THE NEWSLETTER OF THE HUBER BREAKER PRESERVATION SOCIETY
Volume 2, Number 2 June 2003
EPCAMR Hosts Statewide Conference at Mayfield, with Visit to Huber Breaker
The Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation hosted a major conference at Scranton’s Mayfield Center, May 15-17, 2003, coordinated by Robert Hughes. The event was sponsored by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council for Mine Reclamation and drew participants from across the state. Some150 persons attended the Friday session.
On Thursday afternoon, HBPS Webmaster, Bill Best, led 48 conferees on a tour of the Huber Breaker. Many of the visitors had never had the opportunity to see an anthracite breaker close up and were impressed by how much survives of the large colliery complex in Ashley. These visitors can be counted on to affirm in their home districts their support for the cause of preserving the Huber. A future tour is planned for several of the conference participants who were unable to visit the Huber on this occasion.
Information on the conference was posted at: http://amrclearinghouse.org
HBPS Participates in Ashley Memorial Day Parade, May 26
The historic Ashley Borough Memorial Day Parade held on Monday, May 26, again included a float mounted by the Huber Breaker Preservation Society. Henry Price supervised the design of the float, which highlighted the role of anthracite mining in the history of the community.
Harrisburg Teacher Brings Students to Huber Breaker
Mary Jo Pronio, a middle school teacher from Harrisburg, brought a van-load of students to Ashley on Friday, March 21, 2003, to study the Huber Breaker. Her group included Gina Fogarty, who as a dealer in antiques was interested in viewing anthracite artifacts surviving at the colliery, and three junior high students, Matt Pronio, David Kanaskie, and Kelley McDonald. Their tour of the Huber was conducted by Bill Best, accompanied by HBPS member Jim Cornelius, a former railroad clerk with the Jersey Central Railroad. The students were investigating the coal strike of 1902, and their report on what they found at the Huber Breaker won them a regional first prize at Shippensburg State College, in Pennsylvania’s school competition focused on local history.
Knox Survivors Tell Their Story at Pittston Gathering
The Greater Pittston Historical Society hosted an open forum on May 8, 2003, entitled “The Knox Disaster: The Rest of the Story.” Dr. Robert Wolensky moderated the event, which was held at the Overlook Professional Center, once the Pittston Hospital.
Displays began at 4:00 p.m., and the forum commenced at 6:00 p.m. The program paid tribute to the twelve miners who lost their lives on January 22, 1959, when the Susquehanna broke into Knox mine workings under the river. Attending the public conference were miners who had survived the cave-in, as well as relatives and friends of the victims.
A video was shown of the memorial newly placed at the point of the break-in, the location based on surveys taken by Joe Stella and Bill Hastie, who were employed at the river slope that fateful day. They were able to translate exact distances from mining maps by using standing surface buildings as points of origin. Joe Stella had been a surveyor with the Pennsylvania Coal Company, the owner of the mine leased to the Knox operators, and he was familiar enough with the underground complex of tunnels to direct miners to an abandoned air shaft by which they made their escape.
Fr. Hugh McGroarty gave a benediction that launched the program, having also been present at the placing of the memorial to mark the break-in. Moderator Bob Wolensky was moved by the sizable turn-out and the testimony given by the miners and their families. He called it “a tremendous session” and reported later that a good discussion of the Knox Disaster was held at the Pittston Middle School on the day following the forum.
Among those at the forum were a son and daughter of one of the victims, John Baloga. Matthew Amico recalled using the site of the cave-in as a swimming hole the locals called the “Deepie.” Nurses who’d been on duty at the Pittston Hospital the day of the cave-in described how they’d ripped off the frigid clothes of the miners and treated them for hypothermia. Reporters Jim Bussacco of the Pittston Dispatch and Dick Cosgrove of the Citizens’ Voice took part in the forum, as did Joe Keating, miner and mine historian of Plymouth. Tom Sinkavitch, son of the Pittston Chief of Police at the time of the disaster, told how he had played hooky from school that day and had run with his brother to the river slope when word of the cave-in reached them. Then they’d spent the rest of the day racing through Pittston to avoid meeting their Dad, who was coordinating police and traffic controls throughout the area.
A hiker reminded the audience that a planned railroad trail from Duryea to Wilkes-Barre will pass the site of the Knox Disaster and recommended that signs be placed at the memorial noting its history.
The families of eleven of the victims who had sought compensation ultimately received only $12,000 each. The niece of Eugene Ostrowski, one of the victims, observed that this compensation came late and was inadequate to meet the needs of his widow and two children.
No one, Bob Wolensky observed, was ever convicted of illegal mining in connection with the Knox Disaster. But Joe Stella described those techniques of mining that bent the rules, including the practice called “skipping,” taking coal from either side of the twelve-foot corridor miners could legally dig. At the Knox, skipping had widened this corridor to 27 feet, allowing river water heavy with January ice to flood the chambers where the men worked.
Shawnee Fort Historical Marker Dedicated in Plymouth Ceremony
A state historical marker recording the erection of the Shawnee Fort during the Revolutionary War was dedicated on May 25, 2003, at the Plymouth Armory. The program was hosted by the Plymouth Historical Society. Professor Howard Fedrick, a Plymouth native and member of the King’s College History Department, spoke on the importance of preserving regional heritage, an effort that he said called for “courage, creativity, commitment, and community.”
Several exhibits were displayed at the armory. One of them, assembled by HBPS member Joe Keating, included mine tools, early photographs, historical documents, and a stereopticon offering a 3-D view of the Maxwell breaker, predecessor of the Huber.
Joe Keating will manage a mining exhibit at the Riverfest celebration scheduled for the West Nanticoke riverside park on June 7. Materials relating to the Huber Breaker will be displayed.
Pittston Society Mounts Photographic Exhibit
On Sunday afternoon, March 16, 2003, the Greater Pittston Historical Society sponsored an exhibit of photographs relating to the history of Pittston. This was held at Savo’s Pizza and Family Restaurant in Pittston Commons. The setting was appropriate, since the owner and operator, Michael Savokinas, has furnished it with historical features. A mural painted by Pittston artist Al Borini shows Main Street in Pittston as it was in 1964, the year Savo’s opened there. In addition, the original counter is in place to welcome diners at the new location. The counter has its stools, dispensers for soda and hot chocolate, gum ball machines, and other equipment from the Sixties luncheonette. Anyone who knew those days can relive them at Savo’s Pizza.
In April this Pittston Historical Society sponsored further activities to promote historical preservation. From president Bill Hastie and coordinator John Dziak went out a request for information on “Schools of the Past.” On April 22, senior citizens of the area shared their recollections at the Pittston Library. On April 27, a Pittston Hospital Homecoming Day was held in the Overlook building that once housed the Pittston Hospital.
Local historian Charles Petrillo, a graduate of Wilkes College and the Dickinson School of Law, spoke on May 22nd at the Overlook on how coal was moved from Pittston to world markets, in the early days before trains made Pittston a rail center. Anyone interested in learning about or contributing to future Greater Pittston historical events is invited to telephone 570-430-3361.
[Photograph caption:]
Here railroad gondolas dumped “foreign” coal from other Glen Alden collieries for processing at the Huber Breaker (photo by Bill Best).