ANOTHER ONE: An excited Jen Elliott of Coudersport writes us
about seeing an American bald eagle fly over her neck of the
woods.

“On Saturday, Feb 10, I was lucky enough to see a beautiful bald
eagle flying by the Catholic cemetery curve going west on Route 6
outside of Coudersport,” she said.

“He was flying back and forth over the Allegheny River searching
for open water to feed. He was so magnificent that I can see why
this country has made him our national bird.”

Just the other day, we had reported on an eagle spied in
Smethport. Wonder if it’s possibly the same one? As the crow
(eagle) flies, the distance between the two communities is not that
great.

ONE OF THREE: Bradford had the distinction about 50 or more
years ago as being one of the most expensive places in the United
States to live.

We gleaned that tidbit from a very interesting book, “Dawn to
Sunset,” the autobiography of Evan J. Jones who had been a
Congressman and was the grandfather of the late Alan Jones of
Bradford.

Jackie Jones, Alan’s wife, dropped off this book, published on
July 4, 1950, which had this to say:

“Washington is a very expensive City in which to live. It may be
of interest to my Bradford readers to know, according to the Bureau
of Mines, which publishes, periodically, a pamphlet on the cost of
living in the United States, that Washington, D.C., Hollywood,
Cal., and Bradford, Pa., are and have been, for years, the three
most expensive places in the United States in which to live. So, I
got it both home and abroad.”

BRIDGE NOTE: Hal Harmon phoned recently to relate a personal
experience he had crossing the old Seneca Junction Bridge which we
have written about in recent weeks.

Hal found himself nearly stranded on the New York side of the
bridge when he was returning from a trip after Hurricane Agnes
flooded this entire region (and many other regions, of course.)

Hal had driven across the bridge to get to old Route 17 but by
the time he returned, “water was lapping up on the bridge.”

He managed to get across but, five minutes later, the bridge was
closed.

“If I had been five minutes later, I’d probably have to have
lived in Olean a couple of weeks,” he says.