If it had not been for lunch hour, more workers would have perished or been injured when the roof at the Lehigh Valley roundhouse in North Wilkes-Barre collapsed, killing one man on Oct. 20, 1908.

Peter Mullin, 30, who lived at 5 Auburn St., Wilkes-Barre, a laborer at the Lehigh Valley railroad shop yards along today’s North Wilkes-Barre Boulevard, was killed and six others were injured in the roof collapse that happened just before 1 p.m.

Mullin and five other men were replacing the slate roof of the roundhouse built in 1875.

“The crash occurred a few minutes before the time the employees resumed work after their noon lunch hour. Some were just returning to the roundhouse when the accident occurred, others were inside, but a majority of the men were still in the shop yards when the roo

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