IKE LOVITZ: Jim Flynn of Erie writes about Ike Lovitz, one of
several so-called ragmen who worked the Bradford area.

“I used to sell our newspapers to Mr. Lovitz. My mom and dad
subscribed to The Bradford Era, the Buffalo Evening News; (because
my brother Glenn and I had paper routes for the Buffalo Evening
News), along with the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and the NY Daily News
on Sunday. So I had lots of papers to sell,” he writes.

“His building was possibility part of the old Erie RR complex
that sat on what was then Webster Street. That was when Davis
Street ended at Main Street (because Daniel Kingsbury didn’t want
any streets crossing Main Street) and Webster ended at Elm
Street.”

We also had a call from Bob Matzner who tells us he lived across
the street from Ike Lovitz. Bob used to do odd jobs for him, he
reports.

Bob remembers that the neighborhood kids used to love to go play
in the piles of paper stored in Ike’s large building at the end of
Gay Street, near where the Best Western in now located. This is
certainly the complex mentioned above by Jim Flynn.

“We kids used to go through his junk and get the comic books
out,” Bob says. The kids also would fish out old parts of Zippo
lighters and put them together for a “custom-made” piece.

MOUNT RAUB: We’ve had many columns in recent weeks about former
football coach Don Raabe, but a reader has a question about a
different “Raub” – specifically, Mount Raub.

“We’ve all heard of Mount Raub, especially when it’s time for
fireworks,” writes Peggy Burns of Bradford. “I remember hearing he
owned a mansion.’

“Who was he? Does anyone have some knowledge about his life, his
business? Was he a philanthropist? Did he have heirs? I think there
was a Raub Street.”

In anticipation of your response, she adds, “Thanks for helping
me answer my curiosity.”

Mount Raub would be the one behind Peggy’s house, of course, but
its location is all we can recall. Readers?