[PRCo] Re: Power Company fights government in 1935

[Herb Brannon]

Enemy City ?? What century are you still living in?
On Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 02:53, Dwight Long <dwightlong at verizon.net> wrote:

> Fred
>
> I knew that.  And I'm sure you also knew that I was jabbing when I
> suggested Pixburgers read the enemy city newspaper Plain Dealer!
>
> I shudder at the prospect of generations who do not read, and in particular
> do not read newspapers--not that they are infallible sources of the truth.
>  But if folks refuse to read (way too much trouble when they can get all
> they need in the way of info from the talking heads on the telly), how will
> they ever become exposed to the works of Lowen and others who dare to strip
> away the pabulum to which we are exposed in what passes for "schooling"?
>
> As a youth I delivered the Press for the stated penny and a quarter a
> weekday copy (more on Sunday) but I never was able to get a route that had
> over 100 copies!  A bit more than 40 is the best I could do.  Nonetheless,
> from that meagre newspaperboy income came contributions to such early day
> tram preservation efforts as LVT 1030 (IRR 55), Crandic 120 (IRR 65)
> and-------------WP 832.
>
> Today's kids are probably too obese at age 12 to tote even 40
> diminished-size papers--they might succumb to a heart attack even earlier
> than they will eventually.
> But enough of that.
>
> Our local independent paper, which comes out but twice a week and is
> supported by abundant advertising (much of it real estate-related) is
> actually quite good for what they do.  I am continually amazed at the lack
> of punch pulling and at the depth of local reporting.  But they stick to
> their last and have no national, no international, and not even any "North
> of the Canal" news.  Maybe that is the key to their success.
>
> Dwight
>
>  ----- Original Message -----
>  From: Fred Schneider
>  To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
>  Sent: Thursday, 23 September, 2010 10:51
>  Subject: [PRCo] Re: Power Company fights government in 1935
>
>
>  I am making a jab that most people today do not read; they watch sound
> bites.   A few seconds on television instead of reading ten column inch
> story in the paper.   Pittsburgh lost the Press and the Sun Telegraph and in
> its place has gained Dick Scaife's Tribune Review but no one has the
> newspaper circulation we had years ago, not just because the population is
> down but also because we simply do not read.   Even here in Lancaster where
> the population is double what it was, the circulation is down and has
> reduced sales from two papers to one.    We have also lost all our county
> weekly papers.
>
>  And they probably don't even watch television news.   I suspect you have
> millions more watching some idiot getting voted off an island than watching
> news.
>
>  Remember when a 12-year-old could make a decent income from a first job
> delivering papers?   I got a penny and a quarter a paper and had to tote
> over a 125 weekday papers plus almost as many Sunday papers.   I had the
> evening paper.   About 70 percent of the homes got it.   The rest got the
> morning paper.   Today they are motor carrier routes because so few homes
> get it that you get a neighborhood kid to carry them.   (And the kids are
> lazy.)   I can only think of one neighbor around us who gets the paper!
>
>  Sad too because as the circulation drops, the quality of the reporting
> goes down.   It has simply become a summary of press releases and police
> reports.  There is almost no real reporting in our paper any longer and very
> limited national or international news.   Why bother to print that.  No one
> cares about a flood in Pakistan or a Israel blocking deliveries by ship to
> the Gaza or wind generation in Denmark.   Hell, the fools do even know where
> Iraq is (you might recall one of the late shows where some idiot pointed to
> Australia and said, "There it is") and don't ask them to spell Afghanistan.
>
>  Sorry, Dwight but you push my buttons.
>
>  On Sep 22, 2010, at 10:32 PM, Dwight Long wrote:
>
>  > Fred
>  >
>  > So what do residents of da Burgh read?  Since there is no more Press,
>  do the read the Cleveland Plain Dealer?
>  >
>  > And, what other papers are there in Pgh other than the Post Gazette?
>  The Press and Sun Tele are gone.  I suppose there is the usual plethora of
> freebie sheets geared primarily to the entertainment industry, but what
> else?
>  >
>  > Surely they don't all import the New York Times?
>  >
>  > Dwight
>  >
>  >  ----- Original Message -----
>  >  From: Fred Schneider
>  >  To: Pittsburgh-Railways at Dementia.Org
>  >  Cc: Ed Lybarger
>  >  Sent: Wednesday, 22 September, 2010 22:01
>  >  Subject: [PRCo] Power Company fights government in 1935
>  >
>  >
>  >  This item is priceless because it shows two things....
>  >
>  >  1)  It is a utility company fighting the government attempts in the
> Depression to break up utility holding companies and to take away their
> profits.   In this same week utility stock values crashed to an all-time
> low.
>  >
>  >  2)  It's an advertisement against the government by Associated Gas and
> Electric holding company in the Pittsburgh Press.  Their nearest operations
> were in Johnstown and Altoona.  You don't advertise in Pittsburgh unless
> that paper is sold in your market area!   Imagine Johnstown and Altoona
> people reading the Pittsburgh papers.   Today Pittsburgh people don't even
> read Pittsburgh papers.
>  >
>  >  The rest of the story will follow in a few days including the fight to
> force Duquesne Light into a 30% rate reduction.
>  >
>  >
> http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AXEbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kUsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5725%2C3425979
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-- 
Herb Brannon
In Cuyahoga Valley National Park