Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/232

 COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES

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Main street in which it is located, sharing the H. Shuman, who now is the sole owner, and first floor with the post office. gives every detail of the works his personal supervision. Nature and man's ingenuity have H IC H W A V S combined to give Catawissa its pure water sup­ ply, which is drawn from springs in the Cata­ Catawissa is fortunate in having the finest wissa hills and runs by gravity system into the street o f any town in Columbia county. It is reservoir, which has a capacity of 3 ^ ,0 0 0 gal­ part of the State highway to Reading, and was lons, and from there is f ^ into pipes tlu t s u ^ built in 1 9 13 under the direction o f K. A. Mc- ply the town, the gravity pressure being suffi­ Cachran, assistant to Engineer A rthu r S. Clay cient to answer all purposes. In addition M r. of Bloomsburg. It is o f brick, with a concrete Shuman has sunk several artesian wells, which, base 2,000 feet long, and runs from the river i f necessary, can be used during a very dry bridge to the forks of the streets in tlte south­ season, and has a modern equipped pumping ern part of the town, where it connects with a station fitted with high power a ir compressor tar-macadam road 2,240 feet long, running lo and force pumps. the creek bridge. T he latter bridge w as ^ s o built by the State in 1905, and from it may T U B BAN D be had one of the finest views o f natural scen­ ery in the county. T he Catawissa S ilver Com et Band A ssocia­ tion w as organized A p ril 7, 1869, with these F I R E P R O T E C T IO N members: Monroe beilzingcr, Jerem iah S. Cornelius, Allen L. Brandt, Em ery Gctchey, T he Cataw issa F ire Company w as organ­ Cliarles Schmick, P erry W alters, A. Z. l^ w is, ized M a y 17, 1827, at the hotel o f Stacy M ar- J. M. W alsluw, Luther E yer, F. D. Berninger. gerum, with Joseph Paxton, president, and Charles H. Smith, the efficient leader, has held Ezra S. H ayhurst, secretary. A committee, that position for more than twenty years, and consisting o f Christian Brobst, George Hughes, the band has the deserved reputation of being Stephen Baldy, George H. W illits and Jacob one of the best trained and cultivated musical Rupert, w as appointed to d raft a constitution. organizations in central Pennsylvania. The Four d a y s later the document was signed by association owns the building it occupies. A fifty-fo u r persons. Meetings were held quar­ fine “ Boys' Band” is connected with the asso­ terly at M argcnim 's and an assortment o f ciation, organized and conducted by P rof. John buckets, ladders, hooks and chains secured and T. Berger, from which members are drawn for distributed at .proper places. The utmost har­ the adult band as soon as the boys become pro­ mony prevailed in the organization until the ficient. building of the town hall was brought up. when in F eb ru ary, 1832, a fte r repeated adjourn­ SO L O IE B S ' U O N U U E N T ments without agreement, the company was Catawis&.T. which has often heen in the lead disbanded. A t present the protection against fire con­ in matters civic in Columbia county, w as the sists o f a chartered volunteer company and a first to honor the memory of the brave men who hose reel and ladder truck, housed in the town gave up on the battlefield their choicest posses­ sion— life— for the services of their country, hall. In Catawissa the water supply has been by erecting a nxmumcnt in the union cemetery, solved to the entire satisfaction of the people at the site of the old Lutheran church. It was by the Catawissa W ater W orks, owned and dedicated Oct. 7, 1899. T he shaft is 28 feet operated by P. H. Shuman, whose plant and high and bears a statue o f an infantryman. reservoirs are o f sufficient capacity to take care It is surrounded hy a wide lawn, (he angles of all needs. T he Catawissa W ater W orks was being marked by wartime relics in the shape organized and chartered in 1882, the original o f mortars and cannon balls. T he cost of the members of the company being F . L . Shuman, monument w as the work Reuben Shuman, W. H . Rhaw n, P. H . Shuman o f Frederick B. Sm ith, proprietor of the Cata­ and Gideon M yers. These gentlemen soon had wissa Marble & Granite Works. Those having the w orks in operation, and the mains laid the matter o f gathering the funds in their through the streets of the village giving the charge w ere: M aj. I. H. Sccsholtz, G . W. best o f service, which ha.s been maintained since R eifsnydcr. A . H . Sharpless and George W at­ the water was first turned on. Some years ago ers. A ll of the money was raised by the mem­ the entire property came into the hands o f r. bers o f Lieut. H. H. Hoagland Post. No. 170. is