Question:

In 1948, By what methods were Italian-American families in Pittston asked to fight Communism in an important election in their homeland, and did it affect the outcome?

1948 – 69 YEARS AGO

In a small write up in Local Chatter, it was revealed that Harry Andes, a chef at Fox Hill Country Club, had quite a close call. Andes liked to keep loose tobacco in his coat pocket into which he would insert his pipe to pack while driving to work. An avid hunter, Andes forgot that in that same pocket he’d placed a small caliber bullet. After lighting his pipe, an explosion resulted which, fortunately, left Andes only shaken. The bullet went straight into the air. It was noted that he then purchased a tobacco pouch.

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While many believed surface settlement in front of 114 and 116 S. Main St. in Pittston was due to coal mining, some believed it had more to do with water drainage and surface vibration. A report showed that beneath those properties loed the Pittston vein, Top and Bottom Marcy vein, Top and Bottom Clark vein and the Red Ash vein. The report completed by Reilly Engineering showed the Pittston vein, 70 feet below, was inaccessible; the top Marcy vein 110 feet below was not mined, the bottom Marcy vein was mined but not “robbed,” The Clark, 216 feet below had not been mined, and the Red Ash, 400 feet below the surface, had been mined. The report concluded the damage was not due to the mines below the affected properties. The term “robbed” described the removal of coal pillars used to sustain the roof of the mines.

1949 – 68 YEARS AGO

In an article, Sunday Dispatch editor William A. Watson Sr. commended West Wyoming High School for planning the publication of a school newspaper, Watson stated, “We believe the same thing should be done in Pittston. It will not only develop some talented newspaper boys and girls, but will give students an insight into workings of a newspaper and will make them better citizens.” Watson also related a story of an earlier time when he was working 12 hour shifts for the Evening News in Wilkes-Barre. He was asked by a friend, “What do you do now?” Watson proudly replied, “I’m a newspaper reporter.” Sadly the friend asked, “And is that the only job you have?” Watson went on to state, “There are many local young men and women with initiative and imagination who would be a credit to the newspaper world.” For many years, it was the practice of the Dispatch to publish school news written by students of all Greater Pittston schools.

The South Side Athletic Club of Pittston, always a strong contender in baseball league play, joined Yatesville, Larksville, Plymouth, Wilkes-Barre, Port Griffith and several other clubs in the Penn State Baseball League. Players who signed on with the team were Nick Calahan, “Rip” DeAngelo, Joe Kania, Mike Sperazza, Johnny Robbins, “Yippie” Sciandra and Willie “Smokeball” Wright. Games were scheduled to start the first Sunday in May and would be played at Bone Stadium and Albert West Park. South Side took the championship title in 1948.

1950 – 67 YEARS AGO

An illness, described as an odd form of influenza spreading across Greater Pittston, was being compared to the 1918 outbreak of the flu that took hundreds of lives in the area. More than 1500 Greater Pittston school children were unable to attend classes for a week. Doctors acknowledged that one member of a family contracting the disease would lead to all family members coming down with symptoms and those with existing respiratory ailments would have to be hospitalized. Doctors attributed the treatment success rate in 1950 to new medicines such as sulfa, penicillin and streptomycin. According to Stanford.edu, the 1918 influenza virus killed 20 to 40 million people world-wide.

In 1940, Our Lady of Mount Carmel RC Church on William Street was destroyed by a fire. When the edifice was replaced with a new wooden structure, the walls and ceilings were painted with flat colors and were devoid of depictions of saints or decoration. In 1949, Rev. Rudolph Borgogna, OSJ, pastor of the church hired artist Anthony D’Ambrosio to paint spiritual displays throughout the church at a cost of $20,000. D’Ambrosio painted life size versions of the four evangelists, Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke and John behind the altar. A depiction of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was applied to the ceiling of the altar alcove. An additional 15 paintings were added along the side walls showing the 15 mysteries of the Rosary. The work was completed in 1950.

1960 – 57 YEARS AGP

Four Erie Railroad engineers, Robert Galavage, Joseph Marcelonis, Joseph Schilling and Paul Schline, working on the Jefferson Division of the Erie railroad yards in Avoca celebrated a total of 181 years of service among them. It was reported the Jefferson Division was a “mighty vital sector of the Erie System.” Established in 1865, the system had at its peak 168 engineers. During its heyday, a constant flow of rail traffic ran from the regional terminal of the Erie. After the 1959 Knox Mine Disaster, the Avoca yard had only one train running every 24 hours.

1976 – 41 YEARS AGO

Close to 1,000 people attended the third annual Hughestown Sports Club Banquet. Archie Griffin, two-time Heisman Trophy winner and all American running back from Ohio State University, was principal speaker and Pittston Area football coach Bob Barbieri was presented the Coach of the Year award. Other athletes and honored guests at the event were Frank Morgan, Sue Brown, Simon Bernosky, Mickey Dudish, Bill Pfeffer, Paul Kotulak, Bob Zipko, Brian Sickler, Mike Valenti, Len Pesotini, Jack Conaboy and Bob Para. Griffin went on to play seven seasons in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals. He is college football’s only two-time Heisman Trophy winner.

Answer:

A letter writing campaign initiated by Speaker of the House Joseph William Martin Jr., asked all people of foreign birth in the United States to start a letter-writing movement to their homelands in order to win the cold war with Russia. Rev. Vincent Bonomi of St. Rocco’s Italian RC Church in South Pittston acted upon the request and asked Pittstonians of Italian extraction to write letters to family and friends in Italy explaining how Democracy works in the United States in order to influence the results of an important election pitting Christian Democratic advocates against Communists approached. The letters were prepared by St. Rocco’s parishioners and were readied for air mail to Italy. Content in the letters advised family members still living in the country to vote for Alcide De Gasperi, the head of the Christian Democratic Party in Italy. The movement, that included singer Frank Sinatra producing a Voice of American radio broadcast, succeeded in swaying the election in favor of the Christian Democratic Party.

This day in history:

1804 – The territory of New Orleans is organized in the Louisiana Purchase.

1885 – Eastman Film Co. manufactures the first commercial motion picture film.

1938 – Hermann Goering warns all Jews to leave Austria

1953 – Dr. Jonas Salk announces a new vaccine against polio.

1961 – John F. Kennedy meets with British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in Washington to discuss increased Communist involvement in Laos.

1982 – Ground is broken in Washington D.C. for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

1989 – The first free elections take place in the Soviet Union. Boris Yeltsin is elected.

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Peeking into the Past

By Judy Minsavage

Reach Judy Minsavage on Twitter @JudithMinsavage