Hearing The hearing of Max Bernstein, head of the Mid-Valley Beef Company, Olyphant, and the Service Provision Company, this city, was continued to 2 p. m. tomorrow from the same time yesterday. The postponment was announced by U. S.

Commissioner Harry R. Van Deusen Jr. Bernstein is under $2,500 bond, charged with violating maximum price regulations in slaughtering and delivering meat. He was the first of a trio so far arrested for alleged black market activities. A New Slant to This SALE of Furs! We wish there was some out-of-the-ordinary way to convey to you the importance of Buying Furs Now! Wed like to be more emphatic but, all words seem weak when the need for stronger worcfe is greatest.

There JUST ISNT Going to Be Any Furs from Overseas for the Duration. Theres, nly ONE answer Buy Endfield, Enduring Save 10! V. 9x12 Ft. Waffle Weaee HUGS $176 9x12 SEAMLESS Style, Lasting Quality Furs NOW! At Special Low Prices! i IVote These Very Special Prices Black Persian $330 Natural Skunk $269 of the night police, last night Vl urged parents of children I missing from home to report the incident immediately to city police. He stated loss of time ham- 1 pers both searches for missing 11 children as well as police in- vestigations.

Scull pointed out that although the two East Scranton boys were missing on Tuesday afternoon police were not informed until ij shortly before midnight. Nine Donate Blood At Mercy Hospital Nine persons donated a pint of blood each yesterday to the Lackawanna County Blood Bank rat the Mercy Hospital, Dr. George fA. Clark said last night. They 'included Miss Mabel G.

Miller, -28 Chestnut Street, Montrose, who made the trip into Scranton es-pecially to make the donation. Other donors were: Miss Agnes' Kozak, 1731 Dorothy Street; Mrs. Ada Minton, 517 Prescott Mrs. Alice C. Williams, 2031 Green Ridge Street; Mrs.

L. J. 'Fine, 458 Railroad Avenue; Mrs. Fred Treitz, 1722 Farr Street; Enzo Liva, 605 Clay Avenue; Mrs. 'S.

E. Meyers, 725 Madison Ave-nue, and Mrs. Manuel Isaac, 1022 Linden Street. 1 i ONEILL ACTING SPEAKER I. HARRISBURG, Feb.

24 (P). i Rep. Harry P. Neill Lacka-twanna), today was acting speaker of the House for several minutes. jHe was invited to the rostrum by Speaker Ira T.

Fiss. HOLLERAN INVENTORY Persona' property in the estate of Mary V. Holieran, Scranton, i Was at $2,179.21 in an inventory filed with court yesterday. BTG PARTY TONITE 8:30 JR. HALL, 425 ALDER ST- S.

S. NO ADMISSION Adv. Jg- 27x45 Axminater RUG PAD TUROV 88 Each Grey Persian $420 Natural Opossum 1 59 Silvertone Muskrat 1 7 5 ALL TAX INCLUDED China Mink $430 Raccoon 1 95 Dyed Squirrel $349 ALSO MANY OTHERS oum ru judu 7 211 LACKAWANNA AVENUE SCRANTON ENDFIELDS FUR SHOP 138 WYOMING AVENUE (GROUND FLOOR).