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Sunday. December 13, 1987
West County Times
i REMEMBER WHEN
Order to pack dynamite led to career at Selby smeltei
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By Heather Macdonald M~\$ -ffl
Times Correspondent
EL SOBRANTE — When John
Henry Harrison was born the horrors of the Civil War were still fresh
in his family's memories, home
lights were changing from gas to
electricity, and a German named
Karl Benz had invented a horseless
carriage the year before. Harrison
was born in 1886 and will be 101
years old Dec. 16.
A country boy from Tennessee,
Harrison was first introduced to
California in 1904 while in the
Army. Once, on leave, he checked
out employment in the Bay Area
and found the Hercules dynamite
plant. A few years later he left the
military and began handling explosive TNT.
He worked about eight years
packing and shipping TNT until the
beginning of World War I, when the
plant stepped up its production of
dynamite. Harrision was ordered,
he said, to stop his TNT work and
start handling the more dangerous
dynamite.
"That's when I said I'm getting
out of this explosive business,"
chuckled Harrison.
He's lost his sight and most of
his hearing to age, but not his sense
of humor. Patients and employees
of Greenridge Heights Convalescent
Hospital in El Sobrante say he's a
"wonderful" man and is a favorite
resident.
Staff photo, Michael A Jones
John Henry Harrison
Far from sickly and bedridden,
white-haired Harrison sits tall and
alert in his chair. A crisp, white
moustache twitches as he grins. He
admits he can't put names with
faces like he used to and even the
birthdates of his three boys elude
him at times.
Yet, while talking about his
grandfather being a soldier during
the Civil War, he starts reciting a
poem about that war: a poem his
mother taught him more than 90
years ago.
"One brother wore blue and one
wore gray," he begins. With dramatic intensity he leans forward,
clutching the quilt that covers his
knees, delivering the poignant poem
as if he were on stage.
He gives a little sigh and says he
wishes he could still read poetry,
but that he enjoys it when friends
come by and read to him. His
"mother's folks" were well-educated, he said, and she passed on a lot
to him. But a good education didn't
help him much in the depressed
years after World War 1 when it was
hard to find a job.
He worked at the C&H Sugar
Refinery in Crockett for a few
months, then the workers went on
strike. Beating the pavement in
1918, he found work at Standard Oil
in Richmond as a machinist's helper. He was laid off eight months later and decided to work in a sugar
beet mill in Salinas.
His family stayed in Richmond in
their home on 16th Street near Macdonald Avenue. The sugar mill job
soon ran out. Next, he worked in lo
cal shipyards then started work at
the company from which he would
retire. Harrison found steady work
at the American Smelting and Refining Company in Selby, a town between Rodeo and Crockett that exists only in memory.
Today Wickland Oil Terminals
sits on the spot where the gold, silver and lead smelting plant once operated. The plant boasted the
world's tallest smokestack at 606
feet in the mid-1940s. Also nearby
was a train depot, two hotels, a
wharf, trading post, restaurant and
post office.
Harrison moved into the town
next door, Tormey. His face lights
up as he remembers the exact day-
he started working in the smelter
furnaces.
"It was Aug. 4, 1921," he said
proudly "You know how I remember* When I came home from work
that first day my third son had been
born."
Harrison said his job was to skim
impurities from the molten metal
swirling in huge kettles. Over 32
years of service, he worked his way
up to senior refinery foreman. Harrison retired from that position in
1953
He credits his longevity to being
raised in the country and getting
away from cities whenever he
could. On weekends and vacations,
he said, he would pack his "husky"
sons into his Model A Ford and
head for the nius. i ne tamiiy traveled all over the United States in the
Ford. They camped in Yellowstone
and Yosemite, but their favorite
fishing spot was on the Klamath
River. . , ,
Harrison has trouble remember-
ing how many grandchildren he has
and can only remember one vividly.
Her name is Scottie, named for his
third son who was killed when his
parachute didn't open during an
emergency jump from a B-29 airplane.
Today his fellow residents and
the employees of Greenridge
Heights are his family, as well as
some friends from his old neighborhood. And, like any good family,
they will be celebrating Harrison's
101st birthday with a big party. Harrison said he's excited about it.
"I hear they're already planning
to bake about three big cakes," he
said.
When asked if he would be blowing out 101 candles, he laughed and
said the hospital better not light that
many, it might start a fire.
