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Authored by Society president George Meiser IX |
| Posted 05-15-2003
SEVEN News-Bits of Reading-Berks historical interest…. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 1- Landmark Exeter Twp. hotel, Centre House, set AFIRE 2- Goddess of Liberty presented to Historical Society of Berks 3- Valuable Union Canal data discovered in an 1827 newspaper 4- Treasure-trove of free old-time radio music: ragtime, jazz, pop 5- Diller's Jewelry Store once in Capital Theatre bldg.,344 Penn 6- Bed & Breakfast tour Sun.; photo teaser of sites included 7- Albany Twp. H.S. meeting Mon. 5/19 to focus on Molly Maguires \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 1- As I was typing these News-Bits, a call came informing me that the old Centre House hotel, a brick building that had been converted to a farmhouse prior to 1900, burned---possibly set afire by some juveniles seen entering the structure earlier. In the News-Bits archive is a detailed story on the Centre House, so called because of its position between two early landmarks:- Black Bear Hotel (Oley Turnpike below Perkioman Ave., Route 422) and Stonersville Hotel. The old watering trough, once a common sight in front of 19th century public houses, remained "out front" into the late 1960's.  Centre House stood along the south side of the Boyertown Pike (Route 562), east of Jacksonwald and new St. Catharine's R.C. Church. It was slated for removal to make way for a new church to be built on the site. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 2- Carey M. Kaucher, Berks County's Special Projects Coordinator, and County Commissioner Judy Schwank present a Goddess of Liberty statue to Society President Geo. M. Meiser, IX on behalf of the Berks 250 Anniversary Commission. Mt. Penn sculptor Angelo DiMaria produced a limited number for presentation purposes during the 2002 celebration.  The Goddess of Liberty is a replica of the figure that stood atop the old Court House from 1897 to 1931 and which now can be seen in the atrium of the new Services Center. (A few of the replicas remain for sale. If interested, phone Mr. Kaucher at 610-478-6860.) The Society's statue has been placed in the permanent collection of local art and commemorative memorabilia. Mr. Kaucher was the Berks 250 Anniversary Commission chairman. Society member Judy Schwank served as the liaison between the County Commissioners and the 250 Commission. ---Photo by Sandy Stief, Reading. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 3- The Union Canal operated from 1827 to 1884. In Berks, it paralleled the Tulpehocken Creek to its junction with the Schuylkill; thereafter, it ran inland on the west side of the river to its post-1850 terminus---below the Bingaman St. (Lancaster Ave.) Bridge. Recently, an obscure 16-page Baltimore newspaper turned up that carries a brief but valuable report on the canal's opening. The issue is the June 23, 1827 edition of "Nile's Weekly Register," published by Hezekia Niles. UNION CANAL:- "We take great pleasure in announcing that, on Tuesday last, the 12th of June, the first canal boat passed from Womelsdorf, westward, through the tunnel at Lebanon to the Water Works, and on the day following to Middletown on the Susquehannah (sic). "The canal is regularly navigated from Middletown to the Water Works with anthracite coal conveyed to the latter point. Personal inspection enables us to say that the canal, through the limestone region, lying between the tunnel and the mouth of the Tulpe- hocken, appears to be completely water tight. (Not true!) "These simple facts dissipate the gloomy forebodings which have been insinuated into the public mind for the last seven years. We congratulate the stockholders in this canal upon the success of their enterprise, and congratulate the people of the state who are to reap the chief benefit of it." \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 4- A friend of this e-zine informed us about an Internet archive of some one hundred (or more) one-hour radio programs that show- case music such as you'd hear on old-time radio and earlier on talking machines and Victrolas. The radio shows originate in New Jersey, on Tuesday nights, and can still be heard live on the Internet. If you have any interest in old-time pop, jazz, and ragtime, access this: http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/3882 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 5- Diller's Jewelry store, now located at 6th and Penn Avenue in West Reading. had for many years been situated in what was the old Grand Opera House building at 344 Penn---in the 1930's and '40's home of the Capital Theatre. This little gem showed up on eBay this week:  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ We previously made mention of the Society's annual tour of Bed & Breakfast accommodations to be held this coming Sunday, May 18th. Tickets are $10 each and may be bought at the Society between now and Sunday. On Sunday, they may be purchased at the Society between 12:30 and 2:30. For details, call the Society at 610-375-4375. A suggested travel-plan, map, and booklet are included in the B&B packet. Here are four sites of the nine included. They are all in Berks. How many do you recognize?  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 7- The Albany Township Historical Society will hold its monthly meeting on Monday, May 19, 2003, at the Albany Township Elementary School at 7:30 PM. Following a brief business meeting, Lance Metz, Historian at the National Canal Museum will address the group. This program is free and open to the public. Mr. Metz's address will focus on the trials of the Molly Maguires, a secret society of (mostly) Irishmen, primarily coal miners, who agitated and violently rebelled against management-- at a time workers were treated badly and labored long hours under unsafe conditions. The ringleaders were captured, convicted of murder, and hanged in the Carbon County jail at Maunch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe). The trial was infamous for the fact that private attorneys and anthracite company executives served as special prosecutors. Editor's Note: Be aware that the Molly Maguires were not all from the coat regions, were not all miners---and were not all Irish. Years ago, your editor chatted with a nonagenarian from the Suckertown section of Exeter Twp. who related that his father, a Schuylkill Canal boatman of Robeson Twp., was a Molly Maguire---as were a number of his friends and neighbors who worked on the canal hauling coal. They sometimes met with "leaders" in a barn near the canal in Gibraltar. I asked to talk at greater length about the subject but the fellow had to get home for dinner. He promised we'd get together after he returned from the hospital and a pacemaker implantation. He didn't survive the surgery. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ gmmix \\\\\\ end \\\\\\\\\\\ |
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