Time Machine Terms
September 2, 1932
Eclipse Thrills Watching Island
“Millions viewed the eclipse.” So said the mainland newspapers, and the Vineyard added its thousands to the common mass. Plans for obtaining the best view of this unusual display in the heavens were formulated days previous in many cases, several of the larger pleasure craft of the Island ports setting sail early Wednesday morning with groups of guests on board, bound easterly where the eclipse was more nearly total.
July 15, 1932
Roosevelt Slips in At Cuttyhunk, Only Stop in Dukes County
Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York, Democratic nominee for the presidency of the United States, sailed into the waters of Dukes County late Wednesday, although not into the waters of the Vineyard. The Roosevelt yawl, Myth II, slipped into Cuttyhunk after logging fifty miles from Stonington, Conn., where the previous night was spent, and Mr. Roosevelt stepped ashore, his arms aching from a long day at the wheel.
November 20, 1931
Nantucket Still Stuck in Sand; Tugs Work Vainly
Steamer Nantucket was still fast in the sand of Sturgeon Flats this morning, with the prospect that more powerful towing equipment or the aid of a dredger will be needed to get her clear. Attempts were made to float her at high tide last night, and the working vessels were heard tooting again this morning in the thick fog which surrounded all the craft and made them invisible from the shore.
October 23, 1931
Dr. Banks Is Dead After Notable Life
Dr. Charles E. Banks, historian of Martha’s Vineyard, died yesterday at Hartford. His death comes as a blow to the Vineyard in the affairs of which he had been a notable figure for many years. Not only did he write the history of the Island with which his name will always be associated, but he was a friend of every prominent Vineyarder and of the Island itself.
August 25, 1931
Recalls Pineside Links
Editor, Vineyard Gazette:
Permit me to express my interest in your account of early golfing on Martha’s Vineyard, as described in your issue of August 7th. May I also venture to add an item or two relative to the Edgartown situation.
August 7, 1931
Golf Was Played in Nineties at Nine Hole Highland Course
Golf is such an indispensable part of Island recreation that it seems impossible to imagine the Vineyard without it. However, in the nineties the game was played only by a few ambitious souls who now with excusable pride call themselves the founders of golf here. The various courses on the Island have no very definite dates to make their beginnings, as long before the clubs were officially founded, the game was being played on semi-pastures and fields.
August 7, 1931
Cottage City Held Joys For Youth In The Old Days
Summer visitors play a large part in Vineyard activity and many who have spent summer after summer on the Island feel as deep an affection and admiration for Martha’s Vineyard as any all year-round resident. For forty-five summers Frank C. Lawton has spent at least part of every year in Oak Bluffs and, although his first arrival on the Island was at the age of six months, he recalls many interesting facts about the Vineyard’s earlier history, that occurred during his boyhood.
July 17, 1931
Vineyard Claims 20 Year Advantage in Bathtub Race
When was the first bath tub brought to Martha’s Vineyard? Nantucket had a bath tub, weighing more than 800 pounds, in 1881. A Nantucketer reports having seen another as early as 1861 on that island. Commenting editorially on the question of bath tub priority, the Boston Herald on Wednesday morning challenged Vineyarders to adduce proof of the earlier existence on this Island of a receptacle designed solely for bathing the human form.
July 17, 1931
Union Chapel Plays Big Part in Summer Life on the Vineyard
To many of the summer residents of Martha’s Vineyard, Union Chapel services have become as much a part of their lives as the Vineyard itself. Each year new visitors attend the chapel and become dependent upon it for their Sunday devotions.
February 6, 1931
Interesting Vineyarders: Saphronia E. Hillman
Just a few issues back, this column carried the biographical sketch of Joseph West of Chilmark, who is a deaf mute. This present article contains a similar sketch of his sister, Mrs. Sophronia E. Hillman, whose faculties are normal. Reared in the same family, it is interesting to correspond the two stories relating to Chilmark of nearly three-quarters of a century ago, as seen by two different pairs of eyes, directed by natural inclinations that had little in common.
