Notes from Monument Square
Newsletter of the Mifflin County Historical Society
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Volume XXV Number 4 AUGUST 1999
(Text version of Society News & Notes)
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Office & Research Library,
1 W. Market St., Suite 1
Lewistown, PA 17044-2128
Phone (717) 242-1022
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McCoy House Museum
17 N. Main St., Lewistown
Sunday afternoon
1:30 - 4:00 p.m.
(May thru December)
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Newsletter Editor : Forest K. Fisher
MCHS e-mail: mchistory@acsworld.net
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Society News & Notes
New Members
We wish to acknowledge and welcome these new annual and individual life members of the Mifflin County Historical Society. Memberships are a vital source of income, allowing the historical society to operate the office, research library and museum as well as other special programs.
Robert De Groot, Michigan
Barry Irvin, McVeytown
Bernard N. Meisner, Texas
Susan Elko, Flanders, N.J.
Ron & Becky Patterson, Yeagertown
Blanche Narehood, McVeytown
Steve Singleton, Harrisburg
Mr. & Mrs. George Scott, Lewistown
Address changes
If your address has changed recently, please contact our office so we can update our records.
This is especially true for our life members, where yearly contact is minimal. Address changes for annual members are usually picked up at renewal time.
THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!
Reader’s Response
Comments from our readers are
welcome and will be shared as space allows. Below are two messages received
on the Memorial Day article that appeared last issue. Thanks for writing.
Enjoyed reading your great article on Memorial Day. Two of the firing squad were my uncles. John Huffnagle was my mother's brother and William McMullen was my father's brother. This made the article more personal. Thanks again. – Ed McMullen
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Thank you. If that article caused a two week publication slippage, it was worth waiting for. I cried when I read it.
Memorial Day and Armistice (Veterans) Day are not celebrated now as they were in the thirties and forties. We seemed to lose our national pride about the time of the Korean War and except for a brief time after Desert Storm we have not regained it.
There is still pride shown on Fourth of July in some areas. Roanoke, VA still has a celebration which includes patriotic music. My county (Franklin County, Virginia) does the same. – Jim Reighley
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Spring Bus Trip a Success
On June 12, 1999 thirty-nine society members and friends spent a beautiful day in historical York, Pennsylvania.
Some of the places visited were:
Golden Plough Tavern, Gates House, Barnet Bobb Log House, Historical Society of York County collection, York County Colonial Courthouse and a number of Murals of York and a visit to York’s Central Market.
Lunch was served to the group by the York County Historical Society. A tasty salad was served and a number of individuals requested the recipe. Following is the recipe for:
Oriental Salad
1. OPEN AND DRAIN OVERNIGHT
1 (14-16 oz) can bean sprouts, drained
1 (8 oz) bamboo shoots, drained
1 (8 oz) sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 (4 oz) jar chopped pimentos, drained
1 (11 oz) mandarin oranges, drained
2. SLICE OR CHOP
1 med. onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped green pepper
3. COMBINE WITH 1 AND 2 AFTER heating to a boil and sugar dissolved
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup white vinegar
1 t. salt
1 t. black pepper
4. REFRIGERATE until chilled, overnight or even longer
Please meet...
Members of Our Board
Ray Matthews
Lewistown resident Ray Matthews has been a member of the board of directors since 1997.
As chairman of the House Committee, he keeps a watchful eye on the areas of routine maintenance or needed repairs at the McCoy House museum. Ray also serves on the Publicity Committee.
Ray cites solid reasons for joining the board. “I feel it is vital that we retain a link with our past. In today’s fast-paced, anything-for-a-buck society, we have lost sight of the things our forefathers held dear.”
“Values such as God, family and country that made our nation what it is. The work of the historical society enables me to keep in touch with the simpler times and people here in Mifflin County.”
A retired Mifflin County School District educator, Ray resides at 623 S. Main St., Lewistown with wife Sandra, a teacher in the same school district. They have three sons and four grandchildren.
Ray Matthews — a member of our board. We wish to acknowledge and thank Ray and our other board members. To keep the Mifflin County Historical Society moving forward, it takes the many, many hours of dedicated and volunteered service that members like Ray Matthews are willing to give.
Fall Bus Trip – Va. & D.C. - October 1, 2, & 3, 1999
October 1 – WATERFORD, Va.
56th Annual Waterford Homes Tour & Craft Exhibit
Virginia’s Oldest Juried Craft Fair - Tour of homes
Evening shopping at Tyson’s Corner
October 2 – ALEXANDRA, Va.
Guided bus & walking tour of historic Alexandra
Evening dinner-theatre
October 3 – WASHINGTON, D.C.
Traveler’s choice to visit D.C. area sites.
$273 per person (double occupancy)
Includes transportation, 2 nights lodging, 2 breakfasts Guide services
in Alexandria, dinner theatre (ALL OTHER MEALS ON YOUR OWN)
Send reservations with payment ASAP to:
Ray C. Allison
34 Grand Parkway, North
Lewistown, PA 17044
Questions or for other details contact Ray at: 248-9321
PLEASE BE PREPARED: ALTHOUGH PARTS OF THE TOUR ARE ON THE BUS, EXTENSIVE WALKING IS REQUIRED EACH DAY OF THIS TRIP.
McCoy House News
Railroad exhibit
McCoy House is hosting an exhibit of railroad memorabilia to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Lewistown Junction this summer.
Railroad items are on display from not only the Pennsylvania Railroad, but include memorabilia from local lines, such as the K. V. Railroad.
Fall banquet set for September 23
McVeytown’s Fire Hall will again host the 1999 Mifflin County Historical Society Fall Banquet. The family-style roast beef dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, September 23. Cost is $8.00 for members, $10 for non-members. Reservations due by September 16.
The Fall’s program features Educational and Interpretive Specialist, Richard Pawling from HISTORY ALIVE! and is titled, The Spirit of the Western Frontier.
Pawling will portray the character Christopher “Stoffel” Stump, a friend of Conrad Weiser. Weiser’s career included service as Pennsylvania’s Provincial Peacekeeper, one of the founders of Reading, Pa., a lieutenant colonel in the French & Indian War and the promoter of Moravian Missions.
Stoffel Stump will lead the audience through the accomplishments of two of Pennsylvania’s famous pioneers – Conrad Weiser and Daniel Boone. Both helped mold the Spirit of Western Expansion.
This excellent entertainment was secured by the society’s program committee, co-chaired by Paul T. Fagley and John Mertz.
Our convenient reservation form is on page 13.
Acquisitions
The Mifflin County Historical Society always welcomes artifacts that have a direct relationship to our county’s heritage or local geneaology. Each year we receive a variety of county-related materials, such as books, clothing, paper items, and artwork. We wish to acknowledge and thank the following donors for their generosity:
Glenn A. Zeiders, Lewistown - Cornerstone from the Holy Temple Commandery No. 24– 1940 and the contents of the brass box which was laid in the cornerstone.
Anita Davies, Yeagertown - Two drawer file cabinet which contains family file and photos.
Robert Notestine, Lewistown - Wooden plane (approx. 150 years of age) given in memory of Thomas A. Leonard, Yeagertown _ Original owner of the plane was Brady Leonard (Thomas’ father) who was a cabinet maker.
Bob Hower, Lewistown - Booklet: All-Time Mifflin County High School Wrestling Statistics 1939 – 1999 Research & Comp. by the donor.
Mifflin County Mapping Department, Lewistown - Maps of Mifflin County from the 1990s.
Mr. & Mrs. James O. Reed, Reedsville - Yearbooks: 1999 L.A.H.S. Lore; 1999 Indian Valley High School Vision.
Wennawoods Publishing, Lewisburg, Pa. - Book: David Zeisberger’s History of the Northern American Indians in 18th Century Ohio, New York & Pennsylvania.
Katherine Costa, Lewistown - Full-length raspberry taffeta bridesmaid dress, ca. 1936.
Mr. & Mrs. Daniel P. Lynch, Lewistown - Microscope, ca. 1930s or 40s, complete with case, instruction booklet and additional lenses which belonged to Dr. Milton Cohen.
Susan Elko, Flanders, New Jersey. - Reproductions of photos which contain members of the Potter family.
Dot Goodling, Lewistown - 2 pictures recovered from the Wayne Street School prior to its demolition
Warehouse Project News
The warehouse project continues to move forward. Students from the Juniata-Mifflin Area Vocational Technical School worked this past school year on the interior of the society’s warehouse. Work involved dry walling, painting, adding interior wood trim, hanging doors and a suspended ceiling.
Students are gaining on-the-job experience in this community project, with cost to and from school covered by funding in a transportation grant from MC - 2000.
The warehouse is located behind the McCoy House Annex building. The completed renovation of the two story warehouse will include a large display room, a workroom, upstairs storage and a ground floor restroom.
Next phase of the project will be heating, acquisition of water and completing the restroom.
STROLL THROUGH OVER 250 YEARS OF
AMERICAN HISTORY.
Take a walk around Lewistown and encounter tales of dancing bears, medicine shows, balloon launches, escaped slaves, military heroes, sporting events and a train robbery! You will learn of scandals that occurred on the street corners.
Meet a courageous woman who was kidnapped as a young girl, raised a family in the wilderness, lost and then regained her eyesight, and help establish a town.
Sites you will pass include the meeting place for the very first troops who went off to the Civil War, the location of a factory producing one of America’s first compact automobiles, the home of a famous health tonic, and the first drive-through window in the region. Plus so much more in this 60 plus minute video. Order now.
Walking Tour Video – $15.00
(tax included + $2.00 shipping)
Order by September 23, 1999
Delivery – 1st week of November, 1999
EARLY TELEVISION IN MIFFLIN COUNTY
Remote control operation, crisp realistic sound, natural color, the mute button...never happened on what might be our area’s earliest television set.
Mifflin County’s Raymond M. Bell, now of Coralville, Iowa remembers quite a different set – it was made from a kit!
“I got interested in TV when Bell Labs put on a demonstration in April, 1927,” Raymond recently commented about his experiences with early television. “As a senior at Dickinson College, I put on a closed circuit demonstration February 29, 1928, transmitting a light filament.”
A 1929 World Almanac article confirms Bell’s recollection: “The most striking development in electrical communication within the last two years has undoubtedly been television. This was accomplished both by wire and by radio at the initial demonstration by the Bell System on April 7, 1927.”
“The radio demonstration at that time consisted of the transmission of television signals from Whippany, N. J., 22 miles from New York, to the Bell Laboratories building in New York City where the speakers and performers were readily recognized on the receiving screen. The voices of the persons at Whippany were transmitted, and reproduced by means of a loud speaker.”
The following are Raymond Bell’s own words, as he describes his early experience with a part of modern life we take for granted – television.
Music and talking on radio were exciting, when radio began in 1922. But the idea of pictures, too, by radio was even more exciting. So when I got an ad in the summer of 1930 offering a radio visor kit for $7.50, I sent for it. Clarence, my cousin, and I hooked it up July 7.
The kit included a 12-inch 48-hole cardboard scanning disc, a neon lamp, a frame and a connection for a motor. The lamp was connected to one side of a double-throw switch, so that the lamp or loud speaker could be connected as desired.
We had to supply the receiving set and the motor. The receiver was a shortwave one that could tune in 2.9 MHz. The scanning disc was driven by a motor connected by a friction drive at 15 revolutions per second.
The station received in Lewistown, Pennsylvania was Jenkins Laboratory (W3XK), Washington, D.C. It was on the air nightly from 8 to 10. If Clarence’s mother tried to iron, it spoiled the picture. So she had to iron in daytime.
The first picture came through on July 10. It was red and black, about an inch square. The next night we saw the test signal, a little girl bouncing a ball, and “Our Hero”, a silhouette movie.
Other programs were The Ball Game, Dr. Pain, The Wild Hunt, Let’s Fly, Prize Fight, One Wild Day and Kidnapped.
At the end of the film we switched to the loud speaker for announcements, then back to the picture. Static and interference were recognizable. Later we got a neon lamp that gave pictures two inches square, and a 60 hole scanning disc that rotated 20 times a second and gave larger pictures.
Clarence and I visited the TV station in Washington and met the engineer, Ted Belote. He read over the air our letter telling of the reception of their programs. Since reception was from stations quite a distance away, there was difficulty with fading.
Interference from other stations affected the pictures. Synchronization was never perfect either: the picture “floated”.
The picture was framed vertically by holding one’s finger against the disc. By switching from speaker to neon lamp we learned how video signals sounded and how audio signals looked. To obtain sight and sound together a separate sound receiver was used.
The steps in tuning the video were: turn on the set, tune it; turn on the motor, tune it; retune, then frame the picture.
It was fairly easy to observe silhouettes. One of the exciting moments at the start was looking at a jumble and suddenly seeing a little girl bouncing a ball.
Halftones were more difficult. The trick was knowing what to look for. Eventually with experience and availability of live programs many details were seen, even the teeth of the singer! As live pickups became available detail increased. From W2XAB CBS New York were seen: crayon artists, dancers, piano players turning pages, clocks and call letters. Ted Belote in shirt sleeves was seen from W3XK.
One of the best programs was on May 9, 1932 from 9 to 10 from W3XK sight and W3XJ (1550 KHz) sound - a live program with a singer, a ukelele player, a piano player and a vocalist. Those were the days. – Raymond M. Bell
Editor’s Desk
I received some very interesting correspondence since our last issue. I’ve had some research questions arrive that were generated by our new web site, (Mine is the email address linked to McCoyHouse.com.). Also, two responses arrived on the Memorial Day article that appeared in our June newsletter. I had room to print those emails, and each can be read in Reader’s Response at right
One was from Ed McMullen, whose uncles participated in the ceremonies that Memorial Day in 1924. Ed noted how much more personal the article was to him because of that. It seems to me that is what history is all about, the personal connection to a happening or event. It certainly adds to the significance.
The other came from Jim Reighley. Jim lamented on modern society’s change in attitude toward our patriotic observances. It’s what struck me as I read that 1924 SENTINEL article. Boy, how things have changed!
Another email arrived concerning the trivia question on the event at Kochenderfer’s Garage in 1939. Robert S. Wilson wrote to tell me he WAS THERE for that unusual event. Please read about his interesting experience on page 11.
Dr. Raymond Bell corresponded with me about his experience with early Mifflin County television. Raymond and his cousin Clarence Bell, actually “made” an early TV set from a kit. Talk about how things change!
Raymond’s early TV set was partly mechanical in nature, and he noted, “In 1938 I saw electronic television in London and in 1939 in New York.” His pioneering 1930 experience with what is likely the county’s first TV starts on page 1.
Thank you, one and all, for taking the time to write. Sharing your memories keeps local history alive.