by Van Wagner
interview took place on August 16, 1998
at 228 Grand Street Danville PA
For the last few years, I have had the privilege of becoming friends with
Charles H. Cy Kelly. He lived on
Grand Street in Danville. He was born Oct. 4th, 1914 and passed away
Dec. 24th, 2000. He
served with the army during WWII, receiving 2 purple hearts and a bronze
star. This wasn’t
any typical Danville Ironman! In his early years, Mr. Kelly was employed
at the “Big Mill” in
Danville. I have grown up with Cy’s grandson R.J. Renteria of Danville.
It was only recently,
after I expressed my interest in Danville’s iron history, that the
Renteria family mentioned Mr.
Kelly’s roll in our towns past. I made plans to go visit him the
following week.
I must admit, I expected to meet a worn out old man who would tell me about
his simple job in
a Danville iron mill. Instead, I found myself immersed in an ocean
of stories about one mans
amazing life history. After my first discussion with Mr. Kelly, I
choose to begin using audiotape
to record my discussions with Cy. Over the next few newsletters,
I will share this amazing
biography, word for word, as it was told to me. I would like to point
out one more thing. In all
of my time with Cy Kelly, he continuously questioned why I wanted to honor
the men and
women of Danville’s iron age. In his view, the men and women who
served our country during
World War II were far greater heroes and deserved more than they
ever received in terms of
thanks. Because of this, I dedicate his story to just those people,
the men and women of our
armed forces who have served so bravely, so that Americans such as myself
may have such a
wonderful and fulfilling life, Thank you.
-Van Wagner-
CK = spoken by Cy Kelly
VW= spoken by Van Wagner
CK-“Down there at the Big Mill, I have to tell ya, the first day I went
to work was the first day
of hunting
season. Dad said ‘ you better get down to the mill and see
if you can get on.’ I was just a kid
then, weighed about 130, and damn first day I walk in the door I got a
job. And I was so mad,
hunting season ya know I waited all year to go hunting and then something
like that happened.
Now the men who worked at the furnaces had what we called ‘work shoes.’
That would be
full of sweat while you were working, and rolling out the back would be
sweat. They made
about $5 a day.”
VW-Was that in the furnaces across the road from the mill?
CK-No that was the furnaces in the mill. They took the shale, there’s
some ore in with it, they
mixed that all up in these furnaces. Then they’d roll it up in a
ball. Puddlin’…yea, that was
puddling. Did you ever hear of Ira Sweitzer? (spelling?)
He was one fella about my age, he
got on there and his dad said ‘don’t you come in here, this is no damn
place for kids.’ They
really work those boys.
VW-What would they put in the furnace?
CK-Well they put in what we called ‘pig iron’ in other words it was the
first, you see iron they
don’t use it the first time they heat it. It has to go through different
processes to temper it and
what not. They used to use bacon on the rolls to grease the rolls,
I guess it was cheaper than
grease. It smelled pretty good! Oh it was quite a place.
VW-So they put pig iron in, could they put in scrap iron too?
CK-No, not in that. Scrap iron was used to make ‘box piles.’
Now that’s where I got a job,
on the box piles. You take all that scrap iron that they bought back,
then they’d work that in
with the iron that they made from the pig iron. Then they rolled
that into bars. It would be 4
inch or 6 inches or something like that wide. They’d cut it a certain
length, then they had these
clamps that they stuck these pieces in that fit in maybe 2 fives, a four,
and a six. And then
they’d work this in with scrap iron, that was called ‘piling.’ Then they’d
put them in these heat
furnaces, that was a different type of furnace. They’d heat that
and get it white hot, then they’d
bring that out of there and run it through a roller. To make what
they called ‘navy iron.’ They
made a lot of navy iron. You see that worked all that in there
so it made the iron like all knit
together. You don’t hear too much of that type anymore, we had almost
500 people working
on that part.
VW-How old were you when you went to work?
CK-About 14 or 15. I was as skinny as a rail. By God you worked too.
VW-Where did they get the pig iron from?
CK-Well they got that down around Maryland somewhere. They
bring that in on box cars,
then the men would get in there….oh, not box cars but gondolas, that’s
about half a car
like…guys would get in there and throw em’ out. That’s where you
got in shape. Years ago
they made the pig iron in Danville. Years ago, that was what they
called the blast furnace.
VW-Did your family work in the blast furnaces at all?
CK-No, my grand daddy he worked all over though. He helped
mine this ore out of the
ground. Did you ever hear of the Lawrence’s? They’re the ones
that had the mines. Them
guys got a dollar a day for working in the mines. I’m gonna have
to tell you this, my grand
daddy told me when they cut props for where they were working, from their
hand down to
their elbow and that would be the height of the prop. He worked on
this side of the hill (the
Danville side of Montour Ridge). There was a lot of them things.
I think they were Welsh.
Now that was all before my time. He used to say that you get in there
and you shoveled that
out on your side. They mainly used a pick, I don’t think they did
too much blasting. Last I
heard they had about 9 of these blast furnaces, and these shale pits as
I called them, furnished
them with iron ore. This iron ore around here wasn’t near as rich
as they could get up around
the lakes, Lake Superior. It was easier to get.
Now my dad wasn’t that old, he worked in the big mill. And he worked
for Art Lawrence, he
delivered ice around here. That’s one of the first jobs I had.
He used to peddle ice up Mill
Street, down West Mahoning, and Market Street. It used to be cut
from the dam out there,
out there where Perkins is now. There used to be so much ice there,
people would skate at
night.
VW-When did you dad stop his ice job and begin working at the big mill?
CK-It was night and day, he worked 2 jobs. He worked the mill at
night, and delivered ice in
the day time. Well Jeese’ you didn’t make nothing, you had to do
that if you had a family.
VW-Was there a union?
CK-(laughing) I had never heard of a union until just a while back.
You know something,
that’s what’s got our country down. I still say…here’s the thing,
you go out on strike…now
figure out, who benefits? The unions, you’re damn right they do.
I don’t think there was even
much of a union at the end of the big mill. In fact it was sold before
the war (WWII) they just
teared it down and shipped it out. A lot of that came back as shells
too.
VW-What was your fathers job in the mill?
CK-His job was what you called ‘dragin out.’ When them bars came
out of the rolls, they had
a pair of tongs. They hooked em’ under with tongs and stacked them
up, it was red hot iron.
Some of there shoes were that thick (several inches )
VW-What was the mill making at the time?
CK-They was making pipe. Shade iron, large bars for the railroad
for under the cars, its like a
spring…it was more like a spring bar.
Now, my father and I was born in the same house. Down in the company
houses. Just across
from Jake Engles junk yard. It was number 625, he was born there
and so was I. The
company owned those houses, you just paid rent. They took it out
of your pay check. There
was a company store there, but the company store was just about phased
out by the time I
started. Down there where Kindt’s used to be.
This ends part one.
Part II of Interview with Mr. CY Kelly
by Van Wagner
August 16, 1998
228 Grand Street, Danville PA
CK = spoken by Cy Kelly
VW= spoken by Van Wagner
CK-You know over there where Beaver Place is, well that’s all built on
slag from the blast
furnaces. I dug a few cellars over there. You know, if that
mill had hung on say 6 months
longer, it would still be there. It was sold just before WWII, I
went into the service about that
time, with the National Guard. We hurried and put in a year then
came back to get a
job..(laughing) that was the longest year I ever put in….. nearly 5 years!
I was in England,
France, Italy…when I enlisted there was tearing the mill down at that time.
Quite a place over there, the Big Mill I mean. I worked there about 2 years.
We were just so
tickled pink to have a job. 8 hours a day, 5 days a week…it was a
good place to work, but it
was damn hard work! We may have a got a 15 minute break every so
often. You got a
couple of minutes to eat lunch, maybe half an hour if you were lucky.
VW-What was it like in the mill?
CK-Hot and dirty, and stinky, sulfury...lot of sulfur. Comin’ from all that soft coal.
VW-Soft coal? Do you mean bituminous?
CK-Yeah.
VW-I always thought they used anthracite.
CK-Not in there, I think they used anthracite in the blast furnaces.
But in the Big Mill we was
using all soft coal…Johnny Mitchell! Did you ever hear that?
Now there’s where the unions
started coming in there. After the Molly Maguires started.
There was a lot of dust in the air in the mill…but nobody complained, they
were just happy to
have a job. Honest to God I think that’s all it was. They didn’t
care. When a person died,
you didn’t think much of it. That was just natural. I never
saw anyone die there at work but
there may have been some.
They had a place there where you could take a shower. You know I
still say they were just as
dirty when they came out as when they went in. They showered right
in the mill.
You know they never wrote much up about all of this.
VW-That’s why I’ve wanted to talk with you.
CK-Well I’ll tell you, I forgot a hell of a lot. I’m 80 some years
old! Well them guys that
worked down at the mill, well when they went past you why…..them guys would
be so tired.
They would stop by a couple of the bars and have a couple of drinks so
they could make it
home.
VW-Did a lot of the fellows go to the bars?
CK-Most all of em’. They’d go to places like Wysocki’s…he was my
old bowling buddy.
Buddy’s Café there at Frank Wysocky’s…that was our hang out.
There were more, the
Continental Hose Company and Ryan’s. They were for the people in
that area, the company
houses area. Why you could buy those homes for $250 a side!
My dad was afraid to take the
chance and buy a home. You know some of them men walked all the way
in from Mausdale,
then they walked home when they were done with the day. That don’t
seem like a long
distance, but after you did a days work it was! There was a fella
from Bald Top who would
walk down the mountain everyday for work, that’s a pretty steep hill to
climb. Brother after
you did a days work you didn’t want to have to walk a couple of miles home
and then be ready
to come out the next morning.
At one time they used to have what was called a call boy. He’d go
around and tell the people
it was time to go to work. He’d knock on doors and wake em’
up.
Boy that’s changed a lot up there on Bald Top. Do you know Gus Livziey?
His granddad
used to have what we called the “Skunk Farm” up there. Me and him
used to go hunting and
fishing together. We played football together too. You know
they just don’t have the spirit
around here like they used to about football.
VW-When you still lived in the company houses, what type of folks lived there?
CK-Everything. I’m from the area we called “the bloody third.”
That was the 3rd ward. We
had the Catholic church. When we used to go to school, you’d
stay on your side of the street
and the Catholics would stay on their side. This is the way it is
over in Ireland today!
VW-What would folks in the company houses do for entertainment?
CK-We may walk up the street to the post office a couple of times…that
was your Saturday
night. If you had enough money you got a bag of peanuts. People
just don’t realize how ruff if
was in them days.
VW-Was there any musical entertainment for ya?
CK-Only after a few drinks. They’d get to fighting and singing.
There was one fella out on
Mill Street, Keefer, many times he get drunk and get arrested for singing.
That was quite a
section of town…out there in third ward. “The Continental”, “Ryan’s”,
“Pifer’s”...all the way
up and down was saloons. Well you got a glass of beer for a dime.
A mug, sometimes I think
half water (laughing).
They were some days. You know that was a busy place, Mill Street.
You’re damn right it
was. I don’t think any of those stores there today do half the business
that they used to.
VW-With money being so hard to come by in those days, how were so many
men spending it
on booze?
CK-(Laughing) A lot of that was on tick. Did you ever hear of that?…They
charged it. I think
half of it never got paid.
You know I can remember the trolley. I used to be the errand boy
for Mary B. Kline, lived on
Market Street. Used to get a quarter a week to run errands for her.
One time I was supposed
to get on the trolley and ride it up to Ida York’s, to get some vinegar,
she wanted some
vinegar. Well here I didn’t know where she lived and ended up riding
right into Bloomsburg! I
finally got the vinegar but only after 3 or 4 trips up the trolley.
People were mighty strange in
those days about stuff like that. If they wanted a certain
type stuff, well they wanted a certain
type of stuff.
To be continued!
PART 3
My mothers madden name was Nevius. My grandfather, her dad was the
one who worked in
the mines. Bill Nevius had a couple of boys, I’m not sure where they
are now.
Do you play any sports Van?…We used to play baseball day and night.
Sometimes we’d tear
an old sweater apart to make a ball. There were some good baseball
players around this area,
some great teams. You know during the war I got to shake hand with
Honus Wagner out
around Pittsburgh…you know he was the sloppiest looking baseball player
you ever saw. I
had an uncle who pitched in the service, the First World War, he could’ve
gone to the big
leagues but he wouldn’t go. They came here to get him and he wouldn’t
go. At that time I
lived in Montour Row. They call that Beaver Place now. That
was company housing. My
uncle, he worked at the big mill. He was what they called a hook
man. There was a big chain
that came down with a bar on it, that helped raise these bars that would
come out of the
rollers…onto their next pass. See they kept changing the size of
the bars. Boy he was a good
ball player, he was a pitcher. There was another kid here who was
good too. Ever hear of
Bigs Baylor, Shorty McKormick. yeah they had some damn good
ball players here. Out at
the state hospital they played. It’s a damned shame, they ruined
that field up there. On
Saturday that place would be jammed with people to see the games.
How’s your music going?… You know years ago we’d have bands on Saturday
nights in the
bars. They don’t do as much of that any more. They used to
have a lot of square dances.
That used to be a popular thing. Now that faded out.
VW-Do you play any instruments?
CK-I couldn’t even play a Victorola, I’d scratch the record (laughing).
VW-May I ask you wife’s maiden name?
CK-Keefer, Ruth Keefer from Catawissa. That’s my third wife.
Nancy’s mother was Ida, Ida
Titesworth…then I had another wife Marks, from Washingtonville…it’s about
time I quit.
VW-Behind us here where KVS is, was that an iron works?
CK-The Stove Works that was. I never worked there. I worked
the summer delivering ice,
and in the winter when we had work I worked the big mill. $3.15
a day at the Mill. Then they
took rent right out of your pay. I think that was $5 a month.
But still we lived on it. We didn’t
have a whole lot but we lived on it. There used to be a brick yard
close to the Washies play
ground. They made bricks. Pappy told me about that I never
saw that. There used to be a
blast furnace out around Sunny Brook way. The trouble with the furnaces
is they found a
higher grade of iron ore out west somewhere. There used to be a fairground
out there near
where Perkins is. Back then people were more neighborly, if something
went wrong,
everybody was there. You just don’t see that anymore. Some
of these people don’t even
know their neighbors. Now, you grew up on Bald Top?...well I got
my first deer up there.
With a slug gun. I got a 7 point buck right there where the house,
what we called the first
hollow. Then to top it off, we lived in the Row at the time.
This deer headed down over the
hill, I had to hug and tug it all the way back to Montour Row.
We had something called the eel dam on the river. We used to fish
near there and catch eels,
they were something. They’d bend your pole in half and then get all
tangled in the line from the
way they’d twist. Years ago we didn’t do any dry fishing, back then
everyone used worms or
some live bait.
Boy I used to love to fish. My son Terry is a good fisherman, he’s
a nut about it.
You the fella across the street from me used to have some pictures of the
old canal. The canal
used to haul coal through here. The canal went right through town.
There was a coal yard near
where Giant food store is now. Then it went down through the middle
of town, right by the
Masonic Temple. I knew fellas from the coal yard, but I didn’t know
anybody from the canal.
There used to be a guy there who sold salt. I was just a kid then.
He used to come around
town selling salt. It came in on a canal barge. That was before
my time.
VW-You mentioned they shipped in soft coal. Where did that come in from?
CK-They brought that in from out around Pittsburgh.
VW-With Shamokin, Mount Carmel...with the hard coal close by I’m surprised
they didn’t find
a way to use it in the puddling furnaces.
CK-Well soft coal could get hotter than the hard coal. And the sulfur
smell was all over. It’s a
wonder they had anybody working there.
VW-What would happen if you ever got hurt at work and could work for a few days?
CK-They had compensation. I got compensation, a piece of barb metal
caught me under the
chin. I was working with the shears and it snapped off and caught
me under the chin. I got 12
hours a week compensation. It wasn’t a heck of a lot. They
over paid me one week. In other
words they gave me 2 weeks for one. I had to give back. Or
I’d loose my job. I should’ve
told them to go to hell because that was the last week the mill was open.
VW-So that was the last week the mill was open? Would you have stayed
there if it had
stayed open.
CK-Hmmm, probably would’ve…we didn’t know any better. We didn’t know
where else to
get a job. We used to set up rolling pins to make a few extra nickels.
Bowling was big around
here.
VW-Who owned the Mill when you worked there?
CK-Reading Iron Company. Same company that owned the railroads.
VW-What would you take to work for lunch?
CK-Did you ever hear of scrapple? I used to make scrapple sandwiches
and scrapple pie. I
carried it in a metal lunch box. Maybe a thermos bottle. Never
had too much in there. If
people today had to work like that, they’d go crazy.
To be continued…….
PART 4
Over the past few years, I have had the privilege of becoming friends with
Charles H. Cy
Kelly. He lived on Grand Street in Danville. He was born Oct.
4th, 1914 and passed away
Dec. 24th, 2000. He served with the army during WWII, receiving 2
purple hearts and a
bronze star. This wasn’t any typical Danville Ironman! In his
early years, Mr. Kelly was
employed at the “Big Mill” in Danville. I have grown up with Cy’s
grandson R.J. Renteria of
Danville. It was only recently, after I expressed my interest
in Danville’s iron history, that the
Renteria family mentioned Mr. Kelly’s roll in our towns past. I made
plans to go visit him the
following week.
I must admit, I expected to meet a worn out old man who would tell me about
his simple job in
a Danville iron mill. Instead, I found myself immersed in an ocean
of stories about one mans
amazing life history. After my first discussion with Mr. Kelly, I
choose to begin using audiotape
to record my discussions with Cy. Over the passed few newsletters,
I have shared his amazing
biography, word for word, as it was told to me. I would like to point
out one more thing. In all
of my time with Cy Kelly, he continuously questioned why I wanted to honor
the men and
women of Danville’s iron age. In his view, the men and women who
served our country during
World War II were far greater heroes and deserved more than they
ever received in terms of
thanks. Because of this, I dedicate his story to just those people,
the men and women of our
armed forces who have served so bravely, so that Americans such as myself
may have such a
wonderful and fulfilling life, Thank you.
-Van Wagner-
VW- What were some of the jobs in the Big Mill?
CK- Well…to fill box piles, I helped do that. There were big
pieces of cast iron they got in,
outside they’d break them up…some would use sledgehammers. They also
used a big ball
they’d lift up in the air and drop on this cast iron to break it up.
So they could melt it down
again. They’d work some of that in, in the puddling mill.
VW- Did the puddlers get paid well?
CK- About 5 dollars a day.
VW- What was the best paying job you could get at the Mill?
CK- Probably the puddler. That was a big thing to brag about.
They got paid by weight. If
they did what they called “lose a ball” then they wouldn’t get paid for
that. Sometimes it
wouldn’t get mixed up right. You see that idea with a puddling mill
was to get all the stuff in
there mixed up just right, knit together. Sometimes it got messed
up. They’d lose that ball,
Maybe a dollar or dollar and a half.
VW- Then they’d puddle it into a ball?
CK- They had paddles, what you called paddle. Big iron paddles.
Then they’d shut the
furnace down so they could get it out. Then they’d take it over to
what they called the rollers.
That’s where they started rolling it into bars.
VW- I bet that was a hot job.
CK- Them people would be ringing wet. Their shoes…why I’ve
seen the sweat just rolling
out the back of the shoes. Me, I’d never be able to work in there.
I’d stick with the box
piling. I couldn’t take that heat. It was bad enough with the
smell of sulfur.
Once there was an explosion down there, it was before my time. A
baby was killed across the
street from the big mill. I never heard much more about that.
That was before my time. I
guess there were tubes in these boilers that got clogged up.
So you’re only 22?
VW- Yes sir. I’m studying Wildlife and Fisheries science at Penn State.
CK- Boy that’s all I did, hunt and fish. I used to own a store
here for twenty some years, but
when hunting season came buddy that’s what I did. I made a living
at it. My motto was “If we
didn’t have, we’d get it.”
Just don’t be afraid of work. Cause you’re gonna have to work, so
get used to it. Sometimes
I’m afraid for our country. Things are nice now, but it can’t keep
up. How many jobs are
being lost? It scares me to think about it. This here, what
they call downsizing…well
something’s got to give. I hate to think about what may happen.
VW- I’m not keeping you up too late am I?
CK- (Laughing) Oh no, I can sit here until hell freezes over. I tell you it’s quiet… it’s peaceful.
You know with the hunting, I hunted all over. There used to
be more Pheasants, boy I liked
that. Ring-necks.
VW- I enjoy hunting Grouse. I hunt a bit up on Carl Hower’s
farm up on Blue Hill. You
know I heard that the Ku Klux Klan burned a cross up there years ago.
CK- Yes, I seen that cross. We lived on Mill Street.
You could see it. I never knew who it
was. They said it was a warning to someone. That’s all we ever
heard. Yeah it was such a
hush hush thing. They’d come along and flash these tickets, I don’t
know who would do it.
You’d spot it on someone’s house. It was a warning to them.
For them to either mend their
ways….I never paid much attention to it. That was quite something
at one time. It was
sometimes meant for some guys to stop drinking, they were warning them…but
hell that never
stopped em’ (laughing).
Did you ever here much about the CCC’s? I was in them. We did
what they called nappin’
the stones. You bring shale in, and the big pieces you did what they
called ‘nappin up’ with a
nappin’ hammer. Long handle. I was on the Gooseberry detail
for a while. Did you ever hear
of Gooseberries? You hike through the woods, then you’d pull them
out by the roots and hang
them up in the crotch of tree so they’d die. They wanted them out
because they carried disease
for Pine Trees. Down near Huntingdon. You could go for
miles and never find one…then
you’d find a bunch and you’d destroy them. That was a good education
for a lot of people.
That took them off the streets and away from trouble.
I think you’ll like that work with the outdoors. Do you know if they’ve
been able to get the
Shad up here? You know we used to have Shad in the Susquehanna.
Hey..do you know who the first burgess of Danville was? ..His name was
Magill. Mary D.
Kline, I was her errand boy. It was her dad was the first burgess
of Danville, I believe his
name was John. That was in the civil war days. She used to
always remind me or that. She
had a heart as big as a whale. I believe her husband was a doctor.
VW- I’ve read that the Geisinger got it’s start in the coal industry. Kingston Coal Co.
CK- They did, they owned a lot of stock up that way.
VW- Well it’s getting too late for me.
CK- Well you stop by anytime. I’m usually here on the porch.
Recorded August 16th, 1998
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