In this second column, I am speaking to Mr. Sterling Rothrock in Lehigh Township. Mr. Rothrock is one of the senior former employees of the Universal Atlas Cement Company. Born in 1921, he worked at the cement company and operated two farms in Lehigh Township.

The family moved to Kreidersville where he attended the Kreidersville school.

One of his favorite hangouts as a youth was the Warren Wolfe & Sons Indian Motorcycle Shop.

"Being around the shop influenced me, I wanted to buy a motorcycle," Sterling recalls. "When Albert Wolfe and I went to Northampton High School, we drove to school in an Indian Motorcycle with a side car. Albert was 15 years old. He drove, I rode in the side car."

I asked Sterling how was that possible?

With a grin on his face he said, "Mr. Wolfe knew James Hiestand, Northampton's chief of police. Chief Hiestand said, 'I'll allow your son to drive to school on the motorcycle but nowhere else. If he disobeys, I'll arrest him.'"

The boys obeyed the chief.

Northampton's first police patrol was with motorcycles in 1923, until they purchased a Ford patrol car.

Sterling convinced his mother to lend him $70 to purchase a 1930 Indian Scout cycle. What a cycle!

"We used the motorcycle to go hunting in the mountains," Sterling said. "One morning there was 4 inches of snow on the ground, so we put chains on the tires."

The Wolfe boys were great motorcycle riders and participated in racing and hill climbing.

"Albert served in World War II. When he came home, I visited him on a Friday night and he indicated he would be racing on Saturday," Sterling recalls. "On Sunday, we received a sad message. The rider who served the nation during the war lost his life in an accident."

I asked about his school days at the high school.

"One of my favorite teachers was David Miller, who was a science and math teacher," he said. "Mr. Miller and S. Walter Snyder, residents of Laurys, were two of Northampton's finest teachers."

Discipline in schools was stringent during Sterling's school days. Parental complaints were rare. The teacher, not the student or parent, ran the classroom.

"The Bilheimers were veteran teachers. Clinton taught shop," Sterling said. "One day a student was acting up. Clinton picked up a wooden mallet, threw it at the student and hit the blackboard. The students all turned white.

"In another incident, one of the players of Northampton's 1937 'Wonder Team' was misbehaving. The teacher picked him up, lifted him in the air and dropped him on the floor."

He recalled when the 'Wonder Team' practiced on Miller's Field behind the present day Roxy Theatre. Coach Elwood 'Woody' Ludwig would have the boys run down 19th Street to the field to practice and run back to the school after the practice. They were always in top physical condition.

"I didn't like school," Sterling said. "I was 16 years of age and just quit. Mom said, 'Well, if you don't like school, you'll have to get a job.'"

He walked down to the Clyde Shirt Company on Main Street and was hired by Mr. Isador Weinstein.

"I helped the sewing machine mechanic," he said. "I don't recall his name but he smoked 'Wing' cigarettes. He smoked so much his hand was yellow."

Mr. Weinstein's favorite saying was, "If you want to work, work – or go home."

"Mr. Weinstein was so perspired during the summer he changed shirts a number of times each day," Sterling said. "I earned $9 a week; I needed the money to pay off my motorcycle."

The Clyde Shirt Company employed hundreds and made quality shirts with the Arrow and Manhattan labels, among many others.

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We face the Great Depression in two weeks!