This Week in Ocean County, 1921! (December 9th)

12/11/2021

Welcome to another era in the Toms River area's past, one century ago this week!

Let your mind wander as you consider life around December 9th, 1921, courtesy the New Jersey Courier weekly newspaper and Ocean County Library archives, and peppered with items of maritime interest (around a 15 minute read).

BREVITIES AND EDITORIALS

(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)

Snow last Sunday.
Moonlit evenings now.
Three weeks left of 1921.
Shop early—it is good advice.
Full moon next Wednesday.
Another stormy Sunday. What?
Christmas seventeen days away.
Now we are getting our short days.
Sloppy walking the first of this week.
Still enough snow left to look wintry.
December court begins next Tuesday.
The snow was just right for snowballs.
Christmas shoppers are going the rounds.
Has anybody seen the cardinal bird lately?
Starling seem to like big evergreen trees and flock there.
Boys and girls had a little fun with sleds while the snow lasted.
Winter begins in two weeks, on Thursday, 22nd, at 4:08 a,m,
It's an ill wind, etc. —wet and snowy weather means business for the seller of rubber footwear.
Business the country over, is picking up so the financial experts say. It has been pretty good in this section.
Did you see the sunrise Monday morning? The producer who could put that effect on the stage would have his fortune made.
Winter birds are now here, and a little more snow will drive them into town where they are sure to get food from kindly disposed people.
Troop one of the Boy Scouts have a fine snare drum, the gift of Ferd Schoettle of Philadelphia. The drum has been on exhibit in the Allen news store window and admired by many.
Sun rises tomorrow at 7.13 and sets at 4.32, which is as early as the sun sets this winter. In fact the afternoons begin from now on to lengthen a trifle, while the mornings are cut shorter till the end of the year.
The state had scrapers out taking the snow off the roads on Monday morning. But what would happen in a deep snow if they had just scraped the snow in the gutters and left it, as they did this time.
Boys got a little coasting on Sheriff street hill.
Down to 10 degrees this morning—coldest we've had this fall.
Yes, everybody wants the village Christmas tree again this year.
The second in a series of dances was held last evening at the Marion inn ball room.
About 300 Dover township folks retained their membership in the Red Cross.
A beefsteak dinner is planned for next Wednesday evening at the Toms River Yacht Club.
A.C. King, Wm. R. Applegate and Lloyd Applegate bagged 78 crow ducks last Saturday morning.
The gang of Italians that had been at work at Double Trouble bogs since September 1, returned to Philadelphia Tuesday.
R. Luria of Philadelphia, who rented the Milton Stern store on Washington street near Robbins, will open with dry goods, shoes, etc., next Friday, Dec. 16.
A detachment of state police spent Monday night here, en route from Sea Girt to Hammonton. They are a husky looking lot. Some are on horses and some motorcycles. All carry arms—service revolvers and carbines. [This marked the inaugural distribution of state troopers statewide – they were administered their oaths of office on December 1st and on the 5th “in a blinding snowstorm, started out on horseback and motorcycle to their posts throughout the state,” according to the current state trooper website history]
Santa Claus, it is announced, will be at Dittmar's electrical store on Water Street, the morning of December 26. Santa saw a lot of boys watching the electric train in Dittmar's window with longing eyes, and has bought the train and arranged to be there and give it away to some Toms River boy on that morning. A box of candy will be there for every boy who comes and one boy will get the train, and it is all to be given away by Santa.
Some of the lot owners at Montray Park have refused to pay the tax assessed against their lots, on the ground that they are valued at much more than they cost. Because title to the lots was still in the Montray Corporation, when the duplicate was made out, these lot owners did not get their bills last June, in time to appeal from the valuation. This makes an interesting mixup. [Montray Park is the development of houses now bounded on each side by Route 37, King Street, Seward Avenue and Main Street, and including the Gateway streets, north, south, east and west.]

GAMBLING AT CARNIVALS
Toms River folks may be interested in the recent court happenings in Gloucester County, where the “wheel of fortune” episode at a baseball carnival reached the grand jury. Like at Toms River and Lakewood, Gloucester County had an outbreak of public gambling of this character last summer, usually in connection with a carnival for some local organization. Justice Katzenbach, of the Supreme Court, charged the October grand jury in that county that this gambling was an offense against the law, and they must find indictments. Accordingly, two young men who had run these wheels at a baseball club carnival, at Clarksboro, were indicted, and last week plead guilty. Judge Davis suspended sentence in both cases, but used the opportunity to state that in the future this law would be enforced, and that those who ran such gambling games would be severely punished.

HEADLINE NEWS

OUTLOOK BETTER FOR SAVING OLD BARNEGAT LIGHTHOUSE
According to Congressman Appleby, the outlook just now is more favorable toward saving old Barnegat light than it has been at any stage in the long fight that has been put up to that end, in which both President Harding and Secretary Hoover have been enlisted by Senator Frelinghuysen and Congressman Appleby. A few weeks ago the Courier printed a letter from Ross Salmons, an Ocean County boy with the Shipping Board, suggesting that the wooden ships owned by the government and now valueless, be used to form jetties by sinking them at Barnegat Inlet to save the light. Assemblyman-elect Ezra Parker, of Barnegat, sent this clipping to Congressman Appleby, and got the following reply to his letter:
Sen. Ezra Parker,
Barnegat, N.J.:
My Dear Mr. Parker:
I beg to acknowledge receipt of your esteemed favor of the 23rd, inclosing a clipping from the New Jersey Courier, relative to using some of the wooden vessels of the United States Shipping Board for jetties in connection with the preservation of the Barnegat Light.
In reply, I would say that I have had in mind for some months a proposition of this character, not only in connection with the Barnegat Light, but for various other points along the Atlantic Coast where the government is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for necessary jetties for protection against encroachment of the surf.
However, in so far as Barnegat Light is concerned, I feel that negotiations are now progressing so favorably toward the erection of permanent [jetties that we should not] inject any new suggestions at the present time.
I appreciate very much your sending me this clipping, and with kind regards, I am
Very truly yours,
T. FRANK APPLEBY

TOMS RIVER YACHT CLUB PLANS BIG ATTRACTIONS
If the plans of Commodore Horace A. Doan, of the Toms River Yacht Club, are worked out as he has them now well defined, there will be big alterations in the yacht club house next spring or summer. Mr. Doan and the members who are following his lead, are also making a drive for members, and have added about forty or fifty new names to the roll in the past two or three weeks. As an inducement, no entrance fee will be charged against any person who joins the club during the balance of this month, but all new members for the rest of 1921 will be allowed to join on payment of 1922 dues.
The plans for enlargement of the club house [located there until the late 1960s, where today Water Street Bar & Grille stands on Robbins Parkway, adjacent the River Lady and across from Mathis Plaza] have not yet been announced, but it is understood that they call for a heating plant so that the house can be used all winter; for a dance floor and amusement rooms, etc. Fro the present a temporary heating plant has been installed and Charles H. Bond, the club steward, has the house open on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings. Last Friday evening five new names were placed on the roll: Arthur G. Howes, Dr. E.C. Disbrow, John A. Ernst, Ralph B. Gowdy, Adolphus B. Cranmer.
The entertainment committee, of which Frank Buchanan is chairman, is to spring a beefsteak dinner on the members of the club Wednesday evening next, December 14. At this time Frank will also furnish a novel entertainment.

SHIP ON AGAIN, OFF AGAIN, GONE AGAIN, FROM BARNEGAT
The oil tanker Caddo, from Talara, Peru, for New York, struck Barnegat shoals last Friday night, December 2, during the heavy squall. She carried a cargo of crude oil and a crew of thirty-six men. Saturday night the Caddo was floated and went on to New York, under her own steam. While she was on the shoals the coast guard crews stood by to lend aid, but she needed none.
Of her cargo of 15,000 gallons of crude oil, some 4,000 was pumped into the sea to lighten her. It was said that she went ashore in the southeaster which made very thick weather Friday night. She lay in 28 feet of water.
The Caddo was built at Newcastle on the Tyne, England, in 1912, and is one of the larger Standard Oil vessels. She is of 6329 gross tons, twin screw, 414 feet long, 65 foot beam and 30 feet draught. Her home port is New York City. Her wireless signal is “L.F.B.T.”

VILLAGE CHRISTMAS TREE
Edward P. Knox, representing the American Legion, has called a meeting on Sunday evening next, at 9 after church, at the Legion rooms, to talk over plans for the Village Christmas Tree. The Legion Post Monday night voted $10 from its funds for this purpose [$155 in 2021 dollars], and other organizations will be asked to come in on the expense. Anything left over will be given to the Degree of Pocahontas Christmas Fund, as it was last year.
The plan is to have the big spruce in the west front of the court house green decked out with electric lights for the holiday week, from Christmas eve till New Year's. Christmas eve there will be an early service at the court house, the program in charge of the Pastors' Conference of the village. It is hoped to make it a real village affair, as in the past.

JERSEY CONSTABULARY PATROLS
The state police force, organized under a law passed last winter, began patrolling New Jersey's highways. The new constabulary, commanded by Colonel P. Norman Schwarzkopf of Newark, recently completed a three months' training course at Sea Girt.
The police will not be called upon to perform services in municipalities where uniformed departments are organized. They will travel in pairs, some mounted and others on motorcycles.
The winter months will furnish less opportunity for showing what the state police can do than will other seasons of the year, and perhaps that will be a good thing for the members right at the start. If they are resourceful, however, they can demonstrate at any time their helpfulness to the public in numerous ways and thus earn the welcome they will receive when they make their appearance on the roads.

ENGINE WHEELS CUT OFF FALLING [RAILROAD] FIREMAN'S HEAD
Crawling out on his moving engine at Elizabethport [the downtown section of Elizabeth, Union County], to replace a white flag that had been blown off the engine, Burtis B. Wilbert, formerly of Dover Township, fell under his engine and his head was severed from his body by the wheels. The story as told by the trainsmen is that the step he was crawling on gave way, and he grabbed a lamp bracket. That also broke under his weight, throwing him under the engine wheels. The accident happened on Friday last, December 2.
Wilbert was the son of the late William Henry and Phoebe (Asay) Wilbert, who lived for years on East Washington Street [that section of road is today Route 37], near the entrance to Island Heights. He was a brother to John Wilbert, to Mrs. Daniel Grim, and to William H. Wilbert, keeper of the coast guard station at Monmouth Beach. For a long time he had been living at Long Branch, his home being in Joline Avenue. He was 35 years of age. Funeral services were held on Monday, December 5, at 11 A.M., in St. James Episcopal Church, Long Branch. He belonged to the Masonic Lodge up the Beach and the Masons gave their ritual.
Wilbert leaves a crippled wife and six children. Another story of the accident says that the train, No. 376, was northbound, and when it reached Elizabethport orders were received to run by way of Newark Transfer. This necessitated running under orders, and Wilbert was placing the white flag on the front of the engine when the fatal accident occurred.

BOOTLEGGER FROM LAKEHURST
Enforcement Agent Carslake, who, by the way, is a summer visitor at Seaside Heights and a property owner in that borough, arrested three bootleggers at Wrightstown last Saturday night, who were disposing of their stuff at $5 a pint [$77.64 in 2021 dollars]. They gave their names as Robert F. Richards, P.C. Lagran and John E. Simpson, and their residences as Philadelphia, Lakehurst and Missouri. Anybody in Lakehurst recognize 'em?

MRS. CRABBE AGAIN HEADS OCEAN COUNTY RED CROSS
As the most active spirit in the management and work of the Ocean County Chapter, American Red Cross, Mrs. Marian McEwan Crabbe, was again on Friday last chosen as the president of that organization. The annual meeting of the society was held on Friday, at the headquarters, on Washington Street, Toms River. From reports received it is believed that the roll call, still in progress, would show a membership of about half that of last year, which is very satisfactory, under present circumstances...

SLOWING DOWN AT AIR STATION
Work at the Naval Air Station, Lakehurst, continues to slow down. The General Electric Co. still has some men at work, and so has the Lord Construction Co. Rumors say that work will be completed with the end of the year, and the men laid off. The force has been cut from time to time.

SIX INCHES OF SNOW FELL IN FIRST SNOW FALL, DEC. 4
December gave us a foretaste of winter on Sunday the 4th, when almost without warning, it sent a six inch snowfall, the first snow of the season. A few stray flakes began to come down about 10:30 o'clock, and about noon it came down with a rush. By nightfall there was about six inches of the snow spread out on the level, as there had been little wind with it.
The snow was wet enough to catch on trees, shrubs, fences and wires. It made a beautiful sight, transforming the grim old December landscape into fairyland. Particularly it was a beautiful sight at sunrise on Monday, with a gorgeous pink over all the east, seen through trees that were loaded down with white. The weather was not very cold, and the snow melted more or less as it fell.

FOR OLD GRAVEYARD FUND
A short time ago the Courier announced the receipt of a dollar from an unknown source, to be used in keeping up the old Burying Ground at Hooper Avenue and Washington Street, the oldest burying ground in the village. This graveyard, by the way, was called the “old” burying ground a hundred years ago, so it must be as old as the village almost. Mrs. A. Pullen, of Marshallton, Del., who has relatives buried in this God's Acre, sends another dollar for the same purpose and suggests that there ought to be others who, for family reasons, are interesting in having the graveyard look nice. The V.I.A., not long ago had a cement coping placed around the graveyard, but there is always plenty of room to spend a little money in cutting grass, pulling weeds and keeping the place looking nicely.

CLOSE MANTOLOKING DRAW
Monday next, December 12, Mantoloking draw will be closed, and no boats can pass through, up and down the bay till repairs are completed to the structure of the draw...

COUNTY FARMERS TO MEET
The Ocean County Board of Agriculture will have its yearly meeting Wednesday of next week, Dec. 14, at the opera house. There will be a radio, or wireless program, and also moving picture reels. Corn and sweet potato shows will be staged, and a silver cup offered for the best exhibit in each. Officers for 1922 will be chosen.

NEW EGYPT HEADQUARTERS FOR STATE POLICE TROOP
As published in the New Egypt letter to the Courier last week, the village of New Egypt has been selected by Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, of the new State Police, as one of the three headquarters in the state. The other two are at Hammonton, Atlantic County, and Netcong, in Morris County. The troops began their work on Monday of this week, and are now patrolling the roads in the rural sections of the state. The central headquarters will be in Trenton. Main traveled highways will be patrolled by motorcycle men, and the patrols will be changed from time to time. There will also be night stations surrounding each central station.

BARNEGAT TO PUT IN PUBLIC ELECTRIC LIGHT PLANT
The village of Barnegat, or, to speak more technically, the Township of Union [it dropped this formal name in 1977 in favor of Barnegat Township], is planning to erect its own electric light plant as a municipally-owned improvement. To do this it will take an issue of bonds aggregating $15,000 [$232,917 in 2021 dollars]...

ELECTRIC CO. HAS FULL SWEEP
The Lakewood Coast and Electric Company now has the full sweep of the electric lighting business on the beaches from Seaside Park to Sea Girt. This past summer it made arrangements to light Lavallette Borough and has been lighting Seaside Park Borough. Now it has taken over Seaside Heights Borough, which formerly got its current from the Barnegat Cold Storage Co. For some years this concern has lighted Lakewood, Point Pleasant, Bay Head, Manasquan and Sea Girt.

TOMS RIVER GRANGE STARTS NEW LIFE WITH 34 ON LIST
Toms River Grange, No. 200, Patrons of Husbandry, was reorganized on Saturday evening last by Deputy D.H. Jones, of Freehold, and started off with a list of thirty-four members. The grange is pre-eminently intended for the farmer, but in this community, where farm folk are comparatively few, there are a number of others who have joined to get the Grange well started...

COUNTY TO BUILD TEN MILES OF CONCRETE ROAD FOR STATE
By unanimous vote the Board of Freeholders, at its meeting on Tuesday, December 6, voted to build ten miles of concrete road in the county, on the state highway, Route No. 4 [later, Routes 166/9], with the state's promise to reimburse the county in the years 1924 and 1925. The concrete is to be located one mile in Point Pleasant, four miles between Lakewood and Laurelton; one mile on River Avenue, Lakewood; one mile and a half in Toms River and Tuckerton, each; and a mile in Barnegat...

TO REDECK BAY BRIDGE
A [railroad] carload of plank for the bay bridge arrived last week at Seaside Heights, and the beach residents are delighted at this substantial evidence of the promises that the State Highway Commission is to redeck the bridge from Seaside Heights to the main this winter.

URGE DEER HUNTERS TO WEAR “LOUD” CLOTHING
Use of red hats and red or white clothing by deer hunters is encouraged by the New Jersey Fish and Game Commission as a precaution against accidents on the hunting grounds. With a season doubled to ten days, last year, and the fact that more deer hunters than ever before were in the woods, only one accident was reported in which a hunter was shot in mistake for game. In some sections of the state this year the deer hunters are urging the enactment of a law that would revoke and withhold for a period of five years the hunting license of any hunter who accidentally or through carelessness wounds another hunter.
An army of sportsmen will sally forth on December 16 for probably the greatest venison hunt ever held in New Jersey. On that day buck deer become legal game, and the season will extend to December 20, giving the deer hunters, with Sunday excluded, four days of sport. The fact that more than 800 deer were bagged during the open season last year is expected to attract more hunters than ever before.
Sportsmen who have made trips through the deer woods during the past month tell of seeing many herds, with a fair percentage of bucks. During the continued dry weather of late summer and early fall, most of the deer retreated to the swamps, but with the more recent rains, they are reported again on the uplands and in the big forests of pine and scrub oak that cover hundreds of square miles of central and southern counties.
The Jersey game law protects does and fawns and the value of the Act as a conservation measure is seen in the continued increase of deer during recent years. Only those buck deer, with horns visible above the hair, may be shot. This provision of the law is credited with preventing accidents among deer hunters, as it compels the hunter to actually see the horns and identify the game before he shoots.
In hunting deer, it is illegal to use any rifle or any firearm of a smaller calibre than 12 gauge, or to use missiles larger than buckshot, or to hunt at night, or to hunt with dogs. A hunter is limited to one buck a year and when he kills a deer, he must report the fact to the nearest game warden or to the State Fish and Game Commission within 48 hours, under $100 penalty [$1,552 in 2021 dollars] for failure to so report.

FISH AND GAME
Because many miles of the fishing grounds have been ruined for sport and unnumbered thousands of valuable food fish have been killed by poisonous pollutions allowed to enter freshwater streams in several sections of the state, this year, sportsmen of New Jersey are demanding a law that will properly protect the fish against this menace and the public against the economic loss. Having witnessed repeated violations of the present statute, which they claim is difficult to enforce, the sportsmen believe a new law “with teeth in it” will be the only remedy for the evil.

DOVER TOWNSHIP SCHOOL NOTES
Until the war interfered Toms River high school had an enthusiastic alumni association. There is a plan on foot to revive this very useful organization. It is hoped that the association will be able to hold a dinner and dance during the week between Christmas and New Year's day. Plans for this event will be discussed at the school house this (Friday) evening, at 8 o'clock.
The Kitchen Club will be reopened on Monday. Mrs. Louis Arm has been secured to conduct the work with the assistance of the girls of the seventh and eighth grades, as in former years. Thirty-five girls reported at the initial meeting of the club and elected the following officers: President, Sara Platt; vice-president, Edith Applegate; secretary, Jeanette Corrigan; treasurer, Mary Corrigan. Five of the girls constitute a squad and each squad assists with the lunches for one week.
The Kitchen Club is not a money making proposition. The food is sold so as to clear expenses and nothing more. The menu for each day includes cocoa, milk, soup and one hot dish such as creamed beef, creamed salmon, hamburger steak, spaghetti, etc, and one dessert, as rice pudding, jello, pie, etc. Pupils, if they wish, can bring their own sandwiches and buy nothing more than a single dish.
The annual Ocean County spelling bee will be held in the opera house on Friday, March 31. The high school contest will be conducted as last year with three pupils from each of the high schools contesting for the J. Leonard Clark spelling trophy. A departure from last year's practice will bring the grade pupils of the county into competition also. Schools will be allowed one representative for each one hundred pupils, or major fraction thereof, with the provision that each school in the county shall be entitled to at least one representative. The Monmouth County spelling list will be the basis of both contests.
A very successful meeting of the Home and School Association was held on Wednesday. Thirty-five members enjoyed a demonstration lesson in penmanship, singing by pupils of the third grade, two reels of motion pictures and a paper by Miss Marie Snyder, “the Value of Music in the Public School.” The treasurer's report disclosed a balance of almost $400 [$6,211 in 2021 dollars], most of which is to the credit of the playground committee.

PERSONAL
Toms River friends are wondering if Lester Irons, of this place, is one of the 2000 Yankee soldiers who are expected to be home from the Rhine by Christmas. Lester was one of the first Toms River men to enlist, going into the Freehold National Guard Company, and thence to Anniston, Ala. He was in France early in 1918, and after the Armistice, went in the Army of Occupation to Germany, where he has been since.
Sewell Ford, the humorist, formerly a Toms River resident, whose latest, and “they say” most amusing book, “Inez and Trilby May,” was published by the Harpers on November 25, is another successful author who boasts a newspaper career, which he describes as follows: “I started in on a country daily, where I did everything from police work to editorials for $11 a week. I finally landed as managing editor, and was gradually working backward when I quit, as I had a vision of myself ending up as office boy.” “Inez and Trilby May” is Mr. Ford in his most amusing vein, and it is also a novel.
The Newark Call says: “That oysters are in season is known by George A. Mott, of Tuckerton, Director of the Board of Shell Fisheries. Few men in the country have a better knowledge of the bivalves than Mott because he has spent the greater part of his life in planting and shipping oysters. He knows all about the oyster beds of Barnegat Bay, and it was largely due to his efforts that the scientific study was taken up by the late Professor Julius Nelson, in 1900. He did much to aid the noted biologist in his work and furnished and maintained a suitable station for the experiments. Mott is popular among his friends in the county of large area but small population.”
Edward Crabbe spent several days in Massachusetts this week, and explored the Cape Cod cranberry region.
Fred M. Xydias has offered a prize of a $5 gold piece, to be known as the Mark A. Xydias prize (in honor of his father) to the high school boy at Toms River school who makes the best showing in chemistry. Mr. Xydias is a graduate of the high school, and chemistry has been his favorite study.
Two alarms this week. Sunday just before noon, a fire at Pine Beach called out the company [the Toms River Volunteer Fire Company, Pine Beach's own not being organized for another four years]; Monday evening an oil stove in the Marion inn started a fire that might have been serious, but for prompt action [the inn's luck ran out and it was destroyed by a major fire in the 1960s; today a parking lot stands in its place, at the corner of Main and Water streets]. Little damage in either case.

RECENT DEATHS
W.F. LEWIS
W.F. Lewis, who for the past ten years or more had lived on the lower shore, died at his home in Barnegat on December 1. He was a native of Orange county, N.Y., and in the civil war, served as a drummer boy in a New York regiment in the Army of the Potomac.
Some years age, suffering from heart trouble and with an invalid wife, he moved from the hill country of New York state to this county, to get in a climate with milder winters. His first home was at Staffordville; he later moved to Cedar Run, and for some years past had lived at Barnegat. His wife died a few years ago. Death in his case was sudden, from heart failure, as he had expected. Mr. Lewis was fond of writing, and acted as correspondent from shore towns for the county papers. He had for years written Cedar Run news for the Courier. He was a member of the Grand Army, and was in the habit of joining in with Burnside Post of Toms River on Memorial days and other occasions. His last visit here was on Armistice day, when he turned out with the Toms River veterans. He was a close friend of Assemblyman W.S. Cranmer, and an ardent Republican. He was buried on Saturday afternoon last.

TOWN LIFE

BARNEGAT
The girls and boys are having lots of sport with their sleds in the snow on the sidewalks.
When we buy a ticket or pay freight bills we wonder why railroad rates are so high. If we look over the list of men drawing big salaries we see the cause. Among the roads whose receipts exceed $1,000,000 [$15.5 million in 2021 dollars], there were employed last July 1,164,872 persons. Of these 15,155, called executive officers, drew an average monthly pay of $523 [$8,121 in 2021 dollars, which would be an annual salary of $97,452], and many of them riding around the country in private [train] cars, at the expense of stockholders and of the public that pays the freight. Yet they tell us it is impossible to cut rates. We can see that without telling.
Christmas is not far off and the stores are all prettily trimmed with toys to delight the children.
Can anyone tell us why we should be fined for carrying a pistol, when stores have the right to sell them to anyone who has the price. Every thief, thug, hold-up man, murderer or anyone who wants to commit any crime can easily get armed and shoot down the other fellow, who abides by the law and does not carry arms. If there were a strict law against selling arms, unless one could present a court order, perhaps there would be less crime in this line. Every pistol made should bear certain numbers and every person owning one should be registered in court as owning such a number, and anyone selling or transferring to another, should be liable to heavy punishment. Every person with a license to carry arms might be required to report at intervals to show that he still had the same number. The merchant should then be compelled to retain the order of the court on file and the name of the person who purchased it, then he could not sell a pistol without the officers knowing just what number he sold and whom he sold it to. Every dealer when buying his stock should be charged up with every number he bought by the manufacturer, and so on down the line. Make it illegal for a pawnbroker to have one in his shop. Why should such deadly things be had by anyone who has the price. When it comes to disarmament, perhaps it would be well to disarm the individual in this way. It would take an act of Congress, and would have to be nation wide to be effective. But it could be done.

BEACH HAVEN
The cut near Bonds coastguard station is becoming so threatening, that it is reported the station will be moved to save it from the water.
Beach Haven, disguised under the name “Beachwood” is the scene of a story in last week's issue of the Saturday Evening Post, written by Joseph Hergersheimer, and called “The Tide Runner.” The story read as if the author must have spent some time here the past summer. How a skillful angler reeled in a pugnacious and unwilling tide runner was the theme of the story. The angler was of course a young woman, and the landed was a man who had not the slightest expectation of getting married till he was landed.
The first snow of the season greeted us on Sunday. It soon melted on the streets and sidewalks, but the cold winds which followed it preserved it on the lawns and beaches for several days.
Carpenters have finished the new shop and show room of W. Sharp and the family is moving into the spacious apartment on the second floor. The shop has been occupied for some time.
Ducks are not so plentiful as the gunners would wish, but several of the townsmen have taken out parties from the city with some success.
Elmer King is converting part of the Central House into a cozy apartment with modern improvements. Workmen are also tearing down the old ice plant where Mr. King will erect a bungalow for rent.
The laundry and other accessories of the Engleside are undergoing extensive improvements under the direction of A.W. Stiles.

BEACHWOOD
Mr. and Mrs. William Mill Butler were here for the week end. They are planning to build a handsome residence here, at the head of the cove, near the Pine Beach line, and dispose of their present home.
John Lovett, of this place, guessed the nearest to the number of beans in a jar at M.L. Cranmer's store, in Toms River, and won an auto tire.
Beachwood is settling down to its winter gait, and the all-year-round people will have their own enjoyments and own affairs for several months now. Most of the men are interested in the Rod and Gun Club shoots.

CEDAR RUN (section of Stafford Township)
We all miss the weekly visits of Mr. W.F. Lewis, of Barnegat, who came regularly each week to gather news for the county papers. He always carried sunshine to all those with whom he came into contact.
Henry Allison, a civil war veteran, has gone to Vineland for the winter.
Building is going on apace and preparations are being made for the coming year which promises to be the biggest in the history of the county.
People coming into the county and buying and redeeming old neglected farms speak well for the future prosperity of this part of the state.
John L. Cranmer and Wm. Allison, lifeguards, were home for a few days this week.

FORKED RIVER
The Girl Scouts had a dance in the Town Hall one evening during Thanksgiving week. They feel indebted to all who so kindly aided them to make the affair a success. They are now training for a play that is to be given along with the moving picture, “The Golden Eaglet,” on December 30, in the Playground Theatre, which Mr. Briggs has so kindly allowed them to use [Readers today can watch this 20 minute short film about the Girl Scouts on YouTube, at this link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pks_Ah2Q88].
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Buntain have returned from Mendham and expect to make their home at the Game Farm. Mrs. Buntain was Miss Jessie Dunn.
The Game Farm here had an exhibit in Newark for the past week.

ISLAND HEIGHTS
This resort has the honor of being about the first post office in the county where a postmaster has been appointed and confirmed under the Harding administration...
The water front is now deserted. All the summer craft are laid up for the cold weather.
We hear nothing more about closing the P.R.R. station here and abandoning the railroad bridge across the river. That plan seems to have been given up for the present [but luck here would run out about a decade later when both came to pass].
All our men are busy. Rote's boat yard employs several.
Jacob Zell is having his Jaynes ave. home shingled, George and Roy doing the work. Pop believes in keeping warm.
The sympathy of the whole community is with Mr. Howard Siddons and Mr. and Mrs. John Verieck in the death of their only daughter, Lily, wife of Mr. Siddons. Mrs. Siddons was well liked and respected by all. She died last Thursday at her home in Philadelphia and was brought to Toms River on Monday and buried in Riverside cemetery.

MANTOLOKING
Contractor Joseph Stillwell has had a sore hand, which was caused by a scratch from a nail.
S.C. Shadinger is having his cottage painted by Albert Ware and Claude Hurley.
One of Joseph Stillwell's cows became entangled in a chain by which she was fastened and broke her neck last week.
Capt. H.M. Horner was a Tuesday visitor here.

NEW EGYPT
New Egypt now has all-night telephone service. The officials had planned to give all-night service after the 1st of January, but with the advent of the state constabulary it was necessary to begin the all-night service on Monday evening.

OCEAN GATE
Ocean Gate has a good deal of building going on now and there is more of it still in prospect. Contractors are making estimates on a large number of proposed bungalows and cottages for next summer's use.
Jacob Vogler is getting the roof on the 14 room boarding house he is building on Wildwood and Longport avenues for Miss Ida Bagot of Philadelphia.
Harry D. Black has about completed a fine bungalow on Anglesea avenue for Mr. Greer, superintendent of the Camden ferries. He has also underway a bungalow for Capt. “Buck” Church, a Delaware Bay pilot, on Longport ave., and has staked out a third bungalow at Asbury and Bayview avenues.
The Fire Company had a delightful community dance on Thursday evening last. The Ocean Gate orchestra furnished music, refreshments were served, and all had a jolly time.

PINE BEACH
Emil Stock and son came here on Sunday from Philadelphia to see their bungalow, on which improvements have lately been made. Shortly after their arrival flames were discovered, apparently following a gas pipe under the kitchen floor. All those in the village who learned of the fire hurried to render assistance. An alarm was sent in to Toms River and Ocean Gate. Owing to the strenuous efforts of Clyde Phillips and Charles Barney, the nearest neighbors, together with some others who came quickly, the fire was well under control before outside aid arrived. The news spread rapidly and it was not long before about fifteen automobiles were seen on Avon Road in front of the bungalow.

SEASIDE HEIGHTS
The beach front boardwalk is about completed. It was started four years ago, but the work was held up by advancing costs, and by wrangles with owners of the beach front. Owen J. Melee, of Red Bank, was the contractor who finished the job.
A. F. Beier is building a garage in the rear of his Seaside Inn.
A number of cottages and bungalows are being built.
No doubt motorists are glad to know that lumber is on hand for the bay bridge which surely needed repairs.
Mayor F.H. Freeman, who has been on the sicklist, has improved and was a visitor at his cottage here.

SEASIDE PARK
William Cowdrick, who temporarily filled the position as station agent at S.S. Heights, is back at the freight station here.
Mrs. John Welsh has the sympathy of our community in the loss of her sister, who Friday last was burned to death at her home in Philadelphia.
Joseph Lamson is a busy man building a cottage on Bay View Avenue for F.P. Larkin.
Coast Guard Cale Worth had a few hours off and visited Toms River on Friday last.
The children are making preparations for their Christmas play, under the leadership of Prof. B.M. Gould.
Mr. Frank Sprague, who was hurt on Saturday evening, in Beachwood, by the upturning of Frank Hewitt's sedan, is still under the doctor's care and unable to leave his bed. His friends hope to see him around again soon. His son, Francis Sprague, is acting as night watchman during his father's illness.
Nelson B. Gaskill, well known as a summer visitor at this place, and son of Judge Joseph H. Gaskill, who was president of the land company which put Seaside Park on the map in the late nineties, has been advanced to the chairmanship of the Federal Trade Board. He was appointed on the board by former President Wilson to take the place of the late John Franklin Fort. This is one of the most important commissions in the federal government.
A. Carl Haag this week had a letter from Joseph T. Sullivan, who succeeded Judge Gaskill as president of the Land Company, and who was also mayor of this borough in its early days. Mr. Sullivan is resting up at his home in Moorestown after an attack with his heart, and his friends here are hoping to hear of his recovery.

SILVERTON
The moon was five days old when the first snow came, so, according to another old rule, we will have in this winter four more snows.
In travelling about this section at night we see on chicken farms the laying houses lighted up—to fool the hen and make her believe night is day, and she comes down off her perch any old time to scratch, eat and lay. This way of working the hens overtime is going some—if the S.P.C.A. Should get after us, we ought not to be surprised.
Hamilton Tilton has been in Atlantic City this week as a delegate to the State Grange from Toms River Grange of which he is master. He also took a lot of his fine sweet potatoes down to the state exhibit.

WEST CREEK
Some of our gunners are bagging large quantities of rabbits and wild fowl. Curt Fennimore seems to be on familiar terms with the ducks and geese as he seldom comes home without them.
Edward L. Shinn is about to build a garage on his property on Main street. Ed is one of our busy young men who believes in keeping on the move even though he saws his fingers occasionally.
The recent heavy fall of snow, brings to our minds that the Christmas season is here. The Post Office is busy, as people are learning that it is best to be early to avoid the rush and the Postmaster General is urging the people to take advantage of time in this way if they expect timely delivery of Xmas packages. C.D. Kellys' store is very attractively decorated with holiday dress and very alluring to the youngsters and in fact all ages.
Charles R. Rutter has purchased a car but says he does not have time to go riding when the weather is good. Somebody says maybe he will get a girl now.
R.F. Rutter is in the antique business, particularly maps, having recently sold a very old map of Burlington County which he had unearthed from the attic, and which had been handed down through several generation. We knew Phil was authority for century-old boundary lines, and lineage and congratulate him on making capital from them, too.

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