Himlerville: Hungarian Cooperative Mining in Kentucky - The Filson ...
Himlerville: Hungarian Cooperative Mining in Kentucky - The Filson ...
Himlerville: Hungarian Cooperative Mining in Kentucky - The Filson ...
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
522 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Filson</strong> Club History Quarterly [October<br />
bridge. After twenty-two months the bridge was completed at a<br />
cost of $300,000. Because the bridge was constructed of steel<br />
and concrete rather than wood, it was considered the best bridge<br />
built across Tug River. <strong>The</strong> Norfork and Western Railroad laid<br />
tracks across the bridge and on 21 May 1921 the first tra<strong>in</strong><br />
crossed <strong>in</strong>to Mart<strong>in</strong> County. <strong>The</strong> Hunt<strong>in</strong>gton Herald Dispatch<br />
<strong>in</strong> an eight-column, front-page story described the event <strong>in</strong><br />
dramatic fashion: "<strong>The</strong> gates of Mart<strong>in</strong> County, <strong>Kentucky</strong>,<br />
locked for countless ages, were thrown wide today, when a tra<strong>in</strong><br />
of two coaches, gaily bedecked and crowded with men, women<br />
and children <strong>in</strong> holiday dress entered.''2e This special tra<strong>in</strong>,<br />
which had Hewitt as the eng<strong>in</strong>eer and Himler as the fireman,<br />
made history for eastern <strong>Kentucky</strong>. It was the first standard-<br />
gauge tra<strong>in</strong> to travel on Mart<strong>in</strong> County soil.<br />
<strong>The</strong> arrival of the Norfork and Western special touched off a<br />
celebration the likes of which Mart<strong>in</strong> County residents had never<br />
seen. When the tra<strong>in</strong> left Kermit a large crowd gathered on<br />
nearby hills to cheer its departure. Himler poured on the coal<br />
and Hewitt opened the throttle, and the tra<strong>in</strong> sped toward Ken-<br />
tucky. As it neared the new bridge the crowd cheered madly,<br />
anticipat<strong>in</strong>g the railroad's first venture <strong>in</strong>to Mart<strong>in</strong> County.<br />
Most realized that the hopes of thousands of Appalachian and<br />
<strong>Hungarian</strong> coal m<strong>in</strong>ers depended on this bridge. So far as resi-<br />
dents of <strong>Himlerville</strong> were concerned, this bridge was the only<br />
one <strong>in</strong> the world. After cross<strong>in</strong>g it the tra<strong>in</strong> entered Warfield<br />
but did not stop to take on the big crowd that had gathered to<br />
board it before go<strong>in</strong>g on to <strong>Himlerville</strong>. Upon enter<strong>in</strong>g Himler-<br />
ville the tra<strong>in</strong>, its whistle shriek<strong>in</strong>g, was met by a blast from a<br />
siren on the powerhouse at the Himler m<strong>in</strong>e. <strong>The</strong> big moment<br />
had arrived amid cheers and happy smiles. <strong>The</strong> tra<strong>in</strong> halted,<br />
its passengers disembarked, and Frank Demjen, a <strong>Hungarian</strong><br />
25 Ibid.<br />
26 Ibid.<br />
27 Haworth, "Hunt<strong>in</strong>stonians," I.