How a Pittsbugh Jewish Engineer got even with the Germans after WW-I I in a Subtle but Powerful Way.

One of my Jewish Customers was getting ready to expand his business when I stopped by with the floor plans for the Fire Alarm to show him what the city was going to require. while we where reviewing the plans his mom was sitting in the office as she came by a couple days a week and they would go to lunch.

She told me the tale of a friend of theirs who attended the same Synagogue and  was a Holocaust Survivor who immigrated to the US became a Professional Engineer for Westinghouse Electric Corporation here in Pittsburgh.

As a way at getting back at the Nazis on every plan for Generators ,Switch Gear and Motors etc  that where going overseas to help rebuild Germany.   He would put a large print Circle with a J in it  next to his name where he sealed the documents and in the Foot Notes and Specifications Lists as well to show the Germans that this plan was designed by a Jew.
As a direct way to get back in there faces , that a Jew had designed this plan.

Now is the story true . I believe so and very plausible  as there are often all kind of secret  identifying marks on prints to tell when copies are made   or even to insult another engineer or plan reviewer .
 I saw the J circle a few times on prints on overseas equipment plans I have looked at when doing research on repairing old machinery and the engineer had a Jewish name.
So if it is true it was one mans way of getting revenge against the nazis .



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The BIIC Club once the best kept little Secret Italian Club in Bloomfeild

Sadly its boarded up and closed  according to Yelp  but at one time the BIIC Club official known as  The Bloomfield Independent Italian Club was a hoping place 6 nights a week . In the Bloomfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh Pa. along Lorigan Street which runs off Edmund  down by the railroad tracks .

Where everything from Party's to Weddings where one time held.
The only reason I even know of its existence is because I use to take care of the security system at the club thats when the last person to run it Bobby Ladonne who worked for Gas company during the week was still taking care of it and it was only open on Saturday Nights as an after hours club in the 90s

Last time I stopped and talk to Bob in late 90s he was ready to retire and I do not know if he handed the bar down to his kid who has a Filter manufacturing business. 

Needless to say the place sadly slid down hill to the status of a dive bar over the years like so many little clubs now long closed and forgotten.
That where in all of Pittsburgh's little ethnic neighborhoods

 

https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2006/05/31/Izzy-s-World-Life-on-Bloomfield-s-Lorigan-Street/stories/200605310150

https://www.danielcasciato.com/wp-content/uploads/ShadyAve-Bloomfield.pdf

They provided the community a safe place to have a celebration or simply to have a drink among friends.

Most Like BIIC never even had a sign out front or if they did it was small .

 One of those places everyone knew your name . 

 On a Saturday night you would walk up the steps  knock on the door and if Lance the doorman knew you he would admit you If he did not know you or your friend you where not welcome.  

Once inside it opened up into a big wooden floor hall  with an old wooden bar a shot and beer joint with occasional mixed drink kind of place .Many of the restaurant  and bar workers went their because it was a place they could drink since all the other clubs and places had to close by 2 BIIC was allowed to serve till 3AM/

There was a 2nd floor hall Bob showed me which was being used for storage where bands would once play during dinners and celebrations. 

But sadly no more its a life style the younger generation will never know going to a neighborhood club on a Saturday.

 

Who is dumping Live Alligators around the City of Pittsburgh (3) three so far

At first 9-11 operators thought some one was fooling with them when they revived a call on a sunny afternoon from the south side that a live 3 foot alligator was sunning itself on the river bank.
But it was no joke it was a live alligator which are nt found naturally in Pa. the climate is too cold for them.

https://www.wpxi.com/news/top-stories/alligator-captured-at-south-side-riverfront-park/950415557

More than likely it was a pet that got too big and was let loose instead of being turned into humane society. Probably because it was obtained illegally with out a  exotic pet permit from state game commission.

Alligator found in Carrick

I remember in the 90's giving a Pet Shop owner on Butler Street  in Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh an estimate for an alarm system and he had alligators in store you could legally buy
I asked him how do you keep them from getting so big and he said you limit feeding them . He had one almost 4 ft long which was very mean he said he was shipping back to  a game reserve in Florida to be released .
Which is how you are suppose to properly  dispose of them but if you bought it illegal in first place disposing of them is exactly what some people do they just let them go and figure it will die come winter.
Few years back they claimed there was an alligator in the Beaver Run Dam system in Westmoreland County which I wrote about and was never seen again.

So everyone laughed it off OK one gator found no big deal but then a 2nd one was found in city's Brookline neighborhood

https://patch.com/pennsylvania/pittsburgh/pittsburgh-police-apprehend-alligator-roaming-city-streets

and now a 3rd in Carrick  found this evening

https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2019/06/08/alligator-found-in-carrick/

So what the hell is going on ? Police say the 3 cases are not related but 3 in same geological area makes you wonder if some one did not dispose of their collection and more than likely they belonged to a drug dealer now in jail and people did not want to deal with them and dumped them.  If this is the case how many more are roaming around putting the public and especially small children at risk.

Luckily no one has been hurt but its just a matter of time till some one is

Just like in the mountain lion and black panther cases it appears an irresponsible individual has released the alligators but in this case we have proof positive. 

Exotic animals being owned  in Pa is big business  and First responders need to be on guard when responding to calls at private homes and abandonedbuildings you nevr know what you may find.

A woman was keeping Pitt Bulls  in a home across from my mom and only coming to feed them every couple days till humane agents responded and this goes on everywhere. 

Be careful out there.

The Hidden St. Marks Cemetery and Harwick Miners Memorial in Cheswick pa. which sits behind a Power Plant

Yes In all the years of traveling thru Cheswick and Springdale and passing the two enormous Power Plants  in the towns I never realized there was a small hidden cemetery , which is also the site of a memorial to the Harwick Coal Mine Disaster

https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/harwick.htm

 which prompted
  Andrew Carnegie to start his Heroes Commission  Award  and with in the cemetery  lay some of the Miners Killed that awful day.

https://www.carnegiehero.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6txn6ExeAI

You drive in what looks like the entrance to the plant and go all the way back to the cemetery which is boarded  on two sides by the plant a small creek and the river.

 

You would never suspect it even sits all the way back there

The property also included at one time the Old St Marks Lutheran Church  which is long gone.

http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/tsphotos/stmarkluth-springdale.htm

http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~njm1/genealogy/stmark.htm

As you first approach the cemetery you will notice a plot with a pipe around it this is where the miners who perished in the Harwick disaster are buried. 

The area is heavily security and police  patrolled due to the power plant being all around the cemetery so if you visit be mindful you could be stopped and asked what you are doing back the road.