Lou’s View – Aug. 13, 2015
Lock Haven Fired Upon
By Lou Bernard
Today is an anniversary. Sort of. One hundred years ago today, assuming you are reading this on the publication date, Lock Haven was the site of a glorious battle. Sort of.
I’m talking about a newspaper article that was on the front page of the Clinton County Times on August 13, 1915.
Now, the first thing you need to know is that the Clinton County Times had a weird sense of what was considered news. Actually that’s about the only thing you need to know. The Times, based on Bellefonte Avenue, was perfectly happy to run anything on the front page, no matter how strange or nonsensical. The only thing that prevented them from running stories about Elvis still being alive is that he hadn’t been born yet.
The article was headlined,”Lock Haven Fired Upon.” It was written by Myron Huff, who claimed to be a “War Correspondent to the Chicago World.” He also claimed to be writing the article in 1923, which hadn’t happened yet. I told you this was weird.
This article talked about a huge battle with the Germans that had happened in Lock Haven. Now, while I am not making any of this up, Huff certainly was. I mean, I’m pretty sure I’d have heard about a World War I shootout in Lock Haven by now. Huff was taking a lot of poetic license, but I’ll grant he told an interesting story.
Supposedly, the Germans had already been fighting their way through Tyrone and Altoona, because why wouldn’t they? Lock Haven was prepared for an attack, and it began when local men Harry Wilson and Richard Boyer spotted German U-boats coming up Bald Eagle Creek. (I swear, the article really said this.) Boyer and Wilson ran to inform the citizens.
The Lock Haven Civic Club and the Lockport Drum Corps immediately formed a sort of amateur militia, and took up position by the railroad depot. You know, in case the U-boats should happen to arrive by train. Which they did—The German soldiers came rolling down the tracks, carrying their metal helmets under their arms.
The locals opened fire—Again, I need to stress that this was imaginary—And took down most of the enemy soldiers, sending the rest running. Doctor Critchfield and John Haberstroh, two local men, were sent as scouts to the top of the mountain to watch for more Germans, while other men began to pile obstacles on the train tracks. The Lock Haven Ditch Diggers’ Union, which apparently was a thing, began to dig trenches to prevent the advance of the enemy.
Garbage company owner Ed Bagley was sent through town to organize a volunteer army. He reappeared later in the morning leading a company of three thousand men—Some citizens of Mill Hall, Castanea, and Flemington had joined the fight, too.
The Germans attacked again just after noon, meeting the local forces. Local citizen Howard Candor was sent by automobile to rally two local doctors, Francis P. Ball and William Welliver, to get them into action treating the wounded. Buses and delivery trucks from the Irvin House Hotel, Israel Boyer deliveries, and the local dairy were used to carry the wounded to the hospital for treatment. The silk mill, on North Fairview Street, was used as a temporary morgue for the dead. (I need to add here that the people and businesses mentioned were real—It’s only the battle that was imaginary.)
The battle raged throughout the day, and tapered off overnight. The men stayed in position, and the Civic Club ran them coffee and rolls. Meanwhile, in the mountains, the Germans could be heard setting up their defenses.
When dawn came, the Germans opened fire with everything they had. The article said,”High buildings suffered the most. By nine o’clock the Woven Wire Works looked like a giant colander and the Trinity Methodist and German Reformed Churches were smoking ruins.” The Fallon Hotel, the Opera House, and the college also took damage.
The local forces got a gun set up on the roof of the Columbus House (this would have been the VFW Building, which burned down a while back) and opened fire. The bullets flew back and forth for three hours, until some of the Germans began to charge into the city.
The local forces appeared from streets and alleys, attacking and fighting them off. Half of the Germans ran back and retreated for the mountains, and the rest were captured. The battle was over.
The article concluded,”The latest reports say that the fire is under control. Clinton County will go down in history along with the Light Brigade and the Old Guard.”
And, you know, I’ve been making fun of this story. But, considering that I’m writing about it a century after it was published….Yep, that’s probably true.
