| YEARS GONE BY ARCHIVES |
| Pottsville Republican of September 4, 1910 SCHUYLKILL HAVEN COUNCIL A regular meeting of town council was held with the following members present: Messrs. Berger, Brown, Moore, McKeown, Saul, Weiss, Wagner and President Keller. Solicitor Noecker, Supervisor Becker and Secretary Dinnig were also present. Supervisor Becker reported seven catch basins built and one manhole cover, 180 feet of gutter laid and fifty two loads of filling put on Balcer's addition and Haven Street and nine carloads of limestone placed on Dock Street. Chairman Berger of the Road Committee reported that there are dangerous pavements in town. Dock Street was oiled and repaired as was Centre Avenue and some other streets. Liberty Street is in bad condition with the Trolley Company failing to repair its portion. The Ordinance Committee was instructed to draw up a new snow ordinance. A petition of property owners asking for adoption of grade and opening of Grant Street was received and read. On motion of Mr. Weiss, the burgess was to notify the Traction Company to properly repair its part of the road on Saint John and Liberty Streets. Mr. McKeown wanted the borough to lay the crossing in front of Saint Ambrose Church. The crossing was ordered last March. On motion of Mr. Berger, Elijah Emerich will be allowed to connect his drain with the new Saint John Street sewer for drainage of surface water only and if sewerage is run in the drain, it will be cut off. Mr. Weiss reported bad gutters on High Street near the old cattle yard and also an unsanitary condition of the alley along side Dr. Wiest's house. Property owners will be notified to repair the gutter and the unsanitary conditions will be referred to the Board of Health. Pottsville Republican of September 11, 1910 WITCHCRAFT EPISODE STIRS UP CHURCH PEOPLE With all of our schools and colleges of learning, one can hardly conceive that people living in our own county still believe in witchcraft. Such is the case however and within the past few days our notice has been called to our neighboring town of Schuylkill Haven, where it has been allowed to enter one of the churches, causing the withdrawal of several of its most active members. It appears that several members of the congregation made the remark that a certain member of the church was a hex or witch and had caused the illness of several of their family. No names were mentioned but suspicion pointed to a certain party as it was reported that her relatives before her were witches and that the craft had been handed down from one generation to the other. The situation assumed a serious nature and finally as a last resort the minister of the congregation was appealed to, the facts were placed before him and he was asked to decide who was the witch and ask her to leave the church. The minister used all the good graces at his command to discredit the belief of the accusers but to no avail. The members of this family grew worse day by day, physicians could offer no relief to their patients and medicine had no effect. So far as can be ascertained, the members of the other family who were afflicted are no better today than they were several weeks ago. Schuylkill Haven is not the only town where many of its residents believe in evil spells and witchcraft. Pottsville Republican of September 24, 1910 Squire Moyer had a wedding at his office on Tuesday evening and friends of the contracting parties gathered in front of the office intending to give them a reception. While the crowd watched and waited the bride and groom disappeared. The crowd is still wondering whether the bride and groom remained overnight as the Squire's guests or if the justice by some occult power transported them to their own home before the eyes of the crowd. Anyhow, Mr. and Mrs. Newlywed and the Squire have the laughs on the crowd. Pottsville Republican of September 28, 1910 SCHUYLKILL HAVEN SHORTS While coming down High Street in his automobile one afternoon last week, in order to avoid running down a factious team, Samuel Rowland applied the emergency brake with such force that he broke an axle. A new axle was telegraphed for and by next morning the machine was again in commission. Funds are coming in nicely for the Halloween celebration. One twenty dollar contribution was received together with a number of ten dollar and five dollar gifts. The celebration is an assured fact and from present indications it will be the biggest affair of its kind ever held in this county. |