From the Dec. 6, 1946 edition of the Vineyard Gazette:
The cold wave predicted at various times by the weather bureau, at length arrived on Sunday night, checking in within a few days of the local prediction made by David Vanderhoop of Gay Head some weeks ago. From a temperature hanging in the neighborhood of 60 on Sunday morning, with a balmy atmosphere, mist-filled and heavy, the temperature dropped with an abruptness that literally caused the Island population to gasp.
Foghorns heralded the drop, about 2:30 Monday morning, when the wind breezed from the north and a snow flurry blotted out all visibility. Continuing to drop, the early morning readings in various parts of the Island ranged from 12 to 26 above zero. Service stations were besieged by motorists whose radiators had been caught, or who wanted anti-freeze compounds, and the fuel trucks were busy on Monday morning.
The boat schedule was disrupted in the middle of the day, due largely to the “reeking” of the water, which was observed chiefly in Buzzard’s Bay and was due to the extraordinary drop in the temperature. Wind and sea also interrupted the service to Nantucket, but both boats were back on schedule on Tuesday morning.
Conditions afloat were much improved by that time, although the thermometer had continued its steady fall through the night. The lowest reading of the Gazette’s government thermometer was 12, but instruments exposed to the bitter wind fell still lower. Some of the small ponds were frozen, providing exceptionally early skating.
Manuel Sequiera, caretaker of the estate of Dr. Frank B. Jewett of Vineyard Haven, proudly exhibited half a pint of strawberries picked in the Jewett garden on Dec. 1. Mr. Sequiera did not claim a record, but suggested that it might very closely approach one for late-ripening strawberries.
Local fishermen using the grounds between twenty and thirty miles southwest of Noman’s Land, are complaining about the action of the Navy in dumping a quantity of condemned ammunition there in twentyseven fathoms of water.
The spot selected by the Navy as its dumping ground has been a favored one with fishermen for years and a productive bearing for the otter trawlers. Now, according to some of the fishermen, it is virtually impossible to drag there because the big shells or bomb casings foul the nets, tearing them badly, besides causing serious hindrance to the fishing. Some of the shells, described as large, heavy tubes, have been raised to the surface in the nets.
Fishermen declare that the ground will have to be abandoned, perhaps for years, because the hard bottom will prevent the shells from settling below the surface of the sand and gravel.
The chief gripe of the fishermen is the fact that if the ammunition had been taken a few miles farther to sea, it could have done no harm as the bottom would have been soft mud which would have quickly swallowed the bulky objects, or the depth would have been so great that there would have been no fishing carried on there.
Henry H. Harris of Boston, industrialist and sportsman, who figured in Vineyard gossip last summer when he visited the Island in a former U.S. Army “duck” and either did or did not start from the South Beach for Nantucket, has recently completed a 3,000 mile cross country journey in a “duck.”
Mr. Harris us quoted in the mainland press as saying, “I’m going to make a yacht out of this baby. The days are over for me spending a week in sailing some place and then seeing it for only a few hours. From now on I can take my yachting where I find it.
“My mind was made up to this last summer when I had a second hand ‘duck.’ I could take it over the road to the Cape in a few hours and then drive into the water for cruise to Martha’s Vineyard. That’s when I got the idea to buy a new one and convert it into a yacht.”
Mr. Harris, a man of 46, is president of the General Alloys corporation. His Vineyard exploit last summer led to a good deal of talk, and the impression of state police and others was that he started for Nantucket and got stuck on a shoal. Mr. Harris denied this, however, and said he was simply trying his craft out.
He is now in the process of acquiring twelve ducks, one of which he took possession of on the west coast and after a few test runs around Puget Sound, drove it back across the continent. Mr. Harris said that he could average sixty miles an hour in the “duck” on good highways “and just for the fun of it I proved to myself on a back road in Illinois the Army’s claim that it could take a sixty degree incline in second gear.”
Mr. Harris averaged eight miles to a gallon of gas on his journey. His “duck” weighs 14,000 pounds.
His plans are elaborate. He has designs, prepared by himself, for two double bunks, an electric galley, shower, and modern interior paneling. He will install hydraulic engine controls so that the “duck” can be skippered at sea from the stern. The changes are estimated to cost between $6,000 and $7,000. He bought the duck for $1,900.
Compiled by Hilary Wallcox
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