rnetzlof

Do the DuBois schools still have school police?

I'm confident that someone, somewhere will attribute it to Climate Change.

Well, er, ah...

Apparently a false alarm. I was calling the number I found in the yellow pages. Today looked at their web site, it showed a different number. Called it, got through.

As to the door locked, perhaps I was there earlier than I thought and ran into their lunch hour. Perhaps.

Anyway, "we regret this error and apologize for any inconvenience it may have caused" or whatever it is you say when you've screwed up.

I tried to call Aspen Dental several times yesterday afternoon. Every time got the friendly female voice telling me the number was temporarily out of service. Later, I stopped by on my way to Walmart, about 3:30 and found their door locked. Tried calling this morning and got the same recorded message.

Anyone know what's up (or down) with the DuBois Aspen Dental office?

Waste Management office is at Minns Summit

Off somewhere isolating themselves from this pack of deplorables I suppose.

It appears the fugitive is a local boy. See news article:

https://www.connectradio.fm/news/donald-frantz-failed-to-appear-for-weekend-jail-sentence-now-he-is-on-the-run

"Yes, your DuBois police officers have the same power of arrest if they visit Philly on vacation as they do within the City of DuBois on duty"

As my Son the Cop explained "I'm not a police officer because the city employs me. The city employs me because I'm a police officer and I'm a police officer at all times everywhere in Pennsylvania."

This nothing new. PSP have been assisting the game commission in enforcing game laws for a few decades. This mainly during the busy open game seasons. In return, game wardens (I guess they're called Wildlife Conservation Officers now) are deputized into the state police to pay back the hours the state police spent on game law business.

I say deputized. That was the case years ago. It may be that they now have police powers in their own right.  Same thing for fish wardens, whatever they are called these days. Remember that in PA, unlike many states, the game and fish commissions are two separate entities.

8 hours ago, disgruntled said:

"...the most likely next Mayor of DuBois, Pat Reasinger, has been tapped to fill the council seat..."

Interestingly, the Courier-Express says his term will end Jan 1, 2023. That sort of thing may be one reason why so many folks are not bothering to read newspapers.

 

1 hour ago, Keyser Soze said:

It might be time to do a recall vote on the remaining DuBois City elected office holders. 

From WHYY.com:

"Pennsylvania’s rules for ousting municipal officials are among the most stringent in the country.

"The commonwealth doesn’t permit recall elections, nor does it allow local governing bodies to vote out elected officials if, for example, they violate their duties of office."
 

A useful landmark.

"Vanity, vanity. All is vanity and a striving after wind."

On 4/29/2023 at 9:04 PM, Illiterate said:

The solicitor was wrong to state the city was paying legal bills because he had no money.  She made it sound as a personal thing.

1st Corinthians 9:9 "For it is written in the law of Moses, thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn."

That's about the only thing she hasn't said in her "oh, but he has done so many good things for the city" statements. But I suspect the thought is there. That, or "He just wet his beak, that's all, just wet his beak. Nothing to see here, move along."

23 hours ago, block said:

If you follow the trail of articles she definitely contradicts what she said previously.

"If you have the facts on your side, hammer the facts. If you have the law on your side, hammer the law. If you have neither the facts nor the law, hammer the table."

4 hours ago, DS58 said:

Me thinks the Lady doth protest too much

Drat! You beat me to it.

Correction: The federal aspect has been mentioned, but seems to have been forgotten lately.

It hasn't been mentioned yet, but the investigation of Suplizio so far has been by state authorities. The charges they have made will be tried in state courts.

But along side those charges are claims that he "fiddled" with his federal taxes.  That will likely excite the interest of federal authorities, and lead to a trial in federal court. Or, has happened elsewhere, a delegation of two or three FBI agents may visit him, lay their evidence on the table, and suggest it would be prudent for him to withdraw forever from public office.

"...However, Council will remain vigilant in our oversight of City funds and its employees..."

Remain vigilant? If one is to remain vigilant one needs to have been so in the past. In view of recent developments, that seems to have not been so. Perhaps council intends to become vigilant? Perhaps council is busy purchasing locks for some or all of the barn doors?

13 minutes ago, block said:

And wonder what happens now?  They had just extended his contract as City Manager...

I suspect there is a moral turpitude clause in his contract so if convicted, he's out. Perhaps the indictment is sufficient cause. Fortunately though, the consolidation train is rolling and there's another municipal manager aboard.

4 hours ago, pennstater said:

"Give up with this dude. You’ll only go in circles and waste your time.  You can’t reason with a liberal. "

In other words: Don't feed the troll.

A bit more regarding the Milliron Building a/k/a The Harley Shop:

As noted previously, B. F. Goodrich is listed at 101 West DuBois Ave for the first time in 1944 (they weren't there in 1942). The last year for Goodrich there is1971.

The 1972 directory lists Ideal Products at that address, as do all available directories up to and including 2001.

The 2002 and 2003 directories have no entry for that address (I think the building was vacant).

In 2004, the first entry for DuBois Harley-Davidson, who are still there, which brings us up to date.

Thinking a little about the early days of the building, recall that the 1924 Sanborn map lists it as a warehouse. Yet, the 1926 directory entry lists it as the address of Milliron Construction and Milliron Garage, hardly warehouse activities. Further, for a time, Milliron was the Peerless dealer, also at that address.

Recall also that in 1923, Milliron Construction had offices over in the central part of town. That is, the Milliron Building apparently did not exist in 1923.

I suspect that as of the time the Sanborn surveyor did the November 1924 survey, the building had just been erected and was still empty, thus appearing to be a warehouse.

I spent a couple hours going through the library's collection of DuBois city directories. I don't know if there are gaps in the collection because new directories came out "once in a while" or if the library just doesn't have a complete set. Either way, the  years listed below are the only directories available for the 1923 to 1948 period.

Note that the Harley shop lists its address as 101 W. DuBois Avenue

1923 Milliron Consruction Co. Wilson W Milliron, Pres.
     222-224 DuBois National Bank Building
[It would seem that the building was erected just in time to be recorded on the 1924 Sanborn map.]

1926 Milliron Construction Co. Inc. W. W. Milliron, Pres.
     corner 1st & W. DuBois Ave
AND  Milliron Garage general repairing and storage
     corner 1st & W. DuBois Ave

1929 same as 1926
     Also, an ad indicating Milliron was the
     dealer for Peerless Automobiles

1931 no entry for Milliron Construction, however three Millirons (but not W. W.) are listed as having responsible positions in
     Independent Construction Co. at 10 E. Washington St.
     at 101 W. Dubois Ave:
     Coyle, Denny H. service station

1933 at 101 W. DuBois Ave:
     Edwards Motor Transit Co. garage
     Zetlwanger, Herbert P. auto repair

1936 101 W. DuBois Ave, Milliron Building
     Dinsmoor, Martin W. restaurant
     Auto Aligning Co.
     Doc's Garage
     Moore, Wayne W. trucking
     U.S. Works Progress Administration
     State Emergency Relief Board
     Edwards Motor Transit garage

1939 101 W. DuBois Ave, Milliron Building
     Dinsmoor, Lula Mrs. restaurant
     Auto Aligning Co.
     Doc's Garage
     Moore, Wayne W. trucking
     U.S. Works Progress Administration
     Edwards Motor Transit garage
     Miller, Arthur P. service station
     Shaw's Truck Lines

1942 101 W. DuBois Ave, Milliron Building
     Edwards Motor Transit garage
     Shaw, William trucking

1944 101 W. DuBois Ave, Milliron Building
     B. F. Goodrich rubber goods

1946 and 1948 same as 1944

In all of that, I found no connection between the Vulcan Soot Cleaner/Blower Company and the Milliron Building. But I was distracted by trying to follow the ins and outs of the Vulcan Soot enterprise in its career in Dubois, so did not look to see when Ideal took over the building. That and recounting the adventures of Vulcan Soot must wait for another time.

Regarding Vulcan Soot: I poked around a bit and turned up not much.

As to what Vulcan Soot did: Boilers tend to accumulate soot on the insides of the fire tubes. That insulates the tubes, impeding heat transfer from the fire into the water. Soot blowers are devices which use steam,  compressed air, or something else to dislodge the soot and let it go up the chimney.

The following is extracted from a history posted on the web site of SPX FLOW Products. The material in square brackets is interpolated from other sources, mainly archives of US patents.

1903    The Vulcan Soot Cleaner Company begins selling soot blowers for boiler cleaning. The company is located in Windber, Pennsylvania.

1904    William Eichelberger files patents for the boiler soot cleaner. The company moves its headquarters to DuBois, PA.

1905    The Vulcan Soot Cleaner Company is incorporated under the laws of New Jersey. Delos E. Hibner Sr. is both treasurer and manager.

1933    The Vulcan Soot Cleaner Company is reorganized as the Vulcan Soot Blower Company.

[Patents issued in 1934 and 1935 to De Los Hibner Jr and assigned to Vulcan Soot Blower Corp. "a Pennsylvania Corporation"]

1937    Fred Brown is named president of the Vulcan Soot Blower Company. Chief Engineer Delos “Dee” Hibner Jr. becomes a vice-president.

[Patents issued in 1940 and 1944 to Hibner and a Fred C. Arey. In 1940, Arey was said to be from Freeeport PA; in 1944, DuBois.]

1948    Continental Foundry and Machine Company acquires the Northern Equipment Company and the Vulcan Soot Blower Corporation. Each Company remains a division of Continental Foundry.

1952    Continental Foundry relocates the Copes product line and the Vulcan product line to a new location in Erie, Pennsylvania. The combined companies became known as the Copes-Vulcan division.

1955    Continental Foundry and Machine is purchased by the Blaw-Knox Company.

1968    White Consolidated Industries acquires the Blaw-Knox Company. Copes-Vulcan was incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary.

1986    Swedish firm AB Electrolux Group acquires White Consolidated Industries. Copes-Vulcan is formally incorporated.

1994    AB Electrolux sells Copes-Vulcan to Citicorp Venture Capital Ltd.

1997    Copes-Vulcan sells its longtime soot blower operation (Vulcan). [But Copes-Vulcan continues in business making valves. I can't discover who bought the soot blower business.]

*** end quoted material

Nowhere in the available Sanborn maps can I find a reference to the Vulcan Soot Blower Company in DuBois. The only "V" entity is the Van Tassel Tannery. It appears, however, that they were active in DuBois from 1904 to 1952. Where in DuBois? Haven't a clue. Note that they arrived in DuBois 10 or more years before Milliron built what's now the Harley shop. Perhaps they rented space there once that building existed.

It could be that Vulcan had no production facilities of their own. That is, they may have farmed out actual production of soot blowers to job shops, needing only office space for sales and design activities.

Ideal Products. Main office and plant in Sykesville.