125 Years Ago 1899
From The East Hampton Star, December 1
Henry Graber and David Hasset, two trap fishermen of Montauk, captured a striped bass weighing ninety-two pounds on Friday last. The fish measured from its nose to the tip of its tail four feet nine inches. The prize is the finest and largest specimen ever captured in those waters. The two trappers are in the habit of fishing from the shore with hook and line and heaving their baited hooks far off shore. It was in this manner that the huge fish was secured. It required the united efforts of both men to land the catch after fifteen minutes of dexterous maneuvering.
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Hannibal and Henry French, of Sag Harbor, visited Greenport last week in the interest of capitalists who are organizing a company to run a new line of boats between the east end of Long Island and New York.
The Frenches were formerly directors of the Montauk Steamboat Company. They talked the matter over with the merchants and farmers of this section and say they have already been assured by individuals that if one half the stock needed to organize the company would be taken by merchants of Greenport and Orient they would furnish the capital for the other half.
100 Years Ago 1924
From The East Hampton Star, November 28
An amusing spectacle greeted the eyes of early risers Monday morning when they saw a Buick roadster parked in the middle of Town Pond with the driver asleep in the seat.
The story goes that Mr. Johnson, a fisherman from Montauk, was returning from Greenport, and when making the turn at the head of the pond turned off the road and drove his car into the pond. This happened sometime during the night. He had a companion with him who volunteered to get out and go for help. This very obliging person it is stated, went down to the East Hampton Hotel and went to bed, leaving his friend parked in the pond. Johnson was afraid to leave his car and finding that he could make himself comfortable "turned in."
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The first real attempt made by any Prohibition agents to stop the flow of liquor coming in from Montauk Point and shipped by all kinds of pleasure cars and trucks to the western market, occurred here last weekend. The residents of this end of the island were greatly perplexed and amused by this sudden activity on the part of the enforcement agents.
Every resident of eastern Long Island has long been aware that liquor smuggling and running had become a highly organized and profitable business. The raids and seizures were under the direction of the chief prohibition agent for New York.
75 Years Ago 1949
From The East Hampton Star, December 1
Suffolk County is still very much interested in Plum Island, the 792 acre site of the obsolete Spanish-American War strongpoint of Fort Terry and situated a mile off Orient Point. Formally declared "surplus" in June 1948, the island has now been offered for sale by the General Services Administration, the agency which took over where the War Assets Administration left off.
The Suffolk Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution formally affirming the county's "urgent desire" to acquire Plum Island and the Federal officials were notified to that effect. While it is believed this claim for the priority status granted municipalities in the competition for surplus government property still stands, the board decided on Monday to take no chances.
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Sometimes, perhaps, East Hampton people have a feeling that we are putting an undue emphasis on the past here: "this village is a living, working, forward looking community and never mind the past, let that take care of itself." But generally, when the question of saving some historic spot or building here has come up, and controversy has ensued, everybody has united, after the accomplished fact, in saying what a fine thing it is, and agreeing that East Hampton's habit of cherishing traditions has a commercial value as well as a sentimental one. East Hampton, and Long Island in general, does well to keep its unique characteristics, to honor its past, and has plenty of good company in doing so.
50 Years Ago 1974
From The East Hampton Star, November 28
East Hampton Town Highway Superintendent John Bistrian expressed this week a disinclination to follow determinations reached recently by the Town Board after hearings into three grievances by the Department's union.
"They can't tell me what to do," Mr. Bistrian said of the Town Board.
Irwin Scharfeld, field representative of the union, the Civil Service Employees Association, said that yes, the Town Board could tell Mr. Bistrian what to do.
"If we feel he is not abiding by these decisions we would go to the State Public Employees Relations Board citing improper labor practice and perhaps eventually to the courts," he said.
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The question of whether justice can or should be expected of Justices who are not lawyers was posed in two recent lawsuits: one successful, but in California; the other, which might have affected most of New York State's 2,600 Town and Village Justices, was dismissed. The question has been a political issue here. Neither of the two East Hampton Town Justices is a lawyer.
A Town Justice in Upstate New York who is not a lawyer either was confronted early this month with a suit filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union, seeking dismissal of three traffic charges against an Albany woman. The defendant's Constitutional right to due process of law was being denied, the Union argued, since she had been given no opportunity for trial before someone with proper legal training.
25 Years Ago 1999
From The East Hampton Star, December 2
The Southampton Town Trustees have refused to support the State Department of Environmental Conservation's effort to reduce the daily quota for scallopers in state waters from 10 bushels to five. East Hampton's Trustees are expected to follow the lead of their Southampton counterparts.
The D.E.C. proposed the quota reduction to give scallop populations a chance to rebuild and to stretch the season out. The scallop population has been greatly reduced by a series of brown algae tides beginning in 1985.
But Southampton Trustees argued that the life expectancy of scallops was only 18 months, and that many of the market-size scallops that were not caught would die of natural causes. The Trustees have suggested that the D.E.C.'s efforts might be better spent fighting scallop predators (like starfish) and fighting pollution, and trying to find the cause of the brown algae blooms.
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Kmart has withdrawn an application with the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to sell guns at its Bridgehampton store. "The Kmart corporation feels it is inappropriate to introduce firearms to the Bridgehampton store," Steve Offutt, the store manager, said Monday morning. Mr. Offutt said the corporation had yet to decide whether to discontinue the sale of air guns and ammunition there.
The firearms application was withdrawn on Nov. 23, one day after Mr. Offutt met at the store with about 40 community members and representatives of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence.
