FAMOUS FOLKS: We had some serious omissions in our recent
recitation of famous people to visit Bradford. That’s the word from
Frederick J. Young of Bradford who makes a good case for his
assertion:

“First is a most famous and important person. There is scarcely
a person with a high school education in the world who has not
heard of him. He was Dmitri Mendeleev, a great Russian
chemist.”

“The czar of Russia in the 1860s was very interested in
developing the oil industry in Baku. In 1876 Mendeleev was sent the
Pennsylvania oil fields, brought back some technical ideas, and
presented an unflattering view of America in his book The Oil
Industry in the North American State of Pennsylvania and the
Caucasus. He spent more than one year living in Bradford on West
Washington Street, according to Latham’s Index.

“Another well-known person to visit Bradford was Prescott Bush,
our president’s grandfather.

“Prescott Bush appointed Neil Mallon, his Skull and Bones
brother, to run Dresser Industries (now Halliburton), a
Bush-controlled company. The Bush family would visit Neil Mallon in
Bradford. George H. W. Bush was known to many young Bradfordians.
Neil Mallon helped GHWB get his first job. GHWB named one of his
sons Neil Mallon Bush, who is a younger brother of President George
W. Bush.

“I do not know if George W. Bush ever visited Bradford because I
spent very little time here between 1949 and 1980.

“I would guess because an earlier president named U.S. Grant is
still remembered, the Bush family will also be remembered for a
long time in U.S. However, Dmitri Mendeleev shall always be
remembered by the world as the scientist who invented the periodic
table of elements. The periodic table of the elements is still
important in chemistry and physics and is still being augmented by
new research!

“I can also remember some well-known musicians who played in
Bradford. They were Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Harry James, Guy
Lombardo, and Glenn Miller. I think a search of The Bradford Era
would reveal the visits of many more celebrity musicians.”

GAS REPORTS: Another of our roving reporters, Pam Eschrich of
Mount Jewett, lists gas prices from her recent travels: Washington,
Pa., ,2.95; Summersville, W.Va., ,2.79;
Princeton, Va., ,2.49; Princeton, S.C., ,2.12; and Concord, N.C.,
,2.45.