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THE EAST HAMPTON STAR. THURSDAY. OCTOBER 27, 1938 T H F t ^ ^ - v S T A R Published Every Thursday Main S t r e e t ____________ E- H' 477 Entered at the Post Office at East Hampton, N. Y., as second-class matter Subscription Rale A Year, in Advance.— ....... - ....... $2.50 S i n g l e C o p i e s .......................................... 5c much of their prosperity. These summer estate owners seek privacy and they have paid for it. Why should they now be threatened with this Moses dream for an ocean boule vard constructed largely with Suf folk County as “beach protection.” Those who are vitally interested in the future welfare of East Hampton and Southampton want real beach protection . . . not the Robert Moses brand. Editor A r n o l d E. R a t t r a y Associate Editor JEANNETTE RATTRAY The East Hampton Star does not knowingly accept false or fraudulent advertising or other advertising of an objectionable nature. Readers will confer a favor by promptly report ing any failure on the part of an ad vertiser to make good any represen tation contained in the East Hamp ton Star. Letters from Readers o f The Star The Star welcomes letters for publication from all responsible per sons, who may feel free to express their views, on public matters, but reserves the right to reject letters wholly or in part. The Star cannot assure the publication of lengthy letters. Communications must bear the name and address of the writer, which will be withheld if the writer so desires. _____________ 40 Years Of Faithful Service Fun Is Fun . . . But, Take It Easy The sight of so many splintered picket fences along our Main Street reminds us that Hallowe’en is al most here. Surely, even the most heedless youngsters will leave those sadly shattered fences alone, this year! Nature has committed such depredations that nobody could find it in his heart to add to it in any way. There will be Hallowe’en parties there will be youthful gayety, for life goes on and youngsters should be gay. But it does not really need to be destructive. We have a good deal of faith in those school children— those eighty who wrote so appealingly about Main Street’s beauty, in the Gar den Club contest last spring; and their schoolmates. Here’s hoping that faith is justified! Editorial Comment Looking Them Over Miss M. Alice Boughton, who has been associated with The Star for forty years— it will be forty-one years in February— retired last week. She will be greatly missed in this office. Miss Boughton came over from Connecticut to be a “right-hand man” to her brother, the late Ed ward S. Boughton, who was editor and publisher of the paper for so many years. She continued with his two sons, the late Lewis and Welby E. Boughton; and has been with us since we bought the paper in 1935. There is no side of the country newspaper business that Miss Boughton does not know from prac tical experience. She has set type, and even run the Linotype machine; she read proof regularly, did the bookkeeping, kept an eye on adver tising, among other-things. Hers is by far the longest continuous ser vice that anyone has ever given The Star. People in show business, who are really of the theatre, have the feel ing that no matter what happens, the show must go on. Miss Bough ton had that feeling about the news paper business. In trying and even critical times, she felt the paper must come out; and was always here and on the job: As she closes her active business career, Miss Boughton’s enthusiasm for her work, her loyalty and per severance are an example to the young girls and boys of East Hamp ton who are starting out to make a career for themselves. Year of the Big Wind [New York Times] Time will ease the terror and the grief, work will restore some of the devastation, but for a long while to come events on Eastern Long Is land and the New England coast will be dated from the Year of the Big Wind. The waves cannot scoop great chunks from a familiar shore line without cutting as deep a chan nel in men’s minds. Fathers of a new generation will be telling their children about what happened last week. The human tragedies will be recalled but seldom mentioned. The stories will be of the strange freaks of the storm, the ships driven into the streets, the lost Boston-New York train, the Westhampton bathroom blown a quarter of a mile from the house to which it was attached with its tooth brushes still in their racks and towels undisturbed, the scythe-like gale which felled thousands of great elms and locusts planted in Revolu tionary times, but left the ancient grove around John Howard Payne’s “Home, Sweet Home” untouched. Aging residents of Newport will look on the havoc of Bailey’s Beach, shake their heads, and at once launch into recollections of the once- proud strand in its heydey. Per haps Bailey’s Beach was passing in to a decline anyway. Its Golden Age of the Fifties was gone and its Gilded Age of the Nineties too. The famous Mr. Van Alen, who never stepped into the water without his monocle and white straw hat, is a memory, and Harry Lehr’s monkey clad in evening dress has no monu ment. If a new Bailey’s Beach rises from the wreckage, it will resemble the old playground of the bored rich only “as the mist resembles the rain.” Do We Want Moses Beach Plan? The first rush of enthusiasm for the Robert Moses plan Jo “ save Long Island’s shore-front” has seen a sud den reaction on the part of residents o f eastern Suffolk County, now that it is apparent that the new plan is nothing more than a revival of the Moses dream for a Long Island ocean boulevard. Immediately after the September hurricane and while emergency repairs were just get ting under way, there were many supporters of the plan to “save the beaches.” A few western Suffolk supervisors are said to favor the plan but we hope and pray that a majority of the county board will not see fit to saddle Suffolk tax payers with the $9,000,000 or more, which would be the county’s share. “Beach protection” is the bait, we believe, which is being offered to “give” Suffolk County an ocean boulevard which is neither needed nor wanted. We are 100 per cent in favor of protecting ocean-front property against the ravages of the sea but something more practical and considerably less expensive than the Moses plan will have to be of fered before we can recommend it for this locality. East Hampton and Southampton towns derive their greatest source of revenue from summer visitors not casual visitors, but those who own large properties, giving employ ment to local men the year round and giving these two townships Coast Guard Patrol [Suffolk Citizen] The abandonment of more than half of the Coast Guard Stations on Fire Island Beach a year ago and the replacing of the station crews with a patrol service from boats and cars, we believe, was a grave error. Un der the present method the service is about one-half as efficient as it formerly was. We have noticed that since the Lone Hill and Blue Point stations were closed, many boat owners whose craft have gotten in to difficulties or depend upon the help of other boatmen who hap pened to be near. The patrol ser vice in this section, so far as we can see, does not exist, except when there are yacht races schedules, or upon request. We notice that the cutters are tied up at the Bay Shore docks a good part of the time when they ought to be cruising about the Bay ready to lend a hand to those who may be in distress. Patrolling the ocean side of the beach in an automobile can be of no help to boats or persons in the bay, when they cannot be seen. In the event that those in the patrol cars did discover a distressed craft, would be necessary for them to drive a considerable distance to summon a cutter to the scene, and by the time it arrived an hour or so later almost anything could have occurred. During the recent hurricane, the lack of an adequate number of Coast Guardsmen on the beach was ap parent. Had all of the abandoned stations been manned with full crews, possibly many lives might have been saved. Reducing the Coast Guard as an economy measure, when so many men are now on the relief rolls, does not make sense, to our way of think ing. The abandoned stations should be manned at all times with a full complement of men. We realize now more than ever how much we love them, but trees have always been cherished, here in East Hampton; at least for the past 100 years, since Rev. Lyman Beecher set his mark upon East Hampton by making his place— next door to where The Star Office stands now— beautiful with trees, shrubs and a flower garden. The Gardiners must always have had trees and gardens; for they kept slaves and had money to buy rare growing things; some of our other families kept slaves and servants, too. But the great majority had to work hard and kept the Puritan ideas of very “plain living and high thinking.” I was amused, a couple of weeks ago, to run across a long legal re port in the Long Island Collection at the library, about a lawsuit be tween the Gardiners (of the “Brown House”) and the Hunttings across the street. The suit dragged on from 1839 to 1863. It seems that the street was surveyed in 1833 by David H. Huntting. Then Nathaniel Huntting, who lived in the house now The Huntting hotel, refused to let the street be the width the sur veyors wanted it. Samuel B. Gard iner, for some reason or other car ried the case to the highest courts. Out of the tangle of legal verbiage I gathered that it was customary, up to that time, for Main Street resi dents to use the family woodpile as part of the front fence. Most people removed their woodpiles, putting them round by the back door, upon the commissioners’ request; but Nathaniel Huntting, who was 68 at the time, refused to do so. In his arguments, he said that other people not only put woodpiles on the fence line, but further out in the street they dug potato holes (was that a hole to bury the winter supply of potatoes in? Or did they plant out there?) and that when his daughter was married, they had to drive in the middle of the street to avoid them. In that testimony it was brought out that most of the Main Street trees of that time had been set out about 1818, or shortly after the 1815 hurricane. We have heard much talk, since the storm, o f elm roots. Some say that an elm has no taproot, there fore it is not well anchored and is likely to fall. Others say the tap roots have been cut in some places, therefore they will not live. This is the most likely explanation that I have heard; and it was given by a man who has planted both kinds. That the elms grown from cuttings have no taproot, for the root forma tion comes out at the sides; and that is why some of the Main Street trees had only a flat pancake of soil at the root. But that an elm from seed does have a toproot, and a great long one. If it is what old-fashioned folks call a “volunteer,” grown up from some chance seed dropped, it has a taproot and is much stronger than the other kind. There is such a lot about our trees the reminiscences of the late Thomas M. Edwards, found in the library in manuscript form, as I mentioned in this place last week. Quoting just some random notes: “The tree in the corner of the yard of what was the Sam Miller place (Guild Hall now) was brought here and set out at the same time as those in front of the Academy. Those in front of the Poor place were planted by R. D. Gardner in 1852. I can tell their age by my own.” “There used to be a row of very HURRICANE BOOKLETS 25c. Published by East Hampton Star. tall buttonwood trees on Meeting House Lot, near the fence.” (That the John Henry Mulford lot, where McCann's now stands.) “Of these there seems to be but one left, that is what was the smallest. . . ‘The trees in front of David Green Mulford’s, and those in front of Jerry Huntting’s . . . were not planted until after 1876, because they were not here when I left East Hampton.” . . . The trees in front of Winthrop Gardiner’s place were small and not over twenty years old when I was a boy. The old elm in front of Norman Barns' is the same age as those in front of Winthrop Gardiner’s. The old elm belong ing to Norman Barns is the first elm I remember, and from this tree Alec Huntting unhitched his horse to run a famous race with Johnny Osborn.\ Mr. Edwards said that in his youth there were but three lanes on the west side of Main Street— Newtown, Buell, and Woods Lanes. He speaks of the old orchards near Main Street in his youth; and says that Lyman Beecher had the first one; that people followed his ex ample in taking the woodpiles into their yards from the street. Mrs. George Hand’s appletrees, he says, must be 125 years old. Quoting: “In the life of Lyman Beecher, some one of the family al ludes to the large elms. This I don’t understand, as there were no large elms when I was a boy. All the trees we see here are of comparative ly recent date. There was, however, a very severe hurricane here 1815, and as the Beechers left here five years before that, the trees spoken of may have been destroyed or uprooted in that hurricane. I have been told that some of the big trees at Southampton were blown down at that time. The August gale of a few years ago was enough to show us what a genuine hurricane might mean to East Hampton. “I heard a man say that the water came from the ocean up through Town Pond over the green, and ex tended far beyond the Academy on old Town Street, and that the ocean so filled Hook Pond that the water reached to and beyond the Hook to what was then known as Dominy’s Comer, now Cedar Street. More over, I even heard Granny Baker say (Granny Baker was Mrs. Mercy Schellinger Baker, who lived in the house now the Riding Club) that the windows of Amagansett were cov ered with salt that came from the water from the ocean. “A few years ago when in Provi dence, R. I., I saw a mark on one of the public buildings showing the height that the water from the Providence River reached during that same storm. Furthermore, Granny Hedges was known to say that she heard it was thought that if this same gale had continued for half an hour longer, all East Hamp ton would have been submerged.” Doesn’t that make you shiver? To think that this was written about the 1815 storm, in 1929! It might have been written just now! Continuing with Mr. Edwards: “ Even this green, not so very many years ago, was impassable during hard storms. Now\we are favored in having this little bridge, which pro vides a way to get from one side of the street to the other, without go ing a long way around. When I was a boy, there was another across there; but there were two bridges down street— one near the place of the late Jeremiah H. Mulford, and the other where the Presbyterian parsonage now is. Those were foot bridges, and a great convenience to pedestrians, yet it was hard travei- ing at best in those years. “Town Pond used to be very muddy. I remember its drying up once, in 1865. Great flocks of geese used to be turned out there in the spring, with their goslings; and they held regular concerts here in the pond, summer evenings.” The White house is the old Bab cock house, belonging to Major Bab cock, father of George and William, and grandfather of Thomas Bab cock.” Mrs. P. T. Taber has very kindly sent me, through Miss Sadie Conk lin, a copy of the Suffolk Weekly Times of Greenport for May 19, 1877. It has a good deal of seafaring news, of interest to me. I have a letter from the “Col lectors of American Art, Inc.” of 38 West 57th Street, New York, which tells us that in 1849 Mr. H. B. Hedges o f East Hampton was a member of the old American Art-Union. The “Collectors of American Art” have a deeply considered plan to do something constructive for Am eri can art and living American artists. “One of Ours.” N a m e F a n n y M e a n s ‘ F r e e ,’ A c c o r d in g to A u t h o r ity The name Fanny or Fannie is a diminutive of the Teutonic Frances and has the same meaning, “ free.” It is often an independent name, however. Other form s of it are the French Franchon, Franchette, “ lit tle free one,” and Fania or Fanya, a Slavonic form, writes Florence A. Cowles in the Cleveland Plain Deal er. Fanny Burney (1752-1840) Eng lish novelist, won fam e in 1778 with her novel “ Evelina,” first to present society in a realistic manner. She married General D ’Arblay, a French refugee. Fanny Elssler (1810-1884), Aus trian dancer, won laurels in Europe and America. Fanny Davenport (1850-1898) was a prominent actress of her day. Fanny Crosby (1820-1915), blind from 6 weeks old, wrote 6,000 hymns, including “ Safe in the Arms of Jesus.” Her real name was Mrs. Frances Jane Van Alstyne. Fanny Brough (1854-1914) was an English actress, niece of Lionel Brough. \Fanny Fern” was the pen name of Sara Payson Willis Parton, brilliant newspaper woman of the early 1860s, sister of Nathan iel P. Willis. BUDGET BEGINNING Washington.— Although Congress does not reconvene for another ten weeks. President Roosevelt last week began making up his next bud get, called in Secretary of the Treas ury Morgenthau, Assistant Secretary John Hanes, and Budget Director Bell. With the next deficit looming at least $4,000,000,000 (his second largest), WPA was served notice that it must make the $764,000,000 re maining from its 1938 appropriation last until next March, as Congress stipulated. This pointed toward Re lief economy, but it seemed likely that fresh expenditures would be necessary to remedy the natjon’s dreadful shortage of arms, ammuni tion and equipment for a needed standing army of 400,000 men. President Roosevelt pointed out that $150,000,000 would have to be added to next year’s Navy budget if work was to go ahead on six new battleships. Besides expanding the fleet and the ground forces, air forces must be geared up by mass The Emancipation Proclamation According to Bassett’s History of the United States, President Abra ham Lincoln read to his cabinet, on July 22, 1862, a tentative emancipa tion proclamation to apply to the se ceding states. He justified such ac tion on the ground o f military neces sity. Postmaster-General Blair ob jected, because he believed it would endanger the autumn elections and Secretary of State Seward suggested that nothing be done until the army won a victory, qtherwise the proclamation might be construed as a confession of weakness. On Sep tember 17, 1862, Lee’s invasion of Maryland was checked and on Sep tember 22 (Bassett gives September 23, but other sources give Sep tember 22) Lihcoln issued the pre liminary proclamation announcing that slaves would be declared free in all states resisting the Union on January 1, 1863. On that date the final proclamation was issued. The MARCH OF TIME DO. O. §. PAT. or. Prepared by the Bdltori of TIME T it Weekly Newsmagazine production of planes— as they are doing abroad— and private utilities must be stimulated to spend $1,- 000,000000 if the U. S. is to have adequae wartime power resources. Observers took all this as a tip: Watch for billion-dollar Army and Navy items in the next budget. FIRST LADY'S 54TH Washington.—As Anna Eleanor Roosevel' last week passed her 54th birthday n usual good health, spirits and huimr, her husband gave her more of his time than a President can usuallj give his wife, and Wash ington nevspaper-women gave her a party (21 candles). The press meanwhile gave her advice on whether she should curtsy to Queen Ilizabeth if Britain’s crowned heads visit the U. S. next year. Their verdict: No. Prettiest birthday bouquet was bestowed upon her by Columnist- General Hugh Johnson who said: “I have just nad her book, ‘M y Days’ . . . It is (the) diary of a w o man who is the w ife of one o f the [Continue* on Page 7] Only Four Serpent Mounds In all the world, there are only four mounds representing serpents. One is in Warren county, Ohio, two miles west of Morrow, and another is in Adams county, Ohio. There is a small one 10 miles south o f Peter- boro in the Province of Ontario, Canada. Still another serpent effi gy is in Argyleshire, Scotland, near the shore of Loch Nell. All four mounds resemble each other suffi ciently to cause speculation a? to their common origin. Buy your Typewriter Supplies at The Star Office.— Adv. [ B u t It's T r u e _ Fifty Years Ago in The Star [From The Star, Oct. 27, 188,8] In conncction with the consideration of hymns, it is interesting to note that statisticians have determined that there have been more than 2,000,000 Christian hymns published in the last 200 years. Quail can be lawfully killed on and after Thursday of next week. They are said to be quite numer ous this year. Captain Thomas P. Hawkins of Port Jefferson arrived at Three Mile Harbor in his yacht “ Syren” one day this week, and made a visit to his many friends in this place. The rate c f tax for this town, exclusive of Sag Harbor, for this year is 91 cents; rate for Sag Har bor 87. Last year our rate was $1.08, and for Sag Harbor $1.00. Miss Hannah Mulford, who was recently quite seriously injured by being thrown from a carriage, has so far recovered from the in juries received as to be about again. The Misses Elkins have been in town several days this week, making arrangements to have their house moved from the land which they sold to Dr. Munroe re cently. The new site for the house will be several hundred feet to the westward of its present location. Springs Mr. and Mrs. George A. Miller returned home from their w e d ding tour on Saturday last, having visited Niagara and other places of note in the state. Charles Parsons, our black smith, has moved his shop onto the land he recently purchased from George A. Parsons. Messrs. Hopping and Topping of Bridge- hampton did the work Amagansett A whale was seen off this plar-e Thursday morning and a rall> made, but before the crews got off their boats, the whale “lit out” It is supposed he was frightened by a fishing steamer which went by at that time. Captain E. B. Tuthill, one of East Marion’s fishermen, is hav ing built at Fort Pond, Montauk, an ice house o f about 150 tons capacity for his own use, as it will be more convenient for him than <| to bring ice from his house on Marion Lake. The fishing steamer Sterling, while engaged in taking fish of! this place on Tuesday, broke her mast off near the deck. Charles King of East Side, one of the crew, was aloft at the time of the accident and was thrown to the deck, received several very bad bruises which w ill lay him off duty for several days. The steamer went to New London on Wednesday to have a new mast put in. Sag Harbor George A. Kiernan has pur chased the old Sweezey house on Division Street and will move it to Bridge Street. J. William Beebe, marble worker, has erected at Hay Ground, Bridgehampton, a hand some bronze monument for the family of William C. Haines de ceased. Twenty-five Years Ago in The Star [From The Star, October 31, 1913] A daughter was born to Rev. and Mrs. Norris W. Harkness on Tuesday. L. E. Woodhouse and family closed their cottage and left town on Wednesday. The Ramblers will meet at the home of Miss Ettie Hedges next Tuesday evening, November 4, at 8 o’clock sharp. Percy Schenck will go to Mary land next week to spend his va cation with Mrs. Schenck, who is visiting with her parents. Norman W. Barns’ cottage on Huntting Lane has been rented by Strong Bros, to Mr. Borie, of Philadelphia, for next summer. Mr. and Mrs. I. Y. Halsey have been spending the past two weeks at York, Mrs. Halsey’s former home. They are expected home within a few days. Kenneth Davis and his bride returned from their honeymoon trip on Monday and are stopping for a short time at Mr. Davis’ home on Newtown Lane before going into their own cottage on Cooper Lane. A forty-foot brick/ extension, one story and basement, is being built on the rear of Felix Dominy & Son’s Store. Lost and Wanted For Sale — Brand new pool table. For sale cheap. Tony Loris. Motored Across Napeague A party of twenty-seven in thirteen autos made a trip to Montauk Point, last week, suc cessfully negotiating the five miles of sand at Napeague Beach, which has long been considered an insurmountable obstacle to motorists. All the cars went through the sand without mishap and made good time. Water covered the road in many places to a depth of about six inches, extending for nearly a mile at a stretch. Quick time was made to the Inn at Fort Pond Bay, where dinner was served. A visit was made to the lighthouse before the return trip. The question of improving the road across Napeague Beach has often been agitated, and the sen timent in its favor is strong. In the party were Village Presi dent C. E. Smith, David J. Gil- martin, Frederick Duryea, Frank Burling, John D. Corrigan, Fred erick McAllister, Daniel Hurley, Benjamin Baird, Charles A. Jag- gar, John A. Herrick, J. Foster Terry, William L. Donnelly, Ir ving Terry, Eli H. Fordham, Le roy Green, Alvah D. Ellsworth, William Hedges, W. Halsey, Henry A. Fordham, The Rev. Geo. J. Russell, Edward Hammond, Charles Bennett, Frank Smith, Col. Potter, Henry Schwenk, and J. Augustus Hildreth. Amagansett Manager D’Am ico announces that hereafter all objectionable dances are strictly forbidden in Miankoma hall. Captain Samuel Edwards ar rived home from the city on Sun day, where he had been operated on for appendicitis. He recovered nicely from the operation and was detained but nine days in the hospital. Wainscott and Sagaponack Miss Ella Osborn of Wainscott, and Miss Lillian Mansir of Bridgehampton have returned to Mt. Sinai hospital. New York City, after enjoying a month’s vacation at home. Clifford J. Foster has returned from Maine, where he went to buy seed potatoes for the season of 1914.
