125 Years Ago 1899
From The East Hampton Star, August 18
Three-quarters of the population of the village are busily thinking up unique features for the village's 250th Anniversary parade.
E.B. Muchmore will have charge of the bicycle division of the parade. All bicyclists are requested to decorate their wheels and participate.
James Strong Jr. and Dr. M.B. Lewis will impersonate Teddy Roosevelt, of the Rough Riders, and General Wheeler in the parade.
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A large gang of Italian laborers is now at work on the extension of the Sag Harbor Water Works, under the supervision of Robert K. Story of Brooklyn. Because of the drought early in the summer a larger supply was deemed necessary, and the work of extension is now under way. A large reservoir is in course of construction, about two miles outside the village and this is connected by a conduit running out into Long Pond, where an abundance of water can be obtained at all seasons of the year. The pond is a mile long by one half-mile wide and is fed by natural springs from all sides. The new reservoir is twenty feet in diameter, and will be twenty feet deep when completed.
Preliminary work on the Sag Harbor Electric Light, Heat & Power Company plant is being pushed and it is expected that the work of construction will shortly commence.
100 Years Ago 1924
From The East Hampton Star, August 15
Six hundred employees of Joseph Fahys & Company, manufacturers of watch cases, went on strike, following the announcement of wage reductions from eight to ten per cent. All the strikers are skilled workers. Approximately 400 other employees remained at their jobs.
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Unless people in the North get busy laying in coal, there will be a shortage. "Coal bins in a great many Long Island homes and industrial plants will be empty this winter, with resulting human suffering and suspension or curtailment of industrial activities, unless steps are taken right now by residents and business enterprises to secure the necessary supply of anthracite and bituminous coal," said an official of the General Freight Department of the Long Island Railroad today.
"Our coal traffic statistics," the railroad officer pointed out, "indicate that there must be an alarming shortage of coal on Long Island at the present time. This fact is easily realized when it becomes known that during the first six months of 1924 the Long Island Railroad has handled 230,456 net tons less of coal than it did in the corresponding period of 1923."
"There has also been a surprising lack of foresight on the part of industries consuming bituminous coal. The current production, based on present demands, is now running thirty per cent below normal."
75 Years Ago 1949
From The East Hampton Star, August 18
Mile-high crash over Sag Harbor this morning: wreckage strewn over North Haven. The planes had been flying in formation southwest when an explosion occurred. One flier was killed when he was thrown out of a plane, the other was killed while parachuting, two other fliers were injured. The planes were two-engine mustangs.
The crash occurred at 10:40 this morning, the two Army Mustang fighters practically disintegrated from the impact. Two bodies landed in North Haven and two officers, who landed in the clear all within a quarter-mile radius, were able to walk away. They were driven away in a station wagon, presumably to await the arrival of Air Force officers from Mitchel Field. The planes involved in the crash were F-82 Mustangs, two engine, all-weather fighters. Parts of the planes and the four engines were scattered about North Haven, much debris falling about the 43-acre estate "Maycroft."
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The deed to the forty-three acre "Eagle's Nest" estate of the late William K. Vanderbilt, with its marine life museum, spacious house overlooking Long Island Sound, and landscaped grounds, was turned over on August 13 to the Suffolk County park commission for use by the public as a park, in accordance with plans made by Mr. Vanderbilt before his death in 1944. Mr. Vanderbilt left a maintenance fund of two million dollars for the park, and provided for further funds for the purpose after the death of his daughter Mrs. Muriel Vanderbilt Adams of Carmel, California.
50 Years Ago 1974
From The East Hampton Star, August 15
The East Hampton A&P food store on Newtown Lane was open for business this week despite an employees' strike. The strike began early Sunday morning, and affected all 200 of the supermarket chain's Long Island outlets.
The striking union, whose contract expired at midnight Aug. 10, is the AFL-CIO Amalgamated Meat Cutters, which represents all store workers except management.
At noon Tuesday, an hour when the store would normally be buzzing, there were only two shoppers inside, checking out small bags of groceries. A skeleton staff of three, all supervisory personnel, was manning the registers. Out in the parking lot five or six pickets walked back and forth.
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A law designed to preserve historic buildings by exposing their owners to good advice is being considered in Sag Harbor. It would oblige anyone wishing to tear a building down, to put one up, or to alter one within a newly formed "historic district" at the center of the village to wait while the Village's Historic Preservation Commission looked at his plans. If the Commission liked his plans, he would get a building permit; if it didn't, he would have to wait while it told him why; but if he persisted in his plans regardless he would get a permit anyway.
If he followed the existing zoning regulations, and unless his building was a "landmark," he could not be denied a permit for more than 30 days in any case.
25 Years Ago 1999
From The East Hampton Star, August 19
The East Hampton recycling and disposal center has always offered a smorgasbord of treats for animals. But Debra Foster, who lives across Accabonac Highway from the landfill's eastern boundary, felt a gnawing need to make a few phone calls last year when her dog, Artemis, began dragging home gruesome snacks.
Just beyond the weed-grown, chain-link fence marking the dump's old entrance is a burial site for the 150-200 deer carcasses picked off East Hampton Town roads every year.
"I've got a spine, a whole foot, and various other items," said Ms. Foster, a Springs School teacher.
Her neighbors, she said, have similar souvenirs of a growing problem for the town: how to dispose of deer killed on the roads.
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East Hampton Town could spend some $8.5 million on a new police and courts building and a renovated Town Hall if voters approve a bond referendum on the project this November.
Supervisor Kathy Lester unveiled plans for the new building and renovations on Tuesday, explaining that the existing buildings were badly in need of work and that all town departments, but especially the Town Police and Criminal Court, are strapped for space.
The entire Town Board recognized the need for expanding facilities, but outgoing Republican Councilman Len Bernard worried that giving voters an "all or nothing" package might be a hard sell. How, he asked, will the space needs be addressed if the referendum doesn't pass?
