(Extracts from the Latrobe Bulletin, December 11, 1907. )
YARD BOSS WAS SHOT BY TRAMP
Joseph Vantlaff, of Bradenville, employed as a yard boss at the Bradenville plant of the Atlantic Crushed Coke Company, of which W.A. Swift, of this place, is the superintendent, had an exciting experiencewith three tramps, at six o'clock, this morning, when he was shot through the fleshy part of the right leg, while ejecting the men from the company property.  The wound, while not serious, will keep him confined to his bed for some time to come.

The company does not allow tramps to infest its coke ovens, the various employees having instructions to eject all trespassers found on the company's property.  In making his rounds this morning the yard boss discovered three "Hoboes" sleeping peacefully in one of the empty ovens, the ovens having been heated to just a comfortable degree, by the fires in the adjoining ovens.  The yard boss awakened them from their slmbers and directed them to take the "23" route.  To this the tramps objected seriously, having been adverse to cutting short their nap.  The yard boss, however, was obdurate,and having threatened to call an officer, the three tramps finally arose from their hard couches and crawled out of the oven.

They vowed all sorts of things for the yard boss, and one of them, finally worked himself into such a franzy of rage that he drew his revolver from his pocket, and before the yard boss could interfere, he had fired at him, point blank.

The bullet bit the yard boss on the right leg midway between the knee and the hip.  It missed the bone, going clear through the fleshy part of the leg.  The three tramps then made off, while the yard boss called for assistance.  He was removed to his home, and Constable Lint, of Bradenville, was put on the track of the men.  Several hours later he found two of them at the No. 2 Derry plant, and he at once took them into custody.  They were taken before the yard boss, who at once identified them.  They were then lodged in jail.  The third tramp, the one who did the shotting, has not been apprehended as yet.
(Courtesy of the Latrobe Bulletin, December 11, 1907.)

In the early 1900's the No. 3 Mine was the smallest producing mine of the company's Atlantic Mines.  However, by ca.1918 it produced nearly 63,000 tons of coal, about 4,000 tons more than No. 3 Mine.  The No. 3 Mine at Snydertown had eighty bee-hive coke ovens and produced 600 tons of caol daily emploting seventy miners in 1935.  That year the preparation equipment used at Atlantic No. 3 Mine included mechanical screens, picking tables, and loading booms. The No. 3 Mine at Snydertown remained in operation longer than the No. 2 Mine at Atlantic. It finally closed after the Second World War in the late 1940's.

Atlantic Crushed Coal & Coke Company, Atlantic Mine No. 2,
Atlantic No. 2 Tipple and coke works.
(Photo courtesy of Dianna Kerr and the Atlantic #40 School House Museum and The Derry Area Historical Society, New Derry.)

In 1994 the Atlantic #40 School House was acquired by the Derry Area Historical Society and was moved to the Derry Area High School Campus of the Derry Area School District, and was placed on a new foundation near the Grandview Elementary School, Village of Peanut, Derry Township.  During most of 1995 and into 1996, students, faculty, staff, community volunteers and members of the Derry Area Historical Society, restored the building to its original appearance for its reuse as a one room school house museum. The Derry Area High School students doing 80% of the work on the historic rehabilition project.

The restored Atlantic #40 One-Room School Museum dedication was held Sunday, April 28, 1996.  The museum, is now owned by Derry Area School District, Derry Township, Westmoreland Co., PA, is now being reused for One Room School House classes by the students of Derry Area School District, Derry Township. The students attend classes in the buiding, as they did so many years ago, as a part of the local history program.

Atlantic #40 School House Museum:
The Museum is open to the public by appointment, staffed by volunteers from the Derry Area School District, Derry Area Retired Educators (DARE), and the Derry Area Historical Society.

From the "Report of the Department of Mines of Pennsylvania for 1905."
Atlantic No. 3 Mine - In fairly good condition.  The improvements consist of a new ventilating fan of the Brazil type, which has greatly improved the ventilation.  Explosive gas was detected on March 21. Since then a fire boss has been employed. (Dept. of Mine,1906:102)

In 1919 the Atlantic No. 2 Mine & Coke Works produced 92,440 tons of coal, and 28,704 tons of coke with 120 bee-hive coke ovens, the mine operated 223 days, and the coke works ran 246 days, with a total of 125 employees, with 1 non-fatal accident.

The Atlantic No. 3 Mine produced 26,675 tons of coal in 1919, with 39 employees, the mine operated 138 days in 1919.

In 1920 the Atlantic No. 2 Mine & Coke Works produced 121,568 tonsof coal and the coke works produced 53,584 tons coke, the mine operated 274 days and the coke works 276 days, with 179 employees, there was 1 non-fatal accident in 1920.

Atlantic No. 3 Mine produced 28,716 tons of coal in 1920, with 38 employees, the mine ran 234 days in 1920.

(History and description of Atlantic Mines & Coke Works, adapted with additional data and pictures from "Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites, 1994,"  America's Industrial Heitage Project, National Park Service, Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record, U.S. Department of the Interior, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.)

An AD in the Latrobe Bulletin of 1936 advertised coal for sell at Atlantic No. 2 Mine.

AD - SCREENED COAL - 8c per bushel at the Mine Atlantic No. 2
(Latrobe Bulletin, December 31, 1936, Latrobe, PA)

Atlantic No. 2 Mine was shut down and the coke works closed by the late 1930's.

Atlantic No. 2 Mine, Derry Township, Westmoreland Co.
(Photo courtesy of Dianna Kerr and the Atlantic #40 School House Museum and The Derry Area Historical Society, New Derry.)

or
Go to Top of Page