Original Hotel as a Scam
(Windber)
ORIGINAL HOTEL AS SCAM
-by Patty Wilson
Patty D. took me to meet a man who is from Windber
yesterday. He grew up there and his family has been
there for generations. He told us some things about
the hotel. I don't know if you know the stuff or not
but I'll tell you just in case you didn't already know.
(windber)
The Grand Midway was the first stop for most of the
immigrants that came to the coal mines. The mine
owners hired agents to go over to eastern Europe and
talk up the mine jobs. Those who signed up got a
bonus when they arrived at Windber. A small advance
was made on the bonus to help with travel expenses.
The men were given badges or buttons that they dared
not loose. The buttons got them onto ships and trains
on their journey for free. (Passage was paid by the
mine owners.) The men only had to present the buttons
and they would be directed through immigration and
onto the right train cars. No English was needed that
way.
(Windber)
Once the immigrant arrived in Windber (by train) they
were directed to the Grand Midway which also housed a
Cunard Line office. (Cunard Lines was a ship line
that had the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary. They
would later merge with White Star Lines of Titantic
fame but they made a lot of money shipping immigrants
over in steerage for mines and the railroads.) By
checking in at the Cunard office they had completed
their journey. They would then be given their bonus
but they would also be told that the housing they had
been promised was not ready. For a cut rate they
could stay at the Grand Midway.
(Windber)
Most of these men had never had so much money. They
felt rich and most of them accepted the accomodations.
America was such a wonderful place. Already they
were better off than in Europe. However, the whole
thing was a gimmick to seperate the men from the
signing bonus money. The men would not get their
housing until the bonus money had been spent and it
was usually spent at the Grand Midway. Then suddenly
the miner's house was available. This way they
rotated in the men, got back most of the bonus, and
then sent them on to cheap mine housing. How this
worked within the Grand Midway he was not sure.
Probably the mine got a cut or kickback to keep the
men coming there. The Hotel only made a part of the
profit on the deal.
(Windber)
Anyhow, he said that there were limits on how many
could stay in a room because they didn't want a lot of
men to share a room. He had heard that people were
housed in the basement temporarily if they ran out of
money or if someone brought children and couldn't keep
them all in rooms. It was very cheap to sleep in the
basement area.
-Patty Wilson
The Grand Midway Hotel used to have balconies that lined the front of it.
This is a postcard we discovered of it back in the day when coal mining defined the community.
Miners would get off the train out front after work and drink here in the hotel bar.
...A lot of history within these walls.
There were prostitutes and bar fights and it must have been like the Old Wild West in many ways.
Huge riots erupted over Unions in the community.
There are miles and miles of mines beneath the ground here carved out by the miners.
The coal museum, two doors down, has a giant electric map of the huge network of tunnels.
One old miner described it as "An entire underground city" beneath the land here.
"It runs for miles and on several levels atop one another. People have no idea."
Some of the coal that fueled the Titanic supposedly even came from Windber.
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This is a Hotel registry book found hidden in the basement floorboards from 1916.
Some of these Registry Books were not even written in English.
No one was about to steal this Bar Hotel Safe. It weighs a ton.
(Another bar in Windber around this time period)
TRAIN-WRECK GHOST
Mangled by a Train, Barnesboro, Pa.,
December 9, 1904
Andy Lazarcak of Cambria City, Johnstown, was run over and instantly killed by a train on the Susquehanna division near Barnes tipple No. 7 at 7 o’clock Monday night.
The man was alone at the time he met death. A few minutes before he had been in the company of some friends at one of the hotels and walked away alone. The next heard of him was that he had been killed. As the train came thundering along, the headlight revealed to the engineer the form of a man lying on the track, but there was no time to stop before he was run over and the body was horribly mangled. The train was stopped
and the crew found that the body had been cut in two below the shoulders,
the arms were cut off and the left leg severed above the ankle. The remains were taken to the undertaking rooms of Bougher & McMullen where they were prepared for burial.
The dead man had been in this place several times recently negotiating for the purchase of a hotel. He formerly conducted one at Cambria City and before that was proprietor of the Midway Hotel at Windber.
The Midway Cafe
The bar was re-created as a ship after the WW2 Battle of Midway. It was called The Midway Cafe. Notice the port holes and steam stacks.
The Kaleidoscope
In the late 1960's and early 1970s the bar was recreated as the Kaleidoscope, "the areas only psycedelic bar." Flowers and psychedelic swirls decorated the walls. It big flowing painted letters 'The Kaleidoscope' splashed across wall above the bar. From the stories we've heard from everyone it was pretty wild.
"You had to catch it at the right time." Recalls Denny Burgeos, who was a local musician friend within the bar. "But there was a period where a small group of friends, who all had money, got together and did this thing, and they were all excentrics. The bar was a weekend bar. During the week it was closed. But on the weekends... they'd have all the lights going outside and inside. Boy, the chicks and the mini-skirts. It was crazy. They'd smoke marajuana in there, pass the joints up and down the bar. Man it was something!"
TOP FORTY SONGS of 1969 (on the hotel juke box)
1. Sugar Sugar -- Archies
2. Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In -- Fifth Dimension
3. I Can't Get Next To You -- Temptations
4. Honky Tonk Women -- Rolling Stones
5. Everyday People -- Sly & The Family Stone
6. Dizzy -- Tommy Roe
7. Hot Fun In The Summertime -- Sly & The Family Stone
8. I'll Never Fall In Love Again -- Tom Jones
9. Build Me Up Buttercup -- Foundations
10. Crimson And Clover -- Tommy James & The Shondells
11. One -- Three Dog Night
12. Crystal Blue Persuasion -- Tommy James & The Shondells
13. Hair -- Cowsills
14. Too Busy Thinking About My Baby -- Marvin Gaye
15. Love Theme From Romeo And Juliet -- Henry Mancini & His Orch.
16. Get Together -- Youngbloods
17. Grazin' In The Grass -- Friends Of Distinction
18. Suspicious Minds -- Elvis Presley
19. Proud Mary -- Creedence Clearwater Revival
20. What Does It Take (To Win Your Love) -- Jr. Walker & The All Stars
21. It's Your Thing -- Isley Brothers
22. Sweet Caroline -- Neil Diamond
23. Jean -- Oliver
24. Bad Moon Rising -- Creedence Clearwater Revival
25. Get Back -- Beatles
26. In The Year 2525 -- Zager & Evans
27. Spinning Wheel -- Blood -- Sweat & Tears
28. Baby I Love You -- Andy Kim
29. Going In Circles -- Friends Of Distinction
30. Hurt So Bad -- Lettermen
31. Green River -- Creedence Clearwater Revival
32. My Cherie Amour -- Stevie Wonder
33. Easy To Be Hard -- Three Dog Night
34. Baby It's You -- Smith
35. In The Ghetto -- Elvis Presley
36. A Boy Named Sue -- Johnny Cash
37. Baby Baby Don't Cry -- Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
38. Only The Strong Survive -- Jerry Butler
39. Time Of The Season -- Zombies
40. Wedding Bell Blues -- Fifth Dimension