Jim Harmon worked in the furnace room in the basement, was a hard working, God fearing man, who attended church regularly at the United Brethren Church on East Main Street. He lived on Hudson Avenue, and walked the few blocks to work each day. Many days, his wife Jessie would walk with him to work, and she would walk him to the Home-style Diner on 4th Street, and they would part on that corner ... he would head on to the Arcade, and Jessie would return home. She would always turn and see him enter the 4th Street Entrance. Jim would enter the Arcade, and go down in to the basement where the huge power plant and furnace were located. He kept every piece of machinery and equipment in "his" "engine room" as he called it, cleaned and polished. He worked and fussed over all of the equipment, the stokers, the coal bins, the burners, the diffusers, as if they were his own.
Jim had grown up around Mary Ann Furnace, and had attended a small one room school house on Montgomery Road. His family later moved to Brownsville, and he attended and graduated from school there. Shortly after graduation his father was offered a job at the Weyant Greenhouse, "out East" as it was referred to in those days, to work in the Power Plant there. They moved out on East Main, and his father would take the inter-urban each day to Marne.
Jim spent many of his younger years in the Power Plant, and learned much about the workings of steam, generators and power plants. On his 21st birthday, he was offered a position to be a Stokers Apprentice in the Arcade, and he jumped at the chance.
Eight years later, he met Jessie, at the old Mayfair theatre in the Arcade, and they fell in love, and got married a year later.
Jessie and Jim were very much in love, and were together as much as possible. His job in the Arcade took up much of his time. The large power plant in the basement heated a square block area and more, much of which were all the stores in the Arcade, and the whole apartment complex on the corner of 4th and Church.
They also generated a great deal of electricity for the internal lighting of the unique Arcade.
At this time, there were 2 theatres, 3 restaurants, many offices and retail stores. The Arcade was "the place to be" in Newark, especially on those busy Saturday nights, when milling around the square was the highlight of the week for many. After a stroll around the Courthouse, they would head for the Arcade, the hub of nightlife in Newark.
When Jim started, there were 45 office/store complexes many of which were 2 story. Most of the shops in the Main part of the Arcade had a basement room, which they used for storage or repair work. The Arcade was one of the first of its kind in the country, and has been visited by Kings and Queens, Presidents and other notables. As one President said, "This is a city unto itself."
Jim was proud of his part in the running of the Arcade, he learned the boilers and their operation, adjusting the auger fed stoker, maintaining the proper steam level, and became very proficient in maintaining the proper pressure in the "cooker" as it was called. This was a critical function of the whole process, and soon Jim was the expert on the subject. They called him in day or night when a problem arose with the cooker process. Of course, he was always there early in the morning, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, as those were the days the coal truck pulled up and unloaded the coal. Jim was always neat, and insisted that his coal be unloaded in the proper manner.
