Time Machine Terms
October 17, 1941
Vineyard Tests Its Strength in Mock Bombing Raids
The Vineyard called out its civilian defense organizations on Friday and again on Tuesday to tackle actual problems such as might follow the dropping of bombs by hostile planes. The whole affair was a kind of sham battle hitherto unknown, in which men, women and children were summoned from peaceful occupations in civil life to show how they could defend their community against the demoralization and damage of bombing. No planes roared overhead, but the practice was none the less realistically carried out.
September 5, 1941
Investigate Purchase of Beach by the State
A representative of the state Department of Conservation made an investigation on the Island on Friday, in company with Rep. Joseph A. Sylvia, in order to prepare a report on the matter of state purchase of the beach between Oak Bluffs and Edgartown. The sentiment of those who were approached was strongly in favor of the project, which is for purchase of the beach with stipulations that no buildings shall be placed upon it. There seemed no doubt that the preliminary report would be favorable.
August 26, 1941
His Dreams of America Have Been Realized Even If It Isn’t as Rosy as His Visions
On Thursday, Rev. O. E. Denniston, founder of the Bradley Memorial Church, celebrated his fortieth anniversary as pastor of that Baptist church in Oak Bluffs. Mr. Denniston is the oldest minister in the service of the Massachusetts Baptist Convention.
“I’m not the oldest minister in service in Massachusetts,” he hastened to say, “but the oldest member of the convention, because I have stayed in the same place while other ministers have moved from state to state.”
August 8, 1941
President Nearby: Roosevelt’s Yacht Anchors in Tarpaulin Cove
While mainland newspapers and radio scouts hunted in vain, to use their own expressions, for President Roosevelt, on Tuesday and Tuesday night, the Chief Executive was lying snugly and quietly aboard the Potomac, anchored in Tarpaulin Cove. The presence of the presidential yacht in the cove was known on the Vineyard in the early afternoon, but so far as is known no one attempted to approach the craft and certainly no one who knew of her presence there, tipped off any institution or individual that might have invaded her privacy.
August 5, 1941
Planes Catapulted From Nearby Warships
Menemsha residents rubbed their eyes in amazement yesterday afternoon when six warships loomed up on the horizon shortly after noon, approached to within a mile of the beach and anchored. It was learned that among them were the cruisers Augusta and Tuscaloosa, the destroyers Samson and Winslow and two other unidentified destroyers. A fifth appeared about an hour later and joined the others.
August 5, 1941
Open Door Club Holds Open House for Employers
Many of the employers who have been interested in the progress of the Open Door Club in Edgartown, which provides a pleasant place as a recreational center for their employees, were given a tea on Thursday by the members of the club. The affair was a great success.
July 29, 1941
Mosquito Boat A Menacing Visitor To Harbor Craft
A prim feature of the regatta was the visit of one of the new mosquito boats, or P.T. boats so called, to the historic port of Edgartown, where fighting ships of many a generation have put in for one reason or another, yet never presented such a sight as this. Commanded by Capt. A.
July 4, 1941
38 Register Here: 22 Are Island Residents, 16 Non-Residents
Thirty-eight young men registered in Dukes County on Tuesday, in compliance with the selective service act, which required all men to register on this date who have become 21 since the first registration. Of those registered Tuesday, sixteen were non-residents, and twenty-two residents of the county.
The non-residents were allowed, as before, to register wherever they might be, and their cards will be forwarded to the committees in their respective home towns and cities. The list, by towns, was as follows:
July 4, 1941
Uncle Sam on the Vineyard
Apropos the observation station at Peaked Hill, where a drive to the summit is now under construction, and likewise the report of a similar station to be constructed at Gay Head, near the lighthouse, it now becomes known that the reason for two such stations so close together is that the boundary lines dividing the Boston and Newport coastal defense areas converge on the Vineyard in such a way as to leave part of the Island in each district.
June 13, 1941
Build Road to Hill Top Observation Post
Work began on Tuesday on the road from the Middle Road to the top of Peaked Hill, the contract having been awarded to R. W. Balam, Boston contractor, who is engaged in putting through several jobs on the Island. The road is to be surfaced, after the grading is completed, and will supply a government way to the observation post that is planned for the Island’s highest point.
