Welcome to another era in Ocean County's past, one century ago this week! Let your mind wander as you consider life around early May 1924, courtesy the New Jersey Courier and Ocean County Review weekly newspapers, from the Ocean County Library archives, and peppered with items of maritime interest (around a 20 minute read). Fred Wagner, 1910 BREVITIES AND EDITORIALS(often written by NJ Courier editor, William H. Fischer, as he sat at his desk above Main Street near Washington Street; it was much like a collection of online social media updates seen today) May. Easterly winds. Showers and wet. Many spring flowers. Flowers and flowers. Children gather violets. Gorgeous array of tulips. Maple leaves are unfolding. Apple blooms are about due. Forest fires near us on Monday. Farmers are plowing extensively. Jury here Wednesday and Thursday. Boatmen are thinking of next summer. Peach, plum, pear and cherry trees in bloom. Grass is high enough for the lawn mower. Hundreds of butterflies were seen on Sunday last. Some folks report whippoorwills calling. April wept as she said goodbye—May smiled her greetings yesterday. Township Clerk Theodore Fischer has painters at work on his Hooper avenue residence. Fruit trees promise of abundant fruit. More chicken houses going up in all the surrounding territory. Jack Irons has improved his store by putting in a new pastry case. Fred Gaskill, the contractor and builder, is driving a new Ford roadster. The oriole arrived on May 1. He sings as cheerily as ever, and dresses as bravely. There are a score or so of new houses now being built about Toms River. Forest fires to the southwest of the town on Monday afternoon, caused somewhat of loss and alarm, and called out the fire department. James D. Holman, of Whitesville, owners of the bogs on Jakes Branch, known as the Aumack bogs, had some men burning off around the bogs that day, and the fire got away from them. It swept in a wide path, but aside from destroying timber, did no other damage. Fire Warden Frank Goodrich had his hands full for awhile. John Grover on Monday attended a meeting of Overland sales agents in New York. On Tuesday, with Bud Tice, he drove two new cars down from the city. The tent caterpillar, which was such a pest last spring, is here again. You can see the web on almost any wild cherry tree or bush and on the young apple trees everywhere in the neighborhood. C.H. Elwell has installed a swell new soda fountain in his Main street store, resplendent in marble and plate glass. Radio sets have not yet caught up with pianos, phonographs or flivers, but they are on their way and going strong. Some poultrymen think the next move in the co-operative line might be a cold storage plant for keeping eggs and poultry meat till the winter months. Daylight saving time went into effect last Sunday morning. Farmers and chicken raisers say that while they set their clocks ahead, the sun didn't change with the clock, and their day is all disarranged. Someone has figured it up that closed cars have at last surpassed touring cars [open top] in the number on the road. Dealers say they sell more closed than open cars. Everybody in this section is figuring on getting to Lakehurst on May 31—the day of the aerial circus. Many herring are caught in nets in the streams. William Seaman and William Gifford are putting up a gas station on the Toms River and Island Heights road near the cranberry bog. Huddy Park will soon be in its summer beauty; paths are being graveled with bright red gravel, which is not commonly used for paths, but is very beautiful alongside of a well kept lawn. S.R. Hankins, of Point Pleasant, has started a fish market at 12 Robbins Street. Charles Thompson has moved his news stand to the ground floor of the Rost building, on Main street, and put in a big window. Metal lath and metal window casing has been arriving this week for the new school house, and that job shows more life again. It is promised by the contractor that it will be ready when school opens next September. Daylight saving time seems to please some folks and not others, but does confuse us all. In these parts the chicken farmer seems to be the one most affected, because of his flock going to roost so late. When James Hever, a Lakewood fan was found lying in the street, dead drunk, his faithful dog kept watch over him and would not allow even the police to touch him. The dog had first to be noosed and dragged away. NATIONAL GRATITUDE Gratitude, in politics, has been defined as a lively hope of favors to come. There seems little difference in international politics. Last September, stricken Japan, could not say enough in thanks for the aid hurried across the Pacific by the United States [the magnitude 7.9 Great Kanto Earthquake on Sept. 1st, 1923 decimated parts of central Japan]. Today Japan is threatening and blustering about what will happen if we make laws to suit ourselves for the government of our own land, instead of making them to suit Japan. To be sure Japan makes her own laws to suit her own citizens, without consulting us—but that seems to be different. However, as the United States is the biggest customer of Japan, it would seem that Japan, not the U.S.A., stood to lose if there were to come that rupture of friendly relations that Japan blusters about... THE ALL-NIGHT HANGOUT The closing of barrooms and the prevalence of the automobile has brought a new problem to the country town—the “all-night hangout.” This is generally either a restaurant, quick-lunch room, or poolroom. In the old days, the courts in granting licenses regulated hours, and the license holder who kept his bar open after midnight stood a chance of losing his license. So far there is no regulation upon the lunch room and the pool room. They have become the meeting place of those inclined to break the law. Bootleggers and rum-runners find them handy in the early morning hours; joyriders, of both sexes, make the lunch room a meeting place. Disorder gathers about them, and the drinkers of hooch or witch hazel have discovered in them a retreat. What's to be done about it? STATE ALONE REGULATES R.R.s. The Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey has recently decided that municipalities cannot regulate the speed of railroad trains through any particular town or city by ordinance... THAT SEEM'S FAIR The Trenton Times makes an eminently fair suggestion regarding the often-talked-of plan to save the seacoast. It urges, that if the general public is called upon for money to protect private property on the beaches, then all the land that makes up on the beachfronts should not, as now, become the property of the individual owner on whose shore the accretions formed, but should become the property of the public. Surely that is fair. HEADLINE NEWSBIG RACING PROGRAM FOR BARNEGAT BAY IN 1924 B.B.Y.R.A. LEAVES OUT GIRLS' RACES FOR 1924 Several changes have been made in the racing schedule of the Barnegat Bay Yacht Racing Association for the coming summer of 1924, the most important of which are leaving off the former series of girls' twenty-foot sneakbox races, and the addition of a second class of catboats, which will take care of heavier craft than the Mary Ann type. At present the only catboats having a chance at all in the regattas are those of very light build, large sail area in fact of the type bordering on the racing machine. There will also, as heretofore, be races in the sloop class, and the sneakboxes will have three classes of their own—20-foot, and Class A and Class B in the 15-foot measurement. There are new rules for the two fifteen foot classes of boxes, as those of 1922 and even those of 1923 did not altogether suit. These rules are being worked out to suit the peculiarities of these races. The new class of what might be termed working catboats also requires a new set of rules. H.B. Atkin formulated the catboat rules, and A.Q. Kean the fifteen foot sneakbox rules. Races featuring the various yacht clubs will be held this year, on the plan of last summer. Each club in the association will be allowed a day for its races. Toms River Yacht Club will again hold its races off Cedar Creek Point, as it did in the [18]70s, 80s and 90s, when it was the only yacht club on the bay, and in fact held the championship of the racing world in the catboat class. An innovation this year will be a cruise to Beach Haven, where a race will be held by the Little Egg Harbor Yacht Club. The entire schedule has not yet been prepared. It is understood that the Philadelphia Record will give the trophies for one race this year. The plans for 1924, so far as the have been developed, were agreed upon at a meeting of the association held last week at the office of Frank Scofield, at the Finance Building, Philadelphia. Gossip of the racing for the coming summer shows that Com. Frank W. Thatcher of Seaside Park, will have a new catboat to compete with Mary Ann and her class. The new boat is being built by Morton Johnson, at Bay Head, from the same model as the Mary Ann. The latter craft has swept the bay for two summers, though last year she had four new competitors. These new boats were just getting to be well understood by their sailing masters at the close of the 1923 racing season, and it is the opinion of a number of the bay yachtsmen that they ought to do better in 1924 than they did in 1923. There are also four new sneakboxes to make their debut this year. Two will fly the blue and white of the Toms River Yacht Club, being built by Edward Crabbe and Franklin Doan, Lyddon Pennock, of Seaside Park, and Orton G. Dale, of Bay Head, who for years sailed the redoubtable Arran, winner of many hard fought races are also building new twenty foot sneakboxes. ISLAND HEIGHTS FACES LOSS OF COMMUTERS P.R.R. ASKS TO ABANDON ISLAND HEIGHTS BRIDGE Making application to the Interstate Commerce Commission, and through that federal body to the State Public Utility Board, the Pennsylvania Railroad system, or, rather, its subsidiary, the Pennsylvania and Atlantic Railroad Company, is asking to be allowed to abandon the Island Heights spur and bridge, running from Pine Beach station, across the river, to Island Heights. This application is no surprise, as it has been in the air for two years past, and prior to that the railroad had been for some time getting ready for the movement. It comes now directly after several conferences between Vice President A.J. County, and other P.R.R. officials, on the one hand, and summer residents at Island Heights, with others interested in the welfare of that resort, on the other hand... The bridge across the river was originally built by the Island Heights Railroad Company, and organization of men interested in developing Island Heights. When built, it was after a long fight in courts, in which it was opposed by Toms River people, on the ground that the bridge would interfere with navigation on the river—as in that day, 1883, there was nothing but sail boats, in use on the river. The railroad won, and the bridge was built, and has since operated. It is understood that the P.R.R. afterward bought up the stock of the Island Heights Railroad Company, having first leased the road for a period of years. The purchase of the road is said to have merged the two properties and to have automatically set aside the lease. Should the road be abandoned, the right of way on West End avenue, Island Heights, may revert to the Island Heights Association, which gave it. The right of way south of the river might also revert to the original owners... NAVY TO PUT OVER BIGGEST FLYING STUNT PLAN ALL SET FOR BIG NAVAL AERIAL CIRCUS Plans are all set for the aerial circus on Saturday, May 31, at the Naval Air Station, Lakehurst, according to reports that come from that station. A lot of novel stunts will be introduced, and the navy will do its utmost to exceed the aerial circus put on last fall at Mineola, Long Island, by the army. The Shenandoah is practically repaired after its sensational runaway flight of last winter and will make its public appearance about May 15. The damaged nose cap has been repaired together with several sections of the envelope. The motors are being reduced from six to five, the engineers having decided that this battery will give all the speed required. The Shenandoah will give an exhibition flight on the day of the circus and will go to the mast early in the day, where it will be on exhibition. Blimp J-1 being assembled by mechanics at the station is expected to be finished in about ten days, material and parts of the blimp having arrived from Hampton Roads the latter part of last week. This non-rigid airship will be 200 feet long, with a 45 foot diameter, carrying two motors in a 35 foot control car, specified to give a fifty-five mile an hour cruising speed. The ship will have a 5000 lbs. lifting capacity. The J-1 will be in several stunts in the circus. Lieutenant Al Williams, U.S. Navy, the world champion speed flyer, with a record of 268 miles per hour and Lieutenant David Rittenhouse, U.S. Navy, who won the International Seaplane race from England, France and Italy last year, will take part. Other famous pilots will demonstrate their special stunts. Special trains will be run to the hangar from New York, Newark, Jersey City, etc. and from Camden and Atlantic City. The program lasts from 10.30 a.m. To 4.00 p.m. and includes parachute drops from kite balloons, free balloon flights, flights of Shenandoah, a blimp picking up a man without landing, formation flying of five planes, a stunt rolling and side-slipping, in synchronism. Two pilots will stage a “dog fight,” which in aerial parlance, is a sham battle in the air in which the two pilots loop, spin and roll to gain advantageous positions to “strafe” the opponent with machine gun, simulating wartime combat. It is planned to stage a quadruple parachute race; four men jumping off a Martin bomber from a height of 3000 feet, the one reaching the field first to win. Aerial smoke screens, comic hopping balloons, and other events not yet definitely decided on will complete the program. The Station detachment of Marines will furnish the mimic attack on a machine-gun next, assisted by airplanes. A giant lout speaker, which the contractor states, can be heard for three miles will be used to communicate with the Shenandoah while she is in the vicinity of the field. Commander J.H. Klein, Jr., U.S. Navy, the Commanding Officer, states that he expects fully 100,000 visitors to the Station. TOMS RIVER KIWANIS CLUB PRESENTED WITH CHARTER Toms River Kiwanis Club had a gala night on Monday evening last, when it received its charter and became a full fledged club. The charter was presented by Robert J. Rendall, of Jersey City, Governor of the district of New Jersey. The evening was also a Ladies Night, and there were delegations present from numerous Kiwanis Clubs in the state. The affair was in the dining room of the Ocean House [2024 site of 7-11 and closed Chase Bank at Main and Water streets], and about 150 people sat down to the dinner... WEAKFISH IN BARNEGAT BAY Weakfish are in the Bay. The past week Forked River and Waretown fishermen have found them in their nets. Some fine catches have been made, one man claiming that he found over 70 filled in his nets, and another man 80. FLYER, HERO OF WORLD WAR GOES WEST IN PEACE TIME FLIGHT FORMER LAKEHURST FLIER KILLED IN CHICAGO CRASH Word was received at the Naval Air Station, Lakehurst, last Friday that “Joe” Green, a former flier at that station, during which time he resided at Beachwood, had been killed on Thursday, April 24, while flying. The story is that Green and another flier H.R. Cruickshank were trying out a plane, and for some unknown reason it was disabled, so that they fell from a height of 1,000 or 1,500 feet, striking a tree in the fall to the earth. Joseph H. Green was born in Norfolk, Va., in 1887. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1904, serving on the U.S.S. Maryland under Admiral Moffett. At the outbreak of the World War he was sent to France with the first Air Detachment, serving on various fronts. He was later transferred to Italy and served with the American forces on the Austrian front until the close of the war. He took part in bombing raids on Austrian Naval bases at Pola and Trieste and was decorated with the Italian Croix de Guerre for conspicuous service in those raids. While serving on the Austrian front he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. During this time he was shot down in combat with Austrian aeroplanes sustaining injuries which kept him out of active service for three months. At the close of the war he returned to the United States and was placed in command of the Naval Air Station at Dalgren, Virginia. He was later transferred tot eh Naval Aircraft factory, Philadelphia, Pa., as Chief Test Pilot. In August 1922, he was transferred to the Naval Air Station at Lakehurst and served on the U.S.S. Shenandoah as Elevator Pilot. In January 1924, he was transferred to the Great Lakes to train Naval Reserve aviators, and met his death while engaged in this duty. He would have retired from the United States Navy in December 1925, with twenty years' service. His body was brought from Chicago to Washington, D.C. where it was met by six of his brother officers from Lakehurst and escorted to its last resting place in Arlington Cemetery. He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Jane Green. He was piloting a sea plane and was attempting to land it on the ground as the engine had stopped and he could not get back to the water. As he neared the ground an automobile was in his way, and it was thought that to avoid hitting it he tried to glide over a clump of trees, but crashed into them. He was in war time rated as a Lieutenant and was a flier of exceptional skill and daring, according to his friends. After the war, because of his physical condition resulting from gas, he was offered retirement as a lieutenant, but preferred to stay in the service and take his demotion to chief petty officer, as the result of cutting down the number of men in the navy. While living at Beachwood Green built himself a home there, which he sold when he was transferred from Lakehurst to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station, near Chicago, where he met his death. Green was well liked in this neighborhood. He was said to be an enthusiast about flying, and wanted to be up in the air every minute possible. His friends also say that his lungs were badly affected by gas, the trouble being aggravated by his work in the air. While here he became a member of Harmony Lodge, F. and A.M. TRACO THEATRE WILL HAVE STAGE TO COST $30,000 [$550K in 2024 Dollars] The Traco Theatre Company has arranged for the construction of a stage, the addition to cost about $30,000, when fully equipped with the electric outfit, flies, drops, scenes, etc. The stage will be built this summer, in fact is promised in 72 working days. The Old Union Construction Co., of Elizabeth, which is building the public school were awarded the contract for the general building; Finley and Wainwright, for electrical work; E.A. Smith, for plumbing and heating. The company is issuing preferred stock to pay for the addition. Holders of this preferred stock on May one received the eighth semi-annual dividend at the rate of seven per cent yearly. SUNSHINE INVESTORS PAID BACK ONE-HALF BY LAKE Simon Lake, a former Toms River school boy, now of Milford, Conn., inventor and developer of the submarine, has paid back one-half of their investment to twenty-six people who had invested money in the Sunshine Homes and Concrete Products Company. He offers to give them the other fifty per cent in bonds against his own property. The Sunshine Homes Company seems to have been a case of an inventor being fleeced, along with investors, by the poor management of the promoters. The Sunshine Company agreed to make model homes of poured concrete at lesser cost than the ordinary house costs to build. Some thirty-one people put up money for these homes and did not get them. Twenty-six of these were paid one-half their claims amounting to about $15,000 in cash by Lake personally. Mr. Lake said he intended to pay all creditors and claims against the company, and reorganize it, as he was the largest creditor. But all the rest of the creditors were to be paid first. Lake lived at Toms River in the eighties, and attended the village high school, as a boy of sixteen or seventeen. His father at that time had an iron foundry on Jakes Branch, south of the P.R.R., making specialties, including window shade fixtures. TUCKERTON BOYS RUN WELL Tuckerton high school relay ream won second place in their race at the annual sports of the University of Pennsylvania, last Saturday, April 26. High school, prep school and college teams from all over the country compete in these sports. In the running mile relays, four men take part. Tuckerton was beaten by Walter Read school, and in turn defeated Allegheny high, and Cranford. PT. PLEASANT MAN TOLD COURT HOW TO MAKE HOOCH Secrets of prohibition, the manufacture and sale of bootleg whiskey, termed as “stuff you buy over the bar,” were unfolded one day recently in the Newark chancery court by Louis Brown, special officer at Point Pleasant, and a self-confessed bootlegger. Brown told how he had mixed liquors, transported them, turned alcohol into “whiskey” upon request, and went into the minute details of the “game” which is making America's latest crop of millionaires. “We took denatured alcohol and reduced it to grain alcohol with a certain acid and sold it. This was accomplished through phospherence acid strained through a felt hat and tested with litmus paper. The ammonia was syphoned off and the alcohol put in five gallon cans, four of spirits and one of water. A little caramel and the stuff was ready for bottling.” Brown declared he had also bought liquor at the docks for $30 a case, delivering it to cafes all over the city and receiving from $60 to $85 per case. He admitted delivering about 3,000 cases in Newark alone. He also told of “cutting” rye, but declared that the Scotch was delivered as received from the boats. The disclosures were made by Brown while testifying before Vice Chancellor Backes in a suit instituted by Mrs. Mae Klein, of 690 South Nineteenth street against her husband Harry for separate support. She contends that Klein is a prosperous bootlegger worth more than $100,000 [$1.8 million in 2024 dollars]. TOMS RIVER 29, BARNEGAT 4, IN FOUR AND A HALF INNINGS It would have been some score if it had been played the same style for the whole nine innings, when Toms River played Barnegat on a wet field and more or less rain, last Tuesday, April 29. As it was there was hardly room on the score book, as Toms River pounded out the ball all over Gulick field and brought in 29 runs in four and a half innings, to four for Barnegat. FLOUNDER FISHING GETS 'EM Flounder fishing seems to be getting the saltwater fishermen who can't wait for the weakfish, croaker and channel bass. They must wet their lines in salt water, and so they come to Barnegat Bay and hoist in the small winter flounders by the dozen or score. The Newark Call of Sunday says: Barnegat fishing parties seem to be well satisfied with their catches of flounders. Some of the best catches last week were reported from Island Heights, Forked River, Waretown with over 100 pounds in a bag, and Sam Dirkes of Roseville left Barnegat with all the fish he cared to handle on the train. One motor party from the Oranges went out from Forked River and fished the channel for the larger flounders, catching forty-eight and three eels... P.R.R. USES TRUCKS TO DISTRIBUTE ITS FREIGHT The Pennsylvania Railroad has become a convert to the theory that freight can be better distributed, on short hauls, by truck than by rail. There is now a freight service in this locality, by which trucks take the place of the railroad. Freight for Pine Beach, Beachwood, Ocean Gate and Island Heights are now taken from the cars at Toms River freight station and trucked to the freight stations in these towns. Freight from points between Seaside Park and Bay Head Junction is handled the same way from Seaside Park. A big five-ton White truck is used. It is said that this allows one freight train to cover this territory, where formerly two relief freights were run from Camden... BUYERS AND SPECTATORS CROWD GOULD AUCTION Lakewood, April 29.—Many noted collectors and buyers attended the opening of the auction sale of furnishings and valuable art treasures at Georgian Court, home of the late Geo. Jay Gould, here yesterday. Over 3,000 spectators and buyers gathered in and about the reception hall of the Gould residence where rich tapestries, furniture and art objects were being put under the hammer. The sale will be continued today and tomorrow to dispose of the Gould personal property which will make way for the establishment in September of the Plainfield girls' school, St. Mary's college which purchased the building and 200 acre property in March. CAR HIT AT R.R. CROSSING Another car was smashed up at Larrabee's Crossing, near Lakewood, the scene of numerous fatal accidents, on April 18. The car got its wheel caught between the steel rail and the plank roadbed between the rails, and its occupants, three women from Philadelphia, just got out as a train came along and struck the car... FATE OF ALLEGED BOOTLEGGER IN COURT'S HANDS The fate of Frank Falkinburg, notorious in all the northeastern part of the county for the number of times his name has been associated with bootlegging, is now in the hands of Judge Newman. The Judge has set the precedent and made the statement on a number of occasions that a jail sentence awaits the man twice convicted before him of violating the liquor laws, and Falkinburg is in court on his second indictment. He escaped on the first with a fine of $100 [approx. $1,826 in 2024 dollars], and has had so many other narrow escapes, that people are wondering whether or not he bears a charmed life and will get off this time? Falkinburg's record goes back to the days of the VanNess act, when he was arrested and held. The ruling of Supreme Court Justice Kalisch, that the VanNess act had been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, and that all the allegations under it were dismissed, saved Falkinburg that time... Not a great while after this escape, Falkinburg's garage and home, at Point Pleasant, where he is agent for the Studebaker car, were searched by federal agents, and he was indicted in the federal courts. It is stated that luck stood by him there, and he escaped conviction. Falkinburg within the past year has been four times connected up in some way with the bootlegging game. He was picked up in a car with a “cargo” of booze, but Leonard Furman, of Point Pleasant, took the responsibility saying that the car was his and the booze was his... PASSENGER TRAFFIC BY AIR IS CAPT. HEINEN'S PREDICTION Captain Anton Heinen, of Toms River, German Zeppelin expert, is authority for the prediction that the United States will soon have lighter than air, or Zeppelin, ships flying from place to place, carrying passengers. Capt. Heinen was the expert who helped build the big aircraft Shenandoah, for the U.S. Navy. He has now given up his connection with the navy, and has gone with Aircraft Construction-Transportation Corporation, which also controls the Connecticut Aircraft Company, the latter company for twelve years past supplying the U.S. Government with ligher than air balloons of various types, including the small zeppelins that patrolled the coast during the war. Capt. Heinen says that it is possible to run airships on schedule, and that for months he made daily trips in the Bodensee, between north and south Germany, carrying passengers, and of the more than one million passengers carried on these trips, not one got so much as a scratch. The first plan is to build an airship at the cost of $1,250,000, to fly between New York and Cape May. This would require a mooring mast at each end of the route, and the corporation hopes to buy a Naval hangar at Cape May also. These mooring masts would cost $100,000 each. The airship would have one million cubic feet of gas capacity; 1200 horsepower engine development, and would carry twenty-five passengers beside her crew. After this ship was proven to be a success, another ship to sail between New York and Cuba would be on the program, followed by a passenger service between New York and South America, as well as New York and various parts of the United States. One of the methods of deriving profit from this aircraft service would be to paint huge advertising signs on the sides and bottom of the ship, and fly low over the cities, charging a high price for the advertisements, as the “smoke-writers” do. Capt. Heinen has figured that the build the one airship and maintain it a year on the route between Cape May and New York would cost $2,000,000 for the construction of ship masts, equipment, etc. and $1,300,000 for the year's maintenance. ARMY ENGINEERS MAKE PLANS TO SAVE LIGHTHOUSE Assistant light keeper Andrew Applegate, of Barnegat lighthouse, was at Toms River, his home, on Wednesday of this week. He said that the army engineers completed their surveys at the lighthouse last week and had gone away. The lighthouse suffered no damage during winter and spring storms. LAVALLETTE NEEDS WATER; WILL COST ABOUT $87,000 [$1.6 MILLION IN 2024 DOLLARS] The Borough of Lavallette, one of the flourishing resorts on Squan Beach, has reached the stage of development where a water supply is now necessary as a health measure. The town is getting so thickly built up that water from shallow wells in the beach sand are no longer safe from a sanitary standpoint. For a year or more the progressive Borough Council, headed by Mayor Enoch T. VanCamp, have been working on the water problem. The tangible results of their work are now seen in an estimate prepared by Haines and Sleeper, engineers, of Camden. This estimate shows a probable total cost of $86,632.61. It calls for an artesian well, 700 feet deep, to supply pure water. A large standpipe, for reservoir purposes, is also provided. Over five miles of pipe would be laid, most of it eight, six and four inch mains, though there would be about 600 feet of ten inch main from the pump to the standpipe... Lavallette has been growing rapidly in the past few years. Its location, with a fine harbor on the bay shore, its wide streets, its boardwalk, and its yacht club, as well as a good bathing beach, combined with moderate priced lands for building, have altogether made it a remarkably attractive place for the city dweller in moderate circumstances. Consequently the resort has grown rapidly, and the new houses built in the last two years would number about one hundred. Through the efforts of Mayor VanCamp, aided heartily and loyally by progressive councilmen, the town has secured electric lights, has graded new streets, curbed them, put in sidewalks, and has an efficient fire department. RECOMMEND CONNOLLY FOR OUTDOOR JOB AT PRISON Owing to the fact that Norman Robert Connolly, who is doing from 20 to 30 years for murder, at Trenton prison, has a tendency to tuberculosis, Sheriff Holman has recommended to the prison authorities that he be given if possible, an outdoor job. Connolly was gassed while in France, and since then it has been thought by medical officers in the Marine Corps that he had tubercular tendencies, and he had been under observation. Connolly, while drunk, last January, shot and killed John Otto Eaton, another Marine, located at the Naval Air Station, Lakehurst. Sheriff Holman gave Connolly a good name to the state prison authorities, as having been a model prisoner while at the county jail. PERSONAL Edward Grant, son of Thomas I. Grant, is on his way east, making the trip by auto from Los Angeles, Calif., to Florida. Ed was heard from this week, when he wrote from towns in Louisiana and Mississippi. Last fall he and Teddy Page motored from Toms River to Oregon, and then down the Pacific coast. Ira E. Whyte, district passenger agent of the Central Railroad, was in Toms River on Friday last, from Asbury Park, arranging for the trip to Washington, D.C., of the class of 1924, Toms River High School. The graduating classes of Lakewood and Barnegat high schools will also take this trip. Mrs. Robert Lomax, Willard and Herbert Todd recently returned from a trip to Wyoming, where they went to see Edmund Todd. The latter has the pioneer spirit and they found him preparing to move 200 miles further back into the wilds, and planning to carve out a place for himself. Mrs. Lomax, who has been ill, is now somewhat better. William A. Simpson, father of Miss Harriet Simpson of this place, is likely to lose the place he has had at Amatol, since the war times, as superintendent of that big plant, as the government has advertised the buildings there for sale at auction. Mr. Simpson as a boy lived at Island Heights, Beach Haven, Whitings and Manahawkin, and is well known in this county. FISH AND GAME The best deer story so far was not told in Grover's store—but in Fischer's barber shop. It was that Nat Austin, at Dover, recently counted 32 deer in one view, near his home. Deer are plentiful just now in all the section to the southwest of Toms River, and are frequently seen in early morning or late evening along the main roads. One man swears he counted seven going across the road between Toms River and Lakehurst, on a recent morning. Forest fires are hard on deer, rabbits, foxes and all wild game. Fire fighters have many yarns to spin about deer and foxes more particularly. A young buck deer became entangled in some wire fence at Hedger Place, down in the pines last week, and when discovered it had broken one leg in its endeavors to get free. Game Wardens Mathis and Graham were notified and relieved the deer's distress by killing it and afterward presented its carcass to Sheriq Fleetwood for the prisoners at the jail. The latter were not long removing its hide and then enjoyed the thoughtfulness of the wardens hugely. TOWN LIFEBeachwood Train Depot c. 1950s courtesy BeachwoodHistory.com BARNEGAT Is our country becoming a lawless nation, desecrating the Sabbath, disregarding our laws of all kinds, rum-running upheld by some of our nation's biggest men? What class of people is it that are our greatest lawbreakers, are they American citizens? They are not, nor never will be. They didn't come over here for that purpose, but to spread an unrest all over our land and we are just easy enough to allow it. What does it matter what the country is coming to? If we watch the doings of our representatives in Washington, it would seem that the whole world is forgotten while they scandalize, muck-rake, accuse each other of lying and stealing and everything else that can be thought of in the political world. How they swell up with pride and boast of their integrity and honor. Put it all on the other fellow, but don't think of anything I have done, for if you do, it will be a damnable frame-up. What must other nations think of this great body of men who are spending their time disgracing the country and scandalizing each other? They seem to have lost their own honor for themselves and the whole country. They are drawing big salaries to make a laughing stock of the country in the eyes of the whole world... Charles Hutchinson has sold his property on South Main street and expects to build a home on North Main street, where he has bought a lot. Harry Biedeman, who has been very sick for a long time, is able to go out, and will take his position back at the schoolhouse. His wife and son will assist him in his work. Mr. Barrett has his six-car garage finished at the Barnegat hotel. BEACH HAVEN Borough Council has adopted daylight saving time for the town and everybody here is now living by it. Harry Cook of Boston made the trip here on Sunday and will make a visit with his sister, Mrs. Charles Cramer. Mr. Cook left Boston on his motorcycle leaving about eleven A.M. and reached Beach Haven at six p.m. The Gun Club cottage is being improved by a coat of paint. Commander S.C. Loveland, of the Beach Haven Yacht Club, spent the week end here with his family, motoring from their home in Hammonton. From what we can see about town the line of new homes, there seems to be a big demand for a certain style house. We learned that these are built by J. Willitts Berry. Mrs. Amelia Goode of Philadelphia is the latest builder to adopt this style—“Berry-Built,” so to speak. This one is to be erected on Chatsworth avenue. And this street is starting to build up. Contractor Firman H. Cranmer has the contract to build another house for a Mrs. Johnson, of Philadelphia, next to the Goode house. Mrs. Soper, one of the teachers in the local school appeared before the [School] Board in person, and asked that the board consider raising her salary for next year. Mrs. Soper now receives about $1150 per year [$20,761 in 2024 dollars]. With the work she has handled this year, she believes that she is entitled to an increase. It was brought out that Miss Salmons, principal at the school receives $1,500 [$27.080 in 2024 dollars]. BEACHWOOD Mr. and Mrs. Gamp, of Bronx, New York, are now at Beachwood and will make their permanent home here. Jack Nolze has sold his house and four lots on Atlantic City boulevard. Mrs. Scoble, one of the pioneers of Beachwood, died recently at her home in New York. The many friends in Beachwood of Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Green, who formerly resided here in the pretty house they built on the corner of Lookout and Forepeak, and which they sold to Mr. Wm. H. Knowles of Elizabeth, when Mr. Green was transferred to the Great Lakes Naval Air Station, were shocked to learn of the fatal accident which befell him and a comrade on Wednesday, April 23, when a seaplane in which they were flying, crashed to earth from a height of 1500 feet. His remains were interred at Arlington cemetery, Virginia, on Saturday. Miss Alice Patch has sold her bungalow on Ensign avenue, near Locker street, to William H. Addayson, of Newark. Miss Patch is going to California. Nelson Palmer will open a garage near Los Angeles. John J. Nolze is to build the Armstrong house on the corner of Compass avenue and Harpoon street. He is building a garage for Mrs. Walters on Capstan avenue, near Larboard street. CASSVILLE [section of Jackson Township] A baby girl was born to Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Cottrell last week. Mr. and Mrs. Cottrell are the parents of seventeen children, eleven of whom are living. FORKED RIVER Harold Tilton has resumed his old job on the C.R.R., at Long Branch. Watson Penn reports that on April 26 he caught his first weakfish in his nets, and that the bay is full of shrimp which is dainty feed for weakfish. Frank Penn also reports catching weakfish in his nets Tuesday morning. Some of these catches have been unusually large for the first run of weakfish. Taylor, the garage man, has added two new stores at his garage, on the state highway. The two year old child of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Taylor was taken to a Philadelphia hospital. The child got a peanut shell lodged in its throat, which required surgical aid to remove. Capt. Joe Smires and family spent Sunday in Keyport, with Mrs Smires' sister, Mrs. Samuel Smith. Capt. Joe is overhauling Capt. George Woolley's party boat, and also building a new cabin on the craft. Randolph Phillips has a lot of garden stuff in the ground—and the lima beans will be on time. He has been gathering rhubarb. Lots of peach and pear bloom. We hope for lots of fruit. Capt. Joe Barkalow recently took out a party of city sportsmen after flounders. They caught 232. Lewis Barkalow, with another party, caught 103. Several more parties have been out, and all brought back good catches. David Chamberlain will be back home for the summer, and will sail parties, after being away for the winter. [Barnegat Lighthouse] Keeper and Mrs. Nelson Rogers of Beach Haven, spent Wednesday with Mr. and Mrs. Randolph Phillips. Raymond Penn, Ernest Thomas, and other coastguards, have been home occasionally for liberty days. Sunday was the first big day of the fishing season, many parties motoring to go out on the bay. Mrs. Shotwell E. Frazee recently sat a hen on 15 blackduck eggs, and hatched out fifteen ducklings. E.H. Clayton and his son Buddy returned to Woodhaven, L.I. after a visit with Mr. and Mrs. E.A. Gerdy. Buddy thinks there is no place like Forked River. ISLAND HEIGHTS Hon. J. Hampton and Mrs. Moore have been spending a few days at their handsome home on the West End. They have just returned from an extended trip through South America, accounts of which all Philadelphia Record readers have enjoyed from the pen of Mr. Moore himself. The movie entertainment was all to the good last Saturday night. Dr. J. Schnair and Mr. Hierholzer furnished the music. Another good one is promised for this coming Saturday night. Mr. S.E. Leming has moved his real estate office to the Bogert Building and Mrs. S.J. Harris has changed her Little Wool Shop to the store just vacated by Mr. Leming. The Rev. and Mrs. Alfonso Dare of Atlantic City are at their cottage, “Hollywood Lodge,” where he is having considerable work done. Mr. Fred Lembreyer is making rapid headway with his new house and store in Windsor Park. LAKEHURST A.W. Carr tells a yarn that takes the bun. It seems that Thursday morning of last week, he went into his chicken house and found two hens on nests. His first thought was that they wanted to set; he lifted up one hen and found in the nest, an egg and one small kitten; he then lifted up the other hen and found and egg and another small kitten. At noon when he went home he found one of the hens covering the mother cat and the two kittens. Al says this beats all the yarns told in “Grover's store.” [Grover's was a general store in downtown Toms River where locals often stopped to talk and gossip] OCEAN GATE A meeting of the trustees and the building committee of the new M.E. Church was held at the church on Friday evening last. The erecting of the foundation for the new church, at the corner of Asbury and Bayview avenues was given to Harry Staples, who will start this work within the next week. H.D. Black was on hand with a sketch he had made of the new church, although the building has not been given out as yet. The present plan is to have the church in readiness for this summers use and the Sunday-school portion will be added later. From the plans shown this will be one of the best looking churches along the shore when completed. The Ocean Gate A.A. [Athletic Association] opened their session at Roxborough last Saturday, with a defeat, losing to the Roxborough by a score of 12 to 4. They are now booking games for this season at the home grounds, season to open May 31 until Labor Day, and are anxious to hear from such teams as Lakehurst, Forked River, and other semi-professional teams. Mayor Newlin was a recent Phila. visitor. Reports say the Castor House, at the corner of Lakewood and Wildwood avenues, was sold last week to Mrs. Charles Godwin of Philadelphia. PERSHING [section of Toms River] The whippoorwills were heard on Sunday night, April 27. The thrush has returned for the summer and also the chimney dicks. PINE BEACH The spring air and weather makes many people come to Pine Beach over the week ends and holidays. Mrs. Halligan will open a boarding house, formerly the Mitchel property, at Pine Beach, on Memorial Day, with first-class accommodations for visitors. A new house is being erected opposite Miss Mulrenan's new place on Cedar avenue. POINT PLEASANT A recent flurry of wind blew over a barn on the Joseph Fleming place, at Point Pleasant. Some children and a pony were in the barn, which was lifted up in the air, and dropped 25 feet away, according to the story told. None was hurt. Arthur Brisbane, editorial writer for the Hearst publications, has asked the state for riparian grants on three ocean front tracts and two tracts fronting on Manasquan river. The ocean frontage totals 767 feet and the river frontage aggregates 1635 feet. $650 has been raised for a war memorial at Point Pleasant Beach [$11,735 in 2024 dollars]. SEASIDE PARK Ralph Marks has gone down to Ship Bottom to cook for the Ship Bottom Pound Fisheries. Wickham's drug store is open with Mr. Andrew Wickham in charge. The Colonial Theatre expects to open on Saturday evening, May 3. Shows will be given on Saturday only until further notice. TUCKERTON The sum of $250 awarded the Southern Ocean Co. Poultry Association from the New Jersey State Poultry exhibition funds for the second annual show held during February was paid to the successful exhibitors a few days ago by C.R. Cox, Secretary of the Association... It is very gratifying to note that the State has so generously recognized the efforts of the poultrymen of this section. The Southern Ocean Co. Poultry Association, during the two years of its existence, has conducted two successful shows, over forty educational lectures on poultry, ten poultry culling demonstrations, and by their continuous campaign for the improvement of the industry, they are largely responsible for placing Southern Ocean Co. on the map of Poultrydom. Duane Mott, the nine year old son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Milton Mott, was quite seriously injured on Saturday, when he slipped and fell against the engine of his father's boat when they were coming up the creek. He sustained injuries about his head and arms and also a broken leg. The little fellow is under the care of Dr. J.L. Lane and at this writing is said to be getting along very nicely. There was a lengthy discussion about setting the clocks ahead, and since public opinion seemed adverse to this the matter was dropped and the Council took no action. The ball tossers representing Tuckerton High lost two close games during the Easter holidays, losing at Lakewood on Saturday 12-10, and by Point Pleasant Beach, 10-9. The game at Lakewood was a good one, though both pitchers were hit hard and several misplays were made. The wireless boys tied the score after an uphill fight, in the seventh and the score stood 8-8. With victory in their hands they withered and Lakewood scored four runs in the last two innings. The down shore crowd made another brave attempt in the ninth when they shoved two tallies over the pan. But that was all and Lakewood won. The game with Point Pleasant Beach on Monday was a sloppy affair. Loose fielding, poor twirling and heavy hitting were features on both sides. The beach crowd got wise to Sprague's slants and slammed out no less than fourteen safe bingles. These, with five bases on balls and five hit by pitched balls were enough to win any ordinary ball game. Tuckerton got its share of hits, getting thirteen, which drove the northern slabmen to the showers. Poor base running cost Tuckerton the game, for with several chances to score they failed to take advantage of the situation and were left stranded. On Friday the Tuckerton boys will travel to Barnegat and there cross bats with the Lighthouse crowd. Assistant Manager, Walter Atkinson, of Tuckerton expects his boys to come out of their slump and take Barnegat's number. A big crowd is expected at this game. WEST CREEK Quite a little excitement in town on Friday morning when some of our people arose from their slumbers by finding they had unwelcome guests during the previous night. E.P. Brown and Mr. Wanser of Division street, Mrs. H. Gaskill of Thomas avenue, the railroad station and schoolhouse, were surprised to find their doors and windows open and ground floors in disorder. Evidently the intruder wanted nothing but money and they got very little of that. State police are on the job and we hope the culprit will soon be apprehended. Open Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays - 10 am to 2 pm
78 East Water Street, Toms River, NJ 08753 Guided Tours By Request - New Members Always Welcome (732) 349-9209 - office@tomsriverseaport.org
Enjoy this 1921 piece by Seaside Park Yacht Club member, William Shewell Ellis, a known photographer and sailor who first had this published in the August 1921 issue of Yachting. It was later reproduced in full by the New Jersey Courier, Toms River's weekly newspaper.
There is a stretch of inland waterway on the New Jersey coast, starting from Bay Head and extending through the most varied and picturesque sailing waters over a distance of 100 miles to Cape May, that is but little known to the average cruising yachtsmen, unless he is lucky enough to have summered down those waters.
An indescribable charm pervades these waterways. While summer colonies are becoming more and more numerous, yet the larger part of this stretch of beach that separates the bay from the ocean is as wild and rugged as in the days of Captain Kidd. It is an ideal cruising ground for a boat, either power or sail, drawing not over four feet. The government has completed a well-marked channel of six feet depth and is dredging a canal through from Bay Head to Point Pleasant, which will give an outlet into the Manasquan River and open Manasquan Inlet for the use of pleasure and fishing boats. At the present time, boats can get into the bay from the ocean through Barnegat Inlet. In their delightful story called Cruises, Robert and George Barrie pay a just tribute to these waters: “If the Englishman had Barnegat,” they say, “he would have painted it, and written books about it, and gloated over it as he has the Norfolk Broads. But in our great wealth of cruising grounds, it is almost entirely overlooked.” As a small boy, I was initiated by my father into this greatest of “Fraternal Orders,” cruising, my first cruise being in a sneak-box which leaked so badly that I woke in the night soaked to the skin—but little did that matter out in that great bay with the sky full of stars, where I could dream dreams. I could almost see those ships of Captain Kidd coming over the bar at Barnegat and sailing up old Toms River. Even to this day, it is held that some of Kidd's loot is buried on Money Island. If one starts his crews at Bay Head, at the north end of Barnegat Bay, he will find good stores to supply his needs and excellent water to fill his tanks, while at the Bay Head Yacht Club every courtesy will be extended to him. This is the logical place to start from if coming from the northward. My cruising on the bay is done in the Savola, a 40-foot yawl with auxiliary engine, drawing four feet of water. This is the easiest type of one-man boat, on my crew usually consisting of “Snooks,” who is not only a good Frau but a splendid cook, and “Babs,” who has had her first year at college. With a small sailing dory which we tow when under way, we explore the narrow winding creeks and coves which make the shores of the bay so attractive. A pleasant day can be spent sailing up the Metedeconk River. As the river is quite shallow, it is necessary to navigate most of the way in the dory. Well-kept farms run down to the river banks. Milk and fresh vegetables are always available at most moderate prices. We were caught there without food one holiday when stores were closed. I found a farmer enjoying a siesta in a hammock, and when he heard our plight, he obligingly supplied us out of his truck garden and hen house. Following the coast channel down through the drawbridge at Mantoloking, the bay gradually widens into a fine expanse of sailing water. Summer colonies are spread along the narrow stretch of beach—Chadwicks, Lavallette, Ortley and Seaside Park. Before the War of 1812, Old Cranberry Inlet penetrated this beach somewhere between Seaside Park and Ortley. A great deal of shipping then came into the inlet and sailed up to the town of Toms River, using the northern course around Island Heights, which is now almost entirely dry. This inlet also made a good anchorage and afforded a safe harbor for American privateers on the lookout for British ships during the Revolution. In one of the old histories of the Jersey coast we find that when cranberry inlet closed, Michael Ortley attempted to cut a new inlet near the head of Barnegat Bay. This work had no sooner been completed than a storm came and closed it again. After leaving Mantoloking the channel lies toward the west shore. The green meadow land runs back to the pine woods; Kettle Creek and Mosquito Cove are quite wild. During the autumn and winter, this is a favorite feeding ground for black duck, and there is splendid crabbing in the summer. Passing through a jack-knife drawbridge one comes to the mouth of Toms River. With five to eight feet of water you can sail from shore to shore, avoiding Long Point, a narrow sandbar jutting out just before you come into view of Island Heights. This is an ideal harbor and is a delightful place to spend as much time as one can spare. The Island Heights Yacht Club always has a hearty welcome and there are good stores in the village. If you are fortunate enough to be there on race day, you will also see some good racing. Sailing on up through the drawbridge, there is plenty of water into what is called the “town dock” of Toms River, one of the most delightful old towns in this part of the country. In the days before the inlet at Berkeley was closed, large sailing craft came into this port with shipments of coal and other merchandise. This is what is known as the Jersey Health Belt, and many of the houses are occupied both winter and summer. Following the channel on the west shore, you pass through Barnegat drawbridge, keeping well to the main shore. If you want a quiet harbor for lunch or a swim, run into Cedar Creek. It is an easy sail from here to Barnegat Inlet, where a harbor for the night can be made in back of Sedge Island. One may anchor a few hundred yards from the sand dunes and old gnarled cedars, which separate the bay and the Atlantic Ocean, and can hear the break of the surf and see faithful old Barnegat Light flashing its rays many miles out to sea. Before it is too dark, go over on the sand flats in hip boots, or,better still, no boots at all, dig a pailful of soft clams, and steam them for supper with fried fish and bacon. The next day, take an early mornings swim, breakfast, and then go for a few hours fishing in the Inlet—weakfish, bluefish and bass are abundant here in season and you will usually get good sport. The Coast Guards here are always glad to see you, and a finer type of men it is hard to find. In one way they are different from most men one meets—for they are happy when you are in trouble, for then they can be of service to you. Just get caught in the Inlet in a heavy sea, and have your dory come aboard over your stern on a following wave and smash your jigger mast to bits, as happened to us last summer! Before we had dropped anchor in the inner harbor, the Guards were alongside in their big powerboat, ready to render aid. And if you want to read thrillers, don't buy fiction, but just get a copy of the Annual Report of the U.S. Coast Guard Service issued by the government. If you want an exciting sail, run out of Barnegat Inlet at flood tide. The black buoys mark the way over the bar. There is always a sea running on the bar and you are pretty nearly sure of picking up a bluefish or two on the way, if you troll with a squid. Sailing back again toward the mainland, the hotel at Waretown will soon be picked up. In the “good old days” before the 18th Amendment, this was the starting point for many a fishing party when fishing was not the sole object in view. But this is now but a memory, and, bidding farewell to this good old landmark, we steer a zig-zag course for Harvey Cedars. This is a good place to spend the night, especially if one is acquainted with any of the big political guns who have a most delightful clubhouse at this point. On leaving Harvey Cedars, follow a narrow, well-marked channel through what is known as “the Bonnet.” The channel passes through two drawbridges and soon enters Little Egg Harbor Bay. Beach Haven is a well-known summer resort, and the surrounding waters are well filled with fish and crabs. Clams or soft crabs are used for bait and can be bought from baitmen on the fishing grounds. A sail almost directly across the Bay will bring you to the mouth of the Tuckerton Creek. This is a very deep channel cut through the meadows and leads to the wharf of the old town at Tuckerton. This town is much like Gloucester and the fishing villages of Cape Cod. Enjoyed this article? Please consider making a one-time or recurring donation today!
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78 East Water Street, Toms River, NJ 08753 Guided Tours By Request - New Members Always Welcome (732) 349-9209 - office@tomsriverseaport.org The following was penned by the unsigned town writer of Barnegat for the New Jersey Courier in Spring 1922.
During the busy season when we see the many railroad trains bearing thousands of pleasure-seekers from distant parts of the country to our beaches, the highways thronged with automobiles, all seeking rest or recreation at the many resorts scattered along the New Jersey coast, our thoughts revert to the time when this coast was but a barren waste of sand dunes, with occasionally a fisherman's shanty or some old settler who enjoyed the peace and quiet afforded by a home on the beach, where he could get the greater part of his living from the ocean and bay. In those days their wants were few, as they were not bothered by autos nor movies. On Manasquan Beach, about five miles above Cranberry Inlet was Chadwick's, commonly called Shadick's, an old-fashioned building, where many fishermen and gunners found every convenience suitable to their wants in that line. At the inlet was the old Ashley House, kept by John Brown, Charles Martin and Warner Kinsley. This also was a noted resort for lovers of aquatic sports. Here gathered people from New York, Philadelphia, and many other places to seek pleasure, come for a rest from the busy cities, and to gather around the old bar-room stove fed with wreck wood, and renew old acquaintances and swap stories of previous visits to these resorts. At this time Dad Parker was the only person living there except the lighthouse keeper, and now not a vestige remains to mark the spots where the old Ashley House and Dad's house stood. The people are all gone and this generation know of these old places only as they hear the stories related by some of the older people. The next place was what we today know as the “Club House,” opposite Barnegat. Years ago it was known as “Double Jimmie's,” James James being the man who kept this old resort for the same purpose as the other old boarding houses, as they were called at that day, hotels being hardly known along the shore. When Long Branch was in its infancy it was known to seafaring men as “The Tavern House.” Capt. Charles Cox succeeded James, then Joseph K. Ridgway, George Vannote, after which for several years it stood alone and deserted until last year J.B. Kinsey bought and moved it to High Point. When these houses were flourishing beach parties were very fashionable during the summer months. There were not so many classes as there are today, and 25 or 30 young people would make up a party, go to Sammy Perrine's, at Harvey Cedars, take a fiddler along with them (they were not called musicians at that time), stay several days, have a good time, pay the bill and come home, and nothing thought of it. That wouldn't do today. As we ride along the shore roads today we see numerous signs, telling us that certain hotels are noted for shore dinners, composed of roast beef, chicken and perhaps occasionally a fish. These old beach resorts didn't advertise such dinners but they delivered the goods; one thing, especially, you don't often see at our shore palace hotels, baked or boiled sheepshead. We will state for the benefit of the many readers, that sheepshead is a fish that inhabited our bay several years ago, but today is a thing unheard of. Old-fashioned dinners, table groaning with the best that could be had, cooked by old-fashioned people who knew just how to make everything appetizing. They didn't have one of Mrs. Rorer's cook books nor the pure food laws that govern them. The sea nymph of that time did not appear with a one-piece bathing suit. They couldn't drive over in a car, take a dip and be home in a few minutes, neither could they slip across the bay in a power boat, very few yachts were in vogue, but a class of old-fashioned craft called “sail boats,” built on the skiff order. Further down the bay was Sammy Perrine's, at Harvey Cedars; this was afterwards kept by Joel Horner, Warner Kinsey, Charles Martin, Charles Bennett, James Hazelton, Isaac Jennings and Dave White, after which it was rebuilt by Billy Thompson, known as “Duke of Gloucester,” but since being rebuilt proved a failure. Here in olden times was the headquarters for the beach parties as there was a large building just to the south of the old hotel, known as the dance house, with an elevated platform in the south end for the fiddler (now orchestra). The original hotel burned down several years ago, but was rebuilt and the present one is built around the newer one. This was one of the best resorts for gunning parties along the shore. It was here the first life saving station was built, the crew being volunteers, under the captaincy of Sammy Perrine, there being no paid crews until about 1871. The next place, further down, was the old “Mansion of Health,” a well-known resort for sportsmen and pleasure-seekers. The came from the cities and West Jersey towns in wagons to Manahawkin, some of them stopping at the “Old Ferry House.” The Old Mansion, as it was commonly called, stood at the south end of Great Swamp, now Surf City. At that time there was quite a big swamp there where ship timber was cut and there were also fields of grain. Today hardly a sign of the swamp remains except a few stumps along the sand hills that have made up the past half century. There were a few families living there years ago whose chief occupation was whaling. We have one of the old harpoons used at that time by Aaron Inman, one of the old residents of that time. The Old Mansion was abandoned nearly fifty years ago and a few years afterward burned down. Further down, opposite West Creek, was another old-time resort, not so well known as some of the others, but more of a private party place. This was Pehala, an old-fashioned building, like many on the main years ago, with one part two-story and a kitchen and low bed room over that. This has been torn down since the railroad was put on the beach, and another larger and more up-to-date building erected near the old site. Some years ago an old house stood near what is now known as Ship Bottom. This was owned by Wesley Truex, an old captain of that life saving station. Then down toward what is now Beach Haven was Tommy Jones'. Many years ago people from this side would take cattle over to the beach in the spring and let them run on the wild during the summer. Beach Haven, one of our modern, up-to-date fashionable resorts, was started about 1874, and was reached by the steamer Barclay Haines, from Edge Cove, Tuckerton, where it connected with the trains. Bonds was another old-time place. Atlantic City, the last word in resorts, truly the world's greatest summer resort, the show place of America. This was started about 1853, on a barren beach, but today the roar of the sea is outdone by the roar of the busy throngs that inhabit the greatest thorofare in the world, “The Boardwalk.” What you can't see down to “Atlantic” you needn't go elsewhere to look for. Years ago mariners seldom saw a light on the Jersey coast except the friendly lighthouse that guided them past the dangerous shoals, but now from Sandy Hook to Cape May there is hardly a dark spot, just one glitter of electric lights marking the entire coast line. We have mentioned a few of the old-time resorts, but no use saying anything about the present state of our coast as to its pleasure resorts. Jersey is noted for skeeters, justice, barren pine lands, bootleggers, etc., but when you mention summer resorts we've got 'em skinned a mile.
Countless vessels have been lost along our shores for hundreds of years, each one a fingerprint: similar in concept, original in design.
Today's tragedy involves the fishing smack Red Dragon, sailing out of Atlantic City and lost in a nor'easter off Long Beach Island, as recounted by Toms River weekly newspaper, the New Jersey Courier. Times and tides may be renewed daily, but the dangers faced by shore fishermen remain ever the same. 5 FISHERMEN LOST AT SEA
OFF BEACH HAVEN IN BIG GALE
Sept. 24th, 1903
Five lives were lost off Long Beach on Wednesday of last week by the terrible gale. The fishing smack Red Dragon of Atlantic City, went down with all on board.
Thursday, the hull of the smack was swept ashore at Harvey Cedars. Lashed fast was the body of her captain, DeWitt Clark. Frank DuCasse, mate, and Danial Murdock, sailor, came ashore not far distant. Two other seamen, John Elms and Louis Swanson, were also drowned. The Red Dragon was owned by Captain John Young and John Tallman. She was about sixty feet keel, schooner rigged and a well equipped fishing smack. She left Atlantic City Tuesday for the fishing grounds off Beach Haven. She was weighted down with tons of ice, used for keeping the fish fresh. It is supposed that the schooner was anchored to ride out the gale; but the storm was much fiercer than her crew had expected. They cut away the mast and rigging, but still she was submerged by the seas. All except the captain seem to have washed overboard, and he came ashore with the wreck when the cable parted. On the other hand, the surfmen on Long Beach, as reported by David S. White of Harvey Cedars, have a theory that the schooner was headed for Delaware Breakwater or else for Little Egg Harbor Inlet, when struck by the fiercest of the northeast blow. They say the mast was broken off at the partners, and not chopped away, and that the sails had been first three-reefed, and then tied down. The clock in the cabin and a watch on one of the bodies both stopped at 24 minutes past seven. They hold that the smack put for harbor, and was scudding under bare poles when her mast went by the board and overturned her. After that the shift of wind brought her up the coast and beached her and the crew at Long Beach. Three of the drowned men, Clark, Ducasse and Swanson, left widows and families, Clark having five children surviving him. Murdock's body was taken to North Long Branch and buried from the home of his adopted parents, John S. West and wife. Saturday, surfman Abe Dothaday of Love Ladies Island station, found another body in the surf. It was that of John Elms of 318 Beech street, Philadelphia. Coroner J. Clarence Cranmer of West Creek, took charge of all the bodies found and gave a burial permit.
In the same edition of the New Jersey Courier was a report on the storm itself and its effect along Ocean County's shore communities, highlighting boats damaged and lost, built and owned by names familiar to our maritime history.
RAVAGES OF LAST WEEK'S FIERCE GALE
Reports of the damage wrought by last Wednesday's gale are still coming in, and mark it as the most destructive gale along this coast in a half century.
At Bay Head, pieces of the board walk were picked up bodily and hurled against the nearby cottages, in some instances as high as the roof. The Verplanck, Hawley, Barker and Cameron cottages were injured in this way. Nearly every cottage there bears some mark of the gale. Only three yachts were left at their moorings in the protected basin, but only a few were badly injured, including Hazard's launch Curlew, J.M. Chadwick's Minerva, and Mr. Wells' Rex. Verandas were blown off at the Bluffs and the Ocean View hotels, windows were blown in and chimneys torn down. At Point Pleasant, the beach board walk was blown about the beach, trees were torn up, electric wires went down, and chimneys were blown over. The frames for the new Episcopal rectory and for VanNote's new barn went down. At Mantoloking, in addition to other damage, the yacht Whisper, owned by Louis deF. Downer, went into the bridge and was damaged. All along the beach, board walks, houses and outbuildings, as well as boats at anchor, suffered much. The sloop in the draw at Barnegat Pier, that blocked the P.R.R. Trains on Wednesday, was the Arthur L. Fling, built a few years ago at Atlantic City for Eugene Longstreet. She was sailed this summer by a Norfolk, Va., man, and had just reached the Pier a day or two before. The most of the fleet broke loose while the gale was still northeast, and landed on the meadows, but the Fling held till the wind shifted and then went back into the draw. The power yacht Mattie, one of the larger craft at Sea Side Park, owned by Mr. Schibe, the Philadelphia base ball man, went onto the bridge and is a total loss. Others of the Sea Side Park fleet are being straightened up, having been brought back from different points along the upper bay where they stranded or sunk. Few were badly hurt. At Island Heights, the hull of Guy Luburg's launch is a total loss, only the engine being saved. The Maraquita, built by W.L. Force of Keyport, for W.A. Burnett, now owned by Messrs. Merrihew and Scott, has her sides and deck smashed, cabin gone, and looks a wreck. Webster's auxiliary yacht Myra, the Schoettle brothers' Hobo and Scat, W.K. Smith's Ruby, are among the worst damaged. Nearly every craft in the fleet was dismasted, and the total damage is estimated now at $15,000 [$446, 033 in 2021 dollars]. The sneakbox racers and other small craft did not escape, Carpenter's box Rose being a total loss, and others damaged. At Tuckerton, thirty big trees went down, the telephone service was crippled, boat houses and barns collapsed, and a new house being built for Nicholas Shepherd, is racked and twisted. The yacht Merry Thought, owned by John P. Crozer at Beach Haven, was blown five miles across the bay, going ashore at Jesse's Point, near Parkertown. The large schooner yacht Mattie W. porter also went ashore below Tuckerton. The sloop Vigilant of Tuckerton, was blown ashore near edge cove.
Two weeks later, the October 8th edition of the New Jersey Courier, reported a sad epilogue to the Red Dragon tragedy.
One of the men drowned in the wreck of the Atlantic City fishing smack Red Dragon off Long Beach on September 16th, was Louis Swanson, a Swede, and his body was the only one not recovered. Last week his sister, who had left her home in Sweden to join him in Atlantic City, reached this country and was greeted with the sad news of his death.
One month later, the Courier reported that his widow received $1,000 compensation in life insurance [about $40,000 in 2024 dollars] for his death.
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Though its origin is a bit lost to the mists of time, as WoodenBoat Magazine admitted in its Sept/Oct 2004 feature, the Melonseed Skiff was “developed to suit the needs of market gunners in the vicinity of Barnegat Bay... at a time when hunting was still more of a profession than a sport. They were designed to carry a single man, his gun, and decoys out onto the open water in pursuit of waterfowl.” Often built in Little Egg Harbor and Parkertown – the latter resulting in the Melonseed sometimes being referred to as a “Parkertown Skiff” - they range in size from 12' to 15'6” and are considered a “cousin” to the better known and more widely used sneakbox. It is unknown which predated the other, but the Melonseed is more of an open-water craft boasting v-shaped forward sections, a true stem and more refined entry while the sneakbox is used for marshes and has a more shallow entry. Melonseeds, WoodenBoat Magazine continues, “were given a strongly raked transom, which would tend to soften the blow from a following sea, lifting the boat over it. Amidships the builders put a harder turn to the bilges, thereby stiffening the boat. (The midsection of the sneakbox is a shallow arc.) This allowed it to carry sail with greater authority in rough weather and added a small amount of freeboard (the sneakbox had almost none)." Unfortunately, the Melonseed Skiff's more complex construction nearly doubled its price when compared to that of the sneakbox, and as the gunning market declined from an everyday economic-driven profession into a weekender's sport, their viability was all but eliminated. By 1951, the boat was considered “extinct,” while sneakboxes continued in production and use. For more on the Melonseed Skiff, including greater detail in its development and the history of its saving from total extinction by groups of interested backyard builders and maritime organizations, visit the Barnegat Bay Maritime Museum during open hours of Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays from 10 am to 2 pm. Or, click the link here to purchase the digital edition of WoodenBoat Magazine #180 online.
Photos of the Melonseed Skiff in this post are from Windfall Woodworks of Huntington, VT. Melonseed lines courtesy the Smithsonian Institution. Dear Supporters, Members, and Friends of the Barnegat Bay Maritime Museum,
With great joy and gratitude, we announce a watershed achievement in our journey towards preserving maritime heritage and expanding community engagement. Thanks to the generosity of the Peter R. and Cynthia K. Kellogg Foundation, we have received a transformative, sizeable matching donation. This extraordinary contribution guides us toward a future brimming with possibilities. The impact of this generous gift cannot be overstated. It not only provides vital financial support but also serves as a monument to the spirit of philanthropy. Many thanks also to every individual who contributed over the past two years, whether through donations, volunteer efforts, or advocacy. Each contribution played a crucial role in shaping the success of this cause. We extend much gratitude to Dan and Nancy Crabbe for their partnership and tireless efforts in this collaboration with the Peter R. and Cynthia K. Kellogg Foundation. Their commitment to our mission has been a guiding light, inspiring us to reach greater heights. Furthermore, we extend deep thanks to George Corbeels, Gary, and Kathy Moon, whose unwavering support in spearheading numerous fundraising events along the Jersey Shore amplified our impact. Your passion and dedication are instrumental in rallying the community behind our shared vision. Reflecting upon this momentous occasion, we also cherish the spirit of unity and generosity that binds us together. Everyone together has shown that when individuals and organizations come together in pursuit of common cause, anything is possible. Named for and designed by Capt. Charles Hugh McLellan, an officer posted to the Toms River station for most of his U.S. Life-Saving Service career (the service predated the formation of the U.S. Coast Guard in 1915), the watercraft grew from the captain's life-long desire to develop and produce safer and more effective lifeboats in water rescue. His 36' motor lifeboat first appears in Barnegat Bay Maritime Museum files in a clipped July 25th, 1907 article by the New Jersey Courier, the weekly newspaper of Toms River: THE LARGEST LIFEBOAT EVER KNOWN BUILDING AT BAYONNE The largest lifeboat ever known is being put together at Bayonne under supervision and from the plans of Capt. C.H. McLellan, a retired officer of the Revenue service, who is well known at Toms River, where he spent so many years as inspector in the L.S.S. This lifeboat is to be 36 feet long and will have a forty horse power engine. It is being built for the Canadian government, and will be stationed at Vancouver Island, in the North Pacific, at the entrance to Puget Sound. The U.S. Government will build a companion boat for the Cape Flattery side of the entrance. These boats will be of the self-righting and self-bailing type, constructed by Capt. McLellan under the improved Beebe-McLellan lifeboat plans. Capt. McLellan said the other day that when he first proposed power for lifeboats in 1899, he was laughed at everywhere by everybody connected with coast guard work. Now there are seventeen power life boats in the U.S. Life-saving Service, and 25 more are being fitted out. In a short time he said every station would probably have a power boat. Though not mentioned in the article, construction in Bayonne took place at the ELCO boatyard. According to Tim Dring, author with the U.S. Coast Guard, “This boat actually became the first 36-foot motor lifeboat to be completed. The McLellan 36-foot lifeboat design continued the practice of double-diagonal hull planking as well as the installation of the motor and power train in the aft end air case, with a single 3-bladed propeller of 22-inch diameter and 24-inch pitch. [This first] Canadian 36-foot lifeboat was reported to have a top speed of 9.75 statute MPH at 650RPM. Self-righting and self-bailing capabilities were achieved by the same means used in the 34-foot lifeboat; i.e., high end air cases, air cases below deck, a heavy bronze keel of 1500lbs., and ten through-bottom relieving valves. Like the 34-foot lifeboat, the 36-foot version was also equipped for rowing and sailing as auxiliary forms of propulsion in the event the motor failed. Visually, the main difference between the 34-foot motor lifeboat and the 36-foot version is the length of the aft end air case, which was longer on the 36-foot model. Over the period 1907 to 1915 (the last year of construction for the 36-foot McLellan Type E design) a total of forty-six 36-foot motor lifeboats were built for the USLSS. “Operational experience with the McLellan 36-foot motor lifeboat showed that it was a very rugged and seaworthy design, although crew and survivors were quite exposed to the elements during a rough weather rescue. In addition, the high quality of their construction resulted in a boat having very beautiful and graceful lines, including their original USLSS-era paint scheme with varnished woodwork. The wooden, double-diagonal planked hull, however, required careful maintenance and/or repairs. “In July of 1910, the USLSS Board of Lifesaving Appliances tested one of the new 36-foot motor lifeboats, Victory, assigned to Station Wood End, Massachusetts, on the tip of Cape Cod. The results of these tests caused the Board to state in their report that: “The Board is of the opinion that the 36-foot self-righting and self-bailing power lifeboat…is the highest type of power lifeboat as yet developed for the uses of the LifeSaving Service, and that it surpasses any type or plan of lifeboat so far submitted to or known by the Board…The introduction and rapid development within the last decade of mechanical propulsion in nearly all classes of undocumented vessels, has resulted in a corresponding increase in the scope, work and duties of the crews of life-saving stations to such an extent that the use of mechanical propulsion as an auxiliary power in many of the boats of the service is imperatively necessary to the growth and efficiency of the Lifesaving Service, and the Board therefore earnestly recommends that the type of lifeboat as exemplified in the model and fit out of the 36-foot self-righting and self-bailing power lifeboat …together with such changes and improvements [that] time and experience may develop and render advisable, be furnished as expeditiously as conditions and the funds … will permit…” Full specifications of this boat, designed by Capt. McLellan, include:
General: Self-righting and self-bailing; 36ft. 0in. LOA, 8ft. 7.5in. beam, 4 ft. 2.5in. depth from skin to gunwale amidships, 7ft. 4in. length of end box inside stem rabbet, 9ft. 7in. length of end box inside stern post rabbet, 6ft. 7in. depth at rabbets of stem and stern post, 0ft. 4.5in. sheer of deck between end boxes, 3ft. 4.5in. distance between centers of thwarts, 2ft. 0in. station spacing; 8 tons displacement; single 6 cylinder, 4 cycle open base Holmes Automarine gasoline engine of 35-40HP (initially only 28HP) with two fuel tanks (125gal. main/25gal. aux.; gravity feed) and single, adjustable, 3-blade, 22in. diameter/24in. pitch prop; rudder control via steering rod coupled to pinion and quadrant ; maximum speed just under 10 statute MPH at 700RPM/40HP; Patterson wireless G-U-84 battery, jump spark ignition; engine controls located on forward bulkhead of aft air case; sailing rig consisted of two hollow spruce masts 5in. diameter at tack, 3.5in. at head, foresail 18sq.ft., mainsail 16.5sq.ft., rake 1.5in. to the foot with jib plus fore-and-aft lug sails; self-righting within approximately 30sec.; five thwarts for 10 oars rowed in doublebanked configuration; equipped with canvas spray cover which extended aft of forward air casing approximately half-way down the cockpit. Construction: Double diagonal planked (45 degrees) wooden hull of 3/8in. Honduras mahogany with No. 10 canvas in-between, copper fastened and riveted, along with brass screws; frames of white oak sided 1.5in., molded 2in. at throat, and 1in. at ends; white oak upper keel and 1500lb. gunmetal lower keel plus bronze droppable metal centerboard ½in. thick; 112 air cases of 18 ounce copper located below deck and along sides; ten 7in. diameter copper relieving tubes from deck to bottom with self-acting balanced valves; Honduran mahogany watertight main deck double-planked; 34 watertight compartments, 70 air cases. FURTHER READING: Sand Pounders: An Interpretation of the History of the U.S. Life-Saving Service, Based on Its Annual Reports for the Years 1870 Through 1914 by Capt. Robert F. Bennett, USGC (Ret.) Available free online here: https://books.google.com/books?id=7JR5rJvlGbcC
Originally published in the August 1998 edition of Toms River Seaport Society's Seafarer Newsletter.
by Ed Asay The first race ever between the BULL and BEAR Sandbagger replicas was held in the Toms River, on Sunday, July 19, 1998. The Lobster Shanty of Toms River sponsored the BULL and the Asay Family sponsored the BEAR in a WIN-WIN situation for the Maritime Museum of the Toms River Seaport Society. Each sponsor donated $1250.00 which was matched by an anonymous donor to total $5000.00 as PRIZE money for the race. The race was started as the two Sandbaggers gracefully soared by the starting line off the Toms River Yacht Club dock by a Toms River Race Committee. With both boats under double reefed sail, BULL ran ahead off Island Heights and the BEAR momentarily ran into a shoal, beating to windward. With BULL holding a six boat lead and sailing well, a gust of wind on the port tack off Nelson Sailing Center resulted in a swim for the crew of the BULL. John Brady, the builder of both sandbaggers, alert as strategist on the BEAR, ordered the dousing of the BEAR's Jib as a precaution against the strengthening wind. Under the main, BEAR, readily rounded the mark off Ocean Gate and crossed the finish line as winner while the game crew of the BULL righted their boat and returned to the Toms River Yacht Club. Both crews withdrew to an "after race" party hosted at the Lobster Shanty, where tall tales were traded about the "Great Race" of the day. Raced from the Civil War until the turn of the century, sandbaggers were the extreme racing machines of their day. The BULL and BEAR were built recently to be 27' long with a bowsprit two thirds that length, and a ladder-like structure aft to attend the long boom of the mainsail. In all 61' long, a sandbagger raised 1133 square ft of sail, and its 30-40 pound bags of sand were tossed from port rail to starboard by a professional crew of 10 to 14 as the boat tacked to windward. Once the boat rounded the mark and began running with the wind, the crew would throw the sandbags overboard and literally jump off to lighten ship to win the race. Though not the 1998 race, area professional photographer and videographer Peter Slack, of Island Heights, did capture the 2005 race at Lake Hopatcong Yacht Club, which can be watched below, with thanks and credit to Mr. Slack: This week we offer an essay written by Edward Lukacs titled, "The Garvey," from 2007, which he says gives "a reminiscence, really, of my search for a new one some [52] years ago." Reprinted with permission.
It was a cold morning in November 1972. The young boatman slowly drove down Route 9 into southern Ocean County, New Jersey. He was searching for something special, a new boat, a garvey. And there was nowhere else on earth that he might find one but near the Barnegat Bay, where the design had been developed and refined by generations of baymen. Garveys are flat-bowed boats intended for fishing and crabbing in the inland waters and among the thoroughfares and sedges of southern New Jersey's coastal bays. And there are wide variations among them, perhaps as many designs and preferences as there are baymen. At every creek south of Toms River, he turned off the highway, following the narrow roads that ran alongside the meandering streams through the sedges toward the bay. Some local baymen supplemented their income during the winter by building these local water craft to sell. Here and there, he saw a brand new boat sitting inside an open shed door or sitting on a home-made trailer or even atop a few concrete blocks, the hull cushioned on two by fours. In every case, he looked at the boat critically, but none were quite right. Garvey lovers are almost fanatically fussy about their taste in their favorite craft. Show a Mantoloking crabber a garvey built twenty miles away in Forked river and he'll tell you it's far too extravagant in lines, too high in freeboard and to broad in the beam to be any good. That's because the boat is too broad and deep for crabbing and netting in the shallows and the narrow passages through the sedge prevalent in his part of the bay. Show a Forked River bayman a Mantoloking boat and he'll tell you it hasn't got any lines, it's too straight in the shear, and not high or beamy enough to be safe in a chop, common in the broader, deeper bay waters that he fishes. His boat will have a lot of curve in the sheer line and a higher and narrower bow than a Mantoloking boat. It will have more beam so it is more stable as he dips his rake over the side to harvest clams and oysters off the bottom. And so it goes in every creek until you reach the West Creek area, where the garvey seems to undergo a startling transformation. For West Creek is the home of the annual Barnegat Bay garvey races. Here, almost magical boats, sixteen to twenty feet long, with large, heavily modified automobile engines and refinements such as steps, bevelled chines and "double breasts" or semi-vee bows, rule the roost. Some were capable, in the heyday of such racing in the late 1960's, of almost one hundred miles per hour. Some, a very few, of these fast boats were actually used for fishing. One large garvey was justifiably famous for its exploits, illegally gill-netting striped bass near Beach Haven and Barnegat Inlets on the incoming tides at night. The state Fish and Game Police tried to catch her for almost two years, but the "tunnel sterned, double breasted step garvey", thirty feet long, with two v-eight Ford engines, could make almost sixty miles per hour over the shallow flats in the bay, running in as little as a one foot and a half of water. No state patrol boat could go as fast or run in such shallow water, so her pursuers often had to detour for miles in order not to damage their boats while she happily skipped across water that was nearly mud flats. In 1959, she was finally cornered by a half dozen Fish & Game boats in the bay while almost a dozen state troopers covered all the possible landing spots and docks in the local creeks. Eventually, surrounded and with nowhere left to run, she came into her dock. The state confiscated the boat and used her for some years in the bay, patrolling against the very miscreants that had created her and others like her. But neither a racing boat nor a boat that large held any interest for the boatman who, all day long, wended his way down the bay, stopping here, chatting with a bayman there. His quarry was always elusive, ever just out of reach. Eventually he stopped at the New Gretna House to have a late lunch. Once a stopping place for the stage coaches to Cape May, Tuckerton, Batsto and Hammonton, the old inn and restaurant had been serving tired travelers for more than a century. He was discouraged, having travelled over fifty miles and spoken to almost a dozen men, only to be disappointed at each stop. He was about to turn back. While eating his thick red clam chowder, properly made in the manner of that area of the Bay, with a bit of salt pork and thyme added, he asked the barman where he might find a local boat builder. He told him what he was looking for, a "double breasted garvey" of sixteen to twenty feet in length and about a six foot beam, with "rocker chines" and a "well" for the outboard. But he didn't want a work boat; he wanted a fine quality finish, for pleasure use. "I've visited every builder from Mantoloking to West Creek, and none of them has quite what I'm looking for." he said. The barman said to him "Have you been down to Port Republic yet?" He had not. "You really ought to go down there, right by the small bridge. The place is called 'The Modern Boat works'. Ask for Mr. Adams. I think he may have what you're looking for. If he hasn't, he certainly ought to be able to make it for you. Builds a hell of a boat, and he's been doing so for a good fifty years." So. instead of turning north he continued southbound over Great Bay on the Parkway bridge, getting back onto Route 9 on the south shore, then passing the Chestnut Neck Battle Memorial before crossing a small bridge in the middle of the sedges, near a few poor summer homes built over the sedge on stilts on the sides of the small creek. There, on his right, was the Modern Boat Works. He pulled off the road onto the clam-shell and gravel paved lot. He looked inside the shed and there he saw an erecting cradle for a lapstrake hull of about twenty-seven feet, a hull which would have very good lines. Behind it he saw a pale green bow sticking out into view. It was a garvey, and a double breasted one! He walked around the cradle to look at the boat. Never in his life had he seen such a garvey! Beautifully balanced in lines, it was about twenty feet long. It had beveled chines aft, and it had a beam of about six and a half feet. Meant for outboard power, it had a solid transom with an internal well for the motor. Its lines were the best that he had ever seen. But that mere description of a pretty hull paled as he looked more closely at it. It had mahogany thwarts, foredeck, coamings, console and windshield and teak rub rails and even teak decking slats in the cockpit. All of the hardware was of traditional brass. All fastening holes had been carefully finished with flush wooden plugs and the joinery and varnish finish were worthy of a major yacht, while the hardware was strictly traditional. He looked at one of the cleats. It bore the hallmark of Wilcox and Crittenden, a Norfolk, Virginia foundry which had equipped the Virginia when she was the pride of the Confederacy, the Merrimack before she was cut down and renamed the Virginia and indeed, many Union ships built in Norfolk before there was a Confederate Navy. The Danforth Constellation compass was worthy of a fifty foot cruiser. The deep gloss of the mirror-smooth mahogany finish reminded him of the woodwork that he had only ever seen elsewhere on the expensive Rolls-Royce powered Italian Riva speedboats which were sold to rich yachtsmen by an exclusive boat shop in Point Pleasant. This boat was the work of an uncompromising master craftsman. It was chilly inside the open shed in the wind and the shade. He would have to leave soon or freeze. He walked over to the door marked "Office," but it was locked, so he went to his car to get a piece of paper to leave a note. As he opened the car's door an ancient Ford pick-up truck arrived. A very old man got out and asked, "Can I help you?" The old man was Carl Adams, the owner of the boat shop for almost sixty years. The young boatman explained what he had been doing that day. He spoke carefully, speaking in the idiom of the baymen, having grown up among many of their children. He expressed his admiration for the beautiful garvey. He said that he had long looked for exactly such a boat, but that he had never seen one so handsome, so perfect before. The old man warmed to him and said, "No, I won't sell you my boat. I built her for myself and I still use her. And I can't build one for you because I'm too old to do it myself, and my son, who's sixty-one, has hurt his back and can't do any heavy work. All we're building right now are couple of small duck boats and bateaus." The boatman was very disappointed. He had dreamed, and searched and saved for years to buy just such a boat. And there it was, right in front of him, but it could not be his. He asked if he could purchase a set of the plans and attempt to build one or have it built elsewhere. The old man said "There are no plans as such. You see, I carved a halfmodel of her and took the lines off it when I got it right. I just marked it out on the shop floor and cut her to fit. I finished the decking and trim pretty much by cutting and fitting until I was satisfied. I can show you the half- model if you'd like to see it." With that he took out his keys and opened the office door, inviting the boatman into the well-lit office. Facing south, and with large windows, it was much warmer there than in the crisp November air of the open boat shed. He began talking about boats he had built, pointing to half-models on planks which covered much of the wall space in the room, with others stacked in a neat pile on a large table. He described how the frames were measured off the half model, and then "lofted," or drawn full size onto sheets of brown, or "fish" paper. From these the erecting cradle and the frames would be cut. The boatman admired some of the half models, three or four in particular. He asked about them, and Adams beamed. He said "You have a good eye! You picked out the hulls of the best of the rum runners that I ever built!" He took one down from the wall and passed it lovingly to the boatman. The model, carved and finished like glass, had thin pencil lines scribed upon it. It was a fairly slim boat with a fine bow with some flare, a slightly raised foredeck, and hard chines, it must have been very fast. He remarked that the lines were that of a good speedboat, but the hull would be larger than most speedboats. Adams said "That is the fastest boat that I ever built. It was 1932, and the buyer came from New York and ordered the boat like usual, paying a half down as a deposit and telling me what engines would be used and when they would be delivered." Adams grabbed a few old brown photographs in way of explanation, handing them to the boatman. "The engines were usually either surplus Packard Liberties or Curtis OX-5's, both meant for airplanes. They always had their own people set up the engines. They told me how big a boat they wanted and what range and speed and I had freedom to do the rest, within their needs." He continued "This was right after one of the Long Island boats got tired of being shot at by the Coast Guard four stacker destroyers and decided to do something about it. Somewhere they found a light pack howitzer and some ammunition, and when the next four stacker fired across their bows, they fired back! Probably scared those sailors out of their britches! Anyway, the four stacker made short work of them and from then on, we had to build boats which could exceed forty knots with a full load so they could outrun the destroyers." "When I built this boat, they told me that the engines would not be the usual surplus Packard Liberties, but a brand new pair of twelve cylinder Curtiss Conqueror aero engines. Well, the Curtiss had a lot more power, but it weighed no more and was much easier on fuel, so I could build a much better boat, with more capacity and performance in the same forty-one foot hull length. That boat, once we had the right propellers on her, made seventy-one miles per hour on the measured one mile range in Little Egg Harbor." The boatman looked in near-disbelief. In those days, that was a speed that was only being reached by the unlimited racing boats that competed in national races like the Gold Cup and Harmsworth Trophy. But the old man continued, "It was a whole different world then. You fellas think that going fast in a boat offshore means doing thirty knots in a smooth sea. Well, forty or fifty years ago, these boats used to leave Barnegat Inlet or Beach Haven at dusk, in foul weather, to run twenty to forty miles offshore. They'd take on their load from the ship and then they'd run around Cape May to Bivalve or even Bayside, drop their cargo, and be back at the dock after dawn. That's two hundred fifty to three hundred miles, at sea, at night, usually in filthy weather, in twelve hours or so." The boatman looked at the old man, at the beautiful garvey and the utilitarian bateau behind it, also finished with the same loving hand. He looked at the photographs of boats long gone, of huge engines, at the half models. He should have been disappointed at the inability to have a boat like this built but strangely, he did not feel so. He realized that he had just heard the telling of the history of a way of life, of a technology now almost lost, and of people whose skill and pride and craftsmanship were such that they could not possibly be understood let alone appreciated in the modern, throw-away world. He did not get his boat. Instead, he had a curtain to a forgotten world opened by the old man, perhaps for the last time, for an outsider to see it. He would never own such a garvey. But he had seen and touched absolute perfection, perfection just out of reach. He realized that he could obtain such perfection in a boat only if he himself could attain such human perfection as to be its builder. Sadly, he knew that he would never achieve that level of skill or craftsmanship, of sublime perfection, at least not in this lifetime. He thanked the old man for telling him the story of his boats and he got into the car to leave. He returned to that boathouse several times over the next year, hoping to see Carl Adams again. But he never saw the old man, or indeed, anyone else there, ever again. In the many years that followed, he never forgot either the old man, his beautiful work, or his stories. He had truly received a gift on that cold November afternoon, a gift which altered many of his perceptions and his personal values for the rest of his life. Welcome to Toms River Seaport Society’s (Mari)Time-Warp, taking our supporters back through the nautical history of the Barnegat Bay and Toms River watershed areas! This time we reprint a newsy trip down the shore areas of Ocean County in August 1893, courtesy the Philadelphia Inquirer and Newspapers.com. Special Correspondence of The Inquirer. Point Pleasant, N.J., Aug. 26.--August is proving itself to be a banner month at this resort, and it is far surpassing July, as July exceeded the season of last year. It is hardly to be wondered that the resort is a popular one. With a beautiful, smooth, hard, level sand beach and bathing that is nowhere surpassed, one side of the town reaching to the high bluffs that form the banks of the Manasquan River and lined with costly villas and handsome cottages, the other stretching down toward the north end of the far-famed Barnegat Bay, whose waters are thus easily accessible, the ground high and rolling, with a perfect natural surface drainage, and in the unbuilt portions back from the beach, covered with fine timber that makes rambling through the woods as much a delight as strolling along the shore. Monday evening a delightful concert was given at the Edgewater under the direction of Miss Carry West Murphy and Mrs. Charles H. Marcy, for the benefit of the orphans of St. Vincent's Retreat. A full-dress ball will take place at the Resort Home to-night, which promises to be a social success. Special Correspondence of The Inquirer. Island Heights, N.J., Aug. 26.--The heavy northeast storm that raged Wednesday night created much havoc here. Yachts were torn from their moorings and washed ashore with great holes stove in them, while many others were sunk in midstream. Thursday morning the water was up level with the railroad bridge and washing clear over the boardwalk nearly its entire length. It was the most severe blow experienced here for years. Charles K. Wood, a young man wll known in Philadelphia and Island Heights society, is making quite a reputation as a water color artist. Though he has practically only been pursuing the art for less than a year, yet he is already finding a constant sale for his paintings. His style is rather broad and free, with fair coloring, and tastes usually inclined towards marines or partial water subjects. Among recent purchasers have been the Hon. Walter Phelps, ex-Minister to Germany; Miss Ellen M. Hutchinson, Mr. Edwin S. Megargee and Mr. Nathaniel H. Bishop, the well-known canoeist and author from Lake George, N.Y. George Bacon and his wife from Chicago are being entertained at Arbutus Lodge. The social function of the week, which was attended by all the elite of the Heights, was the concert Monday afternoon, given by the Rutgers Quartet at the handsome river front residence of Mrs. Robert Shoemaker for the benefit of Christ Episcopal Church. Miss Helen S. Marshall, a vivacious and accomplished young lady who graces the inner circle of Trenton society, is being entertained at the cottage of Alfred Wood. Miss Clyde, sister of William P. Clyde, of the Clyde Steamship Company, is the guest of Mrs. F.F. Milne. Special Correspondence of The Inquirer. Forked River, N.J., Aug. 26.--Weakfish are biting well, and the sportsmen are largely turning their attention in that direction. There are still many bluefish and sea bass caught outside, however, and the supply seems never to diminish. Snipe shooting along the meadows and on the beaches forms a favorite sport now, and the gunner is almost certain of a fine time of yellow legs, curlew, plover, butterballs, etc. Consequently the beach is dotted now and again with blinds and the decoy snipe have taken their stand in the sand. One of the favorite shooting places is the North Point of the beach, just opposite here, a wild stretch with nothing but two life-saving stations to break its tailed of loneliness. S.M. Saunders is a New York wire broker and member of the "Old Guards," who is stopping at the Riverside House. C. Marchauser, a Poughkeepsie, N.Y., legal light, is a guest at the Parker House. Special Correspondence of The Inquirer. Waretown, N.J., Aug. 26.--With bluefish and weakfish biting plentifully Waretown is sure never to lack for visitors. And that is the situation at present. Weakfish are taking the hook voraciously in the bay right off our docks. Indeed, one day this week a party in one boat brought in over a hundred fine weakfish without going more than five hundred yards away from the Bay View House piazza. Bluefish and seabass are also in large quanitites and bite very freely. Flounder fishing is also at its best, and some sheepshead to reward the more patient of the anglers. Many of the summer visitors here are of the Universalist faith and have been enjoying the campmeeting held at Murray Grove, Good Luck, at the spot where the first Universalist sermon in America was preached. As this campmeeting is but a few miles north of here it is easily accessible to our visitors, who drive up in large numbers. Special Correspondence of The Inquirer. Barnegat, N.J., Aug. 26.--The week just passed has been one of both pleasure and benefit, notwithstanding the August storm that raged on Wednesday night, and which gave our summer visitors an idea of what the shore is like during the wild and stormy wintry weather. On the pleasant days fishing has been fine, and the many sportsmen who make this place their headquarters have had excellent luck. Boats have come in well laden with weak and bluefish, striped bass, flounders and the like. One gentleman, Mr. Shaw, of Mount Vernon, N.Y., who is stopping at the Clarence House, made the excellent catch of 26 fine striped bass, some of which weighed over six pounds. Professor R.B. Adams, of Philadelphia, gave a stereopticon exhibition here last week. Open Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays - 10 am to 2 pm
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