Looking Back 1957: Fire engine catches fire for second time in a year
Hull Disert was a fireman with Friendship Fire Company so he knew the smell of smoke. Though it was lunchtime, this was not the smell of burnt food. This smell was more pungent and it was coming from the truck bay. A fire station was not a place where there should be smoke. As Disert walked into the bay, he heard a popping sound. His attention focused on the 1952 American Fire Apparatus 500-gallon pumper truck. Suddenly he knew exactly what the smell was because he had smelled it earlier in the year. He saw that smoke was filling up the cab of the fire truck. “He promptly cut the battery cable of the apparatus, extinguishing the smoldering fire,” reported the Public Opinion in 1957. An investigation showed that insulation that touched a wire leading from the cold side of Read more…
Eddie Plank: Gettysburg’s Legendary Lefty
P is for Plank The arm of the A’s; When he tangled with Matty Games lasted for days. – Lineup for Yesterday by Ogden Nash Though he was known as Gettysburg Eddie, his real name was Edward Stewart Plank. He was a hero to many, but not because he had fought and survived on Gettysburg’s battlefield. Gettysburg Eddie fought on a different battlefield. He held a mound of earth surrounded by a diamond-shaped field. He held it week after week, year after year, and he did it by hurling a baseball. Gettysburg Eddie was the first left-handed pitcher in baseball history to win 200 games and then the first to win 300 games. Even today, he has the third-most wins among left-handed pitchers—326—and ranks 11th among all pitchers. Plank was born on August 31, 1875, on his family’s farm north Read more…
Looking Back: The 'reel' Bill Cody comes to Chambersburg
You could be forgiven for the confusion in 1932 when it was said that Bill Cody was coming to Chambersburg with his Wild West show. But Buffalo Bill Cody had died in 1917 so how could he be visiting Chambersburg 15 years after he died? This Bill Cody was a B-movie actor with Universal Studios. His latest picture had been released a week earlier called “Mason of the Mounted” so his name was familiar among residents. It had also helped him find work in Hollywood, though Cody had no relationship with Buffalo Bill other than their names. He had been born in St. Paul, Minn., in 1891, at a time when Buffalo Bill and his Wild West show were already legendary. Bill Cody had his own Wild West show and he brought it with him in his $50,000 train (an Read more…
Looking Back 1980-First tornado in a century hits Chambersburg area
Monday, May 12, 1980, was winding down. Families were sitting down to dinner. Some people were just returning home from work. It has been a warm day so many people had opened their windows to allow the fresh air in. Then just after 6 p.m., a large black cloud moved in over Chambersburg, the wind began gusting to incredible speeds and rain fell, sometimes very heavily. “It was like fire rolling over the top of the building. The power lines started snapping like candy,” said a motorist who pulled into The Lumber Yard when the rain became too intense to see through, according to the Public Opinion. Another Chambersburg resident, Ida Beard, said, “I was driving home (via) Radio Hill around 6 and saw a round ball in the sky to my left. It kept getting smaller. I looked like a tunnel Read more…
My new local history column debuts!
For all you lovers of interesting history story of interesting people, unique events, mind-boggling crimes and just feel-good slice of life stories check out my new Looking Back column in the Chambersburg Public Opinion. It will run twice a month in the newspaper and is the sister column to my original Looking Back column in the Cumberland Times-News, which looks at history of Cumberland, Allegany County and the rest of Mountain Maryland. The debut column looks at Chambersburg Day at Pen-Mar Park in 1906. It’s a nice slice-of-life story about the area. Up next will be a look back at the 1980 tornado that touched down in Chambersburg and caused a lot of damage. Check out the column if you get a chance and let me know what you think.
Surviving Christmas
The Christmas tree stood in the living room of the Tarenton, Pa., home, lit with bright lights and decorated with colorful glass balls. George Pochon and his wife had decorated it alone while their five-year-old son, Jimmy, lay on a pile of pillows nearby. Jimmy smiled when he saw the finished tree, but he didn’t get out of his makeshift bed. “Well, I won’t get out of bed today, Mummy, I’ll get out of bed tomorrow,” Jimmy said to his mother, according to an Associated Press report in December 1949. His mother turned away from him so that Jimmy wouldn’t see the tears welling up in her eyes. Jimmy had been good all year and he was hoping to have a merry Christmas with lots of gifts. “I’ve been a good boy, so Santa’s going to see me before the Read more…
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