| YEARS GONE BY ARCHIVES |
| The Call of March 4 The old log house on Route 61 standing at the entrance to Rest Haven and the Schuylkill Campus of Penn State will be remove by Harvey B. Moyer Inc. to facilitate road improvements. It is said the building is 150 years old. The Call of March 18 A public hearing was held at Borough Hall last evening to discuss the possible purchase of Stoyer's Dam by the borough. Council President Nancy Montz stated the purchase price is $25000. A grant is pending to cover half the cost with the borough needing to furnish the other half. It has been decided that about $10000 in the land acquisition fund, set aside for traffic lights at Haven and Main Streets and St. John and Main Streets, would be used to fund the sale. Many people spoke in favor of the purchase including firemen and sportsmen. A petition signed by 264 local residents recommended that the borough buy the dam. A petition signed by four to five hundred persons wants all information made public before a decision is made. The dam needs dredging and other improvements. By a vote of 5-2 council approved the purchase. The Call of March 27 A ribbon cutting ceremony was held for the grand opening of the Schuylkill Haven Senior and Neighborhood Center on Haven Street. About 800 people were present and took a tour of the facility. Membership in the Senior Citizen group had increased from 228 members to 325 by the end of the day. |
| The Call of March 7 The new Medical Arts Building on Main Street at Avenue C will have an open house this Saturday. Dr. Theodore Tihansky, Dr. Joseph Leskin, Dr. Herbert C. Rubright, Dr. Joe E. Conrad and Dr. Emanuel Diamond will have offices in the building along with a pharmacy operated by John P. Hinkle. Pottsville Republican of March 7 A spectacular $175,000 fire destroyed the Argo knitting mill and bleachery on North Berne Street in Schuylkill Haven today. Flames shot sixty to seventy feet in the air as an inferno consumed the three story brick structure. Embers were blown over several blocks. The blaze was almost under control when Therold "Dutch" Bolton, a member of Schuylkill Hose Co. emerged from an alley between the factory and a home with severe head injuries. It is surmised he was struck by falling debris. The fire started at about 11:00 in the morning. 75 employees worked the plant which supplied partially finished goods for the new mill at Market and Margaretta Streets. A machinist from New York was trapped briefly on the second floor until a ladder was used to rescue him. A great deal of material was saved by employees who threw it out of windows into the street. Firemen ran lines to Stoyer's Dam and were able to save neighboring homes. The sprinkler system worked but had little effect. Three explosions shook the building presumably from the ignition of barrels of chemicals. The mill was a total loss but the firemen saved all neighboring houses. During a recent conversation with Harry Naffin (former Haven resident and owner of Messner and Hess), he related details of the fire. He and Therold Bolton were on the second floor at the start of the fire. They were calling for water for the line they had at hand. Harry noted that threw a glass door panel on a stairway to the third floor they could see a blazing fire. Shortly after they moved from it, the door exploded spreading fire into the dust filled ceiling. Harry and Bolton quickly dropped the hose and ran for their lives. He also reported large bales of burning cloth rolling out of the back of the mill and falling into the Schuylkill River, floating downstream until extinguished. Schuylkill Haven school board held it's meeting Monday night. Custodians were named special police for the protection of school property. The board also considered the growing practice of parents removing their children from school to go on family vacations. All such absences will now be considered illegal. It was also noted that Trans Video Co. has supplied a connection to a television receiver in the school for class instruction. The Call of March 14 At their meeting held this week, borough council approved the purchase of two new trucks from Dinger Chevrolet along with fifty telephone poles. Alpha Mills has requested a gong connected to their sprinkler system be placed at borough hall in view of the recent disastrous fire at the Argo Plant. Council approved the suggestion as long as the Alpha pays all costs. A petition from residents of the 300 and 400 blocks of Main Street was presented to council recommending rescinding of the parking ban on that street. Truck traffic, the cause of the ban, is slight after 5:00 and on Sundays and holidays. They request parking be allowed at those times. The request was referred to the highway committee. |
| The Call of March 11 On Tuesday morning, the Hotel Grand was destroyed by fire resulting in damages of $75000. The post office, Prudential Insurance Co. and the State Bank of Schuylkill Haven, all with offices in the building suffered serious damage. The fire started at about 2:45 in the morning spreading quickly. All guests of the hotel got out safely. Nine streams of water were trained on the structure for seven hours to control the blaze. A separate building to the rear used by the bank and Schwartz's store were slightly damaged as was the Gray building next door. Post office employees retrieved records and as much mail as possible taking it next door to the Gray building. As the last employee left the hotel, embers crashed down through the skylight. Lewis Dewald has operated the hotel for the past two and a half years. The hotel had thirty nine guest rooms and a band hall on the fourth floor. There are plans to rebuild. The building is completely ruined. It occupied the site of the historic Washington Hotel which was built in the early days of the town. The present building was erected by Daniel Yoder in 1895 and operated by Preston Souder. It was then sold to Clayton Bubeck who sold it to the State Bank in 1923. Shollenberger and Yeager operated it by lease after the bank made large improvements. The Bressler Band lost many of their instruments. The night was cold at zero degrees with a strong wind coating firemen with ice. H. C. Wilson, a long time resident of the hotel, discovered the fire and alerted the other guests. The train at 2:22 woke him and he smelled smoke. Many guests gathered personal effects and gathered on St. John Street but some escaped with only the clothes on their backs. John Deibert saved most of his clothes but forgot his teeth and spectacles. Miss Mary Juris who lived near the bathroom where the fore began fled in pajamas and a light coat. Wilson managed to save his forty year collection of historical notes and photos of the town. Fire companies from Pottsville, Cressona and Orwigsburg assisted. The firemen fought to save neighboring buildings and frequently changed clothes that were freezing from the water on the cold night. St. John Street became a frozen river. Chief of Police Deibert pulled the alarm which alerted the town. The borough council meeting was held Monday, March 7. Borough council accepted the specifications for a master electric clock and frequency recording system which will be installed at the electric plant so electric clocks may be used in town. No action was taken to improve the water supply system. The suggestion had been to install a 300,000 gallon stand pipe in the Fairmount Addition but this was not brought to a vote. President Moyer has received complaints about a dangerous condition at the Union Street rail crossing. Trains brought down from Mine Hill are shifted there before going to Saint Clair. No trainman is there to warn the public and recently an autoist had a close call as the flashing lights do not operate properly. A motion was carried to notify the Reading Company. The electric department will look into complaints by residents that a great deal of interference is being suffered by radio owners. The Call of March 18 Attorney G. E. Gangloff of town was appointed Judge of Orphan's Court as announced by Governor Pinchot on Monday afternoon. He was selected from among twenty one candidates. Gangloff was an ardent Teddy Roosevelt supporter and was the county chairman during his campaign. He was also in charge of the Pinchot campaign for Senator several years ago. |
| The Call of March 8 There were three fatalities in the vicinity on the railroad this week. Harry Zimmerman, a Reading brakeman, fell from his train beneath the wheels and was ground to pieces at the Mine Hill crossing. Anthony Wrda, an Italian, was an employee at the storage yard and was struck and killed near the Union Knitting Mill. W. P. Richards of Pottsville, a Pennsy fireman, got off his train to go back with a flag at a point near Connors Crossing when he was struck by the flyer and was killed. Schuylkill Haven Water and Gas Co. has had problems due to sudden changes in temperature. Manager Aldrich and Supt. Bowen report very little inconvenience. Last week a main from the big dam burst and by the time of it's discovery the dam was almost drained. The high points in town suffered a lack of water. It is recommended not to waste water until the dam refills. The Board of Health advises residents to boil their water. The Reading Company, with 700n employees in town, will have their chemist test the water and submit a report to the Call. Pottsville Republican of March 16 The teachers held their regular monthly meeting Tuesday evening. The system of writing taught will be changed from vertical to semi slant upon approval by the board. Third grade teachers agreed that arithmetic can be taught another year without the pupils having books. Since it is unsanitary for pupils to use pen holders and rulers that were used by other children, it was suggested that a cheaper grade of these articles be purchased and students should be permitted to keep them. Parents are requested not to take their children out of school before the end of the term in case they are entitled to promotion without examination. No promotion will be made for absentee students. The matter of organizing a Schuylkill Haven High School Alumni Association was discussed. Pottsville Republican of March 19 THREE MEN IN BUGGY RUN DOWN BY ENGINE A very serious railroad accident, which may result in the loss of one or more lives, took place shortly after noon today at Connor's Crossing near Schuylkill Haven, when a team from the Schuylkill Haven Gas and Water Company was struck by a P and R train and the occupants of the wagon seriously injured. They are James Bowen, of Schuylkill Haven, back badly injured and at first believed to have been broken, but later surgeons were hopeful that the injury was not so serious. Charles Kline, of Cressona, badly cut but should recover and William Krommes , of Cressona, who has severe internal injuries. The wagon was demolished and the horse was killed instantly. They were returning to the gas house after making repairs at the pumping station. An attentive watchmen guards the crossing and it is unknown how the wagon entered the tracks. They were on the crossing when a south bound freight train struck the wagon and hurled it forward, throwing the men a considerable distance. The three were semi conscious and bleeding severely. Krommes was removed to his home and the other two were removed to Pottsville. Bowen later died at the hospital of his injuries. Pottsville Republican of March 30 DIED ON DAY SHE HAD PRAYED FOR A wish and prayer of the past eighteen years was yesterday answered when death claimed Mrs. Bridget Garrigan of Schuylkill Haven, widow of the late Daniel Garrigan. It was just eighteen years ago yesterday, on Good Friday, that her husband passed and she then expressed the wish and has frequently repeated it that she wished also to die upon that Holy day. |