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S. H. Jencks, Civil and Mining Engineer, Incorporated, Defunct.
Early in February I got through with Buckingham & Burns in
Indiana County. These days C. E. Sharpless was assistant
to the general manager of the Pennsylvania Coal & Coke Co.
with headquarters at Cresson, Pa. They needed an engineer to do
some special work at Patton and he recommended me, knowing I was
having difficulty collecting money for labor performed.
On February 22nd I left Mahaffey for Patton.
Pennsylvania Coal & Coke Corp. At first I was in the office most of the time on plans and estimates and when weather permitted in the spring started triangulating the Company's holdings in the region; that is, tying up or placing the workings of all their mines on one base line.
Meanwhile Sharpless was induced to resign to become a member of Mr. J. H.Weaver's staff - Mr. Weaver having ventured into Cambria County.
It did not take Sharpless long to prevail on me to give up what I was doing and join the Weaver outfit, which I did on November 9th.
Howard G. Yerger was the chief engineer at Patton and he understood his business, an able man, far above the average mining engineer. He and I got along like two peas in a pod. He was a graduate of State College at Bellefonte, Pa.
And we have fond recollections of Graham and Tony Kline, members on the engineering crew.
J. H. Weaver's interests - Dixon Coal Co., Idamar, Indiana County. Idamar was not a place to make a favorable impression on any one, a sort of jumping off place; but an Eden compared with some points I had to hang out when with the Berwinds in both McDowell and Fayette Counties, West Virginia. However, we could get "good moonshine" in the South.
I was office man until the end of the year, on mine maps of Dixon and Hines (1904) operations and Nanty-Glo No.1 mine at Nanty-Glo, Cambria County. Mr. Weaver and B. Dawson Coleman of Lebanon, Pa., got possession of the Nanty-Glo property this fall - the mine had been worked in a shipshod manner and had to be overhauled from stem to stern, the power house and other buildings on their last legs. Designing new buildings was another duty I had to perform, and on the side planning a proposed railroad. Coal at Nanty-Glo was shipped over the Pennsylvania Railroad. The nearest points to the New York Central were Heilwood or Cherrytree.
Weaver and Coleman started, quietly, without a flourish of trumpets, to option coal lands in the region now known as the Colver field, keeping Mr. Sharpless and his assistant M. D. Kirk on their toes. J. Edgar Long (1907) keeping tab on them and the rest of us so there would be no sleeping at the switch.
For Reference: Ebensburg Coal Co. at Colver broke ground late in 1910; The Heisley Coal Co., at Nanty-Glo in 1915 and Monroe Coal Mining Co. at Revloc in 1916.
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Personnel: Those we came in contact with those days of yore.
J. R. Weaver,
proprietor, from Williamsport and Philadelphia.
B. Dawson Coleman, proprietor, from Lebanon and Philadelphia.
J. Edgar Long, general superintendent, from Williamsport.
All of us in the field reported to Mr. Long (see 1907).
C. E. Sharpless, chief mining engineer, a master in his
line of work. He was with the Berwinds at Windber in our day.
M. D. Kirk, assistant to Mr. Sharpless, started at Nanty-Glo.
He was from Clearfield County - Curwensville.
R. Frank Dorr, also Mr. Sharpless' assistant. He was from
Indiana Borough. Became a Weaver man in 1908.
Wm. (Bill) Patterson, on engineering corps at Idamar and
still employed by the Company (1944). He was in World War I.
Jas. Patterson, Bill's father, was head of a fine family
of girls and boys at Idamar.
James Keenan, mine superintendent at Idamar and by end
of year was also an advisor at Nanty-Glo on mine operations.
J. E. Wilkinson, Weaver's purchasing agent, Philadelphia
office.
Howard Metzger, manager of Company store at Idamar, and
later at Colver for the Ebensburg Coal Company.
Earl Long, clerk in store at Idamar and later Mr. Long's
private secretary (no relation). A very likeable person.
Lee McTigue, electrician for Dixon Coal Co., Idamar. Now
(1944) with Heisley Coal Co. at Nanty-Glo.
John Kline, rock contractor for Dixon Co., now an assistant
superintendent at Heisley.
Dick Shaffer, Idamar and Nanty-Glo, took a hand wherever
called - in office, mine survey, driver for Mr. Long, etc.
Peter Maloney, check weighman for Union, typical Irishman,
was popular with us evenings at Idamar being a good story teller.
Dr. Jas. P. McFarland, Company doctor, Idamar, but transferred
to Nanty-Glo soon after my arrival at Idamar in November.
Dr. A. H. Stewart from Indiana took his place. Stewart
today (1944) is State Secretary of Health at Harrisburg.
S. H. Jencks, civil and mining engineer, from the North,
South and East, entered the picture on November 9th at Idamar.
______ Thomas, from Philadelphia, was chief clerk in mine
office at Idamar.
A. J. Corneley, who was with a coal company at Nanty-Glo,
was Mr. Weaver's store manager, chief clerk and an overseer.
Robert (Bob) Nelson was employed by Frank Dorr to assist
making mine surveys in the Nanty-Glo region.
P. J. Little was Weaver and Coleman's attorney at Ebensburg.
"P.J." was regarded the leading counselor in the Burg.
Bert Christian, mine superintendent of Weaver-Coleman mine
at Nanty-Glo known as Nanty-Glo No.1.
Teddy Roosevelt's term expired on March 4th as President
of the United States. William Howard Taft his successor.
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Nanty-Glo Mine No. 1 - On Jan. 27th I was called to Nanty-Glo, for the first time, to meet Messrs. Long, Sharpless, Christian, Corneley and Dorr, to reach conclusions in regard to improvements required at No. 1 mine. And matters relating to coal lands being optioned in Blacklick, Cambria and Barr Townships; surveys, drilling operations, etc.
Nanty-Glo Mine No. 2 - Mr. Weaver got hold of a small mine, partly worked out, near Bakerton and named it Nanty-Glo No.2. John Kline (see 1909) was put in charge.
Prospecting, drilling, surveying, plotting, etc., for the location of the "B" or Lower Kittanning seam of coal kept all the coal men on the jump, particularly Long, Sharpless, Dorr, Kirk and Keenan (see 1909). A number of diamond drill machines were on the ground. Where to locate "The" Mine was the question.
Proposed Railroad - I was instructed to keep advised where results of prospecting were most promising, reconnoiter the territory for a probable location of a railroad, extensions, really, of the Vinton Lumber Company's railroad - The Blacklick & Yellow Creek Railroad which was incorporated June 15, 1904. The said Company had cut off all timber worth cutting off and wished to dispose of what remained of their railroad, which was nothing more than a streak of rust on rotten ties. They had one locomotive that had to venture over the track from Rexis, near Vintondale, to a point near Stiles' station on the C & I once a day to hold the charter. Branches the Company had in the direction of Colver had been torn up. Lloyd Davis was the locomotive engineer and caretaker and his brother the fireman.
A. W. Lee and John W. Wrigley of Clearfield were, practically, owners of the road. Their main and large saw-mill was at Rexis.
Blacklick & Yellow Creek Railroad until April 20, 1911, when it became the Cambria & Indiana Railroad. Weaver and Coleman, however, had purchased all interests the B. L. & Y. C. R.R. during 1910.
On April 19th we opened an office in the hotel at Nicktown, and made it the headquarters for preliminary surveys for a railroad.
So not to arouse too much suspicion what we were up to, particularly the Pennsylvania Railroad people, I was to remain in the office and the field work put in the hands of E. W. Hess, mining and civil engineer from Clearfield. We had four corps at one time running lines in all directions west and south of Nicktown, which is in Barr Township. We had the natives understand, or thought we did, that we were running coal crop lines.
Hess' connection with surveys was over in July, after he turned in a voluminous report dated July 8th. These surveys did go beyond Williams' Summit in Indiana County.
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During the summer we were called to the Philadelphia office and New York Central offices in New York a number of times to get matters ironed out to the satisfaction of all parties concerned. Not until September were we directed to proceed with the revision of the location from Rexis to Williams' Summit and from White Mill to Colver, and extend the location from Williams' Summit to Pine Flats (now Manver) a station on the Heilwood Branch of the Cherrytree & Dixonville Railroad, controlled by both the Penna. & the New York Central Railroads.
Andrew V. Little was put in charge of the men in the field and Roy Sharpless was his levelman. A horse and buggy kept me in touch with them, staying nights, when necessary, at the Nicktown hotel or at Bill Sides' at Williams' Summit or Mrs. Turner's at Pine Flats. Early in November we had the location in shape, and well we did, the Pennsylvania R.R. people having a corps in the field to cross the Summit before we did. We won by a hair.
Railroad and Coal Companies Offices opened in May at Ebensburg in the Old Trust Building, Center Street, back of the old Mountain House Hotel. Both burnt to the ground on Feb. 18, 1915.
Personnel: All those listed under 1909, page 21, were busily occupied this year of 1910, and others in addition. As follows:
Andrew V. Little,
C. E., P. J. Little's brother. See above.
Roy Sharpless, C. E. Sharpless' son.
Ralph Rodgers, Vintondale; C. A. (Zeke) Port, Wm.
(Bill) Smith, "Jew" Lloyd, Ebensburg; and
John Miller, Indiana, Little's helpers, E. W. Hess, Clearfield
(see above) April to July.
_______Chase, Cameron and Barrett, men Hess
brought from Clearfield.
Tom Graham and Anthony (Tony) I got to help Hess.
(Tony Kline) 1909.
Lloyd Davis, Blacklick & Yellow Creek R.R. - see page
22.
A. W. Lee and John W. Wrigley, Clearfield. - "
" " .
Phillip Geus, ran Nicktown Hotel; Wm. (Bill) Sides,
on farm at Williams' Summit; Mrs. Turner at Pine Flats
and _____ Altimus on farm near Colver, good places to stop
for engineers.
Elmer Davis, Johnstown, appointed agent to secure lands,
keeping in touch with Frank Dorr while making surveys.
James Keenan, superintendent at Idamar, was transferred
to the Colver area to assist in its development, in December.
John W. Harrison was appointed to replace Keenan at Idamar.
In 1916 he became first superintendent for Heisley Coal Co.
_____ Berriman, from Johnstown, an engineer, employed to
releave Frank Dorr who had too much work on hand.
John Carlisle, A. J. Corneley's brother-in-law, secured
position as chief clerk for Nanty-Glo operations.
John Kline at Bakerton in charge of Nanty-Glo No. 2 (Pages
21-22)
C. E. Sharpless won out before end of year to make plant
in region of Colver a drift proposition, not a shaft.
M. D. Kirk was a troublesome assistance for Sharpless,
disposed to differ with whatever C.E.S. suggested. And Kirk had
J. Edgar Long's ear.
T. E. Dunn arrived on Sept. 14th to become superintendent
of the Blacklick & Yellow Creek R.R. He came from Tunnelton,
Pres County, W, Va., where Mr. Weaver had a short railroad delivering
coal to the Baltimore & Ohio R.R.
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Coal Mining Department: We should have stated under 1910 that late that year it was decided where to open the mine in the region now known as Colver. (Named after Coleman and Weaver) and preparations made to sink a small shaft and also a drift or tunnel for the main heading.
During January, February and March a large boarding house, store, office and small buildings for workmen were built. I had my first meal in the boarding house on March 11th. The shaft was down 20 feet and men at the drift were quite a distance. My recollection, the men driving the drift had 2,000 feet or so to go before reaching coal.
L. F. (Dick) Crouse, now general manager of Weaver's interests in Cambria County, was employed these days by the Penn-Mary Co.
Cambria & Indiana Railroad. The Blacklick & Yellow Creek expired on April 20. Four contractors bid on construction of the new railroad. On Jan. 18th A. L. Anderson & Bros., Altoona, Pa., were awarded the contract. They broke ground on February 1st at White Mill and near Pine Flats in Indiana County on the 7th.
On February 15th Sam Carlson, track foreman for the contractors, and later track supervisor for the Cambria & Indiana, started laying track near White Mill, now Elkdale Junction, in the direction of Colver. Track was laid on the old grade of the B. L. & Y. C. R.R., which was crooked as a ram's horn. In time we took out all the kinks and revised the location considerably.
Now in regard to the resident engineers, we had two residenties - one covered the territory from Rexis to near Stiles station and from Elkdale Junction to Colver. The other from Stiles to Pine Flats (Manver) (Also named after Coleman and Weaver)
L. E. Summers was the resident engineer on the first residency with office in the Village Hotel, Vintondale; and Andrew V. Little on the other, the office and living quarters in a building near Williams Summit, across the road from Williams' (Williams') farm. Summers had been employed by Mr. D'Invilliers of Philadelphia, a noted geologist who Mr. Weaver got to advise our field men in regard to drilling operations.
Construction of the railroad progressed rapidly. By March 25th track was laid above Priesser's Siding, near enough to mine operations to deliver supplies from Rexis in car load lots. And on May 17th we had a siding in place a short distance below the shaft. On August 21st the New York Central made its first shipment to Colver, the cut at Williams Summit being completed. Up to this time all shipments were over the Pennsylvania R.R. to Rexis.
First coal shipped from Colver was about October 1st, from the shaft to the New York Central at Manver. A tram road ran from the shaft to a temporary tipple, the tipple was located a short distance above the site of the present railroad office.
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Meanwhile grading and track laying going on in the direction of the drift mouth for empty and loaded coal cars. The Coal Company had started building a modern steel tipple and a large power house. Early in October passenger trains were running to Rexis and Manver. Connecting at Rexis with the Pennsylvania and at Manver with both the Pennsylvania and New York Central.
Cambria & Indiana Railroad: On April 5th Mr. Delano, head of the Vinton Colliery Co. at Vintondale, and I spent several hours going over his property to determine whether feasible to connect his mines with the Cambria & Indiana. He was having trouble with the Pennsylvania R.R. at the time. Mr. Delano was a brother of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's mother.
T. E. Dunn, superintendent of the C. & I. had his office in his residence at Rexis; A. A. Zane his chief clerk.
Right-of-Way damages started to give us headaches. A lawyer in Indiana County was an agitator for his own pocket, not the farmers. And there another in Ebensburg.
Ebensburg Coal Company, Colver, Pa. On Jan. 14th the Company had its capital increased from $5,000 to $700,000. Either Mr. Coleman or Mr. Weaver or both were on the job every week keeping tab on developments. Houses for workmen and their families were going up rapidly east of the shaft, "the 20 row", and north of the drift mouth, "shanty row."
In September the railroad had progressed to the point not requiring so much attention from the engineers, so Mr. Coleman arranged to have us take over building operations in the area where Colver is now situated. The town to be christened Colver Heights. The early C. & I. timetables had the name Mount Colver, Colver being where the mines and railroad had their plant in the valley.
Contract was let for many Company houses, which we kept close tab on; built a small reservoir for a temporary water supply; ran water lines to said houses; graded streets and did whatever else required to get a town on its feet.
One of the new 5-room houses was turned over to us engineers, not the coal company men, for office and sleeping quarters.
J. Edgar Long, manager, had his establishment across the way in a more pretentious building - he and his staff, on 1st St., we on 2nd Street.
The Coal Company power house was under way and also foundations for the tipple. On December 28th the steel for the new tipple reached Colver, the structure to be equipped with all modern appliances.
We of the railroad gang laid out and broke ground late this year for an up to date hotel and also a company store, both to be stone buildings. A Philadelphia architect designed the hotel.
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Company Officials stationed in Philadelphia Office - Land Title - Land Title Building.
Those who showed up this year:
F. A. Fontyn - now (1944) vice president of the Ebensburg
Coal Co., was an accountant. He came to Colver late this year
with Mr. Coleman "to look over the tipple under construction."
W. E. Dobson was at Colver in November, C & I auditor,
later general auditor and traffic manager for C & I.
James Birch, Mr. Weaver's leading coal man in his office.
We found him to be the kind of man we like to meet.
A. A. Zane worked under Mr. Birch to sell coal in the Philadelphia
area. Later chief clerk for the Cambria & Indiana.
PERSONNEL:
Cambria & Indiana Railroad Co., Philadelphia and Colver Offices.
B. Dawson Coleman, Philadelphia, President
J. Edgar Long, General Superintendent for Railroad &
Mines. Colver.
T. E. Dunn, Superintendent, office at Rexis, P.R.R. Junction.
A. A, Zane, Mr. Dunn's chief clerk. See above.
S. H. Jencks, Chief Engineer, office at Ebensburg and Colver.
A. V. Little, S.H.J.'s asst. at Williams Summit, now Sides.
Sides later nicknamed Tipperary {"It's a long ways to Tipperary"}
but Alverda the post office.
L. E. Summers, S.H.J.'s asst. office at Vintondale. (see
page 24)
W. E. Dobson, Philadelphia Office, General Auditor (see
above)
____ Birch, Philadelphia Office, Coal Salesman (see above)
J. E. Wilkinson, Philadelphia Office, Purchasing Agent
(see page 21)
Phillip A. Bender, clerk in Mr. Dunn's office. He from
Ebensburg.
John Oberleituer, train despatcher, also conductor.
R. G. Rodgers, assisted both Little and Summers on construction.
Ben Mahaffey, Frank Sabbato, and Bowden were
on Summers' corps.
John Miller and Bathe from Indiana; Ed Clark,
Barney Scanlan, John Harrison, and Phil (P.A.)
Bender were on Little's corps.
Dick Shaffer was office clerk for Mr. J. Edgar Long at
Colver.
Quince Brickley, from Vetera, was our tie inspector.
Buckie Mentch was the first C & I locomotive engineer.
Joe Preisser, farmer near Preisser Siding, was OK with
the C & I.
Mr. Cleave, R.R.R. Superintendent at Cresson, friend of
Mr. Coleman.
Mr. Fred Bittorf, ran the Village Hotel at Vintondale.
C & I Locomotive Engineers: W. C. Mentch, T. L. Altimus,
Thomas Bennett and Spear Stahl.
C & I Firemen: C. D. Delozier, Ed. Walker, W. Gibson
and C. M. Long.
C & I Conductors: M. J. Ragan, Isaac Ricketts.
C & I Brakemen: C. D. Delozier, M. J. Ragan, T. Kelly,
Harry Weaver and R. Stiles.
C & I Machinist: J. W. Casey
C & I Hostlers: W. Crookshank and George Barr.
C & I Pumpers: Jos. Benden and Oliver Bennett.
C & I Section Foremen: Paul Mihaly, R. H. Miller, C.
H. Allas, J. W. Malley, W. R. Bracken and A. C. Trinkley.
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Nanty-Glo Mines Nos. 1 & 2: J. H. Weaver, President, J. H. Long, Gen'l. Mgr., Bert Christian, Supt. of No. 1, C. E. Sharpless, Chief Engr., H. Frank Dorr, his assistant, Leo McTigue, Electrician, Wm. (Billie) Patterson, Transitman, A. J. Cornelv, Chief Clerk and Company Store Manager, John Kline in charge of Nanty-Glo Mine No. 2 at Bakerton, and Dr. Jas. P. McFarland, Company Doctor.
PERSONNEL:
Ebensburg Coal Company, Colver, Pa.
B. Dawson Coleman, President, Philadelphia.
J. Edgar Long, Gen'l. Manager.
Earl Long (no relation) his secretary.
James Keenan, superintendent, was Super at Idamar, Indiana
Co.
C. E. Sharpless, Chief Engineer. M. D. Kirk, his
assistant.
Arthur Kinney, Chief Clerk.
Howard Metzger, Store Manager. He was manager at Idamar.
Hess Brothers, building contractors from Indiana County,
and Louis J. Lieb from Nicktown and C. D. Doerr
were early arrivals on construction of buildings.
Richard (Dick) Evans of Ebensburg was an outside foreman.
Frank Kelly (Italian) a good foreman and made himself popular.
Roy Sharpless who was keeping tab on diamond drilling machines
for his father, above, resigned to go with the State Highway Department,
at Hollidaysburg and Harrisburg - until 1916.
A. L. Anderson Bros., Altoona, Contractors, built the C
& I.
A. L. Anderson (Al for Alfred) John (Uncle John)
and Charlie.
Brook Williamson, chief clerk in Altoona office.
D. E.Vandyke, office clerk at Vintondale.
Frank Williamson, Brook's brother, time keeper.
Murphy (Frank) and Apleby, from Altoona, masonry subcontractors.
Gus Johnson, foreman on any kind of work.
John Extrum and Bill Zearfos, gen'l. foremen, "walking
Bosses."
Sam Carlson, track foreman, later track supervisor for
C & I.
Chas. Enquist, foreman, later section foreman on C &
I.
Lloyd Graham, repairman, later with the C & I.
Sam L. Edwards of Ebensburg, timekeeper.
Barney Colson, masonry foreman.
Dr. Comerer, doctor for Vinton Colliery Co., and for Andersons.
He brings back pleasant recollections, we were good friends.
Lloyd Davis, late caretaker of the B.L. & Y.C. R.R.
(see page 22) was one in our group.
Otto Hoffman, superintendent of the Vinton Colliery Company
and
Abram Abrams mine foreman, gave the C & I assistance
when needed.
Fred Bittorf, proprietor of the Village Hotel, Vintondale,
where engineers had an office and also living quarters,
Mr. Switzer and his good wife ran the Vintondale Inn for
the Coal Company, and they knew how to run a good hotel. Here
Andersons made headquarters and I stayed several days weekly.
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Cambria & Indiana Railroad Co., Colver and Philadelphia offices.
Anderson Bros. having completed the C & I from Rexis to Colver
and to Manver late last fall, they were engaged by both the Railroad
and Coal Companies to do various kind of work at or near Colver.
They were awarded the contract to build the "Switchback"
from Colver to Colver Heights on April 29th, and broke ground
on May 13th. During August engines were taking coal, lumber and
other supplies up the Switchback, and on August 15th our new Battery
Car (for passengers and express) made the ascent. The maximum
grade (really uniform) being 5% engines could haul only one car.
The grade was near the limit for the battery car, though the makers
assured us it could negotiate a 6% grade and "like it."
Anderson Bros. having completed a reservoir about one mile below Colver Station, to supply water to a tank for locomotives; had all his equipment moved away by Sept. 10th.
Nanty-Glo Extension: Late last fall we made the first move in the direction of Nanty-Glo by running a preliminary line. Fearing the Penna. Railroad people might "smell a rat," become suspicious, we made or ran out a hasty location and on March 4th I was called to Philadelphia office to present the map to the Board of Directors of the C & I. The location was adopted forthwith.
It was April 4th that Mr. Coleman, T. E. Dunn, Supt., J. Edgar Long, Mr. Coleman's son, Mr. Johnson of the Philadelphia office and myself tried out the new gasoline or battery car, running all the way to Pine Flats.
By June 1st the C & I had the battery passenger and express car meeting all trains on the Pennsylvania at Rexis and at noon the New York Central at Manver.
The Southern Cambria Railway, - The first trolley car from Johnstown to reach the business section of Ebensburg was on May 20th., when the bridge over the P.R.R. was completed. Cars had been running for some time as far as the P.R.R. crossing. My first ride was on Feb. 18th.
Manor Real Estate & Trust Co. (P.R.R. Co.) Nov. 18 - a coal deal involving the transfer of about 850 acres of mineral and about $150,000 was consumated today through Attorney S. L. Reed of Ebensburg. The acreage lies in Blacklick Township (north of Belsano and west of Colver) and was sold to the Manor people at $125 per acre.
The Blubaker Coal Co. is opening a new mine on Byrne's Run, about one and one-half miles above Barnesboro. They will lease the mine to some company. (Dec. 19th)
The Penna. Coal & Coke Corp. is making preparations to have the two mines at Amsbry, not far from Cresson, operated on a large scale. The Company closed these mines a year or so ago and removed nearly all of the equipment.
Coal Operators in Cambria County are calling for miners. The need of men in the coal business has, perhaps, never been more keenly felt. According to a canvass made today (Nov. 14). Cambria County operators could use at least 2,500 miners.
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Ebensburg Coal Company,
Colver and Philadelphia offices:
Hustling and bustling to bring the steel tipple and power house
to completion in order to scrap the temporary tipple near the
shaft and get hauling coal from the drift.
During April it was decided to build 80 more company houses. April 15th Mr. Coleman had me meet him at his home at Lebanon, Pa., to look over the sewage disposal plant at Mt. Gretna. We were taken there on a gas car over the Cornwall & Lebanon R.R., Mr. Coleman being President of the railroad. Our purpose was to get pointers for a plant at Colver.
It was this month of April that the big company store was completed and stocked for business. And a residence across the street built for Howard Metzger, the store manager.
On May 30th J. Edgar Long and I met the Cambria Township School Board in regard to a school building at Colver.
But the red letter day for Colver was the 27th day of June, when the bar in the new Hotel was opened to the public. The hotel proper was open for business a short time before. Many thirsty souls on the said 27th day passed judgment on the liquors. All agreed, there was not a dissenting vote, that whatever they imbibed in Mr. Zweisele's addition to his hostelry reached the right spot.
Robert Zweisele was manager of the Colver Hotel. He came from Washington, D. C., where he managed high class club houses and was recommended to Mr. Weaver. Mr. Zweisele started out to make the hotel a high-toned house for the entertainment of travelers and others. No members of the common herd dare enter unless appareled in their Sunday's best. In time (and it took time) he discovered that to run an exclusive joint in Washington patronized mostly by those who had fingers in the public trough was all right there but not at Colver, where men worked to keep the country on an even keel. Mr. Zweisele, really, was out of place but eventually made friends and we liked him.
Our good friend, Howard Metzger, store manager, resigned his post on October 1st to return to Mr. Weaver's store at Idamar. His place at Colver was taken by H. R. (Peck) Griest who had managed a store at Barnesboro.
During October the following structures were under way at Colver: Catholic Church, School House and Movie Building. The Colver Amusement Co. applied for a charter early in December. Labor Organizers and Agitators were beginning to give trouble, and for that reason the Company gave up thoughts of selling lots in the town of Colver, as was done at Windber.
Manor Real Estate & Trust Co. were active these days buying up coal lands dropped by Coleman and Weaver, options having expired. These were lands between Belsano and Nicktown.
The Year 1912 will, very probably, go down in history as the year that saw the greatest activity in the Colver area, everyone on their toes, busy as a hen with one chicken, on the quivive - no one eating the bread of idleness. And the future looked rosy indeed.
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