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Image provided by: East Hampton Library
n— t w o “ • THE EAST HAMPTON STAR, EAST HAMPTON, N. Y.. A P R IL 22, 1965 PICTURE POETRY April 15, 1965 Montauk Editor, Star Dear Ev, The Star’s policy may be in favor of not printing poetry and yet a poem is printed every week! The photographs by John Reed are poetic indeed; the variety and handling of the subjects are certainly the expressions of a poetic soul. I'm sure that compiled in book form they would .make an interest ing poem-picture-story of this area; later to be sold at the LVIS Fair and so much more inspirational and rewarding than “sign-snapping.'' Signed (Whoops, dirty word), JO SCHWARTZ BONAC JETTIES April 19, 1965 New York The Editor, East Hampton Star Dear Mr. Rattray, May I add a comment to your editorial of April 15 entitled \Two Jetty Projects?” I too am shaken at the thought of almost a half m il lion dollars to construct jetties at Accabonac Harbor. There is no guarantee that the jetties will real ly stabilize the entrance channel and remove the need for any fur ther dredging. It seems that every time man interferes with nature along a tidal shore he makes trouble for himself. The trouble at Accabonac began year? ago after the Town author ities allowed a speculator to fill in the natural channel at the north end of the harbor in order to give cheap access to a real estate de velopment. Why this was ever per mitted is a mystery. The result was to force the tidal flow of the entire harbor through the narrow channel at Louse Point where the increased power of the current rapidly built up sand bars both inside and out side the harbor. However, occasional dredging kept the channel open and it was a favored spot for swimming and spring snapper fishing. It was the only place hereabouts where one could dive into deep water from the shore. The next interference with the harbor was taken at sub stantial expense to the taxpayers: the filling in of the Louse Point channel and the digging of a wider channel farther north. In five years this, as you note, has become choked with sand. It would be interesting and educational to citizens and taxpayers to know just why this costly work was un dertaken, who favored it and who approved it. Evidently one reason was to give access to a strip of beach which could then be sold to the town as a “park.” This transac tion profited the former owner and the real estate agent but hardly the Town. The “park” is used by few, and local residents sadly miss the old Louse Point channel and beach. A naturally lovely spot enjoyed by many has been destroyed. Instead, we have an eyesore in the form of a high causeway to nowhere crown ed by a needless road which cuts off the view of Gardiner’s Bay form erly enjoyed by all who live along the south side of the harbor. Has any study been made by a qualified engineer — one who un derstands tidal action — to deter mine the effect of reopening the old channel at the northern end of the harbor? Certainly this would decrease the tidal pressure at the present channel and possibly remove the need for such extensive and costly jetties. Two or three large culverts or even a simple bridge over the re opened channel would surely cost far less than the jetties. If the old Narrows channel is reopened we may find that the tidal action which created the two original channels in the first place, will keep them open. Careful study should precede a decision to spend a half millioa dol lars to rectify past mistakes. Sincerely yours, MORLEY AYEARST PARTNERSHIP East Hampton, N. Y. April 15, 1965 Everett Rattray Editor East Hampton Star Dear Mr. Rattray: For more than 250 years the early settlers of East Hampton have had a working partnership with the woodlands of the town, comprising some 22,000 acres which is approx imately 50 per cent of our total town acreage. The early settlers framed their homes, built their ships, their farm machines, crude though they were, held in place their fish nets, heat ed their homes, picked and pre served blueberries, blackberries, beach plums and cranberries from the shelter of these woodlands. They set out, grafted and raised apples which were dried for winter use, pears, peaches, quinces and plums which matured in regular order in the fall months. Yokes for the oxen, wooden ham- es for the horses, meadow shoes for mowing wetlands (meadow lands) in summer (these were at tached to the horses’ feet to prevent miring), snaths for the scythes which cut the early grasslands, handles for the axes, rakes for the hay and even pitchforks to handle this hay were made from wood. Needles for knitting twine, hooks for making fykes, stakes for hold ing these fykes and later poles for holding large fish traps were all taken from the native woodland. Churches were framed and built from our native trees as were, also, meeting houses and schools. The w indm ill which stands today on North Main Street was cut and assembled in one day (around 1806); an outstanding example of coopera tion and genius in construction. The brake which pulls the arms around so that the sails can be unfurled is an engineering feat in itself. Gen eral Motors engineers copied this idea in their internal expanding brakes now used in motor vehicles. The early tillage tools used in East Hampton were wooden mould board ploughs shaped as they are today with a “point” made by local blacksmiths from iron brought in from Lynn, Massachusetts. These ploughs were crude in comparison with our present day modern ploughs, but in light soil they did the work and made possible the rais ing of food of very high quality and very high nutritive value be cause of the manner of using fish, seaweed, wood ashes and animal manures. It was said that the local miller always “wound up” his day's oc cupation by having grain left for his own use which was raised at Northwest or at The Springs. Grain grown in East Hampton or Ama gansett was light in weight, matur ed late and not considered the best in quality. Wood was one of East Hampton’s chief industries in the period from the Revolution up to the coming of the railroad (around 1895). It was said that more cordwood was ship ped from East Hampton at one time than from any port in the country. This wood went to eastern seaboard cities, to the brick building plants of New England, to the West Indies and even some, we are told, went to other foreign countries. Wood from the Bridgehampton area was hauled to Northwest and Sag Harbor over the Merchants’ Path. Other loading points were Low Hollow in Springs and Deep Hole in Springs. This occupation employed several hundred men, ox teams and later horse teams to cut, load and haul to shipping points. Even as late as 1920 this was still a business of quite some importance to townspeople. W ith the coming of the railroad, heating of homes with coal, light ing homes with kerosene light and importing lumber from more dis tant areas for home building; a new era in town affairs began to dawn. More and more the partnership with our woodland acres began to dis solve. Wood lot owners cared less and less for their ownership in these acres. Forest fires of huge magnitude swept our woodlands northward from the railroad track and into our Northwest area. The complete indifference on the part of local res idents, together with a very inef ficient woods fire fighting unit, did our woodlands irreparable harm. Little was thought in this period of the very important part that trees play in the role of water conserva tion, wild life preservation and aesthetic value. Just how do we measure these three important things to our community in the year 1965? At the present time, we do not know just how much water we have in our township. We do know that we cannot hope to get any help from Montauk, Napeague, Connecti cut, New York or Nassau County to aid us should we become in great need. Water alone could start an exodus of people from our town ship because once our water table becomes permeated with salt water it will be too late. Desalinization plants in the future, in my opinion, as far as furnishing fresh water on a large scale are impractical. We have single farms now pumping for irrigation pur poses as high as a million gallons of water per day. The duck process ing plant in Riverhead pumps a million gallons of water a day. We are told that the mosquito drainage system in the Peconic Bay area permits some 23,000,000 gallons of water per day to enter the Peconic Bay area. An estimated runoff in East Hampton is not presently known, but we do know that upper springs, potholes and the water table gen erally is falling. I think our Town Board should urge a complete geo logical survey of our water resourc es. The part played by the wood lands in holding this great water potential is, I think, one of the great things that must be recognized if we are going to preserve this great heritage which we are all assuming is going to be left forever. To allow wholesale removal and destruction of our silent partners, the woods, without complete under standing and unity on the part of our school children, our year around residents and our summer people may be a fatal mistake. April 23 is Arbor Day. It would seem to me that this might be a fitting date on which a crusade could be started to preserve as much of our wood land as is possible. The above letter is only an at tempt on my part to start such a movement. The Preservation Society of the East End, Incorporated has in mind a broad approach which w ill also need the backing of all the people of the town together with a complete mobilization of all the conservation forces which can be brought to bear. Sometime in the near future, I hope to have a more definite over-all plan which, I hope, w ill be accepted. Sincerely, FERRIS G. TALMAGE Report From Albany By Assemblyman Perry B. Duryea Jr. of Montauk With the budget having been pass ed last week, we moved on to con sideration of other important m at ters. For a number of years, the State has been trying to extend its Navigation Law to cover Long Is land waters. I recognized the need to have all of the State covered by one uniform regulation but was compelled last week to lead the suc cessful fight to have this year's bill amended before passage. It all came down to a matter of wording. The bill as originally pre sented to the Assembly called for the State to regulate all waters more than 1,500 feet from shore. I requested an amendment which V o u ld allow the State to regulate all waters, 1,500 feet beyond outer harbor limits and we passed the bill as amended. Consider, if you will, the situa tions which could have arisen in such limited areas of water as Great South Bay or Lake Montauk, where there might be slightly more than 3,000 feet between shorelines. A man with a long boat or a marine con stable with an accurate chart could have found themselves involved with two jurisdictions at the same time. Using a measurement from shore, a man could have gone from Town to State waters by stepping from the bow of his boat to m id ships for a cool drink. The need to bring all State waters into conformity under the Naviga tion Law is conceded by most boat men. We fought the extension until we were able to get a regulation w ith which we could live com fortably. Most people won’t notice any difference. Enforcement w ill still be handled by County, Town or Village patrols. The State supplies grants to the various Counties to cover this cost of enforcement and Suffolk, al though not under the Navigation Law in 1964, received $50,000 last year to cover some of the costs of patrolling our many miles of water front. Alcoholic Anonymous meets every Tuesday night at 9 ST. LUKE'S CHURCH East Hampton Tel. BRidgehampton 2-0461 Executively Speaking By H. Lee Dennison, Suffolk County Executive ^ ... 1 ^ 1 SEE MAYTAG AD 1 J ON PAGE 11—5 Let Beneficial put ts m TERRIFIC YEARS WATCH NEXT WEEK'S PAPER in your pocket today GET CASH TO PAINT UP . . . FIX UP . . . TUNE UP . . . D R ESS UP . . . any good reason! Just phone, come in, and pick up the money you want! It’s the fastest way to take care of all your Spring expenses at one time. Call Beneficial now! LOANS up to $800 Loans life-insured at low c o s t BENEFICIAL FINANCE CO. OF NEW YORK, INC. 32 HAMPTON ROAD (Near Town Hall) Southampton 1-2222 Since the population explosion hit Suffolk a dozen or more years ago, at least 150,000 new housing units have been built in the Coun ty. Many thousands of these have benn jerry-built as low-cost, quick- profit, potential slums because the Towns had no building or housing codes at all, or the codes were in effective and unenforced. All codes for the welfare and safety of people in housing con struction are presently the functions of the Towns. Building codes have to do with m inim u m standards for new construction; housing codes with standards for existing housing, having to do with occupancy, light, heat, plumbing and such. The State of New York provides, for free, basic building and housing codes which any Town could adopt by simple resolution. But as of this date, only six of the ten Towns have any building code, only two have any housing code. Some of them have been adopted only very recently; some of them are not very well enforced, if at all. For six years past, the County Executive has urged that each and all Towns adopt the State building and housing codes, rebuild them to fit local desires, and then, in co operative effort, blend them all into one single standard for all ten Towns. It makes sense that there should be County - wide standards for all housing construction, for all plumbing, heating, ventilating, san itary, and electric work; and that all such work be performed by qual ified, licensed craftsmen, including general contractors. Anything less constitutes derelic tion in official responsibility, which adds up to the same thing if codes do exist which aren’t properly en forced. W ithin the next two decades, more new housing will be built in Suffolk than has ever been built, all told, to date. Hopefully, there should be at least a little better direction and control relative thereto than was evidenced in the past. BRAND NEW FOR SALE OR RENT FIL-NET SHOPPE Main St., Sag Harbor, L. I. T H E 1770 HOUSE Easl Hampton's Only Year-Round HOTEL Public Cordially Welcomed to our DINING ROOM Breakfast 8 - 10 a.m. CUPBOARD ROOM Steaks, Chops 6-10 p.m.* TAP ROOM 5 p.m. to Closing* Brochure describing accommoda tions and tariffs on request. ‘ Closed Sun. Eve. 143 Main SL Mr. & Mrs. Don Hunting EA 4-1770 MA BERGMAN'S 136 NORTH MAIN ST. EAST HAMPTON 4-0590 £ Homemade Pizza $ Italian Dinners Spaghetti Manicotti Lasagna y X X Veal Parmigiana Chicken Cacciatora *!• BEER AND WINE ORDERS TO GO CLOSED MONDAYS Snow Flake • Soft Ice Cream • Coffee • Donuts • Sandwiches SATURDAY, MAY 1st Present This Ad Saturday, May 1 and receive One of Any Item Offered (not to exceed .50c) (Formerly of the Creme Queen) Pantigo & Maple Lane 324-4030 East Hampton j d A A L u i l l i u u ~ u ~ THE HEDGES INN Fine 300-Year-Old American Inn with top year-round service Lodging Breakfast Luncheon Dinner Cocktails TEL. 516-324-4200 EAST HAMPTON, NEW YORK a n a d ’ N o t t e DINNER 5:30-10:30 SUNDAY 4:00-8:00 Closed Mondays 44 Three Mile Harbor Road East Hampton, N. Y. Tel. EA 4-1255 THE NEW Luncheon 12 io 2:30 Dinner 5:30 io 10 p.m. Dinner Friday and Saturday 5:30 lo 10:30 Sunday Dinner 1:30 io 10 p.m. Specializing in Private Parties 20 Main Street EAst Hampton 4-4120 M E M B E R EA S T HAM P T O N CHAM B E R O F COMMERCX Boris at the Piano
