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| Former Industrial coatings plant. |
but the case is still open.
Thallium The Poisoners Poison and the case of a large quantity of it missing in Penn Hills
I have driven down Sandy Creek road many times in Penn Hills over the years past several small manufacturing plants and assorted business and never really paid attention to the small place along the road near the top where Verona Road meets . Then one afternoon in 2009 while driving by this small plant there where all kind of environmental and emergency vehicles sitting outside. OK something going on will have to watch the news this evening .
Well it ends up there is a major concern seems 2 gallons of Thallium the Poisoners Poison as it is known from mystery writers novels is missing from the former industrial diamond powders processing facility. which had closed in 2003 a relative reported it missing and they where ready at one point to break up a cement slab in drive way to see if it had been disposed of there. But after an extensive search and back round investigation of the relative of the plant they pretty much are sure he is just making up a story as he has a history of questionable activity's in his life. Yet he still claims it is missing and it may well be missing as there does not appear to be any records as to how it was disposed of when the plant closed along with a bunch of other dangerous items. Too many times things get spilled on the ground or buried and forgotten which could be very bad situation with this product which could poison the entire town if it gets in the water table .
The building has since become headquarters for a company which remodels homes for flipping purposes.
It is called " A Day of Shame " in Ohio and Pennsylvanians where behind it and many questions remain unanswered.
If you study Native American history sooner or later you may run across a book my 5th great uncle on my Mothers side of family John Ernesto Gotlieb Heckewelder wrote in the 1880's
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He knew a lot about Indians he was a Moravian Faith Missionary who worked with the Delaware Indian tribes and brought them to Christianity .
(1881, c1876)
He knew a lot about Indians he was a Moravian Faith Missionary who worked with the Delaware Indian tribes and brought them to Christianity .
He helped to found a town in Ohio called Gnadenhutten .
Here he lived with many peaceful Indians . However because of his Moravian Faith he was seen as a threat to the British who saw him as a spy and took him and a companion he worked with David Zeisberger to Detroit for trail.
and While the little village was abandoned the year before some of the Indians returned to the village to harvest crops they had grown that summer. But it was a very unfortunate time for them because coming over from Pennsylvania was a militia led by Captain David Williamson in search of Indians who had attacked white settlements and had kidnapped and murdered settlers. It was March 8 ,1782 when they came and captured those working the fields and then set about brutally killing 98 Indian men woman and children
With a large club to the head. in what would be come known as the " Day of Shame" in Ohio
The Indians at Gnadenhutten how ever had nothing to do with the attacks
My Uncle and Mr. Zeisberger where cleared of the charges and where on their way back when the massacre occurred.
When they returned to the village death and destruction was everywhere. In keeping with native american traditions they gathered and buried the Indians remains in a mound which is still at the site today which is a state park and where a church is named after my great uncle.
From all I can find there where never any charges brought against the militia members for what was done as some settlers actually supported what they had done and to this day it is unknown why the militia choose this particular village many miles into Ohio border or what group of Indians had attacked the settlers in Pennsylvania. However the Lenape Indians friends of the Delaware extracted revenge on a couple of those militia who participated and captain Williamson would die in Poverty many years later.
If you go to Gnadenhutten you will find it a quiet solemn place and you may even hear the tearful cry of those Indians who where killed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnadenhutten_massacre
Here he lived with many peaceful Indians . However because of his Moravian Faith he was seen as a threat to the British who saw him as a spy and took him and a companion he worked with David Zeisberger to Detroit for trail.
and While the little village was abandoned the year before some of the Indians returned to the village to harvest crops they had grown that summer. But it was a very unfortunate time for them because coming over from Pennsylvania was a militia led by Captain David Williamson in search of Indians who had attacked white settlements and had kidnapped and murdered settlers. It was March 8 ,1782 when they came and captured those working the fields and then set about brutally killing 98 Indian men woman and children
The Indians at Gnadenhutten how ever had nothing to do with the attacks
My Uncle and Mr. Zeisberger where cleared of the charges and where on their way back when the massacre occurred.
When they returned to the village death and destruction was everywhere. In keeping with native american traditions they gathered and buried the Indians remains in a mound which is still at the site today which is a state park and where a church is named after my great uncle.
From all I can find there where never any charges brought against the militia members for what was done as some settlers actually supported what they had done and to this day it is unknown why the militia choose this particular village many miles into Ohio border or what group of Indians had attacked the settlers in Pennsylvania. However the Lenape Indians friends of the Delaware extracted revenge on a couple of those militia who participated and captain Williamson would die in Poverty many years later.
If you go to Gnadenhutten you will find it a quiet solemn place and you may even hear the tearful cry of those Indians who where killed.
Here is a very detailed article by Earl Nicodemus
By the spring of 1780, Heckewelder and Zeisberger decided that they would be better off back at their old towns on the upper Tuscarawas River, so they and most of their Christian followers left Lichtenau and returned to their old homes in Schoenbrunn and Gnadenhutten. However, Heckewelder and several of the Christian Indian families stopped about six miles south of Gnadenhutten. On April 6, 1780, they established a new town at that location that they called Salem. By 1780, over 400 Christian Indians were living in the area around the three towns and 10 white missionaries and teachers were living and working with them. On July 4, 1780, John Heckewelder married Sara Ohneberg at Salem with the Rev. Adam Grube presiding. Their daughter was born the following year.
When the Revolutionary War broke out, many of the Ohio Indian tribes chose to support the British side. However, most of the Delawares and the Moravian Christian Indians chose to remain neutral although Zeisberger and Heckewelder kept American commanders at Fort Pitt informed about some of the Indian activities in Ohio. The texts of some of letters between Heckewelder and Zeisberger to Generals Hand and Broadhead at Fort Pitt are in the Draper Manuscript Collection held by the Wisconsin State Historical Society. During the summer of 1777, Zeisberger learned that the Indians were planning an attack on Fort Henry. Starting in the middle of June 1777, Zeisberger sent a series of letters to General Hand at Fort Pitt notifying him of the impending attack. Hand responded by calling up five militia units to reinforce the fort and then sending Major Andrew Swearingen downriver from Holliday’s Fort with provisions for the enlarged garrison. The attack on Fort Henry came on Sept. 1, 1777.
Salem Historical Marker (Photo by Earl Nicodemus)
In the spring of 1778, Simon Girty and several others left the service of the Americans at Fort Pitt and traveled to Fort Detroit to work for the British side. Girty suspected the spying activities of the two missionaries, and he lobbied for the British to destroy the Moravian Indian towns and remove the missionaries. He thought that the missionaries should be hanged for treason. Some of the Indians supported Girty’s desire to remove the Moravian Indians and the missionaries from the towns on the Tuscarawas River. However, British authorities at Fort Detroit continued to issue orders that the Christian Indians were not to be harmed. By the summer of 1781, chief Half King (Pomocon) of the Wyandots had grown impatient with the lack of action by the British in regard to the Moravian missionaries. He sent a letter to the commandant at Fort Detroit, Major Arent Schuyler DePeyster, demanding that the British take action or else “I will do so.” (Implying that he would kill the missionaries.)
Schoenbrunn Historical Marker (Photo by Earl Nicodemus)
In late August of 1781 and in response to Half King’s threat, Major DePeyster sent Captain Matthew Elliott, along with a group of soldiers, to relocate the Christian Indians to an area on the Sandusky River near the Wyandot Village known as “Half King’s Town.” Half King and around 200 Wyandot and Delaware Indians accompanied Elliott’s men to the Christian Indian towns on the Tuscarawas. Heckewelder’s diary describes Simon Girty jumping up onto a chair and reading the letter from DePeyster informing the missionaries that they were to move to the Sandusky River region and stating that Half King was authorized to use force if they refused. However, Girty was illiterate and the letter was more likely read by either Elliott or Half King. At the time, a total of 10 white missionaries and teachers were living and working with the Moravian Christian Indians. DePeyster’s instructions were that the missionaries were to be treated with respect and that they were not to be mistreated in any way. However, Half King’s warriors ignored those instructions. They stripped the missionaries and pillaged their homes. Heckewelder described the Indians running around wearing the clothes that they had stolen from the homes of the missionaries. Some of the Christian Indian women prevailed upon Half King to allow them to give the missionaries something to cover their nakedness. Half king allowed them to give the missionaries some ragged dresses to wear. It is worthwhile to note that the Delawares apparently did not participate in any of the violence against the missionaries. Although the Wyandots plundered the missionaries, they permitted the Christian Indians to take some of their livestock and other belongings as they traveled by water and land to Coshocton at the forks of the Muskingum. From there, they followed the Walhonding River northwest and then went overland until they reached the Sandusky River several miles south of Half King’s Wyandot town. There, Half King and his warriors abandoned them telling them that they were free to build new homes anywhere in that region. Since the October winds were already blowing, they immediately set to the task of building cabins for winter shelter. Following the tradition of the Delawares, the women went out every day to dig wild potatoes for food. Because of the scarcity of suitable grazing land, the milk cows soon dried up, so babies and children went hungry. (Earl’s note: The wild potatoes eaten by the Delawares were actually wild sweet potatoes that we would recognize as morning glory plants.)
In late February, Girty arrived from Fort Detroit with orders to bring Zeisberger and Heckewelder to the fort to stand trial for treason. Because Girty was joining the Wyandots for an excursion against the Virginians, he assigned a Frenchman named Mr. Lavallie to take the missionaries to Fort Detroit. Girty instructed Lavallie to “drive them like cattle.” As Lavallie and the missionaries proceeded downriver on the trail along the Sandusky, he observed that Zeisberger had some difficulty walking due to his rheumatism. Lavellie gave Zeisberger his own horse while he walked instead. When they arrived at the lower Sandusky near the lake, a gentleman named Mr. Robbins offered the missionaries the hospitality of his home. Lavallie sent a letter to Fort Detroit asking for a boat to transport the missionaries to the fort from the mouth of the Sandusky River. After they had been at the home of Mr. Robbins for some weeks, a boat from Fort Detroit arrived to transport them to the fort. A company of British Rangers arrived on the boat with orders from Commandant DePeyster. DePeyster’s orders instructed Lavallie and the rangers to bring the missionaries to Fort Detroit. The letter stipulated that the missionaries were not to be harmed. The same day that the boat arrived with DePeyster’s orders, Girty also arrived in the area. When he learned that Lavellie had ignored his instructions to drive the missionaries overland like cattle to Fort Detroit, he was extremely angry. Heckewelder’s diary describes Girty threatening the missionaries with his tomahawk and then spending the night in a drunken rage. While they waited for the weather over the lake to calm down so that they could depart for Detroit, the missionaries received word of the killing of their Christian Indian brothers and sisters at Gnadenhutten.
Upon their arrival at Fort Detroit, Commandant DePeyster forced the two poorly clad missionaries to stand outside in the cold for several hours before he ordered them into his presence to face charges for treason. Some of the Indian leaders were also in the room. When DePeyster asked Chief Pipe for his testimony about the spying charges against the missionaries, Pipe spoke in defense of the missionaries. DePeyster declared that the missionaries were cleared of the charge of treason. He then ordered that they be fed and clothed and supplied them with some provisions to take back to their families on the Sandusky.
The winter of 1781-82 was very harsh, and the relocated Christian Indians had not been able to harvest their crops when they were forced from their homes, so they were suffering from starvation. The frozen ground prevented the women from digging wild potatoes, and the snow covered the grass causing most of their livestock to die from starvation. By February, the Christian Indians and missionaries were surviving by eating the decaying flesh of their dead cattle. When the weather broke at the end of February, about 150 of the Christian Indians obtained permission from Half King to return to their old homes on the Tuscarawas to harvest corn to bring back to their families at the Sandusky.
The unusually warm late February weather also led to an early rash of Indian Raids from the Ohio country into Virginia and Pennsylvania. On Feb. 8, a small raiding party killed John Fink in Pennsylvania not far from Buchanan’s Fort, on the upper Monongahela. A couple of days later, a small raiding party took a young man named John Carpenter captive from near Buffalo creek in Northwestern Virginia. (Now Brooke County, W.Va.) Some of the Indians who took Carpenter prisoner spoke Dutch and told Carpenter that they were Moravian. The raiding party crossed the icy waters of the Ohio River and then bedded down for the night putting the horses out to graze. The next morning, the Indians put John to work helping to round up the horses, and he was able to escape and make his way to Fort Pitt where he reported that his home had been raided by some of the Moravian Indians.
On Feb. 15, a raiding party struck the home of Robert Wallace on Raccoon Creek, several miles west of Pittsburgh. At the time of the raid, Robert was away from home having left early that morning to take corn to a mill which was several miles away. When he returned home that evening, he found his house in shambles. His livestock had been shot dead and the Indians had pillaged whatever they could carry off with them. Mrs. Wallace, along with the couple’s 10-year-old son, 2-and-a-half-year-old son, Robert, and infant daughter, had been taken captive by the Indians. Wallace rode to the homes of several of his nearest neighbors, and they headed out in pursuit of the Indians at first light the next morning. Unfortunately several inches of snow had fallen during the night, so they soon lost the trail.
As the raiding party traveled west, they made slow progress because of Mrs. Wallace and the baby. They had crossed the Ohio River and had gone only a short distance into Ohio when they did something that certainly impacted the later events. Because they were slowing the raiding party down, the Indians tomahawked Mrs. Wallace and the baby. Just beyond a bend in the trail, they cut off and sharpened two small saplings and impaled the naked bodies of Mrs. Wallace and the baby on them posing the bodies to make them appear to be looking down the trail toward the direction from which anyone in pursuit would be coming. The Indians took Wallace’s two sons with them. The 10-year-old year died in captivity from disease and malnutrition a year or so later. The younger son, Robert Wallace, survived and was adopted into an Indian family. When he was around 10 years old, he was returned to the white community, but had forgotten the English language.
Back at Fort Pitt, the Americans had learned that the Indian raiding parties were using the abandoned buildings at Salem, Gnadenhutten and Schoenbrunn as stopover points during their travels to and from the Indian villages in Ohio as they were conducting their raids in Pennsylvania and northern Virginia. In late February or early March of 1782, General Gibson at Fort Pitt organized a force of 160 Pennsylvania militiamen under the command of Lieutenant Colonel David Williamson to go into the Ohio country to burn the three abandoned towns. After failing to find the trail of the raiding party that had taken his family, Robert Wallace rode to Fort Pitt where he arrived just as the Williamson’s expedition was leaving for the Ohio Country. So he joined the expedition. When the militiamen rounded a curve in the trail in Ohio a few days later, they were greeted by the gruesome sight of the impaled bodies of Mrs. Wallace and the baby. To say that the militiamen were enraged with hatred for Indians would be an understatement.
Gnaddenhutten Historical Marker (Photo by Earl Nicodemus)
The next day, the army arrived in the vicinity of Gnadenhutten. After crossing a swollen stream, the militia encountered a man named Joseph Shebosh who was half Indian and half white. As Shebosh begged for his life, a militiaman named Charles Bilderback killed him with a tomahawk and scalped him. Colonel Williamson and his men were expecting the Moravian towns to be vacant, so they were surprised to discover a large number of Indians out working in the fields. Williamson sent detachments of militiamen to Schoenbrunn and Salem to bring back any Indians who were there. The Indians at Schoenbrunn had learned of the presence of the militiamen and fled before the detachment of militia arrived. However, the detachment that went to Salem returned to Gnadenhutten with several Indians families who were there. As they returned to the Gnadenhutten, the militiamen demanded that the Indians give up their arms to prevent any hostile actions against the militia. The peaceful Moravians complied with that request. Several of the militiamen spotted things in the town that they thought the Indians could have taken from some of their neighbors and family members who had been killed during Indian raids. Because of that, Colonel Williamson decided that the militia would take all of the Indians back to Fort Pitt to face trial for participating in the raids. They confined the Indians to two of the cabins with the men in one and the women and children in another. Then, Robert Wallace noticed that a teenaged Indian girl was wearing the dress that his wife had been wearing on the morning that she was captured by the Indians. He knew that it was Mrs. Wallace’s dress because he had watched his wife make the dress with her own hands. Some accounts say that the dress was still stained with the blood of Mrs. Wallace, but that is unknown. Although the girl claimed that a visiting Indian had given it to her in gratitude for some food that she had given to him, the enraged militiamen did not believe her.
The militiamen took a vote and all but 18 of the 260 men voted to execute all of the Indians for the murders of Mrs. Wallace and her baby. They informed the Indians of the decision and then allowed them to gather in the meetinghouse to pray. For most of the night, the Indians sang hymns and prayed. Some of the 18 men who voted against putting the Indians to death declared that they would have no part in the killings and were going to head back to Pennsylvania. So that they would not be considered deserters, Williamson gave them permission to leave provided that they would make their camp 10 or 12 miles away and then rejoin the army as it returned to the fort. Some historians have indicated that Williamson was not in favor of executing the Indians, but had no choice when all but 18 of the men voted to do so. It is worthwhile to note that many of militiamen had also participated in the Squaw Campaign and in the Coshocton Massacre.
Early on the morning of March 8, 1782, the militiamen brought the Indians into two of the cabins to be executed. The men were taken into one cabin and the women and children were taken into the other cabin. Nathan Rollins brought over a large wooden mallet that he had found at the cooper’s shop. Rollins was eager for revenge because his father and uncle had been killed by Indian raiding parties. When the militiamen came into the chapel to take the Indians to their deaths, an old man, who had taken the Christian name of Abraham and was one of the spiritual leaders of the congregation volunteered to go first. Abraham had long gray hair which some of the militiamen wanted as a trophy. The Indians were taken into the slaughterhouses two at a time. Rollins swung the heavy hammer striking the victims on the head stunning them. Then, another militiaman slit their throats. This was exactly the same procedure that was used for dispatching livestock at the slaughterhouses at the time. After they scalped the victims, the militiamen dragged them into some of the nearby cabins to be burned. Rollins swung the cooper’s mallet 14 times before declaring that his arm had given out. Then, he sat down and sobbed because his revengeful killing spree had not diminished his grief for his father and uncle.
Gnadenhutten Massacre Drawing Circa mid-1800s (Public Domain)
Two young boys were able to slip through a trap door in the floor and hide in the root cellar under one of the cabins. It ended up being the cabin where the women and children were being killed. When darkness fell, the militia set fire to the cabin, so the boys attempted to crawl out through a small opening in the foundation. The smaller boy went first and was able to escape and run to safety in the nearby woods. The older boy was unable to get through the opening and perished in the fire. The boy who survived in that root cellar described the blood streaming down through the floorboards as the women and children were being slaughtered. The only other survivor was a boy named Thomas who had been bludgeoned and scalped and tossed onto a pile of bodies in one of the cabins. When he came to, he noticed a friend named Abel who had also survived and was attempting to sit up when the militiamen brought another body into the cabin. One of the militiamen immediately killed Abel with his tomahawk, so Thomas pretended to be dead and lay perfectly still until the men left. Then, he got to his feet, climbed over the bodies and slipped out the door. Thomas and the boy who had escaped from the root cellar were both found by a group of Indians who were fleeing Schoenbrunn and heading toward the Sandusky. Thomas survived in spite of being scalped.
On March 8, 1782, those Pennsylvania militiamen murdered 96 innocent Christian men, women, and children. That number included 28 men, 29 women and 39 children. In his diary, John Heckewelder wrote, “The loving children who had so harmoniously raised their voices in the church, at school and in the parents’ houses in singing praises to the Savior. Their tender years, innocent countenances and tears made no impression on these white Christians. The children, together with 12 babes at the breast, were all butchered with the rest.”
After looting the homes, the militiamen burned the towns including the cabins containing the bodies. That killing field remained unvisited and untouched for 17 years. In 1799, 77 year-old David Zeisberger along with some friends and Christian Indian companions visited the site. They searched through the remains of the cabins where the bodies were burned and throughout the nearby grounds and collected the skeletal remains of as many of the victims as they could find and then buried them in a mass grave. A small mound at the site identifies that mass grave.
Mass Grave at Gnaddenhutten (Photo by Earl Nicodemus)
Geo-History Information
Lichtenau Historical Marker
Coordinates: N 40° 14′ 46.69″, W 81° 52′ 14.54″
The marker is located on the southeast corner of a busy intersection. If
you decide to pay a visit and want to stop for a photograph, turn east
onto Clow Lane and park at the apartment building a few hundred feet
from the intersection
Salem Mission Historical Marker
Coordinates: N 40° 18′ 24.21″, W 81° 32′ 14.54″
This is on Rte. 36 out in the country. If you visit in person, you will find a nice turnout where you can stop for a photograph
Schoenbrunn Historical Marker
Coordinates: N 40° 28′ 01.98″, W 81° 24′ 48.05″
The marker is located at the entrance to the Schoenbrunn Village
Historic site. If you plan to visit the site in person, you will want to
do so in the summer because the historic site is not open during the
winter months.
Gnadenhutten Historical Marker and Site
Coordinates: N 40° 28′ 01.98″, W 81° 24′ 48.05″
The marker is located near the burial mound at the site of the
Gnadenhutten massacre. The marker is not visible from a Google Earth
street view, although the road bordering the historic site has been
imaged. Although the site is open year round, the visitor center is only
open during the summer months.
For my history buff friends: Here are some of the sources of information for this story.
The Gnaddenhutten Massacre
Earl Nicodemus History Web Site
Url: https://tinyurl.com/nicodemushistory
Life of John Heckewelder
by Rondthaler, Edward & Coates, Benjamin Horner,
Publication date 1847
Publisher Philadelphia, T. Ward
A narrative of the mission of the United Brethren among the Delaware and Mohegan Indians
by Heckewelder, John Gottlieb
Publication date 1820
Publisher Philadelphia: McCarty & Davis
History of the mission of the United Brethren among the Indians in North America
by Loskiel, George Henry, Christian Ignatius, & Adams, John
Publication date 1794
Publisher The Brethren’s Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel
Diary of David Zeisberger
by David Zeisberger
Publication date 1885
Publisher R. Clarke & Co
The Life and Times of David Zeisberger: The Western Pioneer and Apostle
by Edmund De Schweinitz, Edmund Alexander De Schweinitz
Publication date 1871
Publisher J.B. Lippincott
A true history of the massacre of ninety-six Christian Indians, at Gnadenhuetten, Ohio, March 8th, 1782
by Gnadenhutten Monument Society
Publication date 1870
Topics Gnadenhutten Massacre, Gnadenhutten, Ohio, 1782, Moravian Indians
Publisher New Philadelphia, Ohio, Printed at the Ohio Democrat Office
All of the photographs in this story were taken by Earl Nicodemus. The drawing of the massacre was published during the 1800’s and is in the public domain.
• Earl Nicodemus is retired after 40 years of teaching Instructional Technology at West Liberty University. He helped to form the West Liberty Historical Society, and he and his family have taken care of the historic West Liberty Cemetery since 1985. He is particularly interested in folk stories about local historical figures and often gives presentations to community groups.
The Christmas Time fire which produced a miracle .
A long time friend and customer of mine at one time had a big beautiful home on Heinrick Farm Lane in Hampton Twp. in the North Hills of Allegheny County.
Well that was till he and his wife divorced.
But a couple years before the divorce in early 80's they where hosting a Christmas time party in their home
and had a really nice big dinning room where they had enjoyed dinner and then everyone retired to the basement where they where watching a movie and exchanging gifts and enjoying dessert . There where candles still lighted on the dinning room table when they went down stairs and one of the candles was unstable fell and caught the table on fire the fire quickly started to smoke up the house and my friends then wife came up stairs to get a cake slicer she forgot to find the dinning room ablaze.
They called the Hampton Fire Dept they quickly arrived and where able to hold the flames and damage mostly to the dining room but there was smoke damage all thru the first floor the fire was intense enough that it burned thru the dining room table and caused the ceiling chandelier to come crashing down .
The walls and entire room where covered with a thick black soot .
except for one very strange situation . My friends wife loved Hummel Figure's and had them all over the house and the dining room was no exception except she had a Hummel Manger Set with the baby Jesus ,which was set on a bed of straw. like the one in the picture below .
By what some have called a miracle the fire never touched the manger set not one spec of dust or soot on it even with as intense as the flames where right beside this set it was untouched. The county fire officials and Insurance investigators who came to the home could not believe their own eyes. While some have called it a miracle and a sign from God others have dismissed it as a freak incident of flame travel. Unfortunate I have not been able to find any pictures of the incident as the fire was far enough back files have gotten lost or where destroyed.
But I saw it with my own eyes and can not explain it other than to say it is a sign of a higher power.
Well that was till he and his wife divorced.
But a couple years before the divorce in early 80's they where hosting a Christmas time party in their home
and had a really nice big dinning room where they had enjoyed dinner and then everyone retired to the basement where they where watching a movie and exchanging gifts and enjoying dessert . There where candles still lighted on the dinning room table when they went down stairs and one of the candles was unstable fell and caught the table on fire the fire quickly started to smoke up the house and my friends then wife came up stairs to get a cake slicer she forgot to find the dinning room ablaze.
They called the Hampton Fire Dept they quickly arrived and where able to hold the flames and damage mostly to the dining room but there was smoke damage all thru the first floor the fire was intense enough that it burned thru the dining room table and caused the ceiling chandelier to come crashing down .
The walls and entire room where covered with a thick black soot .
except for one very strange situation . My friends wife loved Hummel Figure's and had them all over the house and the dining room was no exception except she had a Hummel Manger Set with the baby Jesus ,which was set on a bed of straw. like the one in the picture below .
By what some have called a miracle the fire never touched the manger set not one spec of dust or soot on it even with as intense as the flames where right beside this set it was untouched. The county fire officials and Insurance investigators who came to the home could not believe their own eyes. While some have called it a miracle and a sign from God others have dismissed it as a freak incident of flame travel. Unfortunate I have not been able to find any pictures of the incident as the fire was far enough back files have gotten lost or where destroyed.
But I saw it with my own eyes and can not explain it other than to say it is a sign of a higher power.
There where many heroes during a Horrific Train Wreck in Emsworth in 1905 and the still eerie sound of a train whistle
It was a festive time a train full of individuals on there way to the president Theodore (teddy) Roosevelt inauguration and it would end in a massive horrifying hell when 2 trains collided just below the steep hill side of the Holy Family Orphanage in Emsworth which sits along Pa 65 in Pittsburgh's northern suburbs
Holy family sits high on a shear cliff of sand stone in Emsworth along the Ohio River a few miles north west of Pittsburgh .
At one time at the top of Allegheny Ave next to the now Holy Family Institute there was a set of steep wooden steps which would take you down to the railroad tracks and the Emsworth Train Station.
and it was at this station where the horrific crash took place because of a " Hot Box " malfunctioning and heating up I could see the remnants of foundations one day while working at Shafner manufacturing and asked the owner about it and he told me about the train wreck and also the terrible fire Shafner manufacturing had at one time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_box
The hot box is the wheel and gear assembly also refereed to as trucks which the railroad carriages fit on.
The first train on the Fort Wayne and Indiana railroad of a 2 train assemblage had stopped to make repairs when the 2nd train of celebrants came at a high speed 40 mph down the tracks and into the rear of the first train splitting it open like an axe and killing 7 people and maiming many more .
The priests from Holy family and workers and medical staff from Nearby Dixmont State Hospital for the Mentally Insane responded immediately rendering aide and comfort to the injured and dying .
Some victims where carried all the way up the steep steps to Holy Family where they where cared for.
many hero's that day including the priests who cared for and carried victims to safety and Guardsmen and a Dr. on train who helped the victims till there own injury's saw them fall.
Today you would never know there was such a horrific tragedy just the 2 sets of dual rails of the former Fort Wayne and Indiana railroad which became part of the Pennsylvania main line and now is operated by Norfolk Southern and the foundation of the train station . Next to the river which is an extremely busy track with trains almost every 10-15 minutes 24/ 7 coming from and going to the Conway yards in beaver county
But occasionally when the track is quiet people claim to hear an old fashioned steam whistle yet no train visible I have talked to those who fish the river along the area and claim a light of an oncoming train but one is not coming down track just the light and some claim you can hear a large crash type noise.
all of the noises have been dismissed as coming from across the river on heavily industrialized Neville Island or echoing up the valley from one of the river boats going thru the locks and dams at Emsworth and beaver county and being misinterpreted. Yet I have heard the eerie sounding steam whistle as well and could not tell where it was coming from as well.
Yes its very quiet and isolated area so who knows?
At one time at the top of Allegheny Ave next to the now Holy Family Institute there was a set of steep wooden steps which would take you down to the railroad tracks and the Emsworth Train Station.
 | |
| long gone Emsworth station |
and it was at this station where the horrific crash took place because of a " Hot Box " malfunctioning and heating up I could see the remnants of foundations one day while working at Shafner manufacturing and asked the owner about it and he told me about the train wreck and also the terrible fire Shafner manufacturing had at one time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_box
The hot box is the wheel and gear assembly also refereed to as trucks which the railroad carriages fit on.
 |
| Accident happened in this area and back to right around cliff |
Some victims where carried all the way up the steep steps to Holy Family where they where cared for.
many hero's that day including the priests who cared for and carried victims to safety and Guardsmen and a Dr. on train who helped the victims till there own injury's saw them fall.
Today you would never know there was such a horrific tragedy just the 2 sets of dual rails of the former Fort Wayne and Indiana railroad which became part of the Pennsylvania main line and now is operated by Norfolk Southern and the foundation of the train station . Next to the river which is an extremely busy track with trains almost every 10-15 minutes 24/ 7 coming from and going to the Conway yards in beaver county
But occasionally when the track is quiet people claim to hear an old fashioned steam whistle yet no train visible I have talked to those who fish the river along the area and claim a light of an oncoming train but one is not coming down track just the light and some claim you can hear a large crash type noise.
all of the noises have been dismissed as coming from across the river on heavily industrialized Neville Island or echoing up the valley from one of the river boats going thru the locks and dams at Emsworth and beaver county and being misinterpreted. Yet I have heard the eerie sounding steam whistle as well and could not tell where it was coming from as well.
Yes its very quiet and isolated area so who knows?
The Mystery of the Dead Boy in the Box
A traveler along Susquehanna Road in Philadelphia on February 25th 1957 is driving along the road when they spot a box beside the road and decide to check it out inside they find what they first thought was a doll but ended up a starved to death boy estimated to be 10 years old . The case has never been solved despite the chasing down of several leads.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/mystery-dead-boy-box-baffles-nation-article-1.1898191
I first heard about this on a talk show while working in the distant Philly area in 2003 when it was revealed that a Dr. from Ohio that had a patient who told him her parents used the boy as a sex toy. and although she knew details that where not made public in the case the case still went no where .
So for now the case is still unsolved and will probably never be solved.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/mystery-dead-boy-box-baffles-nation-article-1.1898191
I first heard about this on a talk show while working in the distant Philly area in 2003 when it was revealed that a Dr. from Ohio that had a patient who told him her parents used the boy as a sex toy. and although she knew details that where not made public in the case the case still went no where .
So for now the case is still unsolved and will probably never be solved.
The good sisters still make sure the Children are safe at this Old Orphanage.
I can not reveal the name of the place but its located in the Ohio Valley and one time served as an orphanage started at the beginning of the 20th century for war orphans it greatly expanded . But then changed from an orphanage to a facility to handle at risk youth and families as more women where able to survive child birth and the number of orphans dropped.
As time went on the campus expanded and the former orphanage building which had a walkway to the chapel became all administration offices for the facility and that's when the fun began mainly on the 2nd floor where children where cared for and always seems after dark.
Many people working at night by them selves have reported strange occurrences when upstairs by them selves.
Hearing voices of children or a caring adult possibly a nun asking " Are you OK"
Then quickly looking around and no one is there.
One night cleaner had a most unusual encounter one night a picture of one of the residential children was sitting on the floor it fell off the bulletin board he put it back up came back down hall it was on floor again he picks it up and at this point is a little apprehensive he starts back down hall and hears the toilet flush on 2nd floor . Ok there is some one up here working late probably one of the sisters . he turns around to see who it is when he sees a apparition of a child in old style night clothes walk across the hall between the door ways .
That was enough for the night he stayed down stairs rest of the evening.
The children who stay on the campus report they have seen the priest who ran the place in the 30's walking around at night as well as by sisters in old style dress who will tuck them in at night if they kick off the blankets .
I had a strange thing happen on a Halloween night down there in late 90's I was working late and it was dark and I finished and cleaned up and on my way out from maintenance garage some of the staff where out on this warm evening sitting on one of the centers benches and I was talking to them when a police officer pulled thru center and stopped to say hello as he was patrolling thru the area It was then we heard a noise down by the school and saw the front school door open all by it self and then slowly close. well we thought some ones playing a trick and cautiously checked it out with the officer and found nothing wrong with the door .
The old chapel has also often been found to have doors open and close by them selves and people often claim it feels like they are being watched.
So is it the ghosts of those who ran the orphanage and the children they took care of or are we all just imagining things. good question. But since they do not want publicity about the place I guess we will never know.
As time went on the campus expanded and the former orphanage building which had a walkway to the chapel became all administration offices for the facility and that's when the fun began mainly on the 2nd floor where children where cared for and always seems after dark.
Many people working at night by them selves have reported strange occurrences when upstairs by them selves.
Hearing voices of children or a caring adult possibly a nun asking " Are you OK"
Then quickly looking around and no one is there.
One night cleaner had a most unusual encounter one night a picture of one of the residential children was sitting on the floor it fell off the bulletin board he put it back up came back down hall it was on floor again he picks it up and at this point is a little apprehensive he starts back down hall and hears the toilet flush on 2nd floor . Ok there is some one up here working late probably one of the sisters . he turns around to see who it is when he sees a apparition of a child in old style night clothes walk across the hall between the door ways .
That was enough for the night he stayed down stairs rest of the evening.
The children who stay on the campus report they have seen the priest who ran the place in the 30's walking around at night as well as by sisters in old style dress who will tuck them in at night if they kick off the blankets .
I had a strange thing happen on a Halloween night down there in late 90's I was working late and it was dark and I finished and cleaned up and on my way out from maintenance garage some of the staff where out on this warm evening sitting on one of the centers benches and I was talking to them when a police officer pulled thru center and stopped to say hello as he was patrolling thru the area It was then we heard a noise down by the school and saw the front school door open all by it self and then slowly close. well we thought some ones playing a trick and cautiously checked it out with the officer and found nothing wrong with the door .
The old chapel has also often been found to have doors open and close by them selves and people often claim it feels like they are being watched.
So is it the ghosts of those who ran the orphanage and the children they took care of or are we all just imagining things. good question. But since they do not want publicity about the place I guess we will never know.
Airplane Joe never left his work station and is still around my customers place.
One of my customers a large welding business whose name I can not reveal in the Mon Valley is housed in a large multi building former factory where they rebuilt the electric drive engines for trains.
Wait a minute thought trains are diesel powered? No they are really electric powered the diesel engines drive a DC or AC powered generator on train which does all the controlling and drive actions of the train.
Well they moved into this old factory and that's when things started getting strange .
His workers often complained of the feeling they where being watched. or seeing a strange shadow across the shop floor. Well finally one night while the guys where working late they saw a guy in work clothes walk thru the back of the shop not knowing who he was or how he got in the shop they chased after him but as soon as they went to see who he was he was gone?
Well needless to say no one wanted to work evenings any more. While there have also been people who have worked in evenings and nothing has happened.
Now the Mon valley it self with all its busted up crime ridden decaying towns can be scary in its self so these strange activity's just helped get guys on edge to begin with.
The owner of the plant thought the guys where feeding him a line of bull shit because they did not want to work at night in a dangerous community.
I have worked in the plant and it makes all kind of noises and you get a creepy feeling from it but I have never seen any thing . But it seems every time a new worker comes in they report the feeling they are being watched.
Well as time would pass and working there I would join the local Penn Hills fire dept. and wouldn't you know it one of the members of the fire dept. was a former machinist at this plant over in the mon valley .
So one day when no one was around I asked Terry if when he worked at the old plant was there any kind of strange goings on ? Why yes he said that's Airplane Joe screwing with you guys .
Airplane Joe? I asked .
Well he goes on to tell me the Joe was a retired captain from the air force and after he retired from air force he came to the plant and worked long enough he was about to collect 2 pensions Air force and engine plant he was set for life.
He was walking around the plant on his last day of work bragging how he had the world by the ass when he suffered a fatal heart attack at his work station. Yep right where the guys saw the mysterious worker.
Terry told me that any time Joe shows up to cause mischief to tell him to go F*^K him self and he will stay away for a few weeks.Seems the guys who worked with Joe did not like him.
Well with this information in hand the next time I went to the plant and told the owner and guys about it they had a good laugh and said OK so its not their imagination.
The owner still thinks its a bunch of bull but I have had professional ghost hunters come in at night and their equipment has picked up anomaly's .
The owner says he just does not want to know what the team found as he often works down there late at night himself.
So maybe its all a big bunch of nothing and everyone is letting their imaginations run wild but then again why are some bothered while others are not ?
Wait a minute thought trains are diesel powered? No they are really electric powered the diesel engines drive a DC or AC powered generator on train which does all the controlling and drive actions of the train.
Well they moved into this old factory and that's when things started getting strange .
His workers often complained of the feeling they where being watched. or seeing a strange shadow across the shop floor. Well finally one night while the guys where working late they saw a guy in work clothes walk thru the back of the shop not knowing who he was or how he got in the shop they chased after him but as soon as they went to see who he was he was gone?
Well needless to say no one wanted to work evenings any more. While there have also been people who have worked in evenings and nothing has happened.
Now the Mon valley it self with all its busted up crime ridden decaying towns can be scary in its self so these strange activity's just helped get guys on edge to begin with.
The owner of the plant thought the guys where feeding him a line of bull shit because they did not want to work at night in a dangerous community.
I have worked in the plant and it makes all kind of noises and you get a creepy feeling from it but I have never seen any thing . But it seems every time a new worker comes in they report the feeling they are being watched.
Well as time would pass and working there I would join the local Penn Hills fire dept. and wouldn't you know it one of the members of the fire dept. was a former machinist at this plant over in the mon valley .
So one day when no one was around I asked Terry if when he worked at the old plant was there any kind of strange goings on ? Why yes he said that's Airplane Joe screwing with you guys .
Airplane Joe? I asked .
Well he goes on to tell me the Joe was a retired captain from the air force and after he retired from air force he came to the plant and worked long enough he was about to collect 2 pensions Air force and engine plant he was set for life.
He was walking around the plant on his last day of work bragging how he had the world by the ass when he suffered a fatal heart attack at his work station. Yep right where the guys saw the mysterious worker.
Terry told me that any time Joe shows up to cause mischief to tell him to go F*^K him self and he will stay away for a few weeks.Seems the guys who worked with Joe did not like him.
Well with this information in hand the next time I went to the plant and told the owner and guys about it they had a good laugh and said OK so its not their imagination.
The owner still thinks its a bunch of bull but I have had professional ghost hunters come in at night and their equipment has picked up anomaly's .
The owner says he just does not want to know what the team found as he often works down there late at night himself.
So maybe its all a big bunch of nothing and everyone is letting their imaginations run wild but then again why are some bothered while others are not ?
Strangely a place with a record of horrific industrial deaths you would think would be haunted was not.
In the late 1800's early 1900's there existed the Pressed Steel Car Company in Mckees rocks Pa. Bottoms Section. A sprawling place with some of the original buildings which can still be seen from the McKees Rocks Bridge .
It was a a horrific place to work even by steel mill standards of the time many a worker was horribly maimed or smashed and killed in this plant which made rail road cars and employed over 6000 workers at one time.
and yes there was an over priced company store and over priced housing just like you found in coal mine towns that took advantage of workers leaving them in virtual poverty and which played one nationality off against the other.
A violent strike in 1909 would see 12 dead as workers finally had enough one day when wage envelops where short with no explanation.
The strike brought about changes but the plant did not last much past WWII and its buildings still exist to this day having been turned into an industrial park for multiple business
Now such a place of death and despair you would think would be haunted by the ghosts of past incidents and there would be all kind of paranormal activity but surprisingly it is not going on as far as I can tell.
How do I know this ?
Well in 1978 while attending Connely Skill Center where I was training to become a Refrigeration Mechanic I needed to make money and went to work for Burns International Detective Agency as an unarmed guard and my first assignment would be at your guessed it the Mckeesrocks in the old Pressed Steel Plant
I guarded several buildings with in the complex on a rotating 12 hour shift the buildings where leased by American Forge who made Crane hooks and ratchet binders for holding down loads on trucks.
The place was a total shit hole and dangerous to work in One of the kids in my neighborhood dad worked there and always talked about how dangerous the place was but these where days when OSHA was first enforced and eventually the place would be forced to close after fires and numerous other problems etc..
While the industrial park did a good job keeping the park buildings maintained and secured tenants like American Forge did them no favors in taking care of there places they leased.
I knew the place was some kind of mill and heard from those who worked there they made railroad cars.
But it was not till many years later and the advent of the Internet that I was able to dig out all the details of where I had worked ,and how horrifying the conditions where there at one time.
Now with all the deaths and despair and working overnight in this place all by myself you think I would have experienced some kind of paranormal event but nothing happened I would run across guards from Paragon Security who worked the place as well and none of them ever spoke of any spooky goings on and one of my customers who started his business out in the place also said he never experienced any thing as well.
So strange as it might seem there are no ghosts at the place it seems and if there are no ones talking about it. . Unlike many other places I work where there is all kind of unexplained activity's. In some ways its good because people are hesitant to work in such places and it draws plenty of curious people around some with good intentions some not .
UPDATE:
When I went past the plant this past weekend of 11/14 they have started the process of tearing down the old forge buildings .
It was a a horrific place to work even by steel mill standards of the time many a worker was horribly maimed or smashed and killed in this plant which made rail road cars and employed over 6000 workers at one time.
and yes there was an over priced company store and over priced housing just like you found in coal mine towns that took advantage of workers leaving them in virtual poverty and which played one nationality off against the other.
A violent strike in 1909 would see 12 dead as workers finally had enough one day when wage envelops where short with no explanation.
The strike brought about changes but the plant did not last much past WWII and its buildings still exist to this day having been turned into an industrial park for multiple business
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| One of the cars produced at Pressed Steel |
I guarded several buildings with in the complex on a rotating 12 hour shift the buildings where leased by American Forge who made Crane hooks and ratchet binders for holding down loads on trucks.
Where did Zippo Lighters original Advertising Car disappear to?
In the late 40's Zippo Lighters of Bradford Pa. commissioned a Pittsburgh advertising agency to come up with a new gimmick and they did in the way of the Zippo Lighter car.
Made from a 1947 Chrysler Saratoga the advertising worked as My dad a a steel worker and many of his steel mill buddy's had them.Almost every one I knew who smoked had one until the Bic portable lighters came out. But Zippo is still a big player in the lighter market as they have become very collectible and commemorative lighters are still made to this day.
Unfortunately thou the car fell into disrepair and was stored at a ford dealership in Pittsburgh and when Zippo asked that it be returned so it could be refurbished it had disappeared.
Now why a Chrysler was taken to a ford dealership in first place who knows. Were is the car either it was cut up for scrap or its sitting in some ones private collection some where or parts are.
But what a neat find it would be to find it still in one piece in a garage some where.
Whikle the original car is gone a new replica of the car has been built and is on display at the factory .
Whikle the original car is gone a new replica of the car has been built and is on display at the factory .
A little known fire which killed 48 at Penn Ave. & S. Aiken Street in 1931 with many questions
1931 was a horrible time in Pittsburgh with the start of the depression and numerous bombings by racketeers going on around the city .
But it was also a time of a little known and discussed fire in the city's Garfield neighborhood at the
Little Sisters of the Poor where 48 died in a tragic evening fire.
Ever since I was a kid and my dad drove down Penn ave at S. Aiken was an institutional building which was old and run down looking and housed crippled children. I always got the strange feeling thou something horrifying happened there thou not that building the one before it and I was right.
on July 25th 1931.
But it was also a time of a little known and discussed fire in the city's Garfield neighborhood at the
Little Sisters of the Poor where 48 died in a tragic evening fire.
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| Photos From Pittsburgh Dioceses Archives |
Ever since I was a kid and my dad drove down Penn ave at S. Aiken was an institutional building which was old and run down looking and housed crippled children. I always got the strange feeling thou something horrifying happened there thou not that building the one before it and I was right.
on July 25th 1931.
Which would turn out to be a horrifying day for Elderly and infirm Inmates as they where then called at the Little Sisters of the Poor's home .
A home I never knew existed as far as I knew like many Pittsburgher's their home has been up in the North End of Pittsburgh in Brighton Heights
But this was not always the case as I have now found out they started in Garfield in a fire trap of a building which appears to have been overcrowded and exit doors locked at night including a high stone wall around the property.
48 people would die in the fire and many more where badly injured.
The cause of the fire is believed to be accidental but it might not have been as a careless smoker could have caused it or mentally unstable resident and the construction of the building with its lack of fire proof stairwells apparently no fire alarm not even pull stations and bells and no fire safety prevention just helped make the fire all that much worse.
The Catholic church among others seem to always think they are above following building codes.
They know better they have divine protection well not that night.
So no wonder this fire has been hidden away and forgotten I have always said the most dangerous place you can take your family on a Sunday is church too many of them are fire traps and accidents waiting to happen.
The old children's home which replaced the little sisters of poor home on the site was torn down in the 90's and has been replaced with a modern sprinklered fire safe building .
But there are still plenty of old buildings the elderly are in around Pa. which have no sprinklers and lack proper protections and are fire traps and the state has done nothing about them. another tragedy like what happened in 1931 could happen today in a Personnel care home.
A Look at the Strange Number of Business which Catch Fire right after they are Remodeled or days before there grand opening
Yes it is a very strange phenomena around Western Pa. seems a business is remodeled and a fire happens just days after reopening .
The Latest Rooks East Side Tavern in Ambridge which so far is considered accidental .
To make things even stranger in Ambridge another fire a few days later destroys a bridal shop just days from opening after being remodeled from a former retail store. Both appear to be accidental at this point in time
While many of these fires can be traced to the Unscrupulous Slob Remodeling Contractors who cut corners often times by doing work without building permits or inspections and violating building codes and using sub standard materials which cash strapped business owners hire to do the remodeling on the cheap .
Many of these fires are Arson for Profit otherwise known as Insurance Fraud.
Typically a business remodels after profits start to fall and they need to update the business to bring back customers and their dollars.
This is especially true of restaurant and entertainment venues .
They do minimal remodeling to make the place look nice while not correcting code issues or actually causing additional code issues and they then stock up the business with questionable inventory they bought then mysteriously overnight there is a fire .
I can list case after case of this happening where no sooner is place reopened and its on fire all the way back to the vogue Terrace Fire .
But why a fire at night why not when the place is open?a good question.
If it is an electrical condition that causes the fire you would think its when the electrical system is under its most stress but a fire happening then would be discovered and fire fighters would be able to stop it.
But when it happens overnight and no one is around it gets a good head start and firefighters normally can do nothing but surround and drown it.
If the fire is set properly all evidence of arson is destroyed and a cause can not be determined or it appears to be accidental if done so properly by the arsonist. Like stacking cardboard and other stock up close against a heater or a portable heater being left on overnight . Deliberate Arson can also be made to look accidental like leaving loose an electrical connection as well and when it heats up and arcs looks like nothing more than sloppy electrical work. or blocking a vent on a piece of refrigeration equipment etc all innocent looking accidents and how do you prove it otherwise?
It is at this point Investigators are stymied for a cause they start looking at finances etc. and if there are enough red flags it is then up to the Insurance company to pay off or not. In many cases they do not pay off
if there are enough red flags and some times a decision is challenged.
When there is not a pay off the business owner is ruined financially .But if there is a pay off because the insurance company would rather pay off than face a court fight depending how much insurance they have the bills are paid and small profit made or owner is just made whole and walks away not rebuilding. No bankruptcy to file and loss of face with the community just a poor soul who tried and lost. all along a criminal no one knowing the wiser.
But this is if it is an arson fire what about accidental fires starting overnight?
Yes plenty of fires do start overnight often Heating Systems, Appliances and Electrical Wiring are to blame.
due to poor maintenance.
A furnace overheats because filters have not been replaced and clog up restricting air or items being stored next to furnace ignite when they get too close because of or deliberate poor house keeping
Bad wiring jobs wiring not properly terminated in box with cover and proper connectors not properly grounded then when a wire gets rubbed due to vibration it makes contact with un-grounded metal box on wood beam and small amount of current travels thru wood till beam finally drys out and catches fire a condition known as Pyrolysis if box was properly grounded the fire would be prevented as overload device would operate again this was either slob work or deliberate to cause a fire
Portable heaters, and fans left on they get dirty and gummed up or wear out and catch fire again bad house keeping
Lights left on which go bad due to wiring drying out or undersized lights which get up against combustible materials etc. and catch fire
Yes these are all things which cause fires overnight But again good house keeping and maintenance prevents this from happening and good contractors and business owners make sure all items are shut off and secured before they leave for the evening.
So even if it was accidental in many cases the accident was preventable in first place.
Of course a sleigh and crafty business owner can just let things like this go on a let a business catch fire as well its not an arson just bad house keeping but all along it was deliberate but how do you prove the bad house keeping was deliberately done.
Yes Arson is a very complicated crime hard to get convictions on and when you have experts being debunked all the time because they have used unproven junk science in determining a cause
you can see the problem why so many fires go on and a crime is gotten away with.
The Latest Rooks East Side Tavern in Ambridge which so far is considered accidental .
To make things even stranger in Ambridge another fire a few days later destroys a bridal shop just days from opening after being remodeled from a former retail store. Both appear to be accidental at this point in time
While many of these fires can be traced to the Unscrupulous Slob Remodeling Contractors who cut corners often times by doing work without building permits or inspections and violating building codes and using sub standard materials which cash strapped business owners hire to do the remodeling on the cheap .
Many of these fires are Arson for Profit otherwise known as Insurance Fraud.
Typically a business remodels after profits start to fall and they need to update the business to bring back customers and their dollars.
This is especially true of restaurant and entertainment venues .
They do minimal remodeling to make the place look nice while not correcting code issues or actually causing additional code issues and they then stock up the business with questionable inventory they bought then mysteriously overnight there is a fire .
I can list case after case of this happening where no sooner is place reopened and its on fire all the way back to the vogue Terrace Fire .
But why a fire at night why not when the place is open?a good question.
If it is an electrical condition that causes the fire you would think its when the electrical system is under its most stress but a fire happening then would be discovered and fire fighters would be able to stop it.
But when it happens overnight and no one is around it gets a good head start and firefighters normally can do nothing but surround and drown it.
If the fire is set properly all evidence of arson is destroyed and a cause can not be determined or it appears to be accidental if done so properly by the arsonist. Like stacking cardboard and other stock up close against a heater or a portable heater being left on overnight . Deliberate Arson can also be made to look accidental like leaving loose an electrical connection as well and when it heats up and arcs looks like nothing more than sloppy electrical work. or blocking a vent on a piece of refrigeration equipment etc all innocent looking accidents and how do you prove it otherwise?
It is at this point Investigators are stymied for a cause they start looking at finances etc. and if there are enough red flags it is then up to the Insurance company to pay off or not. In many cases they do not pay off
if there are enough red flags and some times a decision is challenged.
When there is not a pay off the business owner is ruined financially .But if there is a pay off because the insurance company would rather pay off than face a court fight depending how much insurance they have the bills are paid and small profit made or owner is just made whole and walks away not rebuilding. No bankruptcy to file and loss of face with the community just a poor soul who tried and lost. all along a criminal no one knowing the wiser.
But this is if it is an arson fire what about accidental fires starting overnight?
Yes plenty of fires do start overnight often Heating Systems, Appliances and Electrical Wiring are to blame.
due to poor maintenance.
A furnace overheats because filters have not been replaced and clog up restricting air or items being stored next to furnace ignite when they get too close because of or deliberate poor house keeping
Bad wiring jobs wiring not properly terminated in box with cover and proper connectors not properly grounded then when a wire gets rubbed due to vibration it makes contact with un-grounded metal box on wood beam and small amount of current travels thru wood till beam finally drys out and catches fire a condition known as Pyrolysis if box was properly grounded the fire would be prevented as overload device would operate again this was either slob work or deliberate to cause a fire
Portable heaters, and fans left on they get dirty and gummed up or wear out and catch fire again bad house keeping
Lights left on which go bad due to wiring drying out or undersized lights which get up against combustible materials etc. and catch fire
Yes these are all things which cause fires overnight But again good house keeping and maintenance prevents this from happening and good contractors and business owners make sure all items are shut off and secured before they leave for the evening.
So even if it was accidental in many cases the accident was preventable in first place.
Of course a sleigh and crafty business owner can just let things like this go on a let a business catch fire as well its not an arson just bad house keeping but all along it was deliberate but how do you prove the bad house keeping was deliberately done.
Yes Arson is a very complicated crime hard to get convictions on and when you have experts being debunked all the time because they have used unproven junk science in determining a cause
you can see the problem why so many fires go on and a crime is gotten away with.
Updates on previous articles B25 plane crash and missing Cherrie Mahan
Two articles I published in last couple months have popped back up in news.
Regarding the B-25 that crash landed in the mon a recovery group has asked permission to check out and dredge the gravel pit where they believe it has sunk.
Regarding the B-25 that crash landed in the mon a recovery group has asked permission to check out and dredge the gravel pit where they believe it has sunk.
Also in the news they have re-examined the site where Cherrie Mahan disappeared many years ago sadly no new evidence
The town which people like to make fun of its name has a not so funny unsolved murder
Deery Pa. also known by the joke derry area if you say it wrong has a long history of being a quiet but big railroad town in Westmoreland County situated between US 22 and US 30
not much goes on here except for a major pedestrian accident involving the railroad as people try to illegally cross tracks in town instead of using the approved crossing and end up getting hit.
I have been thru the town several times as a short cut from Fayette County to Altoona
So it was quite the shock in this town when a murder was committed on a young woman 22 year old Samantha Lang on March 27 of 2007 in her Derry Twp home.
Its hard to believe no one heard or saw anything in this little town where everyone knows your business not even a $50,000.00 dollar reward has brought forth any leads .
So it makes you wonder was this some one local or is it a serial killer the case looks and sounds all to familiar to a case in West Deer Twp ,Bethel Park and Arnold all 4 women alone at home and viciously attacked and not one drop of evidence over many years.
The police have no clues and psychic family contacted is no better.
not much goes on here except for a major pedestrian accident involving the railroad as people try to illegally cross tracks in town instead of using the approved crossing and end up getting hit.
I have been thru the town several times as a short cut from Fayette County to Altoona
So it was quite the shock in this town when a murder was committed on a young woman 22 year old Samantha Lang on March 27 of 2007 in her Derry Twp home.
So it makes you wonder was this some one local or is it a serial killer the case looks and sounds all to familiar to a case in West Deer Twp ,Bethel Park and Arnold all 4 women alone at home and viciously attacked and not one drop of evidence over many years.
The police have no clues and psychic family contacted is no better.
Update : Sad ending for elderly missing Washington county man
Sadly they found 88 yr old George Pochibas body this afternoon on a grass field about a mile from his home It appears searchers never checked the fields in this area and concentrated on the wooded areas instead.
He was found by a farmer cutting hay in his fields .
He was found by a farmer cutting hay in his fields .
Pittsburgh was one of the city's visited the summer the Ringling Brothers Circus Tent caught fire The Tragedy could have well happened here and still unsolved
July 6th 1944 would turn into a day of Tragedy when the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus Tent would catch fire in Hartford Connecticut where 167 people who came to see the circus that hot sunny afternoon never made it home.
http://www.circusfire1944.com/
The actual cause of the fire and who caused it or how it started has been debated even to this day but it is known the fire was so devastating because the tent material was waterproofed using gasoline and paraffin wax.
But few people realize this tragedy could have played out right here in Pittsburgh as the circus made a stop in Pittsburgh east Liberty community a couple of weeks before the Hartford Tragedy .
It was during the war years and a chance to get away from the stress of war means the tent would have been packed here and many more lives likely would have been lost. But with luck the circus went off with out a hitch and proceeded on. Pittsburgh was very worried about Nazi Spy's coming to do sabotage during the time period as Black out drills where also conducted yet no one knew the very danger they faced by simply attending the circus that summer .
http://www.circusfire1944.com/
The actual cause of the fire and who caused it or how it started has been debated even to this day but it is known the fire was so devastating because the tent material was waterproofed using gasoline and paraffin wax.
But few people realize this tragedy could have played out right here in Pittsburgh as the circus made a stop in Pittsburgh east Liberty community a couple of weeks before the Hartford Tragedy .
It was during the war years and a chance to get away from the stress of war means the tent would have been packed here and many more lives likely would have been lost. But with luck the circus went off with out a hitch and proceeded on. Pittsburgh was very worried about Nazi Spy's coming to do sabotage during the time period as Black out drills where also conducted yet no one knew the very danger they faced by simply attending the circus that summer .
The on going Arson Spree in New Castle and Lawrence county WHO is behind it and WHY I think I know the Why?
Arson its been with us since The time of the Bible in fact it is even mentioned in the Bible.
Arson is used for many purposes. for Revenge , To cover Evidence of a Crime, to Terrify ,Threaten and Scare people and Most Importantly for Profit.
So take your pick it seems that for the past 10- 15 years there has been Arson Fire after Arson Fire in or around New Castle and at least 2 big Arson Rings busted up and people imprisoned for it. But Why.
What is it that could possibly make New Castle such a target.
There have been no big development plans announced other than a planned Horse Racing Track and Casino which does not seem will be built Other than individuals looking to accumulate property by acquiring it cheaply thru shills why would they be accumulating it. Or is it just a big Fire Insurance scam?
One thought does come to mind.
New Castle has lots of flat area that could be developed for warehousing in particular for HUB facility's for shipping for big box stores ,Amazon etc.
It is also very close to major Interstates I-79 and I-80 and I-376 US-422 and US-19 runs thru it.
Also there is a heavy concentration of Train routes thru it a perfect place to transfer from train to truck .
New Castle has CSX lines which run thru and next to it and CSX like Norfolk Southern is developing a Stacked truck trailer Inter-modal rail system and new castle is in the running .
That's why so many rail lines like the Nickel Plate ran thru the area at one time.
With easy access to Great Lakes and Cleveland , Toledo and other Big Mid West City's etc.
Yes when you take in the big picture it looks like this is why all the arson's scare the people out swoop in with shills buy up the property and wait for the buyers who need warehousing and manufacturing space.
Think I am crazy do the research. Do not forget there is a giant Walmart Hub just over in Ohio as well.
Just look at all the Arson's down in McKees Rocks another place being considered for the Inter-modal facility. Think its a coincidence I do not.
So then who is behind all this and going to be making the big bucks? I leave that up to you to investigate and speculate .
Needless to say if I am right they have very carefully covered there tracks and its going to take Federal effort to get to the bottom of it and why Lawrence County officials have not already called for Fed help or maybe they have .
This whole thing could also be behind so many arson fires in Beaver County as well.
Lets face it if the predictions about the Panama expansion is true it is going to be another industrial revolution in this area as manufacturing comes back to Western Pa. and warehousing and manufacturing is looking for flat ready to develop pads for the new facility they want to build.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pad_site
It appears I may be on the right track about railroads because recently this developer a little bit north of new castle wants to develop a rail siding
Arson is used for many purposes. for Revenge , To cover Evidence of a Crime, to Terrify ,Threaten and Scare people and Most Importantly for Profit.
So take your pick it seems that for the past 10- 15 years there has been Arson Fire after Arson Fire in or around New Castle and at least 2 big Arson Rings busted up and people imprisoned for it. But Why.
What is it that could possibly make New Castle such a target.
There have been no big development plans announced other than a planned Horse Racing Track and Casino which does not seem will be built Other than individuals looking to accumulate property by acquiring it cheaply thru shills why would they be accumulating it. Or is it just a big Fire Insurance scam?
One thought does come to mind.
New Castle has lots of flat area that could be developed for warehousing in particular for HUB facility's for shipping for big box stores ,Amazon etc.
It is also very close to major Interstates I-79 and I-80 and I-376 US-422 and US-19 runs thru it.
Also there is a heavy concentration of Train routes thru it a perfect place to transfer from train to truck .
New Castle has CSX lines which run thru and next to it and CSX like Norfolk Southern is developing a Stacked truck trailer Inter-modal rail system and new castle is in the running .
This means that flat development land will become very valuable in the near future.
Consider also the fact that by time the Inter-modal is in place that the New Locks to the Panama canal will be open allowing bigger ships to pass thru and there will be a significant in flux of cheap materiel now being brought to the East Coast Ports almost doubling there imports /exports and all this material will need shipped to and from the Mid West as manufacturing and warehousing increases and whats the best way to the Mid West ? That's right Rail and Truck and New Castle sits right in the middle of the whole thing as a gateway to the Mid West.Yes when you take in the big picture it looks like this is why all the arson's scare the people out swoop in with shills buy up the property and wait for the buyers who need warehousing and manufacturing space.
Think I am crazy do the research. Do not forget there is a giant Walmart Hub just over in Ohio as well.
Just look at all the Arson's down in McKees Rocks another place being considered for the Inter-modal facility. Think its a coincidence I do not.
So then who is behind all this and going to be making the big bucks? I leave that up to you to investigate and speculate .
Needless to say if I am right they have very carefully covered there tracks and its going to take Federal effort to get to the bottom of it and why Lawrence County officials have not already called for Fed help or maybe they have .
This whole thing could also be behind so many arson fires in Beaver County as well.
Lets face it if the predictions about the Panama expansion is true it is going to be another industrial revolution in this area as manufacturing comes back to Western Pa. and warehousing and manufacturing is looking for flat ready to develop pads for the new facility they want to build.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pad_site
It appears I may be on the right track about railroads because recently this developer a little bit north of new castle wants to develop a rail siding
200-600 Pounds of Missing Nuclear Materials from Apollo and Parks Twp. Processing Plant during the Cold War where did it go?
As I ride by the site in Parks Twp where they are cleaning up trenches filled with Nuclear waste from a former nuclear fuel manufacturer NUMEC Nuclear Materials and Equipment Company once owned by Atlantic Rich Field and then Babcock & Wilcox as I go up to take care of WAVL 910 AM I use to ride by a fenced in field where the plant once stood and there was a run of the mill rent a cop guard watching the main gate.Then one day I ride by they are putting big stone block wall around trailer and then I see Homeland Security Police sitting armed in Blazers . What was going on.
Well it appears while cleaning up the trenches once used to dump low level nuclear waste they found some really hot nuclear materials that should not have been there.
http://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2014/03/14/Federal-report-finds-nuclear-waste-underestimated-at-Armstrong-County-site/stories/201403140175
With this in mind it brings back all the nagging story's bout several hundred pounds of highly enriched uranium which went missing from the factory's in Apollo and Parks Twp.
Run by NUMEC
Well it appears while cleaning up the trenches once used to dump low level nuclear waste they found some really hot nuclear materials that should not have been there.
With this in mind it brings back all the nagging story's bout several hundred pounds of highly enriched uranium which went missing from the factory's in Apollo and Parks Twp.
Run by NUMEC
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apollo_Affair
Known as the Apollo affair it is no wonder the uranium can not be accounted for when you look into the whole situation and see how poorly this facility was run and how loosely they kept nuclear safety policy's in effect as well as security.
Multi Million dollar lawsuits are still on going over all the major cases of cancer residents claim came from the loose handing on nuclear material and no doubt some of the high level stuff missing may well be up in those trenches and in air and water and grounds around Apollo and Parks Twp.
Was my Colon Cancer partly to blame on working in the area we will never know .
Still other claim the material was lost in all the piping as uranium was processed or it was diverted to Israeli intelligence for use in there nuclear program either way 200-600 pounds of highly enriched uranium is unaccounted for. So many unanswered questions that never should have been allowed to happen in first place had rules been followed and facility properly run. there are plenty of people including Government inspectors who should be up on charges and in prison but so many are dead from Cancer there is no one to hold accountable as time has now passed.Known as the Apollo affair it is no wonder the uranium can not be accounted for when you look into the whole situation and see how poorly this facility was run and how loosely they kept nuclear safety policy's in effect as well as security.
Multi Million dollar lawsuits are still on going over all the major cases of cancer residents claim came from the loose handing on nuclear material and no doubt some of the high level stuff missing may well be up in those trenches and in air and water and grounds around Apollo and Parks Twp.
Was my Colon Cancer partly to blame on working in the area we will never know .
A Child found in a basket on a doorstep Christmas Eve 1928 whose mother was never found . But whose abandonment helped to create a world wide charity
When a group of 11 men from show business back round set up a Charity for Children on October 10 1927 never in their wildest dreams did they ever realize just how big " The Variety Club " would become. But it was an even bigger surprise when on Christmas eve 1928 a child would be found in a basket outside there head quarters with the following note.
Please take care of my baby. Her name is Catherine. I can no
longer take care of her. I have eight others. My husband is out of work. She
was born on Thanksgiving Day. I have always heard of the goodness of show
business and pray to God that you will look out for her.
(signed) ‘A Heartbroken Mother’
They would never find the girls mother and at age 5 arranged for her to be adopted by a family and be kept away from publicity to live a private life
She grew into a beautiful young woman who would go on to serve her country and much more
This is just one of many cases of children abandoned in 20-30's many to be sent to orphanages where they where not very well treated in too many cases.
But in this case although she never found out who she really was at least she had a first name and helped propel an organization world wide.
Edward Surrat that Thing you feared in a Dark Alley , Who haunted this area in late 70's leaving behind more questions than answers.
You can still see many of the old farm property's out by the Greater Pittsburgh Airport in Findlay Twp. that had hastily put up mercury lights on them in late 1970's when an animal From Alliquippa by the name Edward Surrat was running around Western Pa. on a drug fueled killing spree. A former Vietnam Combat Vet and Long Haul Truck Driver he sits in a southern Prison with 2 life sentences with no chance of parole an old man now in his late 70's .
Thou he has confessed to certain murders he was never charged and they are considered cleared many questions still remain why how and where his victims remains are which he claims can never be recovered.
Look Deeply into the eyes of this menacing individual who gave people nightmares for months as they lived in terror each day where they next and the constant heart ache of not knowing where your loved one is if has admitted to killing them.
His specialty was attacking couples shot gunning to death the male and then raping terrorizing and killing the female.
One haunting case Surrat is linked to is a young couple attacked while sitting in a van near the airport the young man killed the young woman vanished.
I have included the original newspaper articles and follow up links above so you can get to know the face of true evil and can see just how terrifying it was in the late 70's when surrat was running free.
Why he did what he did he blames on his service in Vietnam and not getting help.
He and other Vietnam vets who seemed to go mad where the inspiration behind the Rambo series of Films.
I know many Vietnam Combat Vets and they are fine outstanding individuals and they never went mad so whats was Surrats excuse he has none other than fact that he allowed his own self to become an animal.
Despite not getting treatment from the VA
What drives a man to go so insane as to kill again and again having not been in the situation these men have endured I will never know but why do they trigger off and others serve honorably come home and it is another day?
Thou he has confessed to certain murders he was never charged and they are considered cleared many questions still remain why how and where his victims remains are which he claims can never be recovered.
 |
| Looking into the eyes of a true evil animal |
His specialty was attacking couples shot gunning to death the male and then raping terrorizing and killing the female.
One haunting case Surrat is linked to is a young couple attacked while sitting in a van near the airport the young man killed the young woman vanished.
In all he is suspected of over a dozen attacks in several states many victims he claims are unrecoverable
http://www.post-gazette.com/frontpage/2007/02/27/Serial-killer-admits-to-2-Findlay-deaths-in-
1977/stories/200702270145
1977/stories/200702270145
I have included the original newspaper articles and follow up links above so you can get to know the face of true evil and can see just how terrifying it was in the late 70's when surrat was running free.
Why he did what he did he blames on his service in Vietnam and not getting help.
He and other Vietnam vets who seemed to go mad where the inspiration behind the Rambo series of Films.
I know many Vietnam Combat Vets and they are fine outstanding individuals and they never went mad so whats was Surrats excuse he has none other than fact that he allowed his own self to become an animal.
Despite not getting treatment from the VA
What drives a man to go so insane as to kill again and again having not been in the situation these men have endured I will never know but why do they trigger off and others serve honorably come home and it is another day?
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