Water Under the Bridge

Thursday, December 28, 2017

The USS Niagara December 14, 2017

December 14, 2017

The USS Niagara

The November program meeting of the Bridgeville Area Historical Society featured an interesting talk by Edd Hale on his experience as a volunteer sailor on the USS Niagara. It was his second visit to the Society; last March he gave a memorable presentation on “The Great Castle Shannon Bank Robbery”.

The original USS Niagara was one of six warships constructed by Noah Brown in Erie in 1813 as part of a battle fleet assembled to contest the British naval supremacy in the Great Lakes during the War of 1812. The Niagara and her sister brig, the Lawrence, both had drafts that were too big to permit them to cross the sandbar protecting the Erie port from Lake Erie. When their construction was completed, they were floated over the sandbar by temporarily attaching large floatation devices called “camels” on each side.

The Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813, resulted in a complete victory for the American fleet led by Oliver Hazard Perry as reported to General William Henry Harrison – “We have met the enemy and they are ours, two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop.” The Niagara played a key role in the battle when Perry transferred his flag to her following severe damage to his flagship, the Lawrence.

Following the war the Niagara was purposely sunk in Misery Bay at Erie. She was raised as part of the celebration of the Centennial of the Battle of Lake Erie and functioned as an historic relic until the 1970s when rot finally got the best of her. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission had a replica built in 1988 which now serves as a “sailing ambassador for Pennsylvania”.

Technically the Niagara is a brig, a sailing vessel with two square rigged masts. The mainmast is the aft one and is somewhat taller than the foremast. The term square rigged denotes the fact that the mainsails are carried on horizontal spars, called yards, “square” (at right angles) to the masts. The speaker pointed out that the term “yardarm” refers to the part of the yard extending beyond the end of the sail.

The Niagara has a hull length of 123 feet, with a sparred length of 198 feet. Her beam is 32 feet; her draft, 10’ – 9”. Her displacement is 297 tons. The mainmast is 118 – 4” high, the foremast, 113’ – 4”. The original vessel carried eighteen carronades and two “chasers”. The chasers are long guns mounted on wheels so they can be located at the bow or stern. They fired twelve pound balls accurately at long ranges. The carronades were located semi-permanently, nine on each side. They fired thirty two pound balls at short range.

In 1813 the Niagara had a crew of 155 men and officers, most of which served the twenty guns (six men per gun). At the Battle of Lake Erie the Niagara also took on two squads of Marines (eighteen Kentucky riflemen).

The current Niagara has a crew of twenty professional officers and sailors, supplemented by twenty volunteers. Her sailing schedule is May through September. The Niagara regularly sails the four western Great Lakes and, via the Welland Canal, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River as far as Quebec City. The Museum is open year around.

Mr. Hale has volunteered as a crewman on the Niagara for the past nine years and gave an very positive report on the experience. He was particularly proud of a photograph of him high in the rigging on one of the foremast yards. Another photo showed him bent over in the space below decks where the headroom at his hammock is only five feet.

His discussion of the Niagara included a tutorial on nautical terms. The “rigging” consists of standing lines and running lines. Standing lines are the guy lines that support the masts. Those running fore and aft are called stays; laterally, shrouds. The running lines (a total of 190) are used to raise and lower the sails. The Niagara has eight miles of lines, one third of which is replaced each year.

The replica brig is equipped with two modern 180 horsepower Diesel engines, although she still could be propelled by rowing a dozen long sweeps. Her anchor weighs 1900 pounds and is raised and lowered by a six inch diameter cable using a ten armed capstan.

Mr. Hale is an enthusiastic supporter of the Niagara and of the experience of volunteering as a sailor on her. He strongly recommended a visit to her museum and a four hour Day Sail on her next summer.

There will be no program meeting for the Historical Society in December; the next scheduled program will be presented in a Sunday afternoon meeting at 1:30 pm on January 28, 2018. Dr. John Auberle’s subject is “A Lion in the White House: A Biography of Teddy Roosevelt”. The meeting will be in the Chartiers Room of the Bridgeville Volunteer Fire Department, on Commercial Street in Bridgeville.

The Oliver Miller Homestead. December 7, 2017

December 7, 2017

Oliver Miller Homestead

The special event for November at the Oliver Miller Homestead was a Harvest Festival commemorating the way eighteenth century pioneers in Western Pennsylvania gave thanks for blessings received, including an abundant harvest. The Homestead was filled with re-enactors in period costume, providing an authentic picture of life well over two centuries ago.

My visit began in the Stone Manse, a large, rugged farmhouse that was built in the early 1800s. I was directed upstairs where there are three bedrooms and an interesting display of quilting. The docents there were quite knowledgeable and extremely helpful.

Before I had a chance to explore the downstairs we were advised that the mock worship service was about to begin at the log house. We arrived there in time to be greeted by (re-enactor) Mary Tidball Miller who promptly introduced her husband (re-enactor) Oliver Miller. He welcomed his neighbors and visitors and led them in a recitative reading of Psalm 100 (“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.”).

Mr. Miller then introduced visiting preacher (re-enactor) Reverend John McMillan. The good reverend expressed his pleasure at making his annual visit to the Miller Homestead, reminding Mr. Miller that the cold weather and “spittin’ snow” seemed to be traditional with it. He “lowed as how” it was about time Miller and his neighbors built a proper church.

Reverend McMillan’s sermon was from Corinthians 13, verse 5 (“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith”); he eulogized Abel, Noah, and Moses as righteous men who should serve as role models for all of us. Following his sermon we all went into the Log House where Mrs. Miller related how she, her husband, and their nine children had come west in 1770 from Bedford and settled on this land. Mr. Miller then took us into the future by describing the events that took place there twenty four years later during the Whiskey Rebellion.

My next stop was the blacksmith shop where the smithy was busy forging a point on a short steel shaft. I was especially impressed with the large bellows mounted above the fire pit and the way the fire responded each time he operated it.

Although the barn was built recently, it was constructed using the same tools and methodology that were employed two centuries ago. The timber framing is particularly impressive. The barn houses a number of interesting exhibits, as well as the facility’s gift shop. The Whiskey Rebels apparently had their own flag – alternating horizontal red and white stripes on which was inscribed “Liberty and No Excise”.

On my way back to the Manse I detoured to an outdoor fire pit where a re-enactor was busy frying bacon, sausage, and corn meal mush over an open fire. He was quite generous sharing the product of his efforts; my only complaint was the lack of Karo Syrup for the mush.

Back in the big farmhouse they had a table set up with the meal that a family in 1780 would have enjoyed at a Harvest Festival. It looked pretty good to me – succotash, sweet potatoes, turkey, cranberry sauce, sugar cookies, corn pudding, apple pie, and pumpkin pie. It also included “Scotch eggs”, which was a new one for me. Turns out you hard boil eggs, cover them with a thick layer of ground sausage and bread crumbs, and deep fry them. Despite my claiming to be the food critic for the Signal-Item, I couldn’t get a sample.

A re-enactor was cooking in the open fireplace in the kitchen, quite effectively. She had a chicken baking in a reflector oven. I remember being very unsuccessful trying to use a reflector oven when I was a Boy Scout; I was surprised to learn it was a common kitchen appliance in colonial times. The kitchen boasted a massive corner cabinet, filled with utensils.

A working display of spinning and weaving occupies another large room on the first floor of the Manse. On a visit to the Homestead at least fifteen years ago I learned about the existence of a “drop spindle”, a very simple tool used to spin wool into yarn. Actually it wasn’t simple enough for me to make it work. I failed trying to make yarn from dog fur accumulate when Sundance was shedding.

When I raised the question of using a drop spindle, one of the re-enactors immediately picked one up, gathered a fist full of wool, and demonstrated how simple it really was. She and I eventually concluded that my problem was my raw materials. According to her, except for puppies, dog fur cannot be spun. At least that allowed me to save face.

They gave an excellent demonstration of starting with flax and ending up with fibers that could readily be spun into yarn. I was quite impressed with the whole process and the huge amount of labor that was required to produce fabric in those days.

In 1927 Allegheny County purchased, by eminent domain, purchased over 2000 acres of farmland to construct South Park. Descendants of the Miller family were living in the Stone Manse at the time, despite the absence of any utilities. Since 1971 a volunteer, not-for-profit organization, the Oliver Miller Homestead Associates has functioned as official curators of the Homestead, on behalf of Allegheny County.

The Homestead closes for the winter after the first Sunday in December and will re-open on the first Sunday in May. One of my New Year’s resolutions will be to attend as many of their special events next year as I can. We are extremely fortunate to have such a valuable cultural asset in this area, and should be grateful to the dedicated group of re-enactors who have preserved it for all of us.

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Bridgeville High School, 1939 through 1941 November 30, 20a7

November 30, 2017

Bridgeville High School, 1939 through 1941

This month the Bridgeville Area Historical Society “Second Tuesday” workshop returned to its review of the history of Bridgeville High School, this time focusing on the Classes of 1939, 1940, and 1941.

The discussion actually began in the middle of 1938. The football team was on the upswing that Fall and celebrated a thumping of Clark High 12 to 0. The Senior dramatists presented a comedy, “The Nut Farm”, with a cast that included Gloria Lutz. Too bad we didn’t have that knowledge to tease her about when she was our teacher ten years later.

The basketball team was quite successful, led by Clair “Tay” Malarkey. They topped Bethel 31 to 25 to win the championship of their section. The star center for Bethel in that game was Robert Hast, who would make history at BHS a decade later. Their run through the WPIAL playoffs ended with a decisive 41 to 32 loss to Springdale.

There were 74 graduates in the Class of 1939. They included Alex Asti, Bridgeville’s first fatal casualty of World War II; future coach and teacher Clyde “Tiny” Carson; and Bob Weise, elder brother of Society President Mary Weise. Their May Queen was Betty Crawford; the Maid of Honor was Mary True. Flower girl Sally Russell would reign as BHS May Queen ten years in the future.

BHS’ football team met a lot of success in the Fall of 1939. They were unbeaten in Class B with a clear path to the WPIAL championship when they met South Fayette in their annual rivalry game. Their opponents, winless in eight games, once again proved the old adage that past records are meaningless in rivalry games by pulling off the biggest upset in the history of this long series, 6 to 0. The result was a series of fights on the sidelines between fans of the two rivals, an event that was recorded for posterity in a newspaper photograph.

Two class presidents, Joe Halloran (Senior Class) and Arthur Spriggs (Junior Class) were honored by the Merit Parade, as was Faust Rosa. Mary Weise pointed out that Rosa had gone on to a distinguished career as a nuclear engineer. Sure enough, a search in newspapers.com turned up a series of articles in 1977 quoting Nuclear Regulatory Commission official Faust Rosa.

The Juniors presented a class play “New Fires” starring Anne Bowman and John Sigmann. We are inclined to forget how popular these plays were in an era when the high school was the social and cultural center of the community.

After a hiatus of several years BHS fielded a soccer team in 1940, one of six schools in WPIAL. There were lots of familiar soccer names on the team including Sypien, LaSota, and Pawlik.

The facilitator showed a lovely photograph of the 1940 Senior Ball which he found in a scrapbook in the Society’s archives. The gymnasium in the high school is lavishly decorated. The girls all look like May Queens; their escorts, like Lochinvars. Two years later they would be wrapped up in the horrors of war. The Class of 1940 included 108 graduates, by far the biggest group for the high school up to that time.

High School principal Martin Fowler left to become Superintendent of the Pennsylvania Industrial Training School at Morganza, a fancy name for a Reform School. Fowler was shocked at the way the students were treated, so he tore down the fences and initiated a “trusty” policy. Within a week the school’s inmates were scattered all over Western Pennsylvania. Fowler resigned shortly thereafter, citing “policy differences” as his reason for leaving.

The 1940 Fall football team was powerhouse featuring halfbacks “Smiles” Perkins and Perry Hackley. They capped an undefeated season with a 12 to 0 drubbing of South Fayette, avenging the previous year’s loss. BHS and Masontown ended in a tie for second place in WPIAL Class B and were forced to play an elimination game to earn the right to the playoff game, a game that the locals lost, 6 to 0.

The Historical Society is fortunate to have the original scrapbook that Coach Neil Brown kept while he was at Bridgeville. When his wife was a client at the Guild for the Blind, Coach Brown gave the scrapbook to Nancy LaSota, believing it belonged in Bridgeville. The facilitator was able to show a number of photos of individual players that were in it.

Roy Delaney and Peter Calabro were honored by the Merit Parade. According to the newspaper article Calabro was hoping to convert his hobby of recapping automobile tires into a vocation (which he eventually did quite successfully). Don Toney pointed out that Calabro was one of three Bridgeville airman shot down in separate incidents in World War II and ending up in the same Prisoner of War camp. The others were cousins George Shady and George Abood.

The BHS basketball team repeated as Section champions before losing to Sharpsburg in the playoffs 33 to 23. The track and field team fared much better, winning the Class B WPIAL title. John Pesavento won the 100 yard dash; Bill Camp, the 880. A relay team of Fillippi, Copeland, Adams, and Perkins won the Two Lap Relay: the team of Adams, Phillips, Hackley, and Fillippi took the Four Lap Relay title. In the Field events Smiles Perkins won the Shot Put and Jim Patter the High Jump. Coach John Graham turned out powerful track and field teams in those years.

Pattee Kelley provided a wealth of information on the Class of 1941 by bringing in programs from their Class Night and Commencement that her mother, Margaret “Pat” True, had lovingly saved. Class Night was a series of skits and musical productions performed by the Seniors. A highlight certainly must have been Guy Russell singing “He’s the Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo”.

There were eighty six Seniors in the Class of 1941. Commencement featured valedictory addresses by Judith Rosa, James Knold, Helen Colton, Frank Rizak, and Nina Whitecap. Their subjects were the various aspects of “Our Part in the American Crisis”. I suspect their advice would still be relevant today.

The next “Second Tuesday” workshop is scheduled for 7:00 pm, December 12, 2017 in the History Center. We will attempt to cover the Classes of 1942, 1943, and 1944.