125 Years Ago 1898
From The East Hampton Star, September 9
After witnessing with our own eyes some of the scenes of misery among the sick soldiers at Montauk, and listening to the distressing stories told by the noble workers of East Hampton who go to the camp day after day and rescue dying men, and then reading the statements of officers to the effect that the camp is in excellent condition, and that there is no needless suffering there, we wish that we might have a staff of reporters large enough, fast presses, typesetting machines and paper enough to publish the true story of the camp from one end of the country to the other.
But the truth will out, and every day some influential paper contains an editorial or a letter which adds to the tide of popular indignation that is beginning to sweep the continent. Such articles as that written by Dr. Lewis A. Stimson and printed in the Herald on Wednesday, and as the letter written by a nurse at the camp published in the Tribune of the same day, are giving an impetus to the wave of righteous indignation that sooner or later will break at Washington and sweep the men who are responsible for the crimes of the camps into outer darkness.
100 Years Ago 1923
From The East Hampton Star, September 7
Commissioner of Highways Frank Barnes informs us that next week the work of constructing the half mile of concrete road on Napeague Beach will start, the contractors, the Mullen Contracting Company, having promised to begin operations then.
Mr. Barnes is making temporary repairs on the old Montauk road, which leads across the overhead bridge east of Amagansett and along the north side of the railroad tracks for some distance.
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“Hit the Sunrise Trail” was carried into execution by hundreds of motorists and touring parties last week-end and Labor Day and most of them had Montauk Point as their objective. Never in the history of that section of the Island was traffic more dense than over Sunday and Monday. A motorist driving to Montauk counted 195 cars between the end of the cement road east of Amagansett and Napeague beach. Nearly every car was filled to capacity and on the running-boards and back were strapped tents and other luggage.
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The horse show and paper chase held last Friday afternoon on Frank B. Wiborg’s paddock, overlooking Hook Pond, was one of the gala events of the season. The number of entries in the five classes and paper chases was something remarkable considering that the whole affair was gotten up in a hurry. As a result the treasury of the East Hampton Neighborhood House will receive about $500.
75 Years Ago 1948
From The East Hampton Star, September 9
On Friday evening, September 17, at Guild Hall there will be an informal evening of music and poetry featuring Leland Brock, pianist; Robert Chisholm, baritone; and Dorothy Quick, poetess. It has been arranged especially for Guild Hall members and is made possible through the generosity and interest of the three artists.
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The Montauk Surf Club presented their annual “Queen of the Island” Beauty Contest and Swimming Meet Friday night Sept. 3. An audience of several hundred persons witnessed many thrilling and amusing events performed by local boys and girls in the Surf Club pool.
The first event was a 200 yard relay race, and the team consisting of Pat Tilden, William Conway and Richard Webb were the victors. A balloon race for the juniors followed and after considerable huffing and puffing David Webb was the winner and received a bronze medal.
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Dr. Robert W. Wood, well-known experimental physicist, and Mrs. Wood will sail on September 15 on the Mauretania for London. Dr. Wood, who has been called the “Modern Wizard of the Laboratory,” is to be awarded the degree of Doctor of Science Honoris Causa at Oxford University on October 14.
During World War II Dr. Wood served as a consultant in the development of the atom bomb with the Manhattan group in New York, and also served at the Aberdeen, Maryland, proving grounds and is a consultant in Navy experiments on shock waves under water.
50 Years Ago 1973
From The East Hampton Star, September 6
Abbie Hoffman of Three Mile Harbor Road, Springs, who was arrested Aug. 23 in New York with two others on charges of selling cocaine to undercover policemen, was ordered held Aug. 29 in $200,000 bail. He was arrested in the Diplomat Hotel, 108 West 43rd Street; the police alleged that three pounds of the drug had been sold for $36,000.
Mr. Hoffman, with other members of “the Chicago Seven,” is due back in that city on Oct. 29 for trial on contempt charges growing out of the famous conspiracy case tried before Judge Julius Hoffman.
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Montauk Fish Notes
The Deep Sea Club announced that on Sunday, Sept. 2, a Mr. Merton of the Valiant Lady caught a 632 1/2-pound giant tuna on a 17-foot Aquasport. Mr. Merton also caught an 89-pound white marlin.
C. Palles on the Celia P won the Deep Sea Club’s rodeo. He brought in catches of white marlin, mako sharks and a giant 743-pound tuna.
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In this month’s issue of Suffolk Living, a magazine published by the Cooperative Extension Association of Suffolk County, East Enders are asked to report sightings of monk parakeets or their nests by telephoning the Association’s office in Riverhead.
A native of South America, enough of these birds have fled their cages in this country to worry the agronomists, who claimed that “if large populations become widespread, they could become serious competitors with native birds and cause considerable crop damage to farms, gardens, and orchards.”
25 Years Ago 1998
From The East Hampton Star, September 10
East Hampton Village has staked its claim to 25 percent of East Hampton Town’s annual transfer tax revenues — what its Mayor terms an “equitable” portion of monies a proposed 2-percent levy on property sales is expected to generate if voters here approve implementation of the state land bank bill on Nov. 3, Election Day.
East Hampton Village could reap as much as $6 million over 12 years, the life of the land bank legislation, if the town agrees; the money would be earmarked for the purchase of open space according to a plan the Village Board approved earlier this year.
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Post offices will soon be growing on the South Fork. Plans to expand the Bridgehampton and Southampton offices are definite, while discussion about what to do to enlarge the Amagansett and Wainscott offices is in the early stages.
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As if Ira Rennert’s immense house in Sagaponack hadn’t fueled enough acrimony between his future neighbors and Southampton Town officials, the neighbors are now irate that Town Supervisor Vincent Cannuscio’s assistant papered Town Hall with copies of their confidential memos, found in a file that was inadvertently left behind after a meeting there.
And not just once, but twice. After the town attorney directed the papers be rounded up and returned, the assistant distributed one of them again, the neighbors charge.
