125 Years Ago 1900
From The East Hampton Star, June 8
A veteran wheelman who has made a three-day tour of the Suffolk County side paths, during which he covered 181 miles, gives out the result of his observations:
East Hampton is one of the most rapidly growing summer resorts on the island. Thirteen cottages, ranging in cost from $8,500 to $11,000 each, have been added during the past year. A large stand pipe, just where one emerges from the woods, proclaims that the village has a water system of its own.
To one who knew East Hampton twenty years ago, the change is marked and is not altogether pleasant. It was a quiet, dreamy, artist haunt, a sort of American Barbizon, with sheep and calves in the door yards, farm implements stored on the front porches, and ducks and geese swimming in the pond.
Now the cottagers have come in, the artists and authors have fled, and the once-quaint old village is metamorphosed into a mere summer resort, with clubs and golf links, glittering equipages, coachman and footman in livery, and all the pomp and circumstance of the fashionable watering place.
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Reports come from Southampton that Capt. Eugene Ludlow of Bridgehampton, who struck out for the Alaskan gold fields last year, has "struck it rich" at Cape Nome. He went to San Francisco, and thence by Bailing vessel to Kotzebue Sound and thence to Nome. Being an old Arctic whaleman, he is well acquainted with those northern regions.
100 Years Ago 1925
From The East Hampton Star, June 5
The biggest celebration of its kind ever staged in the village of Springs was pronounced most complete by the appreciative audience in attendance at the memorial services on Decoration Day. The occasion being the dedication of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial of both the Civil and World Wars, relatives and friends of the veterans were attracted from all the east end villages.
The speakers' platform was occupied by Cornelius King and Israel Quaw, the only surviving veterans of the Civil War in the town. In attendance on either side of the platform throughout the services were two standard-bearers of the World War.
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The fire demon is taking an increasing toll every year on account of careless folks in the forests. They ride in comfortable automobiles, throwing smoking stubs of cigars and cigarettes into the brush and leave live coals in their camp fires. Such habits are dangerous even in the city, where there are paved streets, tiled floors and electric stoves; but they are fatal to the future of our forests.
Fires swept over thousands of acres of timber land last summer and fall. The time of year is approaching again when such fires may be expected. Every citizen who goes into the forests should have impressed upon his mind in some manner the tremendous fire responsibilities that rest upon him along the roads, trails and in the camps.
75 Years Ago 1950
From The East Hampton Star, June 8
Operation Lookout has progressed to a point where 22 fully manned aircraft observation posts have been established in Suffolk County, the Board of Supervisors was informed Monday by James Van Orden of East Islip, who has charge of this vital defense function.
Mr. Van Orden, who is also the hard-working director of the Suffolk Veterans' Service Agency, suggested that the time had come when he should be relieved of this extracurricular duty. However, at the request of Islip Supervisor Charles H. Duryea, chairman of the board, he agreed to carry on for another month or two.
Reminiscent of the spotter service maintained throughout World War II, but differing in that the "cold war" posts are largely manned by young ex-servicemen while civilians of all ages did observation duty in 1941-45, Operation Lookout has gone through several dry runs in this county and another is planned for the near future.
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A direct link between Sag Harbor and all Long Island and New London, Conn., will be established, via ferry, on Thursday, June 15th, when the 500-passenger Gay Head makes its inaugural run, arriving in Sag Harbor at approximately 3 p.m. with a delegation from New London numbering better than 200 persons who will enjoy the dedication ceremonies at the Sag Harbor Dock.
50 Years Ago 1975
From The East Hampton Star, June 5
For Capt. Richard Stern of Montauk, the offshore collision Saturday that ended with his 60-foot trawler, Ranger, nearly split in half and at the bottom of the Atlantic was a painful case of deja-vu.
Sixteen years earlier he had been dragging net in the 40-foot Betsy C 15 miles off Block Island when a larger Connecticut trawler rammed him broadside and nearly cut the Betsy C in half. The insurance settlement for that accident, determined to be the other trawler's fault apparently, enabled him to buy the boat that was sunk Saturday afternoon.
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Local doctors, by and large, have followed the State and County Medical Societies' recommendation that, in the absence of "malpractice relief" that they deem "meaningful," they treat only emergency cases after June 1. Some are following it more literally than others, however.
Doctors throughout the State, who already paid malpractice insurance premiums ranging from $2,000 to $15,000 annually, began threatening a strike after the Argonaut Insurance Company of California, the only one covering members of the State Medical Society, said this winter that it would triple its rates or stop coverage altogether after July 1.
Rates would still rise by an estimated 15 percent this year if the Society forms its own company, as it is trying to do despite its disapproval of the law. Otherwise, by the doctors' estimate, the underwriting association may as much as double the rates.
25 Years Ago 2000
From The East Hampton Star, June 8
Crayons are off-limits to many South Fork schoolchildren for now thanks to a report that major brands contain asbestos. Laboratory tests found asbestos in Crayola, Prang, and Rose Art last month, according to The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which commissioned the tests and reported their results in May.
According to the Seattle newspaper, asbestos was a contaminant in talc used to harden the crayons, which were analyzed as part of a follow-up story tracing in which products the contaminated talc was used.
Soon after the report, the maker of Crayola crayons commissioned its own tests, which found no asbestos. This week Rose Art said its crayons, too, had been found to be asbestos-free, and that it had stopped using talc 15 months ago.
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Less than a week after introducing legislation to erase Nabisco-brand products from all state government shopping lists, State Assemblyman Fred Thiele on Friday called upon the company to be a "good corporate neighbor" and speed up its cleanup of the former Rowe Industries Superfund site in Sag Harbor.
"After 15 years, it's time to end this saga," Mr. Thiele told a crowd of about 50 people, some bearing "Boycott Nabisco" signs. But with less than 10 days left in this year's legislative session, Mr. Thiele said he did not expect any action on his call for a state boycott before January.
