Villages

In 1898, three boats gave chase to what was thought to be the largest whale ever seen along the coast. And more from the history-rich pages of The Star.

I’m not sure if Leonard Cohen was into birds, but if he was, he might have appreciated the mess that is the European starling.

John Howard Payne (1791-1852) wrote and composed “Have a Care Mon Ami,” the sheet music for which is seen here, around 1833, for a musical farce called “Fricandeau, or the Cook and the Coronet.”

“In my mind I thought one of the kids asked a coach if he could go down and hold his breath. Then I heard one of the teammates say, ‘Hey, you want me to tell him to come up?’ And the coach said, ‘Yes,’ ” recalled Jason Brunner, a RECenter lifeguard who was on duty on Feb. 1 and was recognized with a proclamation from the East Hampton Village Board for his role in helping to save the boy.

On March 4, 1898, The Star reported that "work has progressed on the bicycle path on Main street in a satisfactory manner this week. Hundreds of loads have already been carted gratuitously, and although the cycle club well knows that it has undertaken a big job, it feels greatly encouraged by the hearty support being given by the citizens."

Sultan Kilic was sleeping in her sixth-floor apartment in Adana, Turkey, with her 10-year-old son, Cagan, at 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 6, when the earth began to speak, and their building began to shake. “We formed a ‘life triangle’ and waited to die,” she recalled this week in Sag Harbor, where she is now staying with her son.

“We pretty much lost everything,” said Geary Gubbins, whose sporting goods shop, Gubbins, was one of several East Hampton Village businesses that experienced major losses this week when their basements were flooded on Sunday. "The water was up to the ceiling."

A break in a water line discovered Sunday morning in East Hampton Village caused major flooding at a number of downtown businesses, including Tutto Caffe, Bonne Nuit, Valentino, and Gubbins. Efforts to pump out basements were stalled for nearly eight hours as PSEG struggled to shut down power to affected areas.

This logbook tracks the voyage of the Daniel Webster, which set out from Sag Harbor for the Pacific in 1833 seeking whales. Capt. Philetus Pierson was at the helm.

Two very different narratives have emerged as the Maidstone Gun Club seeks to renew its land lease with East Hampton Town and fight off a lawsuit that threatens its future altogether. In one narrative, a number of Wainscott residents push for the club’s permanent closure, painting it as a dangerous nuisance. But the other narrative — the Maidstone Gun Club’s point of view — is rarely heard, owing to the low profile its members intentionally keep.

Beleaguered Town Pond, low on water, high on invasive plants, was again on the East Hampton Village Board’s agenda Friday, in the form of a resolution providing $9,175 for the “hand removal of surface algae” from the once pristine water body. “The pond is frustrating, there’s no doubt about it,” commented Mayor Jerry Larsen. “This algae pops up pretty quick. Because we’re having such a warm winter, this weed is growing very rapidly.”

Three changes to the operation of its beaches were on the East Hampton Village Board’s agenda Friday, all of them with an eye to maximizing income from the village’s top resource.