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

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COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES

193

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