The Mystery of the Missing Canine. June 11, 2020

Copyright © 2020                               John F. Oyler 

 June 11, 2020

The Mystery of the Missing Canine

For a number of years, a statue of a dog has been a landmark in our woods. It was about thirty inches high, portraying a Golden Retriever obediently sitting back on its haunches (hunkered down?). No one seems to know how it got there, although some of the older eccentrics in the neighborhood apparently have fabricated unlikely scenarios.

My favorite is the story that a farmer living in the century old house across the road at the west end of the woods was having a problem with a dog that simply wouldn’t obey. One day the dog ran off and refused to come home. When his owner finally located him, he threatened him, “If you don’t come to me this very minute, I will turn you into stone”. The dog didn’t, and the farmer did, and since then we have enjoyed the statue.

Another theory is that the dog really is a troll-like creature that comes to life at midnight and wanders around all night, returning to its home base before dawn, at which time it reverts back to being stone. This fantasy is supported by the fact that, although he is always at the same place, sometimes he is facing a different direction than he was the previous evening.

At some point we learned that his name is Winston; perhaps someone thought he looked like Churchill. At any rate, checking him out regularly was a necessary stop on every hike through the woods, taking special note of which direction he was facing.

Early in December we were shocked to see that he had disappeared. Despite the fact that he weighs several hundred pounds, there was no evidence of his being dragged, no sign of any disturbance whatsoever. That evening I posted a query on “Next Door Neighborhoods”, inquiring if anyone knew what had happened to him.

A day or so later a gentleman named David Kammenzind replied, “What did he look like?” Regrettably, I failed to respond. Since then there have been occasional posts on the “Next Door Neighborhoods” website, mostly folks lamenting his disappearance. Recently, however, I noted one from Mr. Kammenzind, the first respondent.

This time I contacted him, and learned that a dog statue had indeed been deposited on his front porch, that he called the police, and that had been taken away. He even produced a photo that clearly identified it as our missing Winston.

I immediately emailed the local police department, prompting phone call confirming that the statue was in their possession. The next morning I was contacted by Officer O’Brien and arranged to meet him at the parking area at the edge of the woods. Sure enough, he and Officer Harbison (?) showed up with Winston and a dolly, and promptly returned him to his rightful place.

Winston’s return has been celebrated by all the folks who regularly walk in the woods. He is no worse for wear after his six months in (protective) police custody.

We are grateful to the police department for their care of him and the prompt way they brought him home, once they knew where home was.

Conventional wisdom is that someone removed him as a prank, transported him half a mile across town, and dropped him off on Mr. Kammenzind’s porch. That appears to a reasonable explanation and allows the police to close this case. Except, how in the world could anyone pick up that heavy statue and haul it to a car without leaving a trace?

Is it possible that there is something mystical involved here? After all, these woods are well known to be enchanted and to contain any number of phenomena that border on the supernatural, including one that is within a couple of hundred yards from Winston’s stamping ground.

That, of course, is the popular pavilion, or picnic shelter, that the township constructed thirty-five years ago. By the strangest of coincidences, it is oriented such that its main axis and ridgepole line up perfectly with the point where the sun hits the horizon when it sets on the date of the winter solstice.

This is something one would suspect of an ancient Native American structure or even a Druid one. Is it really a coincidence that the township engineer oriented the pavilion in that precise direction? Or is it built on the foundations of some archaic sun-worshiping culture?

And then there is the mystical “brick garden”, which I have described in previous columns. Each Spring a new crop of collectible paving bricks magically surfaces – six or seven “Bessemer Youngstown”, three or four “C. P. Mayer”, and an occasional “Porter National”. The garden is deep in a thicket, high on a hillside, with no apparent access by any road or lane. Again, by coincidence, the closest residence to the garden is the home of the only card-carrying member of the International Brick Collectors Association in Allegheny County.

A few weeks ago we wrote about the mystical re-appearance of the rare trillium recurvatum after an absence of three or four years and wistfully suggested that this coincidence was a hopeful sign from the “Great Spirit” that there are better days ahead for those of us self-isolated and hunkered down because of the Covid 19 pandemic.

The engineer/amateur scientist in me realizes that there is a logical, rational explanation for each and every one of these mystical phenomena. Surely two strong young men picked up Winston and tiptoed to their truck to abduct. Surely it is a coincidence that the pavilion is oriented like an element in Stonehenge. Surely a truck dumped a load of bricks at a site coincidentally near the home of a passionate brick collector. Surely climate change interfered with the life cycle of the trillium recurvatum.

Nonetheless …..

Ian's Commencement Address. June 4, 2020

Copyright © 2020                               John F. Oyler

June 4, 2020

Ian’s Commencement Address

My grandson, Ian Aleistair McCance, is about to graduate from Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins, Colorado, in a ceremony severely limited in attendees. His mother has elected to supplement this with a teleconference including all of his extended family. I was asked to provide the Commencement Address for this family celebration. What follows is an approximate version of that address.

Good afternoon, Ian, and to your extended family as well. I am honored to have been asked to give this Commencement Address. This is an appropriate assignment for me, as I am the oldest, and consequently the wisest member of this family.

 Wisdom is the synergistic result of experience, analyzed with judgment, and stored in one’s memory. My long lifetime has produced many experiences. The good judgment with which I have been blessed has provided me with a treasure trove of relevant, significant memories. And, so far, my memory has not deserted me.

Wisdom is of no value unless it is passed on to others. Events like Commencement exercises provide an excellent vehicle for such passage. I am pleased to have this opportunity to pass on a few bits of wisdom to you.

Don’t be afraid to enjoy life. Our lives are filled with wonderful experiences. Nature gives us sunsets; and waterfalls; and clear, calm winter mornings when a snowfall has transformed the woods into a miraculous fairyland. The arts provide many more – a trumpet playing “Ain’t Misbehaving” at my retirement banquet, a first opportunity to read “Lord of the Rings”, and Lazar Wolf negotiating with Tevye for the hand of Tzeitel. If only your Grandmother Oyler could have seen Lazar Wolf and Colonel Mustard and gimpy old Sir Francis Chesney!

Which brings us to your family and your friends. Enjoy the time you have with them; work hard to prevent your other responsibilities and obligations from interfering with it. Don’t postpone opportunities to enjoy quality time with them till “Some Other Time”.

Secondly, don’t be afraid to take a chance. Exploit your potential. We are all capable of much greater things than we realize. Frequently we will fail, but that makes our achievements all the more enjoyable. Follow Robert Frost’s example:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --

I took the one less travelled by

And that has made all the difference.

Consider “The Road Less Travelled” when you encounter a fork in this unpredictable road you are travelling.

And, finally, exercise your mind. Some people think it is our most under-utilized organ. In today’s environment our easy access to information often permits us to look up solutions to problems rather than thinking them through ourselves. This may well inhibit creative thinking and ultimately retard progress.

Most of the advances our society has made have been orchestrated by a small number of independent thinkers, open minded individuals eager to explore all alternatives. You have a mind with remarkable potential – nurture it!

Just as I am the eldest member of my generation, you are the eldest of yours. You are the flag bearer, the role model, for Rachael, and Nora, and Claire, and Ciona, and Lai An. Each of them is looking to you for guidance on how they navigate their own personal journeys.

An interesting theory in social science suggests a symbiotic relationship between the successive generations and the evolution of history. It postulates that society evolves through a repetitive cycle of phases -- crisis, rebuilding, questioning, and unraveling -- lasting eighty or ninety years. The experiences of each generation during its formative years molds its character and the character of each generation in its adult years molds the society it dominates.

In my lifetime this theory is exemplified by the crisis of the Great Depression and World War II, the burden of which was carried by the “Greatest Generation”. My generation came next. Known as the “Silent Generation”, we were so grateful for having survived hard times that it was easy for us to focus on rebuilding.  

We were followed by the Boomers, a spoiled generation that was so bored with life that they preferred to question our values. Then came Generation X, the disrupters, and tribal conflicts throughout the world.  

And now we are starting all over again, in the midst of an international crisis. Your generation will have the challenge of putting Humpty Dumpty back together again, when this crisis ends. You will be the builders, re-connectors, and assemblers who reconstruct the world order in a positive fashion that will produce a new Golden Era. We have confidence in you!

It is always difficult to end a talk properly. To aid me in this challenge I elected to convene an imaginary virtual teleconference of the patriarchs of the eight families from which you descend – your eight great-great-grandfathers. They represent four similar, but independently different ethnicities.

Your Irish blood is represented by the McGoverns and the Cassidys; your Scotch heritage by the McCances. Your English forbears are the Powells and the Spring family. And finally, this intermingling of strains from the British Isles combines with three Pennsylvania Dutch families, the Oylers, the Kleeses, and the Flecks, each transplanted from Germany four generations earlier.

My posing the question of a proper conclusion to your Commencement Address initiated a heated debate, as might be expected from such a collection of diverse backgrounds. Eventually, however, they elected to focus on the fact that you are beginning a long journey through life, and that the traditional Celtic Blessing would be appropriate.

Great-great-Grandpa Cassidy was selected to deliver it:

         Sure, and may the road rise up to meet ye,

         May the wind be ever at thy back,

         May the sun shine brightly on thy forehead,

         And the gentle rain refresh thy fields.

         Until we meet again, lad,

         May the good Lord shelter thee in the palm of His hand.

This was followed by a chorus of Amens, confirming unanimous agreement.

To which I add, “Amen”.

The "Spanish" Flu in Bridgeville May 28, 2020

Copyright © 2020                               John F. Oyler

May 28, 2020

The “Spanish” Flu in Bridgeville

Our current pandemic has frequently been compared and contrasted with the massive flu epidemic in 1918 and 1919. We got to wondering just how serious it was in Bridgeville. The result of our research has been that it was indeed serious.

For perspective we should consider overall statistics. Worldwide the epidemic lasted from Spring 1918 through early summer 1919. In 1919 the population of the whole world was about 1,600,000,000 persons (one-fifth of what it is today!). About five hundred million people were infected; total deaths were estimated at fifty million, might have been twice as high. A fifty million total produces a mortality rate slightly over 3.0 percent.

The population of the United States was one hundred and three million; about three million people were infected. Total fatalities were between five hundred thousand and eight hundred and fifty thousand. The lower total produces a mortality rate of about 0.5%, well below the global value. Incidentally, 1918 is the only year since 1900 that the nation’s population actually decreased.

The population of Pittsburgh was about five hundred and seventy-five thousand. Its first cases of the flu were reported on October 2, 1918 – two army cadets being trained on the University of Pittsburgh campus. The epidemic ran through mid-April; total deaths were about four thousand six hundred. The resulting mortality rate of 0.8% was the highest of any major city in the country.

A rigorous search of contemporary newspapers turned up a few vague references to Bridgeville and one that appeared to be specific. An article in the December 8, 1918, Pittsburgh Daily Post, discussing bans closing schools, churches, theatres, and other public places in the communities of Avalon, Bellevue, Ben Avon, and Emsworth reported they were being renewed and extended until December 18.

Almost as an afterthought, the article also reported “A similar ban has been placed on Bridgeville. At Bridgeville the health officer reports that there were 100 serious cases, that brought the ban on one-half-day’s notice.” This suggests that Bridgeville may well have been one of the major hot spots in Allegheny County, outside of the city.

This suggestion is reinforced by information from the family history of the Fryer family, as reported in “Bridging the Years”, Volume III, the commemorative yearbook published by the Bridgeville Community Association as part of Bridgeville’s Centennial celebration in 2001.

According to this history, the Amos Fryer Funeral Parlor “buried over 121 citizens during the National Tragedy of the Influenza Epidemic from our community.” Ironically this total included the Funeral Director, Samuel Blake Fryer, Sr., buried on October 26,1918, and his infant son, Paul, five days earlier. Mr. Fryer had recently inherited the business from his father, Amos, who died on May 8, 1918. These were certainly difficult times for the Fryer family.

Amos Fryer, born in 1847, was the grandson of Leonard and Eleanor Fryer. They came to western Pennsylvania in the late 1700s, originally settling on Miller’s Run. Their seventh son, Samuel, was Amos’ father. He built a grist mill on McLaughlin Run, close to today’s intersection of McLaughlin Run Road and Baldwin Street. Amos inherited his father’s entrepreneurial bent, establishing Bridgeville’s first lumber yard. In 1875 he sold the lumber yard and opened a furniture store, with undertaking as a sideline. This ultimately led to the success of the Fryer Funeral business.

In 1918 Bridgeville’s population was about 3,000. In 1920, after the epidemic had faded into a memory, the nation suffered 13.0 deaths from all causes, per 1,000 residents. Based on this, we assume there would have normally been about forty deaths in a typical year in Bridgeville.

Any analysis of this type must consider the fact that there were additional funeral parlors in Bridgeville at this time. “Squire” William Russell’s undertaking business was started in 1904 and was near its peak in 1918; there may have been others. Apparently the Russell family, like the Fryers, suffered an ironic death, The “Bridgeville” column in Canonsburg’s December 21, 1918 “Daily Notes” reports “Mrs. Will Russell is among the late flu victims”. She probably was Squire Russell’s wife.

Another relevant factor is the fact that Bridgeville funeral parlors served a wider area than just the Borough itself – Miller’s Run in South Fayette, Thom’s Run in Collier Township, Beadling in Upper St. Clair, etc. If we add another 7,000 persons in these communities, the total deaths in a normal year for “Greater Bridgeville” would have been one hundred and thirty. Assuming the Fryer Funeral Parlor handled half of them, their annual load would be sixty-five, well below the “121 citizens” reported for the seven months the epidemic raged.

It is easy to speculate that the mortality rate passing through this one funeral home during the epidemic was several times the normal rate. This speculation is reinforced by statistics from Pittsburgh at the time, where the rate of documented flu deaths was almost identically equal to the rate of deaths from all other causes. If Bridgeville was indeed a hot spot, its rate would have been higher than the average for Pittsburgh.

The effects on Bridgeville residents of this scourge were not limited to local deaths. The March 10, 1919 “Daily Notes” reports that Bridgeville’s T. A. Warrensford family had been notified of the death of their son Lloyd, of pneumonia, in a hospital in France, on February 17, 1919.

His story is well chronicled in my brother’s book “Almost Forgotten”. He is one of four local men who lost their lives in World War I while serving in the 319^th Infantry. It is well documented that more servicemen in that war died from the flu than were killed in action.

It certainly does appear that the Spanish Flu Epidemic in Bridgeville was a much more significant event than we had realized and that the number of deaths it produced was at least twice as many as those from all other causes in that period.

Teleconferencing. May 21, 2020

Copyright © 2020                               John F. Oyler

May 21, 2020

Teleconferencing

We are now into the ninth week of quarantine and running out of ways to look at it positively. We have sipped our “half-full glass” very slowly and are eagerly looking forward to its being refilled soon. This week’s positive observation is a sincere one – the technology of teleconferencing has worked well.

Our experience with the seven Senior Design final presentations certainly was positive, albeit a poor substitute for our normal in-person colloquium. So far I have successfully hosted two virtual meetings of our elderly gentlemen’s Book Review Club and have another scheduled later this month.

Son John has participated in two large “biotech” panel discussions as well as numerous company meetings via teleconference, all from his home office. Elizabeth successfully finished her semester teaching two courses on-line, all the while lamenting the absence of face-to-face contact with her students.

My grand-daughter Rachael had a very special teleconference experience. The members of the Three Rivers Young People’s Orchestra were treated to a virtual discussion with Itzhak Perlman. What a thrill for an aspiring young violinist! The orchestra has another virtual meeting scheduled, this one with Maestro Manfred Honeck, from his sequestered home in Austria.

Each of these examples is positive, although none of them match the effectiveness of in-person meetings. I have, however, recently encountered several examples where the teleconference is an improvement over its predecessor.

For a number of years, it has been possible to view filmed records of the Bridgeville Borough Council meetings as well as those of the Bridgeville Planning Commission, thanks to “Bridgeville.org”. These were often interesting, although difficult to follow. It was frequently hard to decipher what was being said.

The current situation has forced both of these bodies to meet remotely; the recordings of their meetings are an order of magnitude easier to follow than were the films of previous meetings. In addition, the fact that the participants are in different locations has forced them to be quite explicit, making it much easier for viewers to understand what is happening.

The April Council meeting came first; its recording was a pleasant surprise although most of the business transacted in that meeting tended toward the trivial. One obvious thing missing was the absence of any comment from visitors, although the moderator clearly provided an opportunity for them to be heard.

This absence points out an apparent weakness of this process. Normally these meetings provide an opportunity for private citizens to communicate their grievances and compliments to the Council in person. Unfortunately, the several perennial watch-dogs whom we know are latter day Luddites, unable to participate in these remote sessions.

Actually, Luddite is not the appropriate term for these folks. The original Luddites were a secret organization dedicated to the destruction of “modern” machinery that was perceived as a threat to skilled artisans in the textile industry. The term has evolved into a connotation referring to anyone opposed to technological progress.

Folks who are unable or unwilling to acquire the necessary capability to participate in today’s internet culture are in danger of being disenfranchised. This is indeed unfortunate, as their dissenting opinions need to be heard, to ensure rational decisions are made by these bodies.

This appears to be particularly relevant to the Planning Commission. The recording of their on-line meeting in April was impressive, especially because the format required displaying the documents they were discussing in a fashion that made them readily available to viewers.

The Planning Commission consists of seven well-meaning citizens. It has no authority; its primary responsibility is to make recommendations to Borough Council, based on their perception of what is best for the community.

This particular meeting began with the Chairman reporting their intention to discuss ten basic community issues remaining from a list of nineteen that had been articulated in the 2004 Bridgeville Comprehensive Plan. At this point a decision matrix was presented and each member asked to evaluate “community value” and “cost” on a scale of one to ten for each issue. The results of this evaluation will enable the Commission to prioritize the issues, for the May meeting.

They then proceeded to discuss five specific issues – Traffic Study, Conformance and Code Enforcement, Trail Connectivity, Baldwin Street, and Parking Issues – with a different member of the Commission coordinating the discussion on a particular issue. The discussions were constructive; several of them highlighted the importance of input from the community.

As an outsider, my input is irrelevant. Nonetheless I was surprised at the focus of several of the issues. For years I have heard people complaining about the traffic congestion in Bridgeville, particularly approaching the South End bridge. Based upon what I heard and read on the “Traffic Study” document, it appears the community views speeding, especially on Bank Street, as the critical traffic issue. On reflection, I realized that my contacts were fellow outsiders, complaining about their difficulty getting to and from I-79.

“Baldwin Street”, of course, was of particular interest to me. Several years ago one of our Senior Design teams studied flooding in McLaughlin Run, and we became aware of the proposal that Bower Hill Road and all the properties on the north side of Baldwin Street be abandoned. It will be interesting to follow this discussion; fortunately the Commission now includes a highly competent engineer. I was surprised the abandoned mine pollution in McLaughlin Run is not considered a relevant issue.

The “Trail Connectivity” issue generated a suggestion that Bank Street be extended to Washington Avenue, via a railroad grade crossing, to improve access to the Library. I still prefer the solution our Senior Design students recommended – a pedestrian bridge leading to James Street.

All told, I was well impressed with the meeting and the business-like way the Commission is addressing the future planning process. I do hope they will continue to solicit community input. At least for most folks this format could well be a modern version of the old-fashioned town meetings.