125 Years Ago 1901
From The East Hampton Star, March 1
At the close of the regular order of business of Hampton Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at their lodge rooms on Tuesday evening, a literary program was given. Addresses were made as follows: “Washington and His Influence” by Dr. L.L. Howell, “Our Government and Its Future” by S.A. Gregory, and “East Hampton” by B.H. Van Scoy. The discourses were highly enjoyed by all present.
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Comic opera in East Hampton will be a refreshing treat. The bright, catchy music of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Mikado” is famous, and all should seize the opportunity to hear it at Clinton Hall next Tuesday evening. Full particulars are given in another column.
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The New England supper given by the pupils of the high school on Friday evening last was a complete success. The supper was fully up to the high standard which always obtains in East Hampton cookery, and it was served in a pleasing manner by the young ladies. Among those present where Mrs. W.H. Baldwin Jr. and daughter. The proceeds were about $52.13.
100 Years Ago 1926
From The East Hampton Star, February 26
Sales and exchanges of real estate in East Hampton town have caused buyers to take a keen interest in beach titles, as foreshore and waterfront properties come in such good values.
Originally the town purchasers owned all town lands. This included the beaches, which in a great many places were not allotted in pioneer times. Farm lands and meadows were considered to be of greatest value. The beaches were needed for boats, seines, etc., but there was then not much demand for beach or dune properties.
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Announcement was made this week, by the Long Island Railroad management, that on April 1 the Pullman Company will inaugurate regular Pullman chair car service on Long Island, similar to that now operated on the Pennsylvania and other trunk lines. Details of this innovation will be announced later.
Having completed arrangements for turning over its parlor car business to the Pullman Company, the railroad is dismantling the twenty chair cars which it owns, and will convert them into coaches. These cars are new and of all-steel construction. When rebuilt they will be larger and more luxurious than any of the coaches now in service on Long Island.
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Playing practically a flawless game and flashing a beautiful passing game, the East Hampton High School boys’ basketball team defeated the Bridgehampton team 21-18 last Friday night here.
The local defense was so strong under the basket that the visiting players could go through only on rare occasions and they were forced to score with long shots, well out from the basket.
75 Years Ago 1951
From The East Hampton Star, March 1
Montauk fishermen and businessmen are upset at the news that big gun practice will begin in April, restricting fishing operations in a large area off this township.
The Montauk Businessmen’s Club met on Tuesday night, and the news of the Federal order regarding the Montauk area hit the 24 present like an atomic bomb. Few had any idea of it until this week, although the commandant at the Montauk base had filed his request on January 19. The order reads that unless some protests are filed before March 5, it would be presumed that there were no objections and the plans will go forward.
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The annual polio drive is over. William Strong, director of the East Hampton committee this year, is well pleased with a total of over $1,500 either given or raised by benefits here. No goal is set for individual communities this year. Whether the Suffolk County goal has been reached or not has not yet been determined, since the reports from the various townships only went in on Monday.
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The story of Samuel Mulford, East Hampton whaleman and member of the Colonial Assembly who waged a battle which may have been America’s first against “taxation without representation” more than half a century before the Revolutionary War, will be presented over the radio next Tuesday evening, on “Cavalcade of America,” at 8 o’clock over the NBC network; it will be rebroadcast for the West Coast at 11:30 that evening.
From The East Hampton Star, February 26
Eddie Dowling, the playwright, actor, and producer, died Feb. 18 at Smithfield, R.I. Mr. Dowling was 81, and had lived most of his retirement years in Springs and East Hampton.
Mr. Dowling, whose real name was Joseph Nelson Goucher, won the Pulitzer Prize for his production of William Saroyan’s “The Time of Your Life.” He was born on Dec. 9, 1894, in Rhode Island, of French-Canadian and Irish extraction, and sang Irish ballads for pennies outside saloons as a boy.
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With the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development about to earmark rent-subsidy funds for 2,000 units from among applications involving more than 5,000, a local applicant has asked the East Hampton Town Board to assure HUD of its interest in the proposed “senior citizens” project here.
The applicant, Joseph Oppenheimer of Montauk and Freeport, told the board at its executive session last Thursday that a HUD official, Stanley Spears of the New York area office’s environmental review section, had told him that his 49-unit proposal in Amagansett was the local front-runner in the upcoming ranking process, which is not to say that it would be picked.
From The East Hampton Star, March 1
If it weren’t for the well-intentioned antics of the Montauk Friends of Erin each March, many of those who leave Montauk in January and February might not return so soon.
But they do, in dribs and drabs, until the day of the St. Patrick’s Day parade, which this year will be held on March 25 at 1 p.m., when the hamlet swells to capacity and everyone claims to have a bit of Irish in them.
Each year, though, the Friends of Erin never know if that year’s parade will be the last. It comes with a $35,000 price tag and fund-raising has become problematic, say the Friends.
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Some three months ago the remains of a shipwreck were unearthed from the wandering coastline of Montauk’s north shore. By Saturday northern winds seemed to be causing them to be swallowed again by the dunes from which they had emerged.
The time in between presented a fleeting opportunity several weeks ago for a visit to the site by Henry W. Moeller, marine archaeologist, a retired professor at Dowling College, and president of the Suffolk County Archaeological Association.
Dr. Moeller hoped to clear up the mystery as to where the remains had come from.
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An entire flock of starlings, some 100 birds in all, was found dead Tuesday afternoon on Montauk Highway in Bridgehampton in front of the Long Island Power Authority building.
The small brownish-black birds lay scattered across the highway and the grass by the side of the road, covering perhaps 50 square feet. Two more dead birds were found not far away, near the entrance to Bridgehampton Commons.
What happened to cause the deaths had the experts guessing this week.
