<html>
<head>
<style><!--
.hmmessage P
{
margin:0px;
padding:0px
}
body.hmmessage
{
font-size: 12pt;
font-family:Calibri
}
--></style></head>
<body class='hmmessage'><div dir='ltr'> <BR> <BR>Of course we've heard about Rocco - even in Lancaster County.<BR> <BR>As dad use to say "just a dog, but you grow attached". They can become faithful companions.<BR> <BR><a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/02/07/Funeral-for-slain-K-9-officer-Rocco-to-restrict-traffic-today/stories/201402070138">http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/02/07/Funeral-for-slain-K-9-officer-Rocco-to-restrict-traffic-today/stories/201402070138</a><BR> <BR> <BR> <BR><br> <BR><div>> From: hrbran@cavtel.net<br>> Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2014 23:19:30 -0500<br>> To: pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org<br>> Subject: [PRCo] Happenings In Pittsburgh<br>> <br>> May as well do some reading about Pittsburgh on these frozen evenings.<br>> <br>> FIRST ON THE list is "Rocco's Funeral". For those of you who haven't heard,<br>> Rocco was a member of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police K-9 Unit. He was<br>> killed in the line of duty last week. Here is the story from the Pittsburgh<br>> Post Gazette:<br>> <br>> Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<br>> <br>> The funeral for Rocco, the Pittsburgh police dog that died last week from a<br>> knife wound he suffered while trying to apprehend a suspect, will begin at<br>> 11 a.m. Friday at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum in Oakland.<br>> <br>> The service is open to the public, but priority seating will be given to<br>> law enforcement officers and their families. Cameras will not be permitted<br>> at the service, which is expected to last until about 1 p.m.<br>> <br>> Rocco's handler, Officer Phil Lerza, originally asked that the funeral be<br>> closed to the public but changed his mind after numerous calls and emails<br>> and an outpouring of support from the public.<br>> <br>> "The tremendous show of support has deeply touched the Lerza family and the<br>> Pittsburgh Bureau of Police," said a prepared statement from the police<br>> bureau.<br>> <br>> Friday morning, Pittsburgh police officers will gather at the bureau's<br>> canine training academy on Washington Boulevard in Highland Park to form a<br>> processional. About 10 a.m., they will leave the academy in a procession to<br>> Soldiers & Sailors. The police bureau has not announced whether Washington<br>> Boulevard, Fifth Avenue or side streets will be closed during the trip to<br>> Oakland.<br>> <br>> Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto is unable to attend the funeral. He issued<br>> this statement Thursday:<br>> *STATEMENT OF MAYOR WILLIAM PEDUTO*<br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> *In a private ceremony at 6 p.m. today in the Mayor's Office Mayor William<br>> Peduto presented the flag of the City of Pittsburgh to Officer Phil Lerza<br>> and his family, and delivered the following remarks in honor of fallen K-9<br>> Officer Rocco:*<br>> <br>> When a Pittsburgh officer dies in the line of duty, it is customary to<br>> present the family with a flag of the city.<br>> <br>> Officer Rocco was a police dog who died defending three uniformed officers,<br>> and his family was that of Zone Five Officer, Phil Lerza.<br>> <br>> Officer Lerza was one of the three policemen Rocco died defending, and he<br>> was himself injured while capturing the fugitive who killed his partner<br>> Rocco.<br>> <br>> Because of a long-standing commitment to a loved one, I must be out-of-town<br>> during tomorrow's memorial service.<br>> <br>> But I did not want to leave without first paying my respects, and the<br>> respect of our city, to Rocco and to the good people who became his family<br>> during the time he served us.<br>> <br>> The night Officer Rocco died, I went to the Veterinary Clinic and stayed<br>> with Officer Rocco, the Lerzas, and the police officers who gathered to be<br>> with a comrade on his final watch.<br>> <br>> There were many older officers, big, tough veterans, men and women<br>> accustomed to seeing hard things.<br>> <br>> Not a single one of them left that clinic without a leaking heart, torn by<br>> both grief and admiration, and with eyes filled with tears in a city that<br>> soon joined them in their grief when the word of Officer Rocco's passing<br>> was announced.<br>> <br>> Pittsburgh showed its soul that night, a soul that shines with compassion,<br>> and recognizes the good not only in every human, but in every being.<br>> <br>> Not every dog proves a perfect match for the job of protecting others.<br>> <br>> The combination of control and courage needed in a canine officer are not<br>> found in every dog.<br>> <br>> But Rocco measured up in every way.<br>> <br>> He faced an assailant's knife without hesitation, without retreat, and with<br>> a loyalty that reached beyond mere "trait" and well into the realm of<br>> character.<br>> <br>> There are 5,000 known species of mammal, but Rocco showed us why only one<br>> of them is known as man's best friend.<br>> <br>> Rocco came to us from a breeder in the Czech Republic. Like so many others<br>> in our city, he had his origins in another land, and his heart in<br>> Pittsburgh.<br>> <br>> It was a Czech-born writer, Milan Kundera, who spoke of dogs as our last<br>> link to paradise.<br>> <br>> He said: "They don't know evil, or jealousy, or discontent. To sit with a<br>> dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where<br>> doing nothing was not boring - it was peace."<br>> <br>> Rocco is now at peace, and we can only pray that the old saying is true -<br>> that all dogs go to heaven.<br>> <br>> Surely, with Rocco there, Heaven is a safer, happier place.<br>> <br>> I am sorry that my plans must take me away from the city tomorrow, but<br>> please know that Rocco, the Lerzas, and every man and woman who protects<br>> our city will be in my thoughts and prayers.<br>> <br>> So, on behalf of the citizens of Pittsburgh, with gratitude and humility, I<br>> present this flag of our city to the Lerzas - Rocco's family.<br>> <br>> END PG STORY<br>> <br>> Rocco's funeral will probably be one of the biggest funerals held in<br>> Pittsburgh in recent times.<br>> <br>> NEXT ON THE reading list is PATransit and the ice storm yesterday morning.<br>> When I worked at PAT it was common, during an ice storm, to run a couple<br>> cars on the lines with "ice cutters" attached to the trolley wheel. These<br>> "ice cars" would be run whenever needed no matter what time of day or night<br>> and on all lines. Apparently the current management of PAT has forgotten<br>> that frozen water is a perfect insulator and will not allow the current to<br>> pass from the overhead wire into the motors. Yesterday morning the entire<br>> rail system was shut down, because of ice on the overhead, until around<br>> 10AM. Around 10AM what PAT called "limited service" was started on the Red<br>> Line. The Blue Line didn't get up and running until much later and full<br>> service took several hours to get running. Where did these people learn how<br>> to run a railroad?????<br>> <br>> THIRD ON THE list is short story fiction, about Pittsburgh, with streetcars<br>> mentioned in the story lines. I have selected three excerpts from three<br>> different books. These books are very interesting especially if one really<br>> gets the "minds' eye" involved in the reading process. You will become a<br>> part of the story.<br>> <br>> Story 1--Excerpt from "Out of the Furnace" by Thomas Bell. Setup: This<br>> novel tells the story of Pittsburgh and the growing steel industry from the<br>> standpoint of the immigrant workingman and his family as they struggle to<br>> achieve dignity and economic justice. The book spans the years 1881 to<br>> 1937. The location is Braddock and the neighboring mill towns.<br>> <br>> 1915--The second summer after his father's death Johnny got a job selling<br>> papers. The boy who had the Sixth Street corner, which was good, also had<br>> an equity in the Corey Avenue corner a block west, which wasn't so good. He<br>> stationed Johnny in front of the drugstore there--the only other corner was<br>> occupied by the Corey Avenue School--paying him half the profits to yell,<br>> "Press, Telly, Sun and Leader!" from mid afternoon until seven every day<br>> but Sunday. Johnny yelled himself hoarse and at every opportunity boarded<br>> the passing streetcars; by custom newsboys were permitted to ride free. He<br>> liked that. He liked it even better in summer, when he could go swinging<br>> magnificently along the outsides of the open cars, but he was wise enough<br>> to keep that a secret from his mother.....<br>> <br>> Another night a man came out of the drugstore as a streetcar approached;<br>> buying a paper he dropped a coin to the sidewalk. Johnny all but dislocated<br>> his neck with helpfulness, but was careful not to move his left foot until<br>> the man, swearing disgustedly, had boarded the car and the car was out of<br>> sight. The he picked up the coin, a dime. It was exactly the price of the<br>> swimming trunks he needed; his mother had offered to get him a ticket to<br>> the pool in the Carnegie Library building as soon as school was out if he<br>> promised not to go swimming in the river and furnished his own trunks. But<br>> when he got home that night the wish to surprise and please his mother<br>> impelled him to put both dimes, the one he'd earned and the one he'd found<br>> under his shoe, into her hand. Her praise was sufficient recompense for his<br>> sacrifice, and the next day, on his way to work, he stopped off in the<br>> five-and-ten at the foot of Library Street and stole a pair of trunks.<br>> <br>> Story 2--Excerpt from "Duffy's Rocks" by Edward Fenton. Setup: Timothy<br>> Francis Brennan, a 14-year-old boy of the 1930's, has made a weekly ritual<br>> of a Saturday trip to Pittsburgh from Duffy's Rocks, an industrial<br>> community suffering through the grayness of mill smoke and the Great<br>> Depression. One Saturday he is forced, by his grandmother, to take along<br>> Mary Agnes, his 13-year-old cousin. They go, naturally by trolley car.<br>> <br>> He called out, "Here comes the streetcar now!" and started to sprint to the<br>> car stop. Mary Agnes forgot about he stockings and panted after him. The<br>> door clattered open. All the seats were already taken, so they had to stand<br>> on the platform, holding onto the poles.<br>> <br>> They rode in silence, Mary Agnes looked resentfully at Timothy, while<br>> Timothy looked out through the soot-streaked glass. He stared at the small<br>> frame houses, all exactly like his grandmother's, with their gritty<br>> curtains stretched across the front windows. He stared at the skimpy bare<br>> trees, at the grime-layered store fronts, at the shabby beer parlors on<br>> every corner, their entrance doors clotted with unemployed men. In the<br>> center of almost every block there stood a church with its blackened brick<br>> parochial school, exactly like St. Bridget's where he and Mary Agnes went.<br>> They all flashed past as the streetcar clanged downhill.....<br>> <br>> As the neighborhood receded, Timothy's heart bounded higher. Soon they had<br>> even left behind them Kolb's Used Car Lot where, week after week, the same<br>> automobiles stood. None of them ever seemed to get sold, in spite of the<br>> huge banners that stretched across the entrance: No Reasonable Offer<br>> Refused! Easy Terms Arranged On The Spot!<br>> <br>> After that, the railroad tracks cut across the street. Now the faces of the<br>> unemployed men on the sidewalk were black. He looked out for the mysterious<br>> store front which had all its windows painted over in yellow, purple and<br>> red, with a sign over the doorway: African Church of the Pentecostal<br>> Brotherhood. Come to the Refreshing Spring and Be Saved!<br>> <br>> Once past the Colored church, Timothy knew that he was really on his way.<br>> There was still more than half an hour's ride ahead of him, uphill and<br>> downhill, winding through a grubby string of industrial towns exactly like<br>> Duffy's Rocks, all grown together into a shapeless suburb. Each hid its<br>> rows of gaunt, gray, company houses like dingy wash on the line, and stores<br>> whose shabby windows denied the hope that prosperity was just around the<br>> corner, and more churches........<br>> <br>> He was on his way: off to the adventure that waited for him. The whole<br>> week, to him, was a trough between his Saturdays. It was the thought of<br>> them that made it possible to endure all those dreary weekdays which led up<br>> to them. For the moment he even forgot that this time Mary Agnes was with<br>> him, secured to his side like a block of cement.<br>> <br>> Soon he would be able to see the river. Then the bulk of the skyscrapers<br>> would loom ahead of him, shining through the grit-filled-air. And after<br>> that he would be downtown He pressed closer to the window, but just then<br>> some broad Slovak ladies got up. They clutched black oilcloth shopping bags<br>> in their chapped hands, and their faces under their shawls were steamy and<br>> red. They surrounded him, blocking the view. He could only tell when the<br>> streetcar was crossing the river from the way it lurched and from the sound<br>> of the wheels rattling on the bridge. After that the car began to empty.<br>> But there was no sense in sitting down now. Suddenly he grabbed Mary Agnes<br>> by the sleeve. "Come on. We're getting off here" She jumped down, plunging<br>> after him into the crowds that clogged the intersection.<br>> <br>> The great world, Timothy thought: this was it! He turned, lifting his face<br>> eagerly toward it, ignoring the people who had to jostle him in order to<br>> pass. There was not much smoke today. Everything was clear in the cold<br>> winter air. His eyes drank in the streets filled with traffic and lined<br>> with vast office buildings. He knew the name of every single one of the<br>> glittering granite buildings of downtown Pittsburgh. All around him, in<br>> every direction, they stretched: banks, department stores with their<br>> enormous crystal display windows, theaters. A sea of preoccupied faces<br>> milled in and out of them. Every Saturday he felt the same surge of wild<br>> exhilaration. It was all there. Andi it was all his !<br>> <br>> Story 3--Excerpt from "Miners Hill" by Michael O'Malley. Setup: A trip by<br>> trolley in the 1940's to Kennywood for Irish Day is described in Miners<br>> Hill. The main characters in the book are the members of the Riley family,<br>> Mick and Birdie (parents) and their children, Pat, Tony, Mary and Kathleen.<br>> <br>> The morning was bright, white-lit, shot with melon-colored gold light, like<br>> all good picnic mornings. Something in the air, all sorts of things in the<br>> air: the gaiety of expectation, a happy tense jiggling nervousness, a sky<br>> that promised glory and a green-cool afternoon. There was the wild anxiety<br>> to be off, to clank off rocking in a big rattling orange trolley car,<br>> grinning importantly from the window because of the sign that said<br>> 'Chartered'. There was the opulence of that 'Chartered' sign, and the<br>> shouting crush of the passengers--the portly Irish housewives and their<br>> picnic baskets bulging, and the huge men, broad backed, the Irishmen,<br>> laughing and greeting each other, roughly touching their big callous hands,<br>> surprised and embarrassed by their joy, by their desire to embrace one<br>> another.......<br>> <br>> The Riley's arrived early at the schoolyard on Main Street where they were<br>> to board the chartered trolleys. Mick and Uncle Miles went off to get the<br>> identification tags.......the rest of the family sat down with Birdie on<br>> the stone steps of the school, near the heavy black wrought-iron gates, to<br>> await the coming of the cars.<br>> <br>> The long line of chartered trolley cars, bells clanging exuberantly, hove<br>> into view on Main Street, and the children around them began to clap and<br>> shout. As the cars approached, Bridie's anxiety increased. "Tony! Where's<br>> that child? Oh, Holy Mother o' God, every time I go one one o' these<br>> picnics I swear I'll never set foot on another. Ye know", she said to Pat,<br>> "he gets it from yer father---yer father don't worry himsel' about nothin'<br>> atall, so Tony don't either. I could throttle the both o' them."<br>> <br>> The first of the trolleys had drawn up opposite the gate, almost throbbing<br>> on the tracks in its eagerness to be off, the other cars lined up<br>> impatiently behind it, and the Irish poured down the steps and into the<br>> street and up the high steel steps, past the smiling motorman, and in the<br>> car they rushed to be seated, threw open the windows, shouted to each other<br>> and the crowd outside, and heard the hiss as the doors clumped shut and the<br>> gong clanged twice, and they were off in a great surge of cheering, the<br>> huge steel wheels of the car rumbling smoothly louder on the rails, the<br>> trolley above flashing sparks from the wire, and inside the smell of sweat<br>> and of the old straw seats and acrid sharp oily smell of the motors below.<br>> <br>> Like I said, if you really get into the story line you will find yourself<br>> in old Pittsburgh and will see the sights, feel the movements and most of<br>> all, see yourself as we were.<br>> <br>> FINALLY THE FOURTH ITEM on tonight's happenings is the current television<br>> ad being run by Citizens Bank. Several Citizens Bank employees are in their<br>> branch break room. The bank customers have suddenly started giving gifts to<br>> the Citizens Bank employees because Citizens doesn't charge a lot of fees.<br>> Two of the employees appear wearing sweaters with "No 1 Banker" on the<br>> front of both sweaters. Another employee turns, looks at the two sweater<br>> guys and says, "Youins can't both be number one bankers." This, after all<br>> that every school in Allegheny has been doing for years to curb the<br>> corruption of the English language in the Pittsburgh area and this bank<br>> gets it started again !!<br>> <br>> That's all folks......hope you enjoyed reading about Pittsburgh. A photo of<br>> Rocco from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police is attached.<br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> -- <br>> Herb Brannon<br>> <br>> <br>> *In Pittsburgh.............................A City And .........A State of<br>> Mind*<br>> Let's Go Pens<br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> -------------- next part --------------<br>> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...<br>> URL: http://mailman.dementix.org/pipermail/pittsburgh-railways/attachments/20140206/99f34d70/attachment.html <br>> -------------- next part --------------<br>> A non-text attachment was scrubbed...<br>> Name: PghBureauOfPolice--Rocco-FallenOfficer.jpg<br>> Type: image/jpeg<br>> Size: 110292 bytes<br>> Desc: not available<br>> Url : http://mailman.dementix.org/pipermail/pittsburgh-railways/attachments/20140206/99f34d70/attachment.jpg <br>> _______________________________________________<br>> Pittsburgh-railways mailing list<br>> Pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org<br>> https://mailman.dementix.org/mailman/listinfo/pittsburgh-railways<br></div> </div>
</body>
</html>