Many people in town stop me as I walk.through town or shop at the grocery store.They comment on the "TALES" andremind me of many stories and places.Iwas rem inded of Sebold's Hardware Store,on the corner of Balliet and Spring Streets.(This is now an apartment house owned byMary Kehl,er.) Sebold's had a complete lineof hardware and plumbing supplies.George Sebold will be remembered as aplumber in town. They installed andpainted tin roofs, rain spouting, and gut·ters. They made their own black stovepipes-"cut to size-while you wait." Theyhad a beautiful garden filled with flowersand a,lily pond with a small cement bridgethat crossed the pond. Franz Haberle had ashoe hospital for many years at the rear ofthis lot.

I was asked if I remembered Mr. Spaniard,the umbrella man? He went house to housefixing scissors and umbrellas. I can almosthear him chanting "Umbretlas to Mend,Scissors to Grind." He carried his grind-stone with him and sharpened your scissorsin a few minutes. ltwas Mr. Spaniard whobuilt the houseson Spaniards Row. After heretired his son-In-lew, Mr. Jordan took overas umbrella man. Yes, I had forgotten the,umbrella man but I'll remember him againfor a long time.

Another story I had never known was about.., dog catchers in -the 1920's. Wilbur Hawt .:~:~ who was employed by the state was the dog ~:~

catcher in town. He had a Model A Fordwith a closed box on the back. The exhaustpipe led into this box and the stray andneglected dogs were placed here. Theywere "Put to sleep" by the fumes as hedrove through town. (This was beforeSPCA.)

Frackville was always proud of itsbakeries and one of the first in town wasSanners Bakery with. Sam Sanner as chiefbaker. This bakery was lccated'ln the redbrick building ~t the rear of the AmericanHardware Store on the corner of Lehighand Frack street.

Another local bakery was located at 119South Balliet street which was owned byDick Moll. The baker here was CharlesReese.

Many residents in town rememberKalbach's Bakery at Washington Streetand Hogan's alley. The Kalbach NewsAgency was located here many years laterand today it is a residential building.The Hartenstine Bakery was located in theKalbach building from 1915to 1924but laterbuilt a new building on the corner of Springand Center streets. Oscar Masser was thebaker and Bill Lawrence, Marty Snyder,Lewis Schwab, and Jack Farrell were the

• .:.: truck drivers and delivered the baked :.:.• :~~~ goods to the stores in town. ~m

The New York Bakery, at 5th and Springstreets was operated for many years by Joe,Gray. It is still in operation and retains thesame name but is owned by Steven andNancy. Sawka. Alfonce Tamaszauskas,John Ewasko and Bob Berdlner are thebakers.

Many residents of town remember ther bakery trucks delivering around town and f~~; the small bell that was rung at each house. )1:~:~ Nothing was packaged and drop cakes, ~:~:j:~: donuts, pies, cream puffs and 'Othersweets :~:~r were individually chosen and bought in a ~1~1~:~:' mixed dozen. ' :~:~N ~N ~

*

There are many stories about the railroadwhich I hope to research in the future.Many of our townsmen were emploved bythe Reading Railroad. It was the SEC-TION·CREW who had to repair the railroadfrom Frackville to Darkwater. Theforeman on this job was Elwood Mengel.

.The TRACK WALKER had to walk thisdistance to inspect th'e tracks and JoeWargo from town had this job. StanleySteigerwalt was the LAMP MAN. Lampswere located at all switches and along therailroad tracks between th~e two points. Itwas a responsible job because he had toclean and oil all switches and make sure nospikes or rocks lodged in the switch. Thisprevented train acciden s from occurring ..Jack Allen and Bill Miller were ReadingRailroad Detectives. It was their job topolice the railroad.

Yes, there are many stories I haven'theard.

Whenever you seeme in town STOP. I amalways ready to listen.

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