Republican and Herald from Pottsville, Pennsylvania • 29

EVENING HERAH) ANNIVERSARY EDITION PAGE B-5 MANY FROM TOWN RODE THIS SWITCHBACK AT MAUCH CHUNK Frank Racis Overcame Odds xmmm "VisS To 'Oppose 'Names' in NFL Oldsters Recall Pennsy Trains Among the memories concerning the' Pennsylvania Railroad is the Article Explains Early History Of Shenandoah Early history -and. developments in the Shenandoah area ere outlined in an article published in the Herald on September 1, The interesting and enlightening story was entitled: "North of. the Mountain." The article follows: We question if the history of the rapid and remarkab-V settlement and development of the Western country can furnish an example of more wonderful growth' and improvement than has been, witnessed in the Mahanoy coal region the past V- A I I 111 ff 4-L s- I fiJfH iV --rf i 4 In the good old summer time If Even his bosom pals raised their eyebrows in scepticism wnen Frank (Champ) Racis hied himself to Pottsville back in September, 1925 for a trial with the Maroons Of the National Football League. Having never seen hide nor hair of a sheepskin, he was strictly a sahdlotter and his chances of reaching the Big Time were practically nil. At Pottsville Racis found himself the company of -ch pigskin personalities as Charley Berry, Herb and.

Russ Stein, Duke Osborne, Suss Hathaway, Jack Ernst, Frank Bucher, Dick Rauch (the playing coach) and a host of others. As far as the wiseacres were concerned Racis, a player without high school or college experience, was definitely a novice and certainly had no msiness rubbing elbows with such i select group. Had Physical Qualities 28 and a six foot, 200-ounder, had the God-given physi-al qualities, but was he ready for uch top-notch competition as he vould face in the NFL? As a kid he dayed the game with a stuffed ock, and in 1918 at the age of 18, tie joined the Shenandoah Red Sox, joached by JJoe (Dugey) Donovan md managed by Al Symbai For hat first season he received seven lew dollar bills. He performed with the Red" Sox three seasons. In 920 the Red Sox and Delmars mtfits'merged as the Shenandoah "ros and Racis became a member of hat outfit, coacjjed by Donovan nd piloted by Joe Sepaiiley.

In 921-22 he was with the Shenan-loah Yellowjackets and in 1923-24 ith the Shenandoah A.A. Oldtimers will recall the Shenan-loah AA operated in the era" of ligh-priced football talent On the shenandoah club in those days were such imported satellites as iinkey Haines, Mike Palm, Bill Cenyon, Jack Flayin and Whitey fhomas. Former All Americans ikewise dotted the rosters of other region elevens. Jtacis more than held his own with the highly publicized gridders jut it was still doubted he had the ibility-to win a berth with such a ligh powered aggregation as the Pottsville Maroons. Well you know happened! Makes the Grade Working with a single-tracked purpose, Frank devoted himseK with monastic fortitude to perfection.

He drilled day after day with feverish intensity and when the pre-season rehearsals were completed Frank not only made the grade but he became a starter. Anyone who thought he was a novice soon changed his opinion of Frank as the 1925 season progressed and the Maroons rolled on to the world's championship. Playing with and against the best, Racis asked for no quarter and gave none. A hell-for-leather operative, ho una mnnhlri of handling any thing thrown his way and showed tmng tnrown cis way ouuwcu i a JS a name performers. jsverv men ngnier, ue piajrcui JL wltn a aasn ana lire uihw mspireu every man on the squad.

He was fast and had a great competitive snirland it waT a treat to see spirit, aim punto to nail the safety man. Alert and aggressive, ne recoverea many tumble! and carried several back for touchdowns. Thousands of football fans who watched him in acuon never Knew until two decades ago, the famous drawn by stationary engines up Mt. Pisgah, 900 feet above the level of the Lehigh River, and then traveled by gravity to the foot of Mt. Jefferson, six miles distant From this point they were raised to the top of the second mountain, traversing the remainder of the distance switchback at Mauch Chunk was the mecca lor tourists, including those from Shenandoah, who enjoyed the scenery of the "Switzerland of America." This scene of the switchback carrying passengers up the steep plane of Mt.

Pisgah was taken more than a half century ago, long after the switchback discontinued transporting coal and reverted to passenger traffic exclusively. The switchback was constructed in 1844 to provide improved facilities for the movement of coal from Summit Hill to the canal at Mauch Chunk. The cars were to Summit Hill. A back track was completed in 1845. With the opening of the Nesquehoning Valley Railroad the switchback ceased to be used for coal-carrying purposes, but its operation continued for many years to delight passengers of the region's first "thrill ride." (Courtesy of Schuylkill County Historical Society) Pottsville-Shenandoafi train and the men who operated it This train operated beveen these two communities each week-day, was guided by a 'veteran engineer, Jacob DeMott, with genial, white-haired Jacob Cooper, also a veteran, as conductor.

If memory serves correctly, Johnny Burns was baggage-master and Shorty Welker was brakeman. This train, especially the morning" and afternoon runs, was to Schuylkill County what the famous "Seven-Q-Clocker" is to Philadelphia and New York Shenandoah, Frackville and other north -of-the-mountain businessmen and shoppers used this train. She majority of passengers were for the most part steady customers and a beep bond of comradery existed between the passengers and crew. Oldtimers still recall the departing call of one of the crew members of "All ln an undertone for the benefit of nearby idlers, "If you can't get a-board get a plank," And speaking of railroad stories there also comes to mind one of the classics told by Pennsy trainmen concerning the wife of railroad employe who was always using her pass to travel thither and 700, and as is a woman's prerogative she always had to run to get aboard. This particular lay she was enroute home and came running up the platform as her train started pulling out The trainman on the rear platform, who had grown weary of stopping the train for her after it had started, heeded not her entreaties to stop the train.

Instead he yelled, "Stay right there and you'll be in time for the train tomorrow'" LONG BASEBALL SEASONS In the olden days the baseball season in this area usually extended into the latter part of October and sometimes into November. The footballers also had long seasons, frequently playing until the Sunday following Christmas. jr1 0 to the Evening Herald on your 75 years of successful management. We extend our good wishes for the next 75 years. Your success has been due to your helpful attitude to all of the people Of this comminity and its institutions, Commercial and Spiritual.

We would give credit to your good paper, in a measure, to our success, as you can see by a glance at our financial standing. Our Town Staged Comeback ten or 15 years. The western district, surrounding Ashland, had been developed and contained a considerable population; but the Mahanoy and Shenandoah valleys, toward the east, were an almost unbroken forest No coal had been opened and the water of the streams was as pure as crystal, and trout 12 and 15 inches long, were pulled out of them a year or two after that date, and as late as 1863, deer were killed on the present site of Shenandoah. Once Vast Forests In 1865, Mahanoy City contained but a couple of thousand population and was not more than one-fourth its present size, while Shenandoah had but a few hundred of people. It is only four years since that, at the old Flour Barrel shanty, the present site of Maizevule, and in the neighborhood of this borough, there were such magnificent forests of timber, that in passing through them a stranger would almost believe that instead of being in one of the most populous counties "of the State of Pennsylvania, he had been suddenly transplanted to a Wiscdhsin.

timber claim. There is now hardly a good stick of timber in the Mahanoy and Shenandoah valleys. The changes that the develop ment of the coal here has wrought are truly astonishing, but the people who are identified with them, in the hurry and rush of business, hardly findtime to notice them, and they have occurred so rapidly that hundreds of the oldest citizens of the County, men who live only eight and ten miles south of us, can, with difficulty, believe that nearly a third of the hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants of the county live in the district north of the Broad Mountain, ten. miles in length and two miles in width, which 15 years ago, they were in the habit of visiting in their annual fishing and hunting excursions. Population Skyrockets In the towns of Mahanoy City and Shenandoah, there are at least 15,000 people, and in the two Mahanoy townships as' many more, not taking into consideration, Gil-berton.

There is almost a continuous row of houses for a distance of four miles between Shenandoah and Girardville, and1 the same can be said of the Mahanoy Valley between Mahanoy City and the same point. The tide of population and em-nire may be westward as a gen eral rule, but in Schuylkill County it has been northward. The nnuig patches of the Schuylkill Valley and of the district north and west of Pottsville and Minersville have been depopulated as the north of the mountain has been developed and settled. If things keep on moving In tne same direction ano to tne game extent for a few years longer, what was a short time since a wilderness, will have become the most popu lous and influential section. -01 tne county.

Schuylkill County-people who are interested in the subject of quick settlement and rapid growth in -Donulation. need not go West to gratify their curiosity, they can be accommodated much nearer home. Recall Terrific Rainstorm in '86 It began raining early that morn ing of January 4, 1886. It was a calm rain at first and nothing out of the ordinary. Naturally there was no cause for alarm or anxiety.

But as it continued, without let-up for about six hours, inhabitants of Shenandoah and surrounding communities began to take stock of the situation. About noon a stiff southeast gale increased to a velocity of about 40 miles an hour. In the fury of the storm awnings and signs were blown from, streets became deluged, cellars were flooded, and streams swelled to abnormal proportions. As night drew near the storm showed no signs of abatement However, shortly, before midnight it ceased and people everywhere heaved a sigh of relief. Property damage in town and elsewhere was enormous.

Many regional collieries were unable to operate for several days. Water reached a dept of five to six. feet in the gangways of the West bhen-andoah and Turkey Run mines. Washouts and sinking tracks delayed trains en route to Shenandoah many hours. Matter of fact trains due from the East didn't arrive here at all that day.

Mahanoy Creek overflowed, and inundated Gilberton. During the height of the storm celebrants at a wedding in Maize- ville were so. busy making whoopee they paid no heed to what was going on outside. When time came for, the guests to take leave for their homes in the wee hours of the morning, they discovered that the house was surrounded by two to three feet of water. Five houses at Mahanoy Plane were swept off their foundations.

Nearly all cellars at Mahanoy City, were flooded when the creek ran over its banks. Two bridges were washed away. A 12-year-old boy fell Into the roaring creek in that borough and was swept down stream. A team-rter, noticing (the plight of the boy, plunged into the water and rescued the lad. Graybeards (there's only a hand-ul of them around) claim it was the ost violent rainstorm to ever hi 4 Tf n.

After Disastrous 1883 Fire Frank Racis he was a sandlotter. The football programs always listed him either as "Frank Racis, Yale," or "Frank Racis, Oxford." The Maroons copped the NFL title by subduing the Chicago Cards 21-7 but were deprived of the honors (officially) because the Frank-ford Yellowjackets charged the county seaters encroached on their territory by playing and beating the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, 9-7, in an exhibition $ame in Shibe Park. Racis continued to star with the Maroons in 1928-'27-'28 and was selected All-Pro guard for two years by Collier's Weekly. A 60-minute performer, Frank played four games in one week without a substitution. And he could fill any position on the line.

In 1928 he cavorted in a postseason shindig with the New York Yankees against the New York Giants in the Yankee Stadium, the Yankees winning 7-6. Hinky Haines and Cal Hubbard, present umpire in the American League, were with the Giants that year. Maroons Disbanded The Pottsville Maroons disbanded in 1Q9.Q ftn Racis wound ud with the Boston Bulldogs. In 1930 he went to the Providence M. l.

BUiiaogs, men tutored by Jimmy Conzelnian, present coach and owner of the Chicago Cardinals. In 1931 he joined the Frankfort Yellowjackets, coached by Herb Joesting, former M-innecnta fullback, but the team floundered on financial rocks and Racis returned home. After leaving-the NFL Racis continued in an active role for several seasons as playing coach of the Shenandoah Presidents. During his regime the Prexies won the State independent title several times and nna timo vunoeted in 26 straight games without a defeat before the Booriinir KW unset them 731 The Prn awnffid this setback (m lOOOJ IctbCJ. 'av 0u0v cr -OM.

KnwoH rait rf the OictUTe Ul 1935 but he canjiook back wh pi me as he goes about his duties today tYt F.acles lodae town. He strutted on the various onuu 1 in the NFL; and it can could give a good account of nim- sen. of Main, Cherry, Bowers ami Centre streets, there were four compact blocks oi nouses, completely engulfed by the flames. 509 Flee Hemes All went down before its fiery Hranth an n-ass before a mower, Over 300 properties were swept away. More than 500 persons fled their homes.

T5 hv the sale-like winds, tne flames sped on, reaching out to the rio-ht nd left in their eastward march. CaTight in the deadly grasp of the fury were the Acaaemy oi Music, Bowse's Opera House, Eve ning Herald oinces, iresDyieriHn and Methodist churches. Cathers elegant three-story row of homes and other elaborately constructed business houses and residences. The stupendous spectacle con-tinned into the nieht The wind abated. With a seeming satisfaction in its mad dance of destruction, the blaze suddenly died out.

Darkness fell over the town. Residents walked among the smouldering ruins, in a hopeless, stunned suence. Once majestic structures were reduced to A major portion of the town was destroyed. The holocaust occurred on Monday, November 12, 1883. Without shelter and wearing apparel hun dreds oi residents wanted toe streets that night It was bitter cold and a strong northwest gale re- a horrified populace.

That was almost 67 years ago. Shenandoah survived. A plucky, energetic communitv withstood the million dollar destruction. Barbers Years Ago Feared Safety Razor Many Shenandoah barbers years ago feared that their livelihood was jeopardized by the safety razor. One barber who admitted the de vice would reduce revenue took this nhiloDhic view of the future: "Necessity, always the creator of Invention, will find a way out of the difficulty.

The conditions that are being forced upon the craft will compel our members to put on their thinking caps and set sails to catch the breeze. We must employ some labor-saving device that will save time and labor, enable us to. reduce our rates, and induce the trade to get shaved often." SINGES SEWING MACHINE The office of the Singer Sewing Machine Company was once situated on West Centre street, between and Jardin. and Edwar Quion whs U70 nr- i. It was 6T years ago that Shenandoah was almost destroyed by fire.

The borough was in its infancy, only 17 years old, but it was a 1 thriving, growing, prosperous community. As the yean rolled by many 2 references were made to the holo-O caust, particularly on the anniver--' sary of the conflagration. One such "coverage" of the fierce fire follows: 1 Only a small shaft of light entered the rear room of the United States Hotel (now known as the Shenandoah Hotel). Dense, black clouds loomed out of the west Liquid Spills Over Although it was about noon that November day in 1883, the maid in the hotel found it necessary- to light a candle in order to replenish the empty kerosene can. The liquid trickled into the small opening.

A FINANCIAL STATEMENT, JUNE 30, 1950 ASSETS Loans and Discounts 924,633.70 U. S. Bonds 2,056,453.75 Other Bonds and Securities 1,030,706.98 Cash Reserves and Other Assets 682,889.83 FINANCIAL STATEMENT, OCTOBER 29, ASSETS Loans and Discounts 160,202.87 U. S. Bonds 108,243.00 Other Bonds and Securities 51 7,541 .75 Cash and Reserves 361,125.72 1934 (Paid Off) Total Totals LIABILITIES Deposits $4,21 5,376.41 Capitql and Surplus 479,307.85 Deposits 886,663.08 LIABILITIES 100,000.00 60,000.00 450.26 Common Stock Preferred Stock Surplus Undivided Profits Total tiny quantity or tne nigmy muam-mable liquid spilled over the top and down the side of the can.

The dancing light of the candle suddenly emerged into a big flame. Grasping her skirts in shaking hands, the maid fled. A howling wind choked her anguished cries of "flrer Fed by the kerosene, the flames leaped with lightning rapidity. The darkened room was quickly transformed into a. blaz- 0- ing inferno.

Gnests Flee An alarm nf 1irp urK sniinded. Totals Men raced to fire houses. Guests personal property, thinking only of their safety. The wind roared over the town, swiftly gaining the speed of gale. Flames spread through the wooden hotel, tne iirst rrame structure built in the eommunity.

AncriilfMl pvera loff erected nearby by pioneers of the town. A fierce -wind picked up the flames and carried them to other buildings in the Fire spread across the street and con- atbd-orarri In mad fUTV. liiruc Crackling timber mocked the clang of fire engines. The tree-story hotel crumbled. nnitrxia Battle aii tiNintfh the afternoon men AU wo-- and women fought desperately but vainly in an attempt' to cut off the fury of the flames.

Fire engines from out of town pushed through t.r4fsri thrones' that made streets infbassable. Wagons, and carts ground their way slowly thrmiffh the crowds. Dacked high GOOD WISHES TO YOUR "EVENING HERALD" FROM THE STAFF AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS of the UNION NATIONAL BANK SHENANDOAH, PA. Since its organization, the Union National Bank has contributed tothe well-being of -the people of Shenandoah and its environs in the field of banking. We invite your business and in the meantime DON'T BUY WHAT YOU DON'T NEED.

with household goods. Women weeped openly in the streets. Children Stared In wild amazement Sweat, poured from the browt of undaunted men. Shenandoah was transformed into f(''. kss of flames that leaped high (he iky.

tne compa.