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)  Equinox today. Corn is in the shock. Primaries next Tuesday. Wonderfully fine weather. One week left of September. Pumpkins are being gathered. Schools are making a good start. Baseball season is over, they say. Many yachts are in commission still. Summer people are motoring home. Summer ends and fall begins today. Water street is one rough road just now. Oystermen are shipping to the cities now. The year is almost three-quarters gone. Many fishing parties motor through town. Set the clock back next Saturday night. More bright colored leaves show in the swamps. An epidemic of colds seems going around the village. Mercury was above eighty in the shade last Sunday. This is the time for the motor tourists, finest of all the year. Main street continues to keep busy on Saturdays at any rate. Boys fish daily for pike—men do too—in the grass on the river flats. The clusters of berries on the upland sumacs have turned wine red. Pears and apples are rather scarce, though some folks have plenty of apples. Pumpkins seem to have grown in large numbers and size, and in fact most late crops did well. Jitneys are looking up although the summer is over. Ed Kelly has a Buick light six and Jack Costa a Cleveland six. The Lambert line boats are off for the summer, except a few special trips. They made a Barnegat City trip Sunday and Wednesday. If there were only a market for old field balsam, goldenrod and wild carrot, how soon some of our farmers would get rich. Judge Lloyd has kept court moving at schedule time. He is a busy, an upright, and a capable judge, we'll tell the world. Strangers in town say that Toms River is a busy little village. Most of them say it is a beautiful one too. That's the difference from old days, of twenty years ago—they used to say it was beautiful, but sleepy. Rumor says a new dentist is coming to town. All the public schools of the county are now open. A change in the railroad time table will take place next Sunday. Basketball would come next, if there was a place in town to play it. Robins are mostly flocking to the woods before going south for the winter. Most of the swallows have disappeared from the beaches and the bay shore. The Traco theatre has sold its Delco plant [an electric generator] to Mr. Maguire of the Bay-Lea farm. William VanKirk has sold the yacht Ida May to Edward B. Garrigues of Philadelphia and Ocean City. Roy King, who was badly burned a few weeks ago by the explosion of gasoline, was allowed out of bed on Monday, and is improving. In towns which have been on a daylight saving schedule during the past summer, the clocks will be set back an hour at midnight on Saturday next. Starling are seen and heard about again this week. Query—where were they during late July, August and early September? If you can tell, let us know. George Newman of Pershing [a section of Toms River mostly forgotten today] has a fine exhibition plot of sweet potatoes that were grown this year from selected seed. A demonstration will be given there in October by sweet potato specialists from the State Experiment station. Capt. Lambert stopped running the Lambert boat line on Sunday of this week for regular trips. He says that this year was behind last year 1137 passengers; probably due to the free bridge and to the busses that have been running to and from the beach this summer. The recent full moon was that known to the old folks as the harvest moon—for about a week the moon rose very nearly the same time, and was almost a full round disk the whole time. Miss Magee, teacher of the Cedar Grove school, was married on Sunday last, and wants to give up the school. Whether to close the school and bring the pupils in to town, or hunt around for another teacher, is bothering the school authorities. CARNIVAL GAMBLING GRAFT That carnival company, with its gambling graft as the real show, and the shows as a side attraction, seems to have cut a wide swath through New Jersey this summer, and everywhere to have aroused protest. Wherever they have been heard from it is the same story: the town demoralized by open gambling, large amounts of money taken from the town by the crooked games, little or nothing left for the fire company (they seem to make a specialty of fire companies) or other organization which sponsored them. Toms River, Lakewood, Freehold and now Woodbury and Wenonah. It will probably be a long time before they play a return in this territory and fool another organization into taking them up and giving them a standing in any of these towns visited this summer. GLAD YOU'RE LIVING, EH! Glad you're living these days? You bet! Anyone who wouldn't like to live in New Jersey, especially along the Ocean county shore, in September, October and November, must be hard to suit. Anyone who can be a grouch in the weather we get in the fall, must be ailing somewhere in his makeup, either in body or mind. An old Englishman, still retaining his love for the homeland, though a thorough going American, used to say he had traveled over much of the world, but he had found no climate anywhere to equal the autumn days in this section, with their inspiring and invigorating conditions. WHERE SUFFRAGE IS A BOON Suffrage is the biggest boon the small seashore boroughs ever had—meaning of course, woman's suffrage. Before the 19th amendment was passed it was very difficult to get competent men to fill the borough offices in these small places. Now women are taking the jobs of clerk, assessor and collector, clerk of the school board, and members of school board, etc., in ever increasing numbers. It has about doubled the amount of available office-holding material. HEADLINES AND NEWS NOTES LOST HIS LIFE BATTLING THE TIDES OF BARNEGAT Jules Bell, aged 26 years, a Philadelphian who summers at Island Heights, lost his life in the bay near Barnegat Inlet on Sunday. The body was recovered, taken to Barnegat, and Coroner Job Smith of Tuckerton was called. He brought the body to the summer home of the Bells in Island Heights. Undertaker C.P. Anderson of Toms River shipped it to Philadelphia, where it was buried on Wednesday at Ivy Hill cemetery. Bell was married, and leaves a wife and two small children. He was a brother to Walter Bell and Garfield Bell, and had been with his brothers and sisters, coming to Island Heights for a long time. On Sunday Bell with John McFarland and a party of friends went down the bay on a yachting trip. Bell is said to have donned his bathing suit and jumped over. Some of his friends say that he was warm when he went into the cold water, and the shock was too much for his heart; others say that he was caught in the run of a strong tide, and trying to swim against it, the struggle was too much for his heart. All agree that death was caused by heart failure, rather than by drowning. He was picked up by another boat and taken to Barnegat. SCHLINGLOGG ARRESTED BY FEDERAL MEN AT ATLANTIC Julius Schlingloff, who has a home at Beachview, near Barnegat, was arrested last Saturday at Atlantic City, where he is a restaurant chef, on the charge of being implicated in smuggling liquors from the schooner Pocomoke at that place last summer. Schlingloff was one of the men who were arrested with Andy Grob of the Extra Dry cafe, Atlantic City, when digging up $20,000 worth of bottled goods, which is now locked up in Toms River jail, waiting for its disposition by the Supreme Court of the state. Several other arrests were made last Saturday by the federal officers in Atlantic City. At the time the bottled stuff was located at Barnegat, and Grob, John Maxwell and a number of other men were arrested, a small memorandum book was found on the running board of the big Packard car which Maxwell was in when he was arrested. It is assumed that somebody, presumably Maxwell, thought he had thrown the book away, to keep it from getting into the hands of the officers when he was searched, but that it struck the running board and staid there till the car reached Toms River, when it was picked up. In this book were entries giving names of a number of men suspected to be implicated in the Pocomoke job, with figures opposite the names, as if it were an account of moneys paid out. This book was turned over to the federal authorities, and is probably the link in the chain that has run down a number of men at Atlantic City and brought about their arrest. RECENT DEATHS RADCLIFFE B. MILLS Radcliffe B. Mills, for many years one of the most enthusiastic boosters of Island Heights, and of the whole Barnegat Bay section, died on Friday last, September 16, from chronic valvular disease of the heart. He had had a stroke of paralysis some years ago, but had to a large degree recovered from it. With Mrs. Mills he was spending the summer at the Heights. The body was taken to Philadelphia, and burial made at Cedar Hill cemetery, Germantown, Pa. Mr. Mills was the son of William and Martha (Bridge) Mills. He was in the dye and woollen business in Germantown for many years, and for a generation had been coming to Barnegat Pier [the station and settlement area at what is now Good Luck Point, the Pennsylvania Railroad then going across to Seaside Park and the barrier island – the area today (2021) is the site of the Martell's Water's Edge restaurant], Island Heights and Toms River. He was the organizer and one of the chief boosters in the Island Heights Board of Trade some years ago, and was also one of the originators of the celebrated Labor day sports now held yearly in Island Heights. In his younger days he was a yachtsman and interested in the races of the old Toms River yacht club, when it was almost the only club on the coast. His wife, Luzetta Caldwell Mills, survives him; there are no children. He belonged to Mitchell lodge, F. and A.M. In Philadelphia. FISH AND GAME Last Saturday afternoon, between Mantoloking and Chadwicks, there were forty or more automobiles parked along the beach road, while the parties coming in them were surf fishing on the beach. Between Chadwick and Lavallette was a smaller group, while south of Seaside Park were more surf anglers. Sunday there was another string of cars along the beach road. Long Beach also had its surf fishermen. Barnegat City [now Barnegat Light] and New Inlet are the favored spots, with Surf City, High Point [section of now Harvey Cedars], and Beach Haven, as second best. Surf fishing had a bad setback last summer and in the early part of this summer, due to continued east winds and heavy seas, making it impossible for the average fisherman to keep his line out; but this fall there have been more fishing in the surf than ever before. The bay is full of small blue fish, or “snapping mackerel.” Many of them are caught. They are called by their local name because of the bluefish way of snapping at bait or food. They make lively fishing, though running from a half pound to a pound generally. Oyster Creek Channel has been the favored spot by Forked River party boatmen this month, and other anglers have been going there too. A.D. Nickerson, Joe Miller, Mr. Carley, all Beachwoodites, with Herman Fuhr and Harry Grover, tried Oyster Creek Channel Saturday night and got eight big weakfish.  TRYING TO FORM A BAND An effort is being made to organize a band at Toms River, the old Reliance band having failed to survive the war. The new band has been christened the Toms River Military Band. The Courier is in receipt of a communication saying that there will be a meeting next Wednesday evening at the American Legion rooms, when the band will be organized and plans laid for its future. This communication says that an effort will be made to build up a band of forty pieces, and that any and all interested in the band should be out at this meeting. A band is a big asset to the town, and it would be fine to have band concerts in Huddy Park on summer evenings once more. APPLEBY VISITS BARNEGAT LIGHT WITH ENGINEERS In his efforts to save Barnegat Lighthouse from the seas, Congressman Appleby again today visits Barnegat City [today Barnegat Light Borough] with federal engineers from the Lighthouse Bureau. The contention of the Bureau that a stone seawall is needed around the end of the island, at the inlet to save the lighthouse is being opposed by the Congressman, who favors the plan that has been partly successful of placing jetties of piling at right angles tot he set of the tide. The Lighthouse Bureau engineers have variously estimated from $150,000 to $1,000,000 needed to save the lighthouse by the seawall plan. Mr. Appleby believes that $50,000 spent on jetties would do the work just as well, or, rather, better. In fact the stone seawall that the government built two years ago went into deep water that winter, while the piling jetty that Barnegat City borough built at its own expense in the sand west of the lighthouse still stands and has built up considerable beach. CRANBERRY HARVEST HALF OVER BIGGER AND BETTER The cranberry harvest is now half over, and for the most part the Ocean county growers have found their yield bigger and better than they had anticipated. The fancy varieties turned out especially fine, large and well colored. Most growers are getting more off their bogs than they had estimated. The cost of picking the bogs is a little lower this year. Italian pickers, who demanded seventy cents a bushel [$10.70 in 2021 dollars] during the labor shortage, are glad this year to work for fifty cents [$7.64 in 2021 dollars]. Scoopers are taking thirty cents [$4.58 in 2021 dollars] and seem to be able to make big money at that. Some of the growers are shipping berries west. The Double Trouble Company sent a carload to Chicago last week, all in the new half barrel crate, made from Double Trouble cedar. The railroads give an extra low rate on the box package, as compared to the barrel, as it will store more in a car and is easier to handle. SEA PLANE RUNNING PASSENGERS One of the passenger sea planes, that operate at Atlantic City in summer and at Miami or Palm Beach in winter, has been in this county the past week. The latter end of last week the machine was located at Bay Head. Monday and Tuesday it was at Island Heights, and took up parties of five or six for a seven minute flight at $5 a head. It made a trip up the river to Toms River village, turning over the business part of the town, and going back to the Island Heights public dock. DEMAND FOR POULTRY FARMS This fall sees a brisk demand for |
