Any thought that the construction of the Midland Pennsylvania Railroad would bring jobs to the Lykens Valley was quickly dispelled by the employment of foreign labor to construct the line from Millersburg to Ashland.
On 17 October 1910, the Mount Carmel Item noted that the Pinkerton Construction Company would employ 3000 men on the job, “as soon as the necessary accommodations can be arranged to take care of them.”
PUSHING THE WORK ON THE NEW ROAD
The work of grading the Midland Pennsylvania Railroad, projected to run from Millersburg, Dauphin County, to Ashland, is progressing satisfactorily. About a mile and a half of grading, in the vicinity of Killinger, is completed, and the extension of the work toward Millersburg will commence next week.
This is necessary in order that a connection can be made with the Pennsylvania Railroad at Millersburg, so that the heavy machinery and material needed for the construction work can be moved to advantage.
The Pinkerton Construction Company, who have charge of the building of the new line, expect to put over 3000 men on the job as soon as the necessary accommodations can be arranged to take care of them.
The “necessary accommodations” referred to by Pinkerton consisted of shacks and tents that were set up along the route of construction.
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The next day, 18 October 1910, the Harrisburg Patriot also reported that 3000 men would be imported to work on the new line:
The Pinkerton Construction Company, which has charge of building of the new line, expects to put over 3000 men on the job as soon as the necessary accommodations can be arranged to take care of them.
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Then on 8 May 1911, the Harrisburg Telegraph reported on the progress of the Pinkerton Company in securing the labor to build the line:
ARE RUSHING WORK ON NEW R. R. LINE
Millersburg, 8 May 1911 — Seventy-five foreigners arrived here Saturday for the purpose of hurrying the grading of the new Midland Pennsylvania Railroad between here and Ashland and will start to work today on the new line. They will be quartered in company shacks near Shippen Dam, and will be distributed along the right of way.
Work at this end of the new railroad is centered on the cut being made through the Cummings farm, at the northern end of town. A steam shovel and a score of teams are scooping out the hill, which is the highest, it is said, on the thirty-five mile line.
Construction work at this end of the line has put several problems before the borough council, including the widening of Market Street, its elevation along Oak Hill Cemetery and the extension of the stone culvert over Shippen Run. In this work the Midland Pennsylvania has decided to cooperate to the extent of furnishing the fill and lending its teams for the work.
Interest in this neighborhood is centered in the mass meeting at Gratz and the two-day inspection of the Lykens Valley Development Company’s experimental farms and forestry tracts. The mass meeting at Gratz will probably attract more distinguished men that have come to the the Lykens Valley country for some time, including Henry Clews, the New York financial expert; Joe Mitchell Chapple, of Boston, editor of National, a magazine; J. H. Hale, of Glastonbury, Connecticut, the peach king, and others.
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The Harrisburg Patriot of the same day, also stated that 75 foreigners had arrived at Millersburg to begin work on the Midland:
To hurry along the grading for the new Midland Pennsylvania Railroad between here and Ashland upwards of seventy-five foreigners arrived here yesterday and today to work on the new line. They will be quartered in company shacks near Shippen Dam and will be distributed along the right of way.
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