Vol. 1-Interviews-Ferko

DM inter. Mary & Tom Ferko 31 tape 6 8/7/72

MF He can sit and eat more hot peppers I don't know how he does it DM He was here one day eating hot peppers and Wally all he does is look at one and his stomach turns over, that stuff is rough, a couple of odd ball questions just to get the thing rounded out, you were telling me the other day about the WPA{?} and the bench they made clear up there in the middle of no where, didn't they also make the street drains TF Yeh, they put the foundation in and it was all cracked by hand that's why you have such a good road here DM I was going to say that looks like one of those old ancient Roman roads TF You see up by your place, that was all cracked by hand that that was all put in the WPA{?} DM Was that concreted in or TF No it was just laid in like that DM Boy it's still there it hasn't moved a bit TF No that was just laid there, there's no concrete DM That's what I'm afraid they're going to ruin when they put that sewage system in, I don' know where they're going to put it for sure, what they out to do is run it right down the middle of the road and at the same time turn this back into a clay road and put the other access roads in OPINION TF I imagine they'll put the sewer system in back of the homes that's where the people have their all they have to do is lay a line this way and one that way and cross over and then you'd have the 2 in one if you put it in front of the homes how in the hell the gardens or cellars to the kitchen on to the pipe. see all of the kitchens are in the back of the home DM I guess it wouldn't be bad but I don't know they'd have to run 2 mains wouldn't they TF They'd have to run 2 mains MF Up one side and down the other side

DM inter. Mary & Tom Feerko - 32 - 8/7/72 Tape 6

TF yeh but look how much more your gonna hafta like come across at Bruno's all the way up same as here how would you het out there, out of the house or ho{?} DM Yes that's what I mean it would probably be simplier to put 2 mains in, you should keep talking to - whose going to get that contract, no Berger is the building contractor TF Yeh but he would take the contract anyway and sublease it, that's the way he does it with everything DM He gets everything that gets done in this town TF Yeh all these big factories and everything he gets all the jobs and then he subleases them out MF Just like he did for the masons over there TF Yeh the masons overhere from Hazleton, what the hell was his name, he subleased it out to him for the chimneys DM I didn't realize he had a finger in MF If you would have saw these homes DM Well I saw one I saw what Romel's looked like he hadn't cleaned anything MF He wasn't too bad on our side he didn't crack it all the way down because he took everything out on this monther's side her place was all soot, that black stuff we got some here but not as much as she did DM I'll bet that drove you crazy TF It wasn't too bad they put plastic all the way round here MF They made like a tent around so the dust TF You still got some but the boy he took it nice he realized he DM Well he had to be impressed at how clean and how well kept it was TF But see he was Tom, our boys, buddie, they palled around together MF His mother didn't like that too much either but DM Does she have a whole house full of nice furniture MF Yeh a nice parlor and she has a dining room. the whole dining room suite

DM inter. Mary & Tom Ferko - 33 - Tape 6 8/7/72

DM Oh another thing can either one of you or both of you help me out where the old water hydrants used to be located in this town MF Well one on the Back Street all they way up where Scanions live, where Mary Zurko lives, right there and where George {?} lives right below Joe there was one there and then where - across from Helen Federsha I think there was one right there DM These were the spigots TF No these were the pumps DM Oh do you remember the pumps TF Yeh it was no spigots it was a pump you had to pump your own water in, the old style pumps yet MF You had to fill a boiler and put it on the stove to wash your clothes DM What year was this TF I guess 1923 when they put the water in, I can't remember when they put the water in here that was before my time we always had water here that's on account of the church being here see, DM I thought it was because of all the big shots living here TF Well the big shots and the church and you had the store here and then you had the mule stables down here and that's why the water was put in here MF It must have been 1925, 1926 DM You mean to tell me that after they tore the pumps down all the houses had water TF No they put the lines in first then they got rid of the plumps if they took the pumps then how would you get water DM That's what I meant, you didn't go to an intermediate stage with a hand pump to a spigot, there were no outside hydrants with spigots TF No there was all pumps, 1923 I think when they put the water line in up town here MF And they had one right by Scanions and we'd fill the buckets DM Was that the kind of place where everybody socialized and you got to meet your friends

DM inter. Mary & Tom Ferko - 34 Tape 6 8/7/72

TF No you had to hurry and get your water or you didn't get it, a lot of people had to go Sunday night at 12 o'clock at night they were carryin' water for Monday morning because people had to have water to wash MF Big boilers we put on the stove and we heated the water in that, copper boilers his mother still has one DM I've seen them around I didn't realize what they were for MF She heats her water she doesn't have hot water, she heats it in a boiler yet DM So do we, so don't make her out to be Daniel Boone TF She won't get hot water in no matter what you do, she' be afraid of this or that DM Like Annie Maloney, she won't get gas in her house, she doesn't even like those 2 tanks out behind our place, she doesn't like that at all, she mows the grass right up to those gas tanks, she won't go near them MF They won't hurt her DM You can't tell her that TF That's the way some people are DM Some people won't fly in an aeroplane they said if God intended us to fly he would have put wings on us, well I think we've done amazingly well I think I'll say thank you and we can kill this for awhile this is great we covered a heck of a lot of ground end 883

Law & Order Thomas "Piker" Ferko (7-27-72) House I. In 1925 George Hooper Sr was the coal policeman in Eckley for the coke mines. In 1938 Louis Stoltz{?} was the coal policeman for Coxe mines. When Jeddo Highland took over (around 1945) Spade detective agency patroled Eckley II. There was a aquire in Jeddo Borough where offenders were taken. The offendere usually just had to pay a fine. Very seldom did anybody have to go to court, if they did, the closest county court was in Wilkes-Barre. III. They was a jail house in Freeland, in the borough building, where an offender may be kept overnight - but never longer than one night, unless the person was a murderer. There was nobody in Eckley who was convicted for heinous crimes, so there was nobody who was held in jail for long. IV. the major law in Eckley was the parents, who were quite strict, & kept the kids in line. V. In the mines the men were kept in line by the superintendent, who would fire the men if the men were troublesome - or give them a warning if they were making mistakes. VI. During the 1920 to 1940 period there was very little trouble in Eckley. There was also next to no law. A man could go into someone elses property and take some of his belongings & very little could be done about it. The offender had to be caught "red handed" by a constable to be arrested. It was during this period that the children would steal alot of vegetables out of the neighbors gardens - and if they got caught the most they would get is a licking if the parents found out about it.