| Show I FI F c ff l t A TOYN THAT T IS RUNBY RUN BY WOMEN I I j n Northeast east Pennsylvania Is an Eden Called Lackawaxen Where Widows an anit and it- it f L Li Pretty Young Wives R Run n Just About i V tt- tt Everything to in inthe the e Place Including i. i 1 the Postoffice the Movie A r I L j ba Butcher Shop the Jitneys an and Even f the Paper-Hanging Paper Business j rr J M By Margaret M. M Lukes A y L TI W WE E HAVE banks run by women barber shops and real estate offices Now weve we've a town There is a town in these United States piloted almost entirely by women Its It's fair to say widows and acid wives and daughters daughters daughters daugh daugh- are at the helm when they direct every business enterprise within the city limits except one and that's the case casein casein casein in Lackawaxen Pa which hides in the emerald mountains in the northeastern part of the Keystone State and whose novel claim to fame is just beginning to seep out to the world Lackawaxen which rises in a series of brightly painted stores and homes beside the rushing waters of the Delaware Delaware Delaware Dela Dela- ware and the river whose whoso name the town takes is twelve miles from Milford the home of Gifford Pinchot Governor Governo of Pennsylvania It is famed as the home of Zane Grey the novelist It also holds Louise Cortright the postmaster ter and German-born German young woman who led all America in her work for out- out topping quotas in the Third Liberty Loan It is sung for matchless scenery and has as become a summer resort of sorts But the township is going down to a newer brand of fame An Eden it has been christened and letters from the romantic and the curious are pouring in from all parts of the coun coun- try All AH the stores in Lack Lackawaxen waxen are conducted conducted con con- ducted by widows or young wives s or or daughters who through some family circumstance find themselves in charge The mail man is a high school girl of 19 The famous postmaster has soft golden brown hair and pretty hazel eyes to match The assistant postmaster Is a striking brunette In a blue serge dress and lace boudoir cap the towns town's paperhanger serenely works on her ladder ladder ladder lad lad- der and plies her brush The owner of the only movie enterprise wears skirts Call for Lackawaxen's proprietor of the cab service and you re apt to be hung up a second while she finishes curling her hair The butcher But no youre you're wrong Her name is Adeline Kuhn She wears a shirtwaist with a Peter Pan collar and has wavy blond hair The milkman Guess again Here comes Anna Bankers housewives say when they hear the clink of shiny cans WO reasons have been advanced as T TWO cause for the rise of this astonishing feminist movement in this little township township township town town- ship of which most of the world never has heard One is that Lackawaxen is isa isa isa a railroad community and the men have preferred the more strenuous outdoor occupation to the more genteel calling of standing behind a counter The other Is that some years ago one of the daughters daughters daughters daugh daugh- of the town Mrs Ada Smith went forth to big New York and accomplished fine things She now holds an an important post in the Brooklyn schools She served as an inspiration There are plenty of men about the township of Lackawaxen You can find them any night sitting around little Mrs Cortright's general store store which she with her assistants runs as well as the the postoffice Just as in small towns the country over this becomes of evenings evenings evenings eve eve- the town gathering place And if you ou arc are seeking grave deep conclusions conclusions conclusions about what happens when women run the town heres here's a neat little answer to put down except down except for a few splutters nothing Men Dlen sit around in inthe inthe inthe the store of the charming and cu cultured little Mrs Cortright just the same She busies herself about her books or her shelves shelves' and lets them talk away unless she has something else elso to do when she turns the light out on them It was in the establishment of the postmaster and general merchant this writer made a first acquaintance e with Lackawaxen's modern women Directly opposite the neat flagged s stone on railroad ad station rises the frame building which houses the Erie Hotel its restaurant the store and postoffice Here under the same roof four women direct the activities of these enterprises Not a man raises a finger to help And there was more truth than fiction in that this that this last winter at any rate And therein r the story of at least one little splutter that is apt to arise when women run the town It had been the custom of the m men n to do the shoveling shoveling shoveling shovel shovel- ing of the path through the snow from the railway station to the hotel and post- post office But Dut after the fame of Lackawaxen v r. r is w S 5 r rV A JJ V li i. i r a. a V Y J k The feminist reign is undisputed d in Lackawaxen Pa For instance there is Yi the postoffice general store a and d restaurant nt which is conducted by women Ij I h entirely Mrs 1 Louise Cortright is the big boss of the three-ply three enterA enter enter- i i A u j t prise Anna Bankers the milkman is at the right L c k f as a To the Ladies town began to be sung the men decided that if the ladies could run the town they could shovel their own snow And the sun had to settle the argument M MRS MRS RS PAULINE DIE DIEM I owns this frame building where the woman movement has got a stranglehold She is a widow who lived in Newark N. N J J. J during the lifetime of her husband She conducts the hotel and restaurant so sowell sowell sowell well she has made a name for herself She is Mrs Cortright's aunt A question brought the answer that the slim blond haired bobbed-haired young woman just showing a pair of shoes was Edna Carpenter in charge of the store while Louise Cortright and her assistant Mrs Jessie Davidson attend to the Governments Government's business Dark- Dark eyed haired dark-haired spick and span in inan inan inan an embroidered apron Mrs Davidson whose husband is employed by the railroad railroad rail rail- road Joad made her hands fly She was helping helping helping help help- ing Mrs Cortright give quicker service than you would get in many a city postoffice Lackawaxen is on on the main mainline mainline mainline line of the Erie between Chicago and New York Eight trains a day stop Great canvas mail bags are shooting back and forth all day for this is the distributing center for star routes but the service at the window never slackens And of what use use for ladies to run the town if they cannot give special service In strolled a parcel post customer with witha a box under each arm As he drew one out he became crestfallen Marys got these addressed wrong Now the one with the boudoir cap ought to go to Florida and the other one with the little book in it it- it itHe He Ho stopped Say Mrs Cortright now which of these boxes would you sayd have a boudoir cap in it Mrs Cortright in her dainty and simple simple simple sim sim- wash silk dress smiled and settled his worry in a jiffy She is slim and self-effacing self with soft hazel eyes that are arc full of light There is no Mayor in Lackawaxen not even a Burgess Durgess An agitation agitation agitation agi agi- tation has begun for borough government government govern govern- m ment nt but that is in the future But if there is a guiding spirit in this community community community com com- it can surely be said to be this young woman who came to America from Germany in 1904 It was through spending her vacations in Lackawaxen that she met and married William Cortright Cortright Cort Cort- right light at the time a school teacher Not many any years after he became postmaster running a a. general storo store as well In 1915 1916 he died of tuberculosis Mrs Cortright became n a forerunner of those women who take up the work of their husbands when death forces them to lay it down Broken in health utterly crushed by the death of her young husband she gave up the pretty home homo by th the river they planned together and occupied only a year and a n half and made it known to Washington she would take up her husbands husband's work if permitted She has now served under three Administrations Administrations Administrations Admin Admin- seeing the station raised from fourth to third class under her manage manage- ment During the war var because of her Germ German n birth wanting specially to prove her loyalty to the land of her adoption she interested herself in tho the Liberty Loans It wits was under her chairmanship during the third loan that the township a The xee there should be bea a feminine form for butcher butcher is is Mrs 1 Adeline Kuhn luhn KO k oversubscribed its quota four forty-four times leading the Nation Natio for its size It was Mrs Cortright who founded the young folks' folks society It was she who and had the agitated for a new school town put on a Chautauqua basis Mrs Cortright doesn't tell you any of this but you cannot visit in Lackawaxen a half hour without learning from others Gifford Pinchot and other famous ones sponsored her when the time came for reappointment to the postoffice The office office office of of- fice is a presidential appointment now v. The late Senator Penrose personally telegraphed telegraphed telegraphed tele tele- graphed news of her appointment with congratulations when it went through Everybody loves Mrs Cortright and sings her praises Zane Grey and Mrs Grey who now spend most of their time in California are her great friends She holds in her possession an enviable letter of commendation from the novelist of which one is only able to see the words There has never been any anyone one so efficient efficient efficient effi effi- effi- effi and capable and able as Mrs Cortright Cortright Cortright Cort Cort- right ardent and indefatigable worker for the Liberty Loan faithful and generous generous generous gen gen- erous to the poor before she whisks it away Mr and Mrs Frank J. J Price other literary notables are arc also her great friends Mr Price an author and nationally nationally nationally na na- na- na known newspaper editor who has retired to the beauty and quiet of Lackawaxen to write is deep in the making making making mak mak- ing of a weighty tome on economics but he counts that day lost which does not include a chat with this unusual postmaster I f O OUT UT of the postoffice and just a few steps down the street in a bright green frame building beyond which one glimpses the greener hills of Lackawaxen Lackawaxen Lackawaxen Lacka Lacka- waxen you ou find another woman who has made business history for the township She is Mrs Anna Gregory likewise a widow widow who who conducts a store and a very modern one at that But her activities have not stopped there It was Mrs Gregory who built the picture motion-picture emporium next door In summer it serves as a dance place as well Church fairs are also held here in fact the structure takes the place of a town hall Mrs Gregory has her own electric plant and as further enterprise has has driven a great well It iS Helen Gregory her daughter who conducts the towns town's taxi and h hacking service Helen has brown eyes brown bobbed hair and wears a brown coat In spite of a merry twinkle in those eyes she holds the reputation of being a better chauffeur than any man within miles In the summer time vacationers will wait until she is free to take them themon on their long winding tours of these places because of the ease and sense of safety with which she drives Vying with Helen as a driver but serving in a different capacity is is- is Frieda D llert the mailman She is an exceptionally exceptionally exceptionally ex ex- bright high school girl who because of her fathers father's illness handles the rural subcontract for the mail in communities stretching for miles out from Lackawaxen She does hauling as well The woman movement in Lackawaxen Lackawaxen Lackawaxen Lacka Lacka- waxen waxen hurls a neat little brick into many manya a man-made man tradition about the gentler sex but it does not upset any more completely completely completely com com- than this one that one that women are always late Frieda with h her r rosy cheeks and more often than not in her brothers brother's coat has the reputation of never being late The town uses her herfor herfor herfor for a clock in fact If Frieda's little mail truck is standing out in front of the po postoffice then it must be 11 Rain hail shine or snow she's there The story goes that men carriers have passed up the snowstorm Frieda has always faithfully plowed out in Standing by her truck on this particular particular particular par par- morning she talked a bit about her strange calling I 1 have a regular route going from point to point making each place as asfar asfar asfar far as I can at a certain time When the weather is right it takes from 9 until about Weve We've had days of fearful snowstorms when that same route has taken from 7 1 o'clock in the morning until 9 at night In the worst weather though my mr brother goes with me MERRILY at her butcher block in the grocery store and meat market on the other side of the railroad worked Mrs l Adeline Kuhn She is a tall slim blond woman with happy blue eyes who entirely runs this store of her husband William Kuhn while he plies his trade of carpentry She has been married just justa a little over a year ear and if you think its it's s 's rather a joke for a young woman to te le a butcher well butcher well so does she Beside Beside Beside Be Be- side the big door hung tho the saw the cleaver and all the rest of the meat mans man's paraphernalia She eyed them ominously I never get afraid of them until Im I'm r C b J J 1 T Kc r L N ra raS ray rat S t y q in bed at night Then I start to think how awful it would be if one of them ever slipped I cut myself just once and I made up my mind Id I'd never let that happen again She wore a great white butcher apron and neatly cut loin lamb chops as she talked The fr frill 11 on her pretty waist made the rest of the picture Yes I guess I do about everything most butchers do only of course we have only a small community you know It was Adeline Kuhn who once lived in Boston who made sandwiches and coffee for her husband the night of a abig abig abig big forest fire When she discovered he was working in a dangerous spot far faraway faraway faraway away from the rest the story is told she did not hesitate to follow him there ANY NY woman who ever tried her hand at wallpapering will appreciate the talents of Mrs l Jane Campbell who whom the writer undertook to visit next and ven- ven eventually located on the top of a ladder in inthe inthe inthe the act of papering the parlor of a room summer hotel Ill be be 60 my next next birthday Im I'm a grandmother and Im I'm proud to be able to do it it She admitted it all with a smile Smoothly a piece of silver moire paper pape went on the ceiling just wh where re reit it was supposed to go No dribbles of paste no misfits the work of a pro ro- ro f don I started to do this when I was a little I girl In her dark serge dress apron and boudoir cap she was down from the ladder now skillfully smoothing smoothing smoothing smooth smooth- ing paste at the table One day when my mother was out I took it into my head Id I'd like to do some papering It seems to me Ive I've been doing it ever since so I guess it was just natural I should turn into the town paper- paper hanger Mrs Campbell is the only paperhanger in the township She is an interior decorator as well She has papered the entire Delaware House on which she was working at the time She on an average of 6 a day and has on a Q p i ya rl l' l r i t ts tw t 1 i dt v s w v Lackawaxen's taxi is driven by Miss liss Helen Gregory Gregor whose mother conducts a a store and picture |
