Dear Dr. Scribblerbank:
I grew up on Wabank Street in Lancaster in the 1950s and ‘60s. The street/road terminates in Millersville. Where was a place named Wabank?
Robert Childs
Millersville
Dear Robert:
Wabank was located in Lancaster Township not far from where Millersville Road (Rt. 741) crosses the Conestoga River.
To get there, turn left where Wabank Road meets Millersville Road, drive south and take a right on Rice Road. Wabank was near the end of that road.
In 1854-55, a group of investors built the Wabank House, a sprawling resort hotel on the western bank of the Conestoga. The four-story building had 100 bedrooms, a dining room seating 300 people, as well as extensive grounds.
In the days before people took long-distance vacations, such places were constructed on the Conestoga, Susquehanna and other waterways with the expectation that nearby residents would flock to them.
James Buchanan, Democratic candidate for president of the United States, was not among them. The Lancaster Examiner, a Republican newspaper supporting John C. Fremont for president, fictitiously suggested he was there, however, and subsequent reporting has repeated that claim as if it were fact.
The Examiner was simply sharpening its partisan claws on July 16, 1856, when it said Buchanan was spending part of his summer at Wabank. The newspaper continued:
“It is also the intention of Mr. Buchanan, on leaving Wabank, to make an excursion to the head waters of Salt River, another place of some celebrity as a fashionable resort for gentlemen of leisure. He will take passage in the boat that leaves Wabank on the 4th of November.’’
Nov. 4 was the date of the 1856 election. Newspapers often remarked that losing candidates would make a trip “up Salt River.’’ The salt would come from tears shed over defeat. In this instance, any tears were shed by Fremont after he lost the election to Buchanan.
The Wabank House also foundered. It was dismantled and transported to Lititz in 1863. There, coupled with the Lititz Springs Hotel as a gargantuan resort, the Wabank portion burned in 1873.
Dear Dr. Scribblerhalf:
What’s the logic of half-width pages in the LNP? Sometimes the half pages fall out of the paper.
Andy Appel
Lancaster
Dear Andy:
The Scribbler did not fully understand half pages (that is, separate 12-inch sheets printed on both sides) until he questioned Justin Bucks, president of Lancaster Farming and Susquehanna Printing. Susquehanna Printing prints LNP every day.
Here is what Justin says about half pages:
“LNP is run on a 24-inch web format, in order to yield the 12-inch wide folded broadsheet newspaper that we print. In order to get higher page counts and maximize color-page capabilities, we run a combination of 24-inch and 36-inch webs, depending on the page count called for by the LNP team on a daily basis.’’
When Susquehanna Printing does that, Justin says, the 36-inch webs are cut automatically to yield one 24-inch web (that would be a four-page section) and one 12-inch web (a two-page section). They are automatically consolidated to get the configuration that readers see.
If the 12-inch sheets were eliminated, LNP would be limited to 16-page A sections (rather than as many as 18, 20, 22, 26 or 28 pages) and eight-page B sections (rather than 10 or 12 pages).
So the newspaper uses just the right number of pages —some of which may fall on the floor — to bring you the daily report.
Jack Brubaker, retired from the LNP staff, writes “The Scribbler’’ column every Sunday. He welcomes comments and contributions at scribblerlnp@gmail.com.
