Did you know?
While the 1920’s have been characterized as “The Roaring Twenties,” because there was widespread social, technological, and economic growth across the country, lawlessness, too, was rampant.
According to a headline on the front page of the Uniontown Morning Herald on April 15, 1929, “14 young women lodged in jail.”
It was reported that 14 women had been arrested during the past three or four days in Uniontown for solicitation of prostitution on the city’s streets.
That presented a problem.
“In fact the women’s quarters became so crowded the Mayor was forced to place men prisoners, of whom there were less than the women, in the women’s quarters and place the women in the bullpen,” it was reported.
That same front page carried another unusual story.
“Takes drink in Downing’s office; jailed,” read the headline.
The name Downing referred to County Detective Downing, who’d conducted a raid on a house in Leith, and discovered a man and women who might have been in violation of the current liquor laws.
Those kinds of arrests were common in those days, before Prohibition ended in 1933.
What wasn’t common was what happened after the couple was taken into custody.
“It is reported that after making motions at his wife through the windows, Hutton went into the reception office. County Detective Downing reported hearing a door close and then two loud rumbles. Opening a connecting door Mr. Downing found, he states, Hutton with a bottle to his lips,” said the report.
Not only had the man been pinched for committing a liquor violation, he got pinched again for violating that same law聽— while in custody.
He was immediately taken to Fayette County jail, said the report.
On this date in 1917, it was reported that Sheriff Thomas L. Howard had issued a proclamation that would probably raise more than a few eyebrows today.
“Protection for alien residents of this county,” read the headline for a story on the front page of the Morning Herald.
The United States had only entered WWI a week before.
Sheriff Howard wanted to make sure immigrants who came from countries at war with the United States remaining unharmed.
So, he issued a proclamation “Upon All Citizens to ‘Obey the Law and Keep Your Mouths Shut.'”
That proclamation worked both ways.
Aliens were asked to “refrain from improper or insulting remarks which are calculated to incite violence at the hands of citizens of the United States.”
Those immigrants were to be “guaranteed protection of life and property by the peace officers of Fayette County so long as they behave themselves.”
The sheriff went even further. He singlehandedly “appointed each resident of Fayette County, citizens of the United States and of countries friendly with the United States, a committee of one to prevent alien residents, who are respecting the laws of this country, mistreatment by irresponsible individuals or one who has allowed his passions to get the better of his good judgment.”
Uniontown’s baseball fans became aware of an unusual situation that had taken place in Johnstown in July of 1947.
The Uniontown Coal Barons of the Middle Atlantic League, had lost five games in a row.
The Class “C” affiliates of the Pittsburgh Pirates, were in Johnstown to play a doubleheader.
They lost the first game by a score of 7-6, making it six losses without a win.
Between games, the Coal Barons’ manager, Al Stutzke, did something a bit unusual.
“Barons manager quits job here,” read the headline on the front page of the July 21, 1947 edition of the Morning Herald.
There was a strong hint that he’d been pushed out, rather than he’d quit on his own.
“Stutzke’s resignation did not come as a shocking surprise. It capped several weeks of spreading dissatisfaction over the Coal Barons’ last place status,” wrote the Morning Herald’s sports editor, Bob Wood.
By the way, the Coal Barons bounced back with an 11-8 win in the second half of that doubleheader.
The following day, they beat the Butler Yankees, 8-7, at Uniontown Speedway.
It didn’t matter that future Hall of Famer, 19-year-old Whitey Ford (who wasn’t in the game that day), was on the Butler Yankees’ roster.
Between 1947 and 1949, the Coal Barons had a number of future big leaguers themselves.
Infielder Jack Merson played 124 games for the Pirates in 1951 and 1952.
Pitcher Cal Hogue pitched in 25 games for the Pirates during that same period.
Pitcher Chuck Churn played in 25 games over three seasons for the Pirates, the Cleveland Indians and the LA Dodgers.
Second baseman Milt Graff played for the Kansas City Athletics for two seasons.
Catcher Jim Mangen played for two seasons with the Pirates and one with the New York Giants.
But the Uniontown Minor League baseball player who played the most seasons in the majors was shortstop Tommy Corcoran.
He played for the Uniontown Coal Barons back in 1907. He’d played for five Major League teams from 1890 until 1907. A total of 2,202 games.