125 Years Ago - 1897
From The East Hampton Star, July 23
It is hardly worthwhile to paint the hen house, which is usually a cheap structure, made warm and comfortable, but not stylish. But at the time of spring cleaning, it should never fail to get a good whitewashing, both inside and outside, except the roof. It will destroy all the smaller lice and all the eggs that would hatch if this or oil were not applied to them. The whitewash is an excellent thing in winter, also, and makes the hen house lighter.
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The Long Island servant girl who has inherited more than one million dollars by the death of an uncle in Scotland will soon find that she has more friends and admirers than she ever dreamed of having.
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A number of the boys and girls living on Main street held an outdoor fair at the home of Miss Lizzy Cartwright.
There were several booths, fixed up in fantastic style, where useful and fancy articles were offered for sale, and ice cream and lemonade were sold. The fair concluded with the customary auction and the sum of $20 was raised, to be given to Mr. Isaac King.
The young folks were pained the following morning to learn that Mr. King had passed away during the night.
100 Years Ago - 1922
From The East Hampton Star, July 21
The remark made that Southampton was becoming a medical center seems to be true. Additional facilities for X-ray work are now provided by the opening of Dr. H.W. Thorp's private X-ray laboratory at his residence in Elm street.
This laboratory is equipped with [. . .] a Solace radiographic and fluoroscopic table devised by Waite & Bartlett. This table carries a tube for taking X-ray pictures and a second tube for a fluoroscopic diagnosis.
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Unless potatoes are affected by blight there will be a record-breaking crop of spuds in Suffolk County this season, as there was an increase of nearly 15 per cent in the acreage planted last spring. The potato fields never looked better and the growers are hoping they will continue to look so until the tubers are dug.
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The test of the new pumping engine last Thursday evening, at Sag Harbor, was a success. Hose aggregating 2,200 feet was laid, beginning at the hydrant in front of Joseph Burns's residence and in front of George Boddington's home on Hampton street.
A pressure of 100 pounds was developed at the pumper and a stream 75 feet high was thrown, showing that the new engine is fully capable of protecting property in that locality.
75 Years Ago - 1947
From The East Hampton Star, July 24
A summer camp on Shelter Island which was scheduled to open June 28 but failed to open at all resulted in 134 complaints from parents who said they had paid for their children to attend the camp but did not receive refunds. Assistant District Attorney Louis G. Andreozzi [of Kings County] said money due parents totaled $18,000. The finance officer of the camp, called the John Paul Jones Camp, and a 27-year-old woman were held on $2,500 bail on a charge of grand larceny.
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The first week in August has been set aside by both the Town and Village of East Hampton as Ragweed Elimination Week, in the interest of sufferers from hay fever; and such people are legion. The idea is that everyone should recognize and try to destroy ragweed before it blooms, during August; that is when it is most dangerous. Mrs. Percy Ingalls heads the Ladies' Village Improvement Society's roadside committee, which is deeply interested in this work.
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Making her first stage appearance in quite some time, Ilka Chase this week walks to applause on the colorful set of the new comedy by Lynn Riggs, "Laughter From a Cloud," at the John Drew Memorial Theatre, Guild Hall. Famous for her books ("Past Imperfect," "In Bed We Cry" and "I Love Miss Tilly Bean"), her working radio and on the stage, Miss Chase gives a Broadway touch to the local stage in this latest production of Francis I. Curtis.
50 Years Ago - 1972
From The East Hampton Star, July 20
Montauk Fish Notes
Captain George Glas's Hel-Cat, reputedly the only steel-hulled, passenger-carrying catamaran in the country, has been awarded a contract by the Federal Department of Commerce to serve as a sea laboratory for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Sandy Hook, N.J., in environmental studies of Long Island Sound.
While the Hel-Cat is away during the week, Captain Brad Glas's Helen II will take care of the Hel-Cat's bluefishing trips.
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The County Legislature gave final approval Tuesday for the purchase of 995 acres at Indian Field, Montauk, for a park, and another 80 acres there for airport use. Legislator R. Thomas Strong, who has come under strong criticism for his part in County Park purchases at Tiana Beach, Southampton, and who sponsored the Indian Field proposal, did not vote on the matter.
He said, according to the New York Times, that he was abstaining from votes on land acquisitions "until I find out what the hell is going on."
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Southampton
Southampton Hospital is halfway through its effort to raise $3,000,000 towards the cost of its planned expansion; $1,565,638 has been contributed or pledged so far.
The first phase of the Hospital's expansion program has been revised to include a 52-bed third floor addition to the north wing, together with expanded intensive care and coronary care facilities.
25 Years Ago - 1997
From The East Hampton Star, July 24
David Starr-Tambor and Dave Palmer took time out from their lifeguard duties at Amagansett's Atlantic Avenue beach to swim around Manhattan on Saturday.
Palmer, a Dartmouth graduate who will teach English in the fall at a private school in Cali, Columbia, said, "The hardest part for me was the cab ride from South Street Seaport to Battery Park. It took an hour and 15 minutes. I tried out my Spanish on the cabbie, but not to much avail. Another five minutes and I would've been disqualified."
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When Bruce Collins needed help finding space for East Hampton's 350th anniversary celebration headquarters, it was a friend from school -- East Hampton High School, that is -- who came through.
On May 19, Mr. Collins sent off a letter to an old high school buddy, E. Virgil Conway, now the president of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, proposing to establish an office in the East Hampton train station building.
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Andrew Phillip Cunanan, the 27-year-old man charged with three murders across the country and suspected in at least two more, including last week's shooting of the Italian designer Gianni Versace, spent a weekend at an East Hampton Village house in July 1996.
His host agreed to speak with The Star this week on condition of anonymity. Mr. Cunanan was calling himself Andrew Phillip DeSilva at the time, one of two aliases he has been known to use.
The brief brush with a suspected serial murderer has left the East Hampton man "apprehensive
. . . somewhat," he said. "How many murderers have you known?"
