The July meeting of the Nesquehoning Historical Society featured a special presentation by Lois Corby-Kuba.

She gave a talk about her research into 100-plus-year-old articles from the Nesquehoning Chronicles newspaper. Lois is a lifelong resident of Nesquehoning and she is a descendant of the Corbys who owned and operated Corby Hall and Corby Bakery.The articles that Lois shared with the group covered the a range from hilarious to sad to quaint.Here are some excerpts:BALL PLAYERSARE ARRESTED(May 26, 1911)This is the story of how two Nesquehoning ministers arranged for the arrest of 17 baseball players. The ball players were charged with "desecrating the Sabbath" by playing baseball on a Sunday afternoon.According to the article, there were "nearly 1,000 spectators in attendance." With the help of a few allies, the ministers were able to compile a list of all of the players. Baird Snyder Jr., the owner of the field where the game was being played, was also the superintendent of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. The ministers had appealed to Snyder to prevent the players from playing on Sunday, but he considered that the game should go on.STRIKEAT THE MINES(Dec. 9, 1913)A dispute arose between the operators of the LCN and the workers as to what exactly the hours of work should be. The normal working hours had been from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. for quite some time.The paper stated that "prior to the trouble, the day miners … had no dinner time (what we would call lunch time)." But the company wanted the workers to change their hours to 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. (and take an hour off work for lunch.) The LCN reasoned that this change would increase the productivity of the workers. But the striking workers would have none of the change and insisted on keeping their regular hours in order to be able to make it home at the accustomed hour for their evening meal.Eventually, the LCN relented and the workers celebrated their victory.TWO MEN EJECTED FROM SALOONFIRE BACK(April 26, 1912)The account stated that two "foreigners" fired several shots through the door and window of a Nesquehoning drinking establishment after they had been forcibly removed by the proprietor. The shots narrowly missed the owner and his wife. The constable arrived in short order and both men were arrested. One of the men was "badly done up" during his arrest. The next morning they were to be given a hearing, but one fellow was still too drunk and the other was disabled, so the hearing was continued until the evening.NESQUEHONING COUPLES WAYLAID BY HIGHWAYROBBER(March 14, 1911)The paper reported that Robert Wisely and Thomas Corby (accompanied by their lady friends) were out enjoying a sleigh ride when a masked robber emerged from the woods. Mr. Corby quickly pulled out a revolver and placed it close to the robber's head. This show of force caused the robber to have second thoughts about his criminal intentions, so he quickly ran back into the woods. The incident occurred while the couples were traveling back to Nesquehoning from Mauch Chunk. The paper stated that "these holdups were becoming too frequent" and that "the authorities should give the matter some attention."MR MEALEY'S NEW CAR HAS ARRIVED(April 17, 1918)The paper reported that a certain Mr. John G Mealey had purchased a fine new automobile and that it had been delivered to his home. The claim was made that "it is the finest car that has yet to come to Nesquehoning and it is attracting great attention."A back-and-forth discussion occurred between the many members of the historical society in attendance while Corby-Kuba's presentation was being given. The laughter and reminiscing often took the form of relaying person stories recalled from the earliest memories of the participants.At the conclusion, Bill Gardiner, who is a member of the banner committee, presented Lois with a certificate of appreciation for her lecture.The next special event of the Nesquehoning Historical Society will be a table hosted at the Nesquehoning Hose Company No. 1's Community Festival on Aug. 15 and 16.