THOSE POWS: A. Buck Tantalo of Bradford writes to illuminate us
a bit about those German prisoners of war who had once worked at
the tie plant.

He adds “… and they worked in the woods – some worked in the
Westline area. After a few days in the woods, three of them escaped
and were on the loose for three or four days before surrendering.
They couldn’t speak our lingo.”

“At that time, I was working for the Bradford Transit Co. pump
station located at Tally Ho as the station engineer – the pump
station was located just off U.S. Route 219 on the road to
Westline.

“I remember it well because one morning a Pennsylvania state
trooper stopped and asked me if we had any weapons on hand, and we
did. He also asked me if I knew how to use them! I won’t quote on
the instructions he gave me.

“If my memory is correct, there were a few C.C.C. camp buildings
still standing in the area – one was at Sugar Run. I think some of
the prisoners stayed there.”

TWO MORE: We ran out of room yesterday for all the holiday
shopping tips from the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public
Accountants about how to stay out of debt this holiday season.

And there were a couple that are too important to exclude:

* Avoid delayed payment deals: “No payments due until 2008”
deals tend to come with very high interest rates and penalties if
you don’t pay by the designated date. Be sure to read the fine
print before agreeing to one of these deals.

* If you find yourself overspending, commit to setting up a
holiday savings account for next year. Determine how much you can
afford to spend and divide the total by 12. That’s how much you
need to save each month. To make it foolproof, arrange for
automatic transfers from your checking account or your paycheck
into your holiday savings account. When you get your check in the
fall and start shopping, you can use cash instead of credit.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “News at its best is a wake-up call, not a
lullaby, and I’m not in the lullaby business,” said former CBS
broadcaster Dan Rather, 2006.