Today, we will be remembering some old stories from the Atlas Portland Cement Company as told to this writer by the former Jim O’Donnell of Catasauqua.

Jim’s father heard the Atlas Portland Cement Company was building a new cement plant in Northampton. The year was 1895. Jim’s father walked to Northampton and was hired at $2 a day; this was good money for the time.

He met hundreds of men who spoke languages he could not understand. These voices were from immigrants who came to America wanting to work. The employees worked 12-hour shifts.

During the construction of plant 2, Jim’s father was working on a wall 20 feet in height when he fell and was badly bruised. He asked to be taken home, so he was placed in a horse-drawn wagon.

A few feet before he arrived home, he told the driver to stop, and he struggled out of the wagon and walked into the house. He told Jim he did not want to upset his mother. After spending some time in bed without seeing a doctor, he returned to work, wanting to keep his job to support his family.

Jim was also hired to work at the Atlas. He said he especially remembered the horses pulling stones from the quarries and ashes from the boiler houses.

Jim was assigned to the kiln building as a laborer. The heat in the building during the summer was higher than 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

“My mother packed me a large lunch, usually five sandwiches,” Jim said. “One day, the butcher who came to our homes in a horse-driven wagon told my mother to try a new product called spiced ham. She packed my usual lunch. I was anxious to taste the new meat. The sandwiches were wrapped in newspaper. When I looked at the meat, it looked green; the excess heat in the building started to mold the meat. I ate the sandwiches without hesitation. This was the first time I saw or ate spiced ham.”

There were no washrooms at the Atlas plants at this time and no showers. Men washed their hands and faces in large horse troughs or filled their zinc buckets with water from the Atlas dam. The water from the dam was warm from the discharge of the large steam engines that powered the plant’s machinery.

When plant 2 closed in 1936, Jim was hired by Mack Trucks. It was there he would complete his working career.

Mr. O’Donnell visited the museum at the age of 99. A fine gentleman and full of humor, he survived difficult times without any complaints and made you appreciate the quality of life we enjoy today.

For this writer, interviewing Mr. O’Donnell was an enriching and moving experience. A gentleman who started life with no luxuries, marked with dignity and a strong work ethic, he passed away a few days short of his 104th birthday Jan. 13, 2005.

See you in two weeks!