LOOK INSIDE: If you want to see a great collection of pets,
check inside today’s edition.

Our Newspaper In Education program sponsored a pet contest which
generated an unbelievable number of entries. RTS is one of three
judges in the contest so wish us luck in this formidable task. We
can now sympathize with Simon Cowell in his job as judge of
American Idol. Of course, he gets off easy; his contestants are
mere humans.

We’ll report soon on the winners. Meanwhile, the real winners
are all the students who benefit from this NIE program.

NICKEL RIDE: Gale Abbott writes, “Lately, I have been doing a
lot of reminiscing about the streetcars that had tracks on almost
every major street in Bradford. This was prior to the 1930s when we
could ride them forever for about a nickel.

“I remember the open air cars in the summer time that took us
over to Riverside Park for our church picnics. Always exciting
going across the bridge over the Allegheny River.

“Riverside Park was somewhere between Seneca Junction and
Allegany, N.Y.

“We also took the streetcar to the amusement park at Rock City
where we rode the merry-go-round and other rides. And we also took
it out to the race horse track and baseball field on Congress
Street.

“They were located somewhere in the vicinity of where the Zippo
plant is now.

“People may recall riding the trolley out West Washington Street
when the medicine shows and Chautauqua would come to town.

“Many people may have other memories of when the street cars
(trolleys) were the main methods of transportation to get around
town. I can’t recall whether they were heated in the winter or not,
but maybe others can.

“Nor do I remember the horse-drawn trolleys either.

“But I do remember when I thought that the street car conductor
had just about the most important and finest job that a person
could ever want to have.”

FOLLOW UP: Judith dePonceau has a question on some of the early
road construction in McKean County:

“I don’t think that the dirt road from Lantz Corners to Wilcox
spoken of by Harold Pier was 219 at the time. I think that Route
219 swung over through East Kane and from there down to Wilcox. Am
I wrong? Mount Jewett drivers went through Freeman to Halsey and
down to Wilcox.”