Page 12 - SUSQUEHANNA TIMES
Alois Bube would be amazed
Alois Bube, who built a
large brewery in Mount Joy
nearly a hundred years
ago, would surely be
amazed if he could see it
today.
Bube’s catacombs, deep
underground vaults for
aging vast vats of beer,
have been turned into the
area’s most extraordinary
place to dine by Henry
Gingrich, proprietor of the
Central Hotel.
Bube’s wasn’t the only
brewery in the area back
in the last century. In
Mount Joy there was also
the Philip Frank Malt
House and the Kieff Brew-
ery, and in Marietta were
the Koch-Sander-Heaffner
and Frederick Maulich
breweries. Columbia also
had a few.
The following interesting
paragraphs about the his-
tory of Bube’s Brewery
were culled from the pages
of the Journal of the
Lancaster County Historical
Society, Vol. 70, No. 1,
written by Charles Lynch
and Jack W. W. Loose:
This photo was taken around the turn of the century.
‘“‘Alois Bube was born in
Bavaria in 1851, and came
to the United Sates in 1869.
In 1874 Bube met and
married Pauline Kurn of
Lancaster. Citizenship was
granted to Alois in 1878. At
first he was employed at
Lawrence Knapp’s brew-
ery, but in 1878 he had his
own brewery in Mount Joy,
thought to have been a
small brewery operated for
some years by Philip
Frank, the maltster. The
Bube family lived at first in
a small residence, later the
site of the Central House
Hotel. In 1889 Bube erect-
ed a larger brewery and
the Central House Hotel,
with financial backing by
Philip Frank. Large vaults
were dug under the brew-
ery, hotel, and adjacent
land. In 1893 a fire
damaged the roof and part
of the brewery. Bube
employed the most modern
methods of brewing then
known for his small but
well-equipped brewery.
‘“According to Walter
(Dutch) Kramer, who was a
Alois Bube (photo courtesy of Lancaster Historical Soc.)
beer deliveryman for Mr.
Bube. Alois was a large
portly man with a long
white beard. Daily deliver-
ies of beer were made to
Columbia, Elizabethtown,
Ironville, Sporting Hill,
Landisville, Milton Grove,
Mastersonville, Union
Square and Mount Joy.
Beer was delivered to
Middletown to King Mc-
Cord, a distributor; and to
Manheim twice weekly.
Three horses were used to
draw each wagon. Mr.
Kramer recalls the names
of the horses: John, Dick,
Doll, Harry, Major, Red
Pet, Bill, and Frank. Work
was begun at 4:00 a.m. for
Bube’s nine employees:
Henry Engle, George
Frank, Harry Frank, John
Horstik, Samuel Sheaffer,
Oliver Mateer, William
Walker, Carl Garman, and
Walter Kramer. Sheaffer,
Mateer and Horstik were
boilermen. Mr. Kramer
admits with little modesty
that in the seven years he
worked at the brewery, he
‘““drank only two gallons of
water.”” Eight stops were
made every morning in
Columbia, and seven stops
(equal to the number of
churches. Mr. Kramer re-
members) were made in
Mount Joy each Saturday.
He earned $12 a week
delivering beer.
““Bube produced beer in
both Pilsener and Bavarian
varieties; ale; and soft
drinks.
‘The Bube Brewery was
located in the point formed
by the intersection of Old
Market Street and Market
Street, opposite the Frank
Malt House. In the immed-
iate vicinity, in addition to
the Malt House, were John
Baumbach’s blacksmith
shop, Benjamin Greena-
walt’s copper shop, and
Groff’s saddle shop. Before
opening his smithy, Baum-
bach worked as a delivery-
man for Bube. His wife
helped Mrs. Bube in the
hotel kitchen at times. Mr.
Bube also owned a saloon
in Columbia.
‘““Alois Bube died 20
April 1908 after which his
estate operated the brew-
ery. Mrs. Bube died about
1918. In 1914 John R.
Hallgren bought the brew-
ery and operated it until
1917 when business condi-
tions and the impending
Prohibition Era forced him
to close and sell the plant.
Hallgren’s wife was born in
the same town in Sweden a
John Forstberg (see Rieker
Brewery), and Hallgren
worked for Forstberg at the
Chester Brewery until
1914. Forstberg’s thorough
" knowledge of brewing mar-
kets and the local situation
without daubt influenced
Hallgren to purchase the
Bube Brewery. Mr. Hall-
gran left Mount Joy to
become a merchant in
Harrisburg and later in
Hershey. He died in 1927.
“Henry Engle, a son-in-
law of Alois Bube, took
over the brewery and hotel
property about 1920. Mrs.
Engle was Josephine Bube.
Alois had five daughters:
Annie, Maidie, Josephine,
Pauline, and Tekla; and
one son, Karl. The Central
House Hotel was operated
by the Engle family to
many years, in fact, up to
Mr. Engle’s death in 1965.
Employees of the Engle
family were Kearsey Frank,
a hired man named
““Rudy’’ who was followed
about the neighborhood by
a pet goose, Margaret
Funk, and a colored lady
named Ada.”
DID YOU HEAR?
Antiques, collectibles,
glassware, wicker, and
classical 78’s will be avail-
able at 22 Donegal Springs
Rd., Mount Joy, on Satur-
day, 10-2. Come and buy
some.
July 27, 1977
Head Start
day care
The Lancaster County
Child Development Pro-
-gram (Head Start) is start-
ing its recruitment drive for
the 1977-78 year, which
begins in September. Pre-
school children of low or
moderate income families
who need day care to retain
employment of at least
twenty hours per week, or
to be enrolled in job
training are given highest
priority in enrollment.
Children of parents attend-
ing high school, daytime
GED program, or college
will also be considered for
enrollment as space per-
mits. Children must be at
least three years old at the
time of enrollment.
For more information, or
at apply for Day Care, the
parent should contact the
Lancaster County Devel-
opment Program (Head
Start) at 299-7301, exten-
sion 50. The administrative
office is located at 630
Rockland Street, Lancaster.
Swim team beats
Locust Grove
The Mount Joy Swim
Team defeated Locust
Heights by a score of
210-208 in a nip & tuck
battle, down to the last
event.
Some new pool records
were also made at this
meet.
Sherri Kinsey’s S0 meter
breast stroke was a record
time of 40.7. Mike Jones’
S50 meter breast stroke was
45.2. The Boys 8 & U relay
team (Scott Ney, Andy
Breault, Tim Zuch and Ben
Kling) had a record time of
1:29.3.
The Mount Joy Swim
Team lost to Conestoga
Valley by a score of
266-156.
Sales days in E-town
The biggest sales event
of the year takes place
again this weekend in
downtown Elizabethtown.
The traditional Summer
Sales Days always attracts
huge crowds, as much for
the festive atmosphere as
for the opportunity to
obtain quality merchandise
at considerable savings.
Most participating stores
will offer sidewalk diplays
of bargain-priced goods, as
well as values throughout
the interiors of the stores.
To add to the exuberant
mood, three Elizabethtown
service organizations will
be on the streets to satisfy
the hunger of the shopping
public. The Optimist Club
will be manning a food
stand on Center Square,
adjacent to The Gladell
Shop and Zarfoss Harware;
the Kiwanis Club will be
holding a bake sale on
South Market Street in
front of Herr Electric; and
the Elizabethtown Com-
munity Center will be
offering Snow Cones uuu a
cart. Even the Borough
government is helping out
by allowing free parking at
all metered spaces, wheth-
er bagged or not, for the
duration of the event.
“The main purpose of
Elizabethtown Sales Days
is to clear the stores of
their current stocks to
make room for the incom-
ing season’s merchandise,”
according to Richard Hart-
man, current Merchants’
Committee chairman and
general manager of The
Gladell Shops. ‘‘Opportuni-
ties for savings which can
be obtained at events like
this should not be ignored
by the smart shopper.”
Be sure to read the
advertisements place by
participating merchants in
this publication. It is sure
to be profitable reading.
Most stores will be open
Thursday and Friday from
9 am. to 9 p.m., with
Saturday’s hours set at 9
a.m. to S p.m.
Notice
On Monday, August 1st,
at 6:30 p.m., details of the
Junior Aide Program will
be presented at the Mari-
etta Community House. All
boys and girls aged 16 to
18 are welcome, as are
their parents.