SPECIAL DELIVERY: Jim Burns of Ramona, Calif., found a baby —
that’s right, a newborn child — while delivering the newspapers
during the 1950s.

Jim and his brother, both now in their 70s, used to sell the
Bradford Star in the 1940s and 1950s and also had an Era route in
the 1950s.

It was in 1952, while he was delivering the Era on his route in
the Interstate Parkway, Stone Avenue area, when he tossed a paper
onto a porch and then realized he had erroneously delivering it to
a non-subscriber.

“A few seconds later I realized this,” he writes. “As I went to
recover the Era I saw a bundle on the porch. I knelt down and, to
my surprise, it moved. I had found a newborn baby. I woke the
people, and they called the authorities. Of course, this was in the
Era the next day.

“When I went to school (Bradford High), a junior that day,
everybody was calling me daddy. This was tough on a young guy. My
dad told me to say, ‘the baby was a beautiful baby, so it must be
mine.’ That stopped the teasing!”

This is such a great story. Can any of our readers supply the
details?

ANOTHER PUZZLE: Sonny Grill of New Philadelphia, Ohio, also asks
for readers help in solving a puzzle.

“Last weekend, I was in Bradford and had to stop at the Bradford
Texas Hot for lunch. On the back of their menu, there is a brief
history of the Texas Hot restaurants in Bradford. Here is my
question and I hope your readers can help me out as we have a
question as to the location of Ma Pete’s and Johnny’s on West
Washington Street. As you were going toward the airport, where
would you find these Hot Dog restaurants, and does anyone remember
what color paint was on the front of each?”

Not to confuse readers, the airport in question is the one that
used to be at the west end of Bradford — not the current one in
Mount Alton.

GAS PAINS: Sal DiMaria writes a week ago: “I understand your gas
pains. We arrived in Sebring, Fla., yesterday and gas is $2.49. I
believe part of the misunderstanding concerning prices in different
states can be attributed to taxes but within PA, the tax is the
same. Sunny and hot, come on down!”