In this fourth column, I am speaking to Mr. Mike Bednar, railroad buff, on his family's life experiences in Darktown, Hokendauqua, Whitehall Township. His grandparents immigrated to Darktown in 1900 and worked for the Thomas Iron Company. The family of 10 assimilated into the history and culture of their new country.

The Bednars soon became an integral part of the blue-collar hamlet. Mike's grandfather, Jan, worked hard in a limestone quarry only to fall victim to the Influenza Epidemic of 1918-19. After a brief struggle, the hard-working immigrant entered eternity on Nov. 6, 1918.

"My father told me he was only ill for one week," Mike Bednar says. "He died at home in Darktown. The home was too small for the viewing."

In those days viewings were held in the home of the deceased.

"My grandmother asked a neighbor if the family would allow them to use their front room for the viewing, and they agreed," Mike says. "That's the type of neighbors you had in Darktown. The home where the viewing was held in our present home. The funeral was held at St. Andrew's Slovak Church in Catasauqua."

The influenza of 1918-19 started at Fort Riley, Kansas, where more than 1,000 soldiers received treatment for something called Spanish Influenza. Fifty died, but the remaining soldiers carried the disease with them when they were shipped to Europe.

Another outbreak occurred at a camp in Massachusetts where more than 1,000 cases were diagnosed in one day. In October 1918, 13,000 died in Philadelphia. In one week, more than 21,000 perished in the United States. They called this a pandemic.

Panic slowly set in. Some people wore masks and some people were arrested for the crime of sneezing in public without using a handkerchief. People were so frightened, they refused to attend public funerals. Over 500,000 Americans died and the world death toll exceeded 20 million. Remember, there were no vaccines, no antibiotics! In 1920, another 100,000 were lost in the United States to the flu.

In other columns I have written about Dr. Charles Fox and Dr. Charles Haff (Haff Hospital). They said it was horrible. As one patient was admitted to the hospital, another patient was lost.

One physician who treated patients at the Haff Hospital was Dr. John Lentz. The young doctor was so exhausted he moved west to restore his health. He died a few years later. He was brought back for burial and I am told it was the only time the famous "Black Diamond" of the Lehigh Valley Railroad ever stopped in Treichlers so the doctor could be removed for burial.

"My grandfather was 44 when he passed on and there was a family to support," Mike Bednar says. "My grandmother gained employment at the General Cigar Factory in Coplay, making and wrapping cigars. She was paid next to nothing. She walked to work each day, there was no automobile in the family.

Michael, Jan's oldest son, boarded an Ironton train at the Hokendauqua station and was hired by American Cement, which later became Giant Cement.

"He would be a quarryman his entire life," Mike Bednar says. "Uncle Michael would always be appreciative of his job at the cement mill and how his pay helped support the family.

"The girls in the family and Uncle John would walk to the Jute Mill at Fourth and Jordan streets in Allentown. Work was tough but you couldn't miss a day. There was a group of Darktowners who walked together to the plant. Later they were able to take the trolley to work."

I asked Mike if the family had insurance when their grandfather died.

"Most immigrants joined lodges," he said. "The Slovaks joined the Jednota Branch 157 in Catasauqua which had an insurance program. You carried a payment book and went to the club each month to pay for the insurance. Dues were $25 to $50 a month. The death benefit for my grandfather was probably a few hundred dollars. The year was 1919.

"Later my parents had insurance at Jednota. My brother and I would walk over each month with the insurance book. We walked as fast as possible because if he came late we had to stay for the praying of the rosary which was conducted by a number of senior ladies. It was a Sunday afternoon and we had attended church services at St. Andrew's in the morning.

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In two weeks we will attend "Old Home Week" in Darktown.