This Week in Ocean County, 1921! (November 18th)

11/20/2021

Welcome to another era in Ocean County's past, one century ago this week!

Let your mind wander as you consider life around November 18th, 1921, courtesy the New Jersey Courier weekly newspaper and Ocean County Library archives, and peppered with items of maritime interest (around a 20 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)

Full moon last Tuesday.
Days getting pretty short.
It's “Sheriff” Holman now!
“Thirty days hath November.”
Thanksgiving Day next Thursday.
Trees are looking bare and desolate.
Rain Saturday, and again on Monday.
Sun rises tomorrow at 6:51 and sets at 4:39.
Venus, Mars and Jupiter are now all morning stars.
Just think, Christmas will be here in five weeks more.
Complaint is made out Cedar Grove way of Sunday gunning.
Wet weather churned up the roads last week, and left plenty of pot holes, too.
George Sherman is building himself a bungalow on the Lakewood road at Claytontown.
The chrysanthemums, except for the humble dandelion, is about the only outdoor flower left us.
I.W. Richtmeyer has presented Vanderveer Post, American Legion, with a gavel block of stone bearing the insignia of the order carved by Mr. Richtmeyer.
Heavy white frost Wednesday morning.
Wintry looking and wintry feeling weather in November.
Toms River Yacht Club holds its regular meeting tonight.
Say, how'd you like to have daylight saving time these mornings?
Measles has reduced both school and Sunday-school attendance, especially among the younger children.
James R. Hensler will build two houses on Irons Street, east side, between the street and the river.
The taxi drivers have formed the Triangle Taxi Association, and have joined in getting a phone by which all in the association may be called at any time of day.
John Lyons, who last week was hit on the head by a heavy timber at the new Evernham building, on Main Street, is home from Kimball Hospital much improved.
William S. Degraw, Jr., the two weeks' old child of Mr. and Mrs. William S. Degraw, died on Saturday last, November 12. The parents have the sympathy of the whole village in their loss.
The young people of the town are planning a dance at the Marion inn on Wednesday evening next, the night before Thanksgiving. A jazz orchestra is promised, also an entertainment by talent from the Keith circuit...
Muddy streets!
Christmas goods are showing in some stores.
The High School Cedar Chest is being put to press this week [a semi-regular journal produced by the school through the year; prior to formal hardbound yearbooks, the last edition of the school year included senior student portrait photos and items similar to a traditional yearbook – when hardbound yearbooks took over those duties, they kept the name Cedar Chest, used to this day by TRHS's descendant, Toms River High School South].
In the swamps, even the magnolia trees, that try their best to be evergreen, like all laurels, are blasted by the frosts.
Charley Grover and Buck Woolley brought 75 ducks up from the bay on Wednesday night. The boys say they never saw so many fowl in the bay at one time before.
In rainy weather lower Main and Water Streets are a sea of mud, and what is worse, full of holes, calculated to break springs and good resolutions.
Allaire, the deserted village, has lost its railroad agent on the P.R.R. for the winter.

HEADLINE NEWS

MOST IMPRESSIVE SERVICE NOON ON ARMISTICE DAY
Seldom has there been so impressive a service held in Toms River as the ten minutes given over to remembrance of the dead in the World War, and in prayer for world peace, held at the Court House, directly on the stroke of noon, on Friday last, November 11, Armistice Day. The court room was well filled with townspeople, Vanderveer Post, American Legion and Burnside Post, Grand Army of the Republic, having the seats of honor. The service was conducted by the clergymen of the town, with Rev. Samuel H. Potter as chairman, assisted by Revs. R.S. Nichols, I.S. Hankins, Ira E. Hicks and William W. Payne. The audience stood for two minutes in silent meditation and prayer while the whistles blew at noon, and this was followed by fervent prayers and brief remarks by the clergymen.
Following this meeting a dinner was served at Vanderveer Post room, by the Ladies' Auxiliary, at which the guests were, beside the Legion, the Grand Army veterans, the Womans' Relief Corps and the Boy Scouts.
Further exercises were held in the Post room, at the close of the dinner. Rev. W.W. Payne made an address that received great commendation from those in the room, and an expression of desire that the whole village might have heard it. George C. Westcott sang a tenor solo; Mr. Rafferty read two original poems; Edward P. Knox also read the message of Marshal Foch to the Legion. To those fortunate enough to have been there it proved a most inspiring afternoon. That evening the Legion's second entertainment in its winter series, was given at the opera house by Reno, the magician.

A.R. SMOCK PUTS OVER LAKEWOOD'S NEW SLOGAN
Arthur R. Smock, in his newspaper and roadside advertising, has given Lakewood a new slogan—“The fastest growing resort in the world.” Here's the way Smock backs up his slogan: Lakewood, this year, he says, in his big page advertisement in Lakewood papers, has been building over 150 new homes, two new theatres, twelve new business places, ten additions to hotels and boarding houses, and innumerable smaller additions to homes and building places.” Lakewood seems to take Smock seriously, as last week it elected him on its Township Committee, with a majority of 418 over one competitor, and 606 over the other Democratic candidate. A couple of years ago Smock showed his belief in the growing powers of Lakewood by buying the tract of land between the Lakes and putting it on the market. This is now building up as one of the choice residence districts for Lakewood business and professional folks, and is covered with new houses, where before it was a wilderness of shrubbery.

DEER KNOCKED MAN OVER IN CHICKEN YARD AT CASSVILLE
If you are to believe a story that comes from Cassville, either the deer in that section are rather bloodthirsty or else they are panicky and don't just know what they are doing when frightened. The story is that Jacob McKaig went out into his chicken yard early one morning recently, when a deer nearly or quite knocked him over in its efforts to get out. It is assumed that the deer had been run by dogs, and had taken refuge in the chicken yard.

“IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE”
If you put your advertisement where people will read it, it pays to advertise. The Courier classified advertisements are read.
One day recently, Frank R. Austin, president of the Tuckerton Bank, lost a wire wheel and tire from the back of his car, en route from Long Branch to Tuckerton. He put a thirty cent adv. in the Courier, and got back his lost wheel and tire.
Last week Ralph Irons lost two hound dogs. A fifty cent adv. found them in Beachwood, where they had been impounded by the Borough Marshal, Frank Turner.
We could quote scores of such instances happening every week, showing that these classified advs. are read by thousands of people.

STATE TO BUILD TWO FINE BRIDGES AT POINT PLEASANT
Two fine new bridges are expected to be built at Point Pleasant soon by the State Highway Commission, at a total cost of from $300,000 to $500,000, is the report that comes from that corner of the county. One is to replace the present Point Pleasant-Brielle bridge across the Manasquan River, and is estimated to cost anywhere up to $350,000, more or less. The second is a jack-knife draw, at West Point Pleasant, where the new Bay Head-Manasquan River canal is to cross Route 4, from Point Pleasant to Lakewood. It is reported that plans have been prepared for a bridge here to cost something like $150,000.

ARMISTICE DAY IN TUCKERTON
Armistice Day was observed in Tuckerton with a parade by the school children, in charge of Supervising Principal J. Wade Wimer and the teachers.
The children of each grade were dressed in bright colors, mostly red, white and blue effects with many American flags. They halted at the memorial monument near Pohatcong Lake, where a short service was held.
After the parade there were two games of basketball on the school grounds. The boys' and girls' teams of Barnegat and the Tuckerton High Schools met, the latter winning both games.
Bells were tolled at the noon hour, a signal for the two minutes of silent prayer proclaimed by President Harding.

TO REVIVE GRANGE AT TOMS RIVER NOVEMBER 19
A meeting in the interest of reviving Toms River Grange will be held at the Court House tomorrow, Saturday evening, November 19, at 8 o'clock. D.H. Jones, district deputy, has the work in charge, and will be here from Freehold, very likely accompanied by others prominent in the Grange. Both men and women are taken in as members of the Grange, and it a leader in all kinds of work for rural communities, and in making farm life more pleasant and more profitable. One of the speakers will be Farm Demonstrator E.H. White.

DROWNED FISHING CAPTAIN ONCE LIVED AT PT. PLEASANT
The Point Pleasant Beach Leader says that Captain Gunny Johnson, one of the eleven fishermen drowned near Angelsea [today North Wildwood], while returning from a trip pulling up pound poles at the end of the pound fishing season, was formerly a resident of Point Pleasant. The story goes that he was employed by Postmaster William E. Blodgett for some time in Blodgett's fishery, and at the time of his death was a member of the Metedeconk Tribe of Red Men. He has a brother living at Elberon and two other brothers in Sweden.

FISH AND GAME
“Bill Ed” or Willard H. Eddy, a former Courier man, for many years on the Philadelphia Record; “Sampson” or Charles B. Grover, “Nip” or Charles Applegate, and “Buck” or Hadley Woolley, all of Toms River, are on a two weeks' trip at the inlet in their houseboat, trying to locate the incoming flocks of duck and brant. Meantime, soft or hard clams, flounders or sedge oysters are apt to be on their bill of fare, as these boys make the most of their time.
Down at Barrel Island the past week [a sedge island to the west of Beach Haven on Long Beach Island] has been a gunning party consisting of Mayor John H. Lippencott, Jr., of Haddonfield, George Burton, former Assemblyman Ephraim T. Gill and his son, John Gill, with three gunners. In three days they had bagged a fine lot of wild fowl, when the two Gills left for home, and the rest staid three days more with two gunners, native bay men. In the six days 120 wild fowl were killed, mostly brant. They did not get a shot at a goose. Barrel Island is now owned by a club, composed chiefly of West Jersey business men. Assemblyman Gill is one of the foremost breeders of Guernsey cows in this country, his Haddonfield farm herd being known all over this and other dairy countries.
Deputy Surrogate P.I. Grover, Jess and Bill Irons, of Lakehurst road, while gunning for rabbits on Friday, had their dog get on the trail of a fox, which was killed by the Thompson boys, who had also been after the same fox.
Fox hunting, if successful, is about the only sport that pays these days. The county pays a $3 bounty [$456 in 2021 dollars] and the pelt is worth, if in good condition, about $5.00 [$77 in 2021 dollars], with higher prices for exceptional skins.
The Courier devil [a printer's devil was an apprentice in a printing establishment who performed a number of tasks, such as mixing tubs of ink and fetching type] took last Saturday off to go crow ducking, and came back with two rabbits. At least that is his statement, and he has made his reputation of telling the truth.
Some gunners say there was no rabbits; others tell of getting a bunch of them. Some say that quail are scarce, and others that they are plentiful. Guess this must mean that there is an average amount of game.
Pike fishing ends this month. Pike bite hungrily most any time of year, and do not, like fresh water basses and sunfish, refuse to eat in cold weather.
Winter flounders are in the inlet now and are caught by anglers and also with fykes.
Frost fishes on the beaches are making the usual fall diversion.
A.P. Willits, of Haddonfield, writes the Courier that on Saturday last a big flock of geese went over their farm, southward. His son Robert killed ten rabbits on the opening day of the season, but he says the quail and pheasant that had been on the farm all the summer and up till the opening of the season could not be found when the season came to.
The bay is reported as full of ducks and brant, with some geese, though the geese are not plentiful. The rough weather has made some gunning-luck for baymen and their parties from the city.
City men as individuals and in clubs are buying up more and more of the island and meadow points in the bays. Soon there will be almost no place for the native gunner, and having sold his gunning point, and spent the money, he will be like Esau after he had eaten his pottage—mighty sore, and blaming his troubles on somebody else.
Several coon hunting parties have been out the past week or so. You can chase coons with dogs, but you are not allowed to shoot them. All other game you are not allowed to kill by any other means than a gun held at the shoulder. The coon is an exception. It takes a pretty hard bunch of dogs to beat Mr. Raccoon when they get him cornered, as he is a fighter with few in his class.

DOVER TOWNSHIP SCHOOL NOTES
The following program will be given in the Opera House on next Wednesday, at 2 o'clock, in commemoration of Thanksgiving Day. The public is cordially invited to attend.
Song—“America, the Beautiful,” the School.
Recitation—“When the Frost is on the Pumpkin,” Katherine Dorwart.
Piano Solo—“Minuet a l'Antique,” Salathe.
Recitation—“The Pumpkin,” Walter Mariatt.
Operetta—“The Indian Princess,” Grades Seven and Eight.
Recitation, “A Thanksgiving Dream,” Lewis Wainwright.
Class Song—By members of the Senior Class.
~~~
On Wednesday of last week it was necessary to dismiss the pupils of Grade 5A because the room became filled with coal gas. The east wind was the cause.
Thanks to the generosity of the Y.M.C.A. And certain industrial concerns, who have sent films in excess of those asked for, there have been movies at the Opera House each noon this week. Today two reels on Sulphur are being shown, particularly for the students interested in chemistry. Other reels used during the week are: “The Go-getter,” a four-reel picture, showing the advantages of electricity on a farm; two reels on “The Cincinnati Zoo;” One Drop of Ink Makes Millions Think; “When Black is Read, the Story of a Newspaper;” the Multigraph.
On Monday, at 11 o'clock, the Fifth, Seventh and Eighth Grades, and any patrons of the school who are interested will be the guests of the Sixth Grade at a lantern slide entertainment, “A Trip Through France.”
Meeting of the Playground Committee of the Home and School Association was held at the home of Mrs. Scammell, on Wednesday. The committee decided to purchase a few pieces of very substantial apparatus, even though it is quite expensive, rather than to get the quantity of cheaper things which would soon need to be replaced. So far as is possible the materials will be purchased locally and the installation will be made as soon as possible.
Measles is still very much the order of the day, especially in the lower grades. Almost all the children who have not had the diseases previously have been victims this fall, and some are even stricken for a second time.
The football team was obliged to disappoint the Clinton High School team on last Saturday. Although the weather here was entirely unfit for the game, Clinton reported favorable conditions. Nevertheless, the local bus driver, who had agreed to make the trip refused to start, and it was impossible to get anyone else to go on such short notice. The boys have offered to try again on Saturday, the 26th.

RECENT DEATHS
Mrs. George J. Gould
Mrs. Edith Kingdon Gould, wife of George J. Gould, dropped dead Sunday, while playing golf with her husband at the Georgian Court links, Lakewood. Death was said by Dr. G.W. Lawrence and Dr. Irwin H. Hance to have been practically instantaneous. She had been in the best of health to all appearances, and was in the enjoyment of life.
Mrs. Gould was Edith Kingdon, an actress of considerable merit, who had won her place on the stage by real ability, and a woman of considerable beauty. She inherited from her mother a remarkable persistence in overcoming obstacles that might be in her way, and a rare common sense. She was the mother of seven children and leaves also fourteen grandchildren...
Mrs. Gould very naturally has been a large part of Lakewood life in the richer winter colony for many years. The Goulds, at their big estate, Georgian Court, have entertained lavishly at various times, particularly so when George J. Gould himself was deeply interested in polo, and games were played on their grounds by the best polo players of the country.

Commodore E.P. Bertholf
New York, Nov. 11.—Commodore Ellsworth Price Bertholf, retired commander of the United States Coast Guard died here today, at the age of 54. He was one time located as inspector on the New Jersey coast, and is remembered by all the old Life Saving Service men. Commodore Bertholf was born in New York. He attended the Naval Academy for one year, resigning in 1886 to become a cadet in the revenue service and later an officer in the Coast Guard, its successor.
In 1898 he received a gold medal and thanks of Congress for heroism in saving the lives of 200 American sailors frozen in on a fleet of whalers at Point Barrow [a headland on the Arctic coast in Alaska – it is the northernmost point in the United States]. To accomplish this feat he led a party of three 1700 miles overland in the frozen Arctic country. He retired as Coast Guard commandant in 1919.

Joseph J. Brooks
A well-known resident of Money Island, Joseph J. Brooks died at his home in Philadelphia, 6232 Dicks Avenue, on November 11. He was 67 years of age. The funeral was held on Tuesday, from his home in West Philadelphia, with burial services in Northwood Cemetery. Mr. Brooks had many friends in the Money Island summer colony who regret to hear of his death.

PERSONAL
Reports from Mt. Holly say that Philip S. Irons is now rapidly regaining strength and health, after a three months or more struggle with typhoid fever during much of which time there was little hope for his life. He was one of those taken from eating supper at the Jacobstown church on July 27. Mr. Irons was a former Toms River boy, and has hosts of friends here who are glad to hear of his recovery.
Charles J. Stones, of North Philadelphia, has put his power-boat out of commission for the season. Mr. and Mrs. Stone were former residents of Pine Beach.
Tilden Kirk, Allan Brouwer and Albert Grant, all of the University of Pennsylvania Dental School, were home for the week end.
Mrs. Charles B. Grover is spending a fortnight with Mrs. Widmaier, of Beachwood, in Brooklyn.
A son was born on Thursday of last week to Mr. and Mrs. Philip S. Irons, Jr., of Mt. Holly, and has been named Philip S. Irons, 3d, after its father and grandfather, former Toms River people.
Fred Hyers spent part of last week at Annandale, where he had some fine shooting, killing nine rabbits and a hare in one day. He returned via Philadelphia Monday, when he had the pleasure of seeing Marshal Foch. Fred says there was a tracking snow in the hill country of north Jersey Monday morning.
W.F. Lewis, of Barnegat, a veteran of the Civil War, was in town last Friday for the Armistice Day affair.

TOWN LIFE

BARNEGAT
Marshall Reeves has bought the Edward Bennett property on West Bay Street. He will tear down the old house and build a home for himself. This old house was built by Selah Oliphant about seventy years ago, and was the first house built on that side of that street. The only other buildings that time on that side was the old blacksmith shop on the corner, where Abramowitz' furniture store now stands, and the Nathan Pharo house, owned by Tolbert. Joseph Bond was the man who worked the bellows and shod the horses of the teamsters at that time. On the north side of the street there was a house long before the Bennett house was built. This was occupied by Wm. Rose. Thomas Cranmer bought the property and built part of what is now the Clarence Hotel. The Rose house was moved back and is now used as an ice house.
John Birdsall has just finished a fine house on North Main Street for Roy Jones. He will also take charge of remodeling the John Letts property at Waretown on the bay shore.
There are few people who know where the word “tip” comes from, though most of us have had to tip people to get what we had already paid for some time or other. There is a legend that in a restaurant somewhere a box was placed on a table labeled, “To Insure Promptness,” and those who were in a hurry to be waited on, dropped a coin in for the waiters, and got good service. (Good service, by the way, is not guaranteed by a tip these days.) There is no one today who travels at all, but knows what the word tip means, even if they do not know its origin. Whether a hotel or restaurant, or steamboat, or dining car, if you want fair service, you must tip the waiter. If you are going to stay in a hotel for awhile, a good way is on the first day to tear a bill in two, give half of it to the waiter, and tell him if you have been treated right, when you leave he will get the other half. Generally that will insure good service. Some folks say it is wrong to top waiters; others do not object to tipping our servants in Washington or Trenton to get what they want—provided, of course, it can be kept on the q.t. But of course this kind of tipping goes by different names, such as bribes, presents, gifts, funds, other designations.
Years ago it was the regular thing for people to go out into the woods and gather pine knots. These knots were from pine trees that had been burned years before and had fallen and rotted, leaving only the knots, which were used in the fireplace for light and heat. Our grandmothers did their sewing and knitting by the light of these pine knots. Candles were a luxury seldom indulged in except when company came in. It was no uncommon thing to light a rag in a saucer of grease to see and sew by. And now we say that gas, oil and electric lights are poor.
Holidays will soon be here and with them comes the spending of millions for useless gifts—given to those who have no use for them. If one-half the amount spent on useless things were given to the needy poor there would be many happier hearts and the giver would feel the real pleasure of Christmas giving. Did you never while sauntering along the streets in the shopping districts during the great holiday buying time, notice a person coming out of a store with both arms full of statuary, pictures, bric-a-brac, etc., really worth nothing to the person receiving it. These people thus loaded with useless but costly trifles cannot notice a little child that may accost them asking them to buy a pencil or some other little thing to help the child get a crust for a meal. How great must be their pleasure, when presenting these worthless trifles to call to mind the poor children they met half clothed, blue with cold, and with the marks of deprivation showing in their little wan faces. What will be the reward of such people? It is not only the rich who give away useless things, but many people strain their purse strings to give something to some one who is far more able to buy what they want than is the giver. If the real spirit of Christmas giving were followed out as it originated in Germany several hundred years ago there would be many more happy families, less want, and a feeling of having done a kind act where it was needed and appreciated.
Every year we see people coming from the cities to get rich on some of our old skim milk farms. There is nothing like the experience, which they soon get, and then are ready to return to the city and forget their dreams of green pastures and shady woodlands, with cattle feeding, great flocks of chickens, fat hogs, immense crops of corn, and a big bank account—all of which our shrewd land agents can picture to them so vividly. When one goes, another is always ready to take his place and try his fortune delving in the soil, which he soon finds unrelenting in giving up the abundant crop he had dreamed of. Farming is a trade, and in these times it takes one skilled in the art to make both ends meet. Our shore farms are a paying investment, but generally it is the land agent who makes the money out of them.
One often hears the remark, “There's money in the water if you know how to get it out.” And some of our Barnegat City fishermen seem to know the trick. Olaf Hanson recently made a catch in one day that netted him nearly $800 [$12,361 in 2021 dollars]. Don't make a mistake in reading the amount, it was eight hundred dollars; the catch was mostly weakfish. Other fishermen made into the hundreds that day.
Duck shooting has been good the past few days. Many of the guides have brought back their parties with the limit of geese and brant.
Upland gunners have also made fine kills. A.W. Kelly and two friends brought home twenty-eight rabbits, some quail and pheasants. At that Kelly complains that the quail will fly, and he is going to see Mr. Dunn, of the Game Farm, for permission to shoot them in pens where they can't get out of shot, should be miss with the first barrel.
The big shoots, however, are yet to be reports, when Billy Hankins, assistant cashier of the bank, puts on his coat of mail and goes forth after the birds of the air and the beasts of the fields. Have you noticed, by the way, the smile Billy is wearing lately? His wife has returned from two months with her sister in the Blue Grass State.

BARNEGAT CITY [today Barnegat Light Borough]
William H. Bailey, of Fire Island, formerly of Barnegat City, came down for a few days last week. He has rented his store to Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Applegate, and they already have a fine line of groceries in stock. They are very enthusiastic storekeepers, with a great desire to please, and deserve success in their new undertaking.

BEACH HAVEN
H.H. Hayes has the contract for grading and graveling Eleventh St.
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Mullen have taken up their residence for the winter on Center Street.
Frost fish have begun to come ashore.
The well diggers have driven the well 920 feet, but in order to get a satisfactory flow they will be compelled to pull part of the pipe out.

BEACHWOOD
Miss Ivy R. McLean, formerly secretary to B.C. Mayo, was a recent visitor at Beachwood, where she is a property owner. The past summer Miss McLean conducted “The Four Hundred” in Atlantic City, but this week she returned to her former home in Narberth, Pa.
Last Saturday evening the Borough Commission adopted an important building ordinance which will be found in this issue of the Courier, also a resolution for curbing Beachwood Boulevard, between Atlantic City Boulevard and the railroad.
Mrs. A.D. Nickerson is visiting her sister in New York City.
Mayor J.H. Senior and family will spend the winter, as usual, at the Alvord Hotel, East Orange, N.J.
Capt. and Mrs. Parker expect to spend the winter in their bungalow at Barnegat Boulevard and Lookout St.
Bobbie Nickerson is attending a Connecticut “prep” school.

CEDAR RUN
Mr. and Mrs. George A. Cranmer, of Ships Bottom, are spending a few days in their old home town.
It is reported here that Fred G. Steelman is making a success of editing the Eatontown Advertiser.
Phineas S. Cranmer and family are at the club house at Martins for the gunning season.
W.W. Allison, of Barnegat City coast guard station, was a week-end visitor with his brother.
Mr. Wiles, of Cornell University, who bought the Jesse Truex place, intends raising raspberries on a large scale, and will set out a large number of canes. His brother-in-law, Mr. Wood, will be in charge.
Mrs. L. De Fanti, of New York, has been spending some time on the farm here. Mr. De Fanti has a tractor for his farm work.

FORKED RIVER
Capt. Joseph Smires has completed two sneakboxes for the High Bar Gunning Club, and one each for Mr. Bray and Dr. Williams, of Red Bank. Capt. Smires and family visited the radio station at Tuckerton on Sunday.
Wesley Wilds, of Jersey City, has been spending a few days with his uncle, George Frazee, at the farm.
Deputy Fish and Game Warden J.C. Parker is on the job after the violators, and we are glad he is making the people live up to the law.
Eugene Sanders killed seven rabbits the first day of rabbit season.
J.W. Wright and a party from Jersey City, were here gunning a few days, and boarded at Gowdy Hotel.
The Clover Troop of Girl Scouts will give a dance in the Town Hall Tuesday evening, November 22, 1921. There will also be games and eats.

ISLAND HEIGHTS
Mr. and Mrs. H.J. Smith are on a much needed vacation in North Jersey. Rabbits and other shootable things please take notice.
Mrs. L. Hallock has sold the Wood cottage on Central Avenue.
Little Lyon and Leroy McKelvey, sons of Mr. and Mrs. William McKelvey, are up and around again after a sharp attack of the measles.
Chester, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Johnson, is just recovering from the measles.
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Simpson wish to thank the many friends and neighbors who did all they could to help them in their sorrow and bereavement when their little son, Edgar Lawrence, passed away.
The pupils of the Island Heights School will present the play, “I'd Be Thankful If” on Wednesday afternoon, November 23, at 2 P.M., at the school house. Cake and candy will be sold. The proceeds will be used for purchasing library books.
We are glad to see the schools open again after the scarlet fever scare. There are quite a few cases of measles around but all seem to be light ones.
Mrs. Sarah J. Harris has opened her “Little Wool Shop” in Lakewood, and has gone there for the winter.
Almost none of the yachts left in commission now.
Some of the summer folks come on gunning trips.

MANTOLOKING
Contractor Joseph Stillwell has more work in the building line than he has had for some time.
H.W. Polhemus is having a bungalow erected by Contractor Joseph Stillwell.
Mrs. W.B. Simonds and family have returned to New York City, after spending the summer in their ocean front cottage.

NEW EGYPT
The Electric Light Company have just installed an automatic re-closing circuit breaker advertised as “the breaker with brains,” a device that if tripped by over-load or other cause will, without attention, re-close as soon as the trouble is over.
Gunners report game as very scarce this season. Edward Grubby, Frank Davis and Gus Frank, all of Adelphi, and Joe Davis, of this place, bagged nineteen rabbits. Chester Foulks secured three rabbits and one quail. Anthony Van Hise, of Trenton, in company with John Singleton, secured respectively, five and three rabbits. In this gunning party were Thomas Haw and Ralph Rhoades, of Trenton. The American House entertained a number of gunners from Hoboken and New York...
R.M. Ryan, dealer in victrolas and musical instruments, has purchased three lots from John Meirs, on the east side of Mill Street, beyond Ivins Chambers. James A. Irons, who purchased three lots last week has broken ground for a $5000 bungalow.
Chautauqua [an adult education and social movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with speakers, teachers, musicians, showmen, preachers, and specialists of the day] at New Egypt began last Friday and lasted till Monday. It was held in the Isis Theatre.

OCEAN GATE
The Ocean Gate Fire Company, which attracted favorable comment in the Hallowe'en parade in Toms River, held another successful social session Saturday evening last, in the fire house. The Ocean Gate Orchestra—Mrs. Alvin Black, Anthony Endler and Hugo Schwindt furnished the music for the dancing and singing, and Mrs. H.D. Black, Mrs. Mollie Madden and Mrs. Howard Bancroft served the refreshments. Teh grand march was led by Miss Florence Lindenburg, of Newark, and Jack Madden; and W.D. Erisman was the floor manager. A list of those present would be a fairly accurate copy of the registry list of Ocean Gate, headed by Mayor William H. Newlin. At a late hour the party broke up, anticipating another party in the near future.
Mrs. Charles Biernbaum and family are spending the winter at Barnegat, where they operate a bakery shop.
Armistice Day was observed by tolling the bells of the Methodist Church and the fire house at noon. Mayor William H. Newlin and the Fire Company stood at attention at the fire house in honor of the heroic dead.
Anthony Endler, who was recently elected to Councils, wishes to express publicly his thanks to the electorate of Ocean Gate for their support in the recent election, and assures them he will do his best to deserve it by giving the borough real service.

PINE BEACH
Ice in Pine Beach and pumps frozen.
Gunning season opened on Thursday and ever since the sound of the guns can be heard on all sides. Poor Johnny Cottontail hasn't much peace now. Several of our hunters met with success, and rabbit pot-pie and stewed rabbits were enjoyed in several houses.
Mr. Brown, of Philadelphia, motored down for the shooting, staying at Captain McKelvey's bungalow. The party was quite successful.
Friday was a very dreary, rainy day but the poor rabbits got no peace.
Mr. Singleton and Charles Schiel went out hunting. Charlie's dog, Buddsy, distinguished himself as a gunning dog, by driving a rabbit out which was shot by Mr. Singleton.
Mr. William Combs, while gunning, shot some rabbits.
The electric lights in the houses here went out about 6 o'clock on Friday night and did not come on again until quarter of 11.
We now have a milkman who delivers milk every morning, and we hope he will stick.
On Armistice Day the chapel bell was tolled from 11:45 A.M. to 12 P.M.
The station has not been closed yet. In fact conditions are better than before, for it is now possible to buy family tickets here, instead of having to go over to Island Heights and pay several dollars more.
Mrs. Staples, at present staying at Mr. Cooper's, has bought a lot in Beachwood and expects to build there.
The road through Pine Beach on Springfield Avenue has caused such dissatisfaction and grumbling. It is of more use to Ocean Gate people than to Pine Beach, and is more of a danger than a service. Pine Beach people were desirous of having the two blocks of Springfield Avenue, between Motor Road and Beachwood, filled in, brought up to grade and hard graveled, making a short cut through Beachwood to the State Road or Toms River. This short cut would eliminate two dangerous railroad crossings, one in Pine Beach, and one on the State Road, and would save much time for motorists to and from the city. It is this stretch of road, only two blocks, that Pine Beach people wanted most. There is a feeling here that the wishes of Pine Beach people were disregarded and the road built from Motor Road to Ocean Gate to serve people outside of Pine Beach.
The children in Pine Beach who go to the High School in Toms River are compelled to meet the school bus at the entrance to Pine Beach on the State Road, and on the way home are dropped off there, regardless of weather conditions. Notes have been written to the authorities in charge of the matter but no one has attended to it. As the weather gets worse, and the roads are full of snow, it will be a great hardship for the children. Taxes are high enough in Pine Beach, and we have gotten little enough here. At least the children should be looked after. They have almost a mile to walk to and from the entrance.

PLEASANT PLAINS
Mr. Wilmer Clayton presented his wife with a new Victrola, purchased from Ed Irons, in Toms River.

SEASIDE HEIGHTS
The S.S.H. Volunteer Fire Company, Seaside Heights, held its regular meeting on Monday evening, November 7, and elected the following officers: President, Joseph Endres; vice-president, A. Wolff; secretary, Samuel Tollins, Jr.; treasurer, A.J. Wolff; chief, William Hauser. Plans were made at that meeting to hold a dance on Thanksgiving eve, at Holland Hall.
Dr. Lawyer and son Harold were here last week and enjoyed the gunning, having great luck.
Miss T. Kelly has returned to Philadelphia after a pleasant summer and fall spent at the St. Charles. Miss Kelley is the popular pianist at the Colonial Theatre [movies of the silent era were often accompanied by live piano music].
Mayor Freeman spent the week end here.
Dr. Helen English, our local doctor, has office hours now at the Toms River Hospital, from 3 to 5 P.M. daily, for the accommodation of her many town patients.
An investigation is being made by the borough officials into an alleged discrepancy in the accounts of former Collector Charles F. Homer. Judge Jeffrey, the Borough Solicitor, will make the inquiry.
Two [railroad] carloads of lumber are here to finish the north end of the boardwalk.
Mayor-elect Frederick Jones, has been busy receiving congratulations the past week. He has been a faithful servant of the borough while a member of Council, and ought to give the borough a good administration, especially if all interest in the advancement of the resort help out.
Quite a lot of building going on and more promised.
A card party will be given tonight at the home of Mrs. C.H. Kropff, 4907 Baltimore Avenue, Philadelphia, in aid of the yacht club.
The borough has signed a contract for electric current for two years with the Lakewood and Coast Electric Company.
Sheridan Avenue is to have sidewalks under a recent borough ordinance; another ordinance will control the erection of tents for business purposes in the borough.

SEASIDE PARK
It is reported that William Cowdrick, who has been employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad, as freight agent here for several seasons, has now been advanced as station agent at Seaside Heights, filling the vacancy there of Gordon Homer, who is now stationed at Manasquan.
The oyster dinner and supper given by the Red Men [a fraternal organization] last Tuesday was well patronized, it being held to accommodate the voters who came from a distance; also for the maintenance of an orphans' fund.
William Burdge is building a bungalow on Island Avenue for his family.
Allan Brower, of Toms River, was a guest of Edward Brockaway, on a gunning trip last Saturday.

SILVERTON
Thomas Van Note has the frame up for his new house.
Corson McKelvey has put a new roof on part of his home and built an addition by raising part of the rear of the building another story.
William Beardsley has the roads leading to Silverton well plastered with signs about his repair shop for automobiles.
Quite a number of people have been here of late on gunning trips.

TUCKERTON
Mr. William A. Morris, Jr., a former Tuckerton boy, but now of Washington, D.C., represented the Treasury Department on Saturday, November 12, at the unveiling of a bronze tablet on the revenue cutter Tampa. This boat was recently completed by Union Iron Works, of San Francisco, at a cost of approximately $900,000, and has been built to replace the coast guard vessel of similar name which was sunk in the Bristol Channel during the war, with the loss of 115 lives. With the exception of the U.S.S. Cyclops, this was the largest individual loss suffered by the American naval forces during the war. The vessel is 240 feet long, 39 feet wide, and of 2000 horsepower, with a speed of 16 knots. This bronze tablet will be in memory of those who lost their lives on the original vessel. [Nearly 13 years later, this ship responded to the Morro Castle fire disaster off Asbury Park, and World War II service included patrols off Greenland.]

WEST CREEK
John Pharo, of Cape May, visited his former home here during last week. He is looking over a proposition for work to be done, by way of an innovation on an oyster boat belonging to one of our townsmen. John, by the way, is an expert in his line of work—boat building, and has a prosperous business in Cape May.
William Cranmer, of Barnegat, agent for a Camden firm, has rented a room in the C.L. Shinn house, on Main Street, where samples of his goods are displayed, and orders for same taken by Miss Helen Shinn.
Mr. J.T. Grey had the misfortune to step on a rusty nail a few days ago, making a painful wound in his foot, which, however, is doing well under the circumstances.
Joseph P. Haywood has taken up his residence with his daughter, Mrs. E.P. Brown, on Division Street, for the winter months, but still has “office hours” in his own home, adjoining.
Mr. and Mrs. Harry Holloway have opened their home on Main Street, after a lengthy residence this fall in Toms river, where they have been looking after their cranberry interests.
Benjamin S. Cox has left us for the winter months for a residence in Florida. At present he is located in Daytona. More of our townspeople will leave for the same state a little later on.

ADS OF INTEREST

10th ANNUAL MASQUERADE BALL
Thanksgiving night. Prizes in all events. Music by the Harmony Jazz Band of Asbury Park. Greyhound Inn, Forked River, N.J.—Adv.

UNUSUAL STORY IS MADE INTO UNIQUE FILM PRODUCTION
“Black Beauty” at the Opera House next Friday, under the auspices of the Toms River Home and School Association.
Scarcely one out of each ten thousand books published in the nineteenth century is read or remembered by the present generation, but those that have retained their popularity are more firmly fixed in the affections of the public than any recent publication can be. Time either effaces memories of books or hallows them. For this reason, stories that have stood the test of time are assured of extraordinary popularity when put into motion pictures.
Until now, the work which stands eighth in popularity among all the books in the world, after more than forty years, had not been visualized. There seemed to be almost insurmountable difficulties in the way. These have been triumphantly overcome by Vitagraph, however, and Anna Sewell's “Black Beauty,” the famous “Autobiography of a Horse,” will be shown at the Toms River Opera House on Friday, November 26.
The complete story of Black Beauty, Ginger, Merrylegs, Sir Oliver, Duchess and the other equine characters, as written by Anna Sewell in the early seventies [1870s], has been faithfully told in pictures, together with a thrilling story of the lives of Black Beauty's human friends and acquaintances.—Adv .

SPECIAL BONUS

WE VISIT A HAUNTED HOUSE
By John Hazelrigg

[This unexpected late-Halloween tale by proto-explorers in the Weird N.J. Magazine style appeared on Page 15 of this issue, and due to its length it didn't quite fit into the above format, so we include it here as an extra surprise bonus for anyone who reads this far down the article. Enjoy!]

We didn't believe in ghosts nohow—when twenty miles intervened between our convictions and the scene of operations. I've met this sort of skeptic aplenty under the glare of the noonday sun. But at midnight, when “graveyards yawn,” and the moonlight suddenly filters through a begrimed window pane and creeps stealthily across the floor in something approaching the latest design in shrouds, or moves up a side wall and silently slumps into a tombstone posture—well, that's a horse of a different color, as J. Caesar remarked at the Battle of Monmouth.
Now, the particular little party whose experiences enter into this chronicle, had but one thought, that of invading Ghostland and testing the resiliency of its nerves and emotions in a fashion not possible with a game of checkers or solitaire. In this mood we left Toms River late one afternoon with the spirit of crusaders in our hearts, victory on our banners, and a healthy vermillion hue in the cheeks, though it has been somewhere cynically asserted that this latter as the effect of excitement is no proof of the absence of a yellow streak in the hepatic region. Being no psycho-analyst I will skip all matters of controversy such as this.
Our personnel included Wilbur and his much-better half, and Miss Evelyn, and Master Jimmy and Dot, these two aged respectively 12 and 14. Lest pulchritude be thought a liability in an expedition of this nature, let it be said that Dot has read spook literature all the way from the time of the Witch of Endor to and including the last record of the Psychical Research Society; while Jimmy, as a baseball outfielder, is no slouch when it comes to doing Marathon stunts. Then there was Marcus—whether Aurelius or the Antonius person I have never been able to discover. Oliver and the writer completed the group, in which it will be seen that the principle of safety in numbers had been thoughtfully adhered to. I have purposely omitted full names, as not one of us feels to be a decently fit subject for a laurel crown—after what occurred.
The house of haunts which had set forth its appeal to us was located on a seldom-used road not far from Eatontown, set well back in bleak isolation and surrounded by premises that bespoke the last word in neglect. Indeed we had been told that tenant after tenant had been forced to vacate because of happenings that are referred to only with bated breath, and finally it had fallen into permanent disuse, though fully furnished as when previously occupied. A more desolate domicile could hardly be imagined—dusty, forlorn, cobwebby, and permeated by dank odors suggestive of vaults and charnel places, inhospitable and cold, though the melancholy days were scarce at hand and the tang of the fall was not yet in full swing.
We reached its uninviting portals just as the evening shadows had taken on that drab, umbral hue that makes one want to talk in low tones and discuss the latest fashion in funerals and similarly delightful topics. Wilbur seemed to fall automatically into leadership, at least it could be noticed that every one clung pretty closely to him, perhaps because of an unholy glint now coming into his eye that could have meant either courage or a possible panic; and we didn't purpose that any desertion at this point should leave us without a safety quorum, for it was incumbent to decide at once whether to locate on the outside or inside of the house.
Now, in all serious ghost investigations this is a most important matter for settlement, for if the interior be chosen as the zone for the slaughter one must familiarize oneself with the lay of the furniture, and the shortest distance between two given points. You see, the subject has been reduced to a mathematical equation. If a further reduction were possible I doubt not it would have been made ere this. Under similar circumstances of investigation I once knew of a man who made a quick jump for what he thought was the outer door. He went through a door all right, and took a good bit of the carpentry with him. But it happened to be the door leading to the cellar, and he landed in a coal bin; after which one couldn't have told from his countenance whether he was just naturally scared stiff, or whether mortification had set in.
Well, we concluded to take the interior, though the outside spaces seemed calling with strange insistence. Cautiously we effected an entrance, thence through the hallway into what must have been the sitting room. It was at this time that we made the discovery that we had brought only three candles. These we lit and placed on the mantlepiece and a corner bracket, and then distributed ourselves about the room in as comfortable a manner as the accessories would permit. To enliven the occasion and to start us off in a sportive frame of mind, Oliver told a rip-roaring story, but none laughed except Mrs. Wilbur and Evelyn, and they accomplished the feat only in a half apologetic way that sounded more like hysterics than risibilities.
The darkness had crept in with an unhesitancy that appeared to mean business right from the start, and with an opaqueness that our few candles did little to relieve. Have you ever noticed what a sputtering candle can do to the innocent shadows in a half-lighted room? Well, ours did that same, and then some. Besides, as usual with nightfall at this season, the wind had risen, and came moaning about the eaves and the cornices, thence in smothered volume down the chimney, like the solemn suspiration of surf on a shoal shore. Our enthusiasm at this moment was beginning to border on that state of slump in which one feels that a compound fracture of the Eighteenth Amendment [editor's note: the alcohol prohibition amendment, then in effect] would about measure up to the needs of the occasion. After a prolonged and grim silence those who didn't have the creeps had the jumps. Once I observed Jimmy making a careful inventory of floor space and exits, doubtless with some anticipative thoughts in mind, and Dot was getting a cast in the eye from trying to look four ways at once.
After about two hours of this, in which small conversation was carried on in a suspiciously reticent manner, one of the ladies suggested that we sing “The Beautiful Gates Ajar” as a propitiatory offering, but Oliver insisted that something like “We Won't Go Home Till Morning” would give more backbone to our purpose. Marcus thought “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” would be more soothing to the nerves, and so he started the opening lines with a tempo and a compass that made up in sincerity what the lacked in vocal nuance, so to speak. He had just reached “The dawn's early light,” ranging from the key of A minor to somewhere in the neighborhood of a lusty and full-fledged G sharp, when his crescendo effort must have hit the ceiling, for the stairway door swung open with a crash, and a tornadic wind swept in from the upper regions in a whirl so infuriative that two of our candles went out of business; and came near doing the same thing for Jimmy, for with a “My Gawd!” he was on his way for a home run when I grabbed him. So instead of going the limit he collapsed on the floor. It was some little time before we brought him to, and then when we had brought him two more he seemed really on the way to a happy convalescence, though he still looked a little sick at the stomach, with an expression resembling that of a mal de mer [seasickness] when mixed with a porcine diet. I had no time to observe in detail the effect upon the others, though after the candles were re-lit we found Evelyn on the sofa crying, and Marcus fanning her; but as he was using the fire shovel for this, she only said, “Go away!”
And here I give Wilbur credit for evincing a measure of genuine and much-needed courage. The excitement had awakened him from a spineless creature of over-indulged apprehension into a dynamo of new purpose, and with a fire of fanaticism in his eye he declared that “no ha'nt was going to keep him from taking a survey of the upper floor, b'gosh!” Not to be outdone, Marcus manfully offered to accompany him, and very closely together they climbed the stairs and vanished into the Stygian darkness beyond. We heard them moving cautiously about, and then—wow!!! Over went a chair, something fell with a dull thud to the floor, and through a pandemonium of noises we heard someone screech, “Get off my neck, will yuh!” —this followed by a wail as of a lost soul, and with a yell at every jump Marcus came through the upper floor like a streak of lightning against a black sky, and negotiated the stairs in one comprehensive leap, with Wilbur about two feet and four inches behind him.
Later, when the matter was cleared up, the cause of the commotion and the inglorious retreat was found to have been an old white skirt that had been left hanging by an open window. This had been blown into Wilbur's face and wrapped its sinuous folds intimately about him, and in drawing back, horror-stricken, he had knocked a chair over and fallen to the floor. Marcus had caught a glimpse of the thing at that moment and headed for the stairway, stepping on the fallen hero in his hasty exit. After this there was a unanimous agreement that the unknown regions could go hang as far as further invasion was concerned.
But—and here is our justification and our recompense—we did truly hear what we had come for, and what we were told had been heard by others in the aforetime; what had been borne with fortitude till fear and misgivings had made it no longer bearable, and that were the footsteps across the floor directly above us. It was about 3 o'clock in the morning that this occurred, by which time familiarity with our surroundings had begun to breed its proverbial contempt, when Dot touched me on the arm and said, “Listen!” While each did so breathlessly, a series of steps passed slowly and measuredly across the floor to the head of the stairs, as if with the intention to descend; steps such as might be termed furtive, if that word could be applied to the pedal extremities—slump, slump, slump. If they had continued in our direction I shudder to think what would have been the consequences. Instead they passed back whence they came, after which—silence. I never before thought silence could be vocable, but the stillness which followed upon those steps seemed to terminate in one prolonged “H-u-s-h!”
Fortunately the morning was not far away, and we were glad when the sun's rays crept through the window-lattice and relieved the gloom.
We reached Main Street, a hungry bunch of spook-chasers, and having arrived home, Wilbur introduced us to oatmeal and grapefruit topped with a raisin, the fermenative excellence of which combination has no call for discussion at this time. But we have another haunted house down on our books that will receive our official attention when sufficiently recuperated. You see, ghost-hunting is a strenuous business.

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