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City's
Outstanding News Events of 1942
Here is a
chronology of major news happenings in McKeesport
during 1942:
January
1. Nine injured
in district accidents.
2. Russel H. Adams appointed to succeed Andrew T.
Park as district attorney.
3. Mayor George H. Lysle presides at his final
meeting of City Council.
5. Frank Buchanan becomes mayor.
6. Police Chief John J. Whalen announces his
willingness to retire.
16. Council votes in favor of complete city audit
by outside firm.
20. Eleven arrested in numbers racket roundup
here.
24. McKeesport Hospital campaign for $197,000 to
eliminate debts gets under way.
30. Chief of County Detectives Jerry L. Deasy
resigns; Charles W. Leith appointed to succeed
him.
February
3. Mercury drops
to 9 above during cold wave.
14. Total of $167,966 raised in McKeesport Hospital
drive.
16. Council votes 5 percent increase in pay for 175
outside city employes and basic salaries of $190 a
month for police and firemen. Draft registration
held for men 20 through 44.
17. Outside city employes start strike in demands
for bigger pay boost than was voted them by
Council.
19. Mr. and Mrs. Foster Flegal, McKeesport,
notified of death of son, M. Wallace Flegal, 18,
killed while serving with Marines in Canal
Zone.
21. Council sets city tax rate at 14 1/2 mills for
increase of 1 1/2 mills.
28. Pinball machine operations disturbed by
Superior Court ruling declaring their devices as
gambling equipment.
March
2. City cancels
lease on Cycler Park field. Six county detectives
relieved of duties by Dist. Atty. Adams.
4. Work speeded on completion of Youghiogheny River
dam.
10. School Board approves budget indicating a tax
rate of 17 mills. $100 bonuses provided for board
employes.
14. Two children fatally burned in blaze following
kerosene stove explosion at 206 Thirteenth Ave.
City Council members join Dist. Atty. Adams in war
on political machines.
16. Damaging thunder, hail storms sweep
district.
21. James H. Gray sworn in as sub-patrolman on
police force.
23. District gasoline stations start 7 p.m. to 7
a.m., closing as new wartime motor fuel rationing
program goes into effect.
25. Rumors of sugar shortage cause rush on stores:
McKeesport Hospital faces "sugar famine" until
supply is borrowed from merchants.
28. Funeral services held for Private M. Wallace
Flegal, city's first World War II
fatality.
April
1. Fred C.
Markus and Ralph Austin appointed deputy sheriffs.
James H. Gray elected police chief.
14. Dr. James H. Lawson reappointed McKeesport
superintendent of schools.
21. Dr. J. B. Richey resigns as chairman of board
of trustees of Carnegie Free Library.
25. General Edward Martin, Republican candidate for
governor, speaks at GOP rally here.
27. Fourth draft registration, for men between 45
and 60, held here. Contracts signed for 150-unit
extension of E. R. Crawford Village and
construction of the 50-unit Richard Berry Harrison
Village.
28. Sugar rationing registration by institutional
users gets under way; sales frozen.
30. William F. Whalen appointed police
lieutenant.
May
1. Eight killed,
12 injured in explosion in Versailles plant of
Central Railways Signal Co. McKeesport stages
biggest parade in history to mark Victory Day.
4. Consumers register for sugar rationing.
11. Western Pennsylvania exempted from eastern
state gasoline rationing zone.
15. Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corp. steamer Allegheny
sinks in Monongahela River after collision with
sunken barge.
18. Retail ceiling prices go into effect here.
Captain Hewitt T. Wheless, hero of fighting in
Philippines, visits district war plants. . Four
Eleventh Ward homes damaged by $8500 blaze.
10. Congressman Samuel Weiss, State Representative
William J. Yester, Democrats, and J. Knox
McConnell, Republican, among nominees in primary;
U. S. Senator James J. Davis carries city in GOP
governor fight; Judge Ralph H. Smith, Democratic
candidate, wins city over Auditor General F.
[may be F.] Clair Ross. General Martin Ross
nominated by state-wide returns.
26. Maintenance employes at McKeesport Hospital go
on strike.
27. Hospital strike ends.
29. Four babies die in meningitis epidemic in
McKeesport Hospital.
31. Hospital quarantined as baby death reaches
seven.
June
2. 906
[??] McKeesport High seniors awarded
diplomas at commencement.
3. Hospital epidemic death toll rises to nine.
4. Explosion at Versailles plant of Central Railway
Signal Co. ruled accident after grand jury
investigation. Sunday milk deliveries banned by
Office of Defense Transportation.
9. District bus service placed on war basis by
ODT.
12. Commander Foster Junker, chief engineer of
aircraft carrier Lexington, reported safe; craft
sunk in Pacific. New board of control is named at
McKeesport Hospital. Pinball machine raids staged
here by county detectives.
14. Donald Crisp and [????] Sondergaard,
Hollywood stars, attend Elks Flag Day celebration
held to open Naval Enlistment Week drive.
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16. Workers at
Port Vue plant of Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp.
stage 13-hour "stay-in" strike. Meat packing
company strikes threatened district meat
supply.
21. 31 arrested as police raid six places. Council
approves construction of by-pass line to reservoir
to boost city water supply.
23. John F. Alderin, 47, veteran city clerk,
dies.
25. First air raid blackout test held here.
26. City scrap rubber pile estimated at more than
30 pounds as result of drive.
29. "Prepare to walk," OPA warns motorists as
gasoline prices mount.
July
1. 30-year-olds
register for draft.
9. Drive ordered on bingo games here; players jam
buses, interfere with transportation of war
workers.
12. Bingo players protest against ban to City
Council; agreement reached permitting games to
continue on "amateur basis."
17. Six men injured in Hubbard Mine cave-in.
20. Burgess Joseph F. Faix, Glassport, dies.
21. City Controller John W. Montgomery sworn in as
Navy coxswain.
22. City's second blackout test ruled success.
29. District drenched by heavy rain during
electrical storm; two houses hit by lightning.
31. Pay increase granted employes at Firth-Sterling
Steel Co. plant.
August
2. Contract for
complete city audit awarded by Council to Bachrach,
Sanderback & Co.... Inch of rain in 45 minutes
deluges district, wrecks trailer camp near Clairton
... Rookie patrolmen work as under-cover men in six
numbers racket arrests here.
5. Gasoline prices here reduced 2.5 cents a gallon
to June 28 figure.
14. William MacDonald resigns as superintendent of
mails at Post Office; Rea T. Haney named to succeed
him.
16. Port Perry mansion, birthplace of the late John
F. Miller, former Westinghouse Air Brake president,
destroyed in mysterious fire.
18. Third blackout test declared failure because of
advance knowledge of its coming.
25. Roy C. Price Iron Works here damaged by $30,000
blaze.
26. Daylight air raid test held here.
September
3. McKeesport
marks 100th anniversary as a municipality.
4. Drive for donors sought in district blood plasma
campaign.
9. Schools open for 1942-43 term.
11. Promotion of Bradford C. Colford, general
superintendent of National Tube Co.'s National
Works, to assistant vice-president in charge of
operations, announced here; he is succeeded by
Ralph M. Overton.
14. Army-Navy "E's" awarded to National Tube's
Christy Park and National Works.
21. City's Third Ward ramp, costing $256,000,
opened to mark completion of first grade
elimination project ... Stores begin Monday night
opening plan for benefit of war workers.
October
3. City's scrap
total reported by Councilman Ben Rosenberg among
highest in U.S.
5. Blood plasma center opens in First Presbyterian
Church ... Police called to high school to quell
fights as Clairton students visit city to celebrate
football victory over McKeesport High.
7. Liquor stores here closed as clerks walk out in
demand for higher wages.
8. Court order issued splitting First Ward into two
election districts.
14. Daylight air raid test held.
26. Autumn's first snow falls here ... Air raid
test held with downtown streets thronged with
Monday night shoppers.
November
3. General
Edward Martin elected governor, Congressman Samuel
A. Weiss and State Representative William J. Yester
both reelected. Light vote cast.
6. United War Fund goes over the top with total
subscriptions of $154,220 reported.
11. Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox speaks at
American Legion's annual Armistice Day banquet at
Alpine Hotel.
12. Automobile owners register for gasoline
rationing.
22. Coffee sales frozen for one week prior to start
of rationing.
23. City votes purchase of part of White St. field
for use as a playground.
27. Dr. L. H. Blose appointed head of county
salvage campaigns. Alton P. McGowan, 18, of
Clairton, killed, 10 others injured in bus-auto
crash near County Airport.
28. 30-minute blackout test held during Saturday
night shopping here.
30. Coffee rationing program gets
underway.
December
1. Boatswain's
Mate John W. Montgomery, his ship sunk by torpedoes
during allied invasion of North Africa, arrives
home for 30-day furlough.
3. Mercury drops to 5 above here.
4. Stanley Granger, former McKeesporter, appointed
collector of internal revenue for 23rd district
with headquarters in Pittsburgh.
5. Liquor stocks in state stores running low; sales
limited.
7. Dr. H. S. Arthur elected president, R. M.
Baldridge vice president of McKeesport School
Board.
13. Sunday air raid alert here catches thousands
attending church services.
17. Stores ration butter following rush by
hoarders.
18. Four-inch snow, sub-freezing cold disrupt
highway travel.
21. New Dec. 21 cold record set as mercury drives
to zero ... 11 mobile units presented to Red Cross
by g. C. Murphy Co. women employes.
23. 1261 gallons lost as fire destroys All-American
Aviation Inc. truck in Dravosburg.
30. Worst December flood in history rages in
district; Monongahela River at Dravosburg more than
7 feet above flood level.
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New Plant Strikes Year's
War Keynote
Streamlined Production
Unit Clears Way For New Records In War-Geared Mill;
City Goes All-Out in 1942
When it launched
production on Nov. 23 of more than 3380 tons a
month of higher-grade steels in its new war plant,
the Duquesne Works of the Carnegie-Illinois Steel
Corp. struck a keynote for this industrial
city.
Geared for war, with at
least 1500 boys sent to the fighting fronts and
training camps and with the citizenry pulling in
its belts in cooperation, Duquesne looked to the
new steel plant to boost Duquesne Works to even
greater records in production.
One new electric furnace
is now in operation. Two sister furnaces, expected
to be finished soon, will bring production in the
new plant up to 160,000 tons a year.
Homes
Razed
The new unit brought a
shift in population, with razing of the houses in
the present plant area causing many to move out of
town. One whole voting district in the First Ward
was eliminated.
Before the year's end,
everything was on a wartime basis. Council set its
cap for rigid economy in its 1943 budget to permit
residents to help finance the Federal war effort.
With other costs mounting continually, Council
predicts a tax rate of ten mills again this
year.
To give workers homes,
Council sanctioned the construction of one 182-unit
housing project at Burns Heights and the erection
of 82 more homes is now under way at
Cochrandale.
Labor buried the
figurative hatchet with management and pledged its
all-out efforts toward the war.
Schools Lose
Teachers
Schools felt the pinch of
war, losing at least eight teachers and employes to
the military forces. Others left for jobs in war
industries. Like the city, which has given its
employes a raise in rates, the board is faced with
a request for a pay boost. It was asked by the
teachers to "meet the increasing costs of
living."
Duquesne did an about-face
in the election Nov. 4, as far as statewide results
went. With Republicans winning in state-wide
returns, the city gave majorities to Democratic
candidates.
Treasured relics in
Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Park disappeared as
the city launched scrap drives. The historic
cannon, four machine guns, and the Boys Brigade
monument all went to make steel for ammunition.
Trophies by the hundreds from World War I,
including guns, bayonets, German helmets and even a
trench mortar were contributed.
Maloy Back in
Office
The year opened with Mayor
Elmer J. Maloy taking office for his second
four-year term. Councilmen John P. Rush and M. H.
Kowallis, newly-elected, were sworn in with the
mayor at the Jan. 5 meeting. Also taking office for
his second term was Dr. Charles M. Gardill,
controller. The Democratic mayor presided over a
Council composed of Republicans Frank Kopriver,
Jr., Leonard H. Wilmot and Mr. Rush, and Democrat
Kowallis.
Civilian Defense really
got under way with Fire Chief Lawrence Trainor and
Police Chief William P. Maloy as co-ordinators
under the generalship of Mayor Maloy.
Blackouts and daylight air
raid drills became monthly events. D. D. Mellon,
assistant zone warden, helped the co-ordinators
build an efficient raid test setup.
On Feb. 10, Council
adopted its $246,445 budget and set the tax rate at
10 mills. Duquesne police obtained another patrol
car under rationing rules during the month. The way
was cleared for construction of the Burns Heights
and Cochrandale projects on Feb. 17. The authority
agreed to pay the city about $5000 in lieu of taxes
for the two projects.
Aliens
Register
Alien registration took
place in February to aid the federal government in
keeping track of non-citizens.
The ration board in
February began to allot tires to
motorists.
Residents during the
spring watched with interest the pinball raid
controversy between Mayor Elmer J. Maloy and
Councilman Kopriver. Kopriver climaxed the argument
on Armistice Day when, as acting mayor, he ordered
police to raid one pinball center and take out 34
machines, all unlicensed and inactive, but ripe for
confiscation. The Mayor was in Boston at a CIO
convention at the time.
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Emil C. Meier, then
commander of Duquesne Memorial Post No. 443,
American Legion, was named to the draft board in
March, succeeding Matt C. Gallagher, who had
resigned. Other members on the board included
Chairman John C. Meighen and Secretary Fred C.
Gillespie.
April 1 was no Fool's Day
for Council. Officials on that date authorized
Mayor Maloy to order spending of city funds
allotted for Civilian Defense without further
action of Council.
Mrs. E. R. Crawford again
became a benefactor to the city when she donated a
portion of the ground around the homestead in the
Third Ward for victory gardens. The Crawford estate
later this year advanced funds for purchase of a
community ambulance, now in use.
The much-asked-for
priority on steel for an incinerator, to eliminate
necessity for dumping garbage on Polish Hill,
failed after months of attempts by Council to get
the War Production Board to grant the
metal.
Ration Books
Issued
On May 6, over 17,000
Duquesne residents applied for War Ration Book No.
1. No. 2 book will be issued soon.
One of the lightest votes
in history was cast at the May 19 primary.
Gubernatorial nominees were Republican General
Edward Martin and Democrat Auditor General F. Clair
Ross. Martin was elected on Nov. 4.
In June, Mayor Maloy
blocked a proposed investigation of the Police
Department and left to the courts the decision of
whether Council could investigate charges against
police.
The first blackout test
came on June 25.
The fifth R-day since
start of selective service was held on June 30 in
Duquesne, with 521 youths between the ages of 18
and 20 years enrolled. The all-out rubber drive
came to an end just ten days later, and was
declared a success.
Fire Chief Lawrence
Trainor was announced as one of the county's deputy
fire co-ordinators on July 15. He also was
appointed by the War Department as district
director of air raid warning systems.
Playgrounds were active
during the summer with Lazar Kristoff supervising
activities. Councilman Kowallis served as director
of parks and public property.
September saw the opening
of schools and dedication of much of the students;
time to aiding the war effort. Real war spirit was
shown when residents joined in purchasing and
pledging purchases of $150,000 worth of war bonds
in September. They broke the county record for a
one-night rally at the Second St. playground. A
recent drive hit over $250,000.
Girls Join
WAACS
At least five Duquesne
girls joined the W.A.A.C. during the year and
others enrolled in the nursing corps. The city
began to feel the real effects of the draft last
fall when monthly calls averaged 100. An honor roll
for servicemen is now being planned.
The Blood drive in
Duquesne got under way Sept. 20 and volunteers are
still giving pints of blood at the McKeesport
reception center. The all-out scrap drive, which
netted 140 tons in vitally-needed materials, was
started in September.
Building hit its high for
the year in September.
Duquesne Works broke all
existing records for production in September. A
drive for old keys was held in conjunction with the
scrap drive.
Duquesne's football team
defeated McKeesport on the Tube City field, but
bowed to undefeated Clairton, 6-0. The team lost
only two games, tied one.
The school basketball team
completed a successful season in a three-way tie
with Homestead and Munhall but lost in Section 6
play-off.
Gasoline rationing became
a reality. More rationing was promised for 1943.
Food prices mounted.
Duquesne firemen, headed
by Chief Trainor, staged an all-out fire drill at
Vets Field on Nov. 12. Units from all over the
district responded to alarms sent out from the
local fire station.
With reorganization of the
School Board, Frank D. Martin took the chair again,
and Paul F. Kraft was re-elected vice-president.
City workers were paid yesterday, the last pay for
them without the new Victory Tax deduction. The
School Board plans to consider a pay raise request
from teachers this month.
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