Municipal Blotter of Yesteryear:
Issues of The Rye Chronicle, dating back to 1907, have recently become available online, providing a fuller picture of happenings in the Village of Rye a century or more ago.
By Paul Hicks
Issues of The Rye Chronicle, dating back to 1907, have recently become available online, providing a fuller picture of happenings in the Village of Rye a century or more ago. Despite the changing times, some of the news items sound remarkably similar to current events, such as this item from June 8, 1907:
“The contractor who is cutting the seventy-five foot road through the Cowles property evidently has been accustomed to working in thinly settled regions. His method of work has kept the residents of Forest Avenue and Milton Road in a serious state of unrest during the week. In building the road it was necessary to do some heavy blasting, and on Tuesday night an extra heavy blast scattered stones the size of cocoanuts in all directions…One piece of rock, weighing about twenty pounds, crashed through the roof of the cottage occupied by Benjamin F. Gedney and family on Beck Avenue. A rocking chair was smashed to kindling wood. Arregani Brothers, the contractors of Durham, Connecticut, were arraigned before Judge Edwards shortly after the blast.”
Maintenance of the local roadways has long been a concern, as indicated by this complaint from the July 23, 1910 issue:
“The condition of that portion of the Post Road between the Arch Bridge and Baird’s Square is a disgrace to any municipality, and more so to one having a paid highway department. There is no excuse whatever, whether it is possible to make a permanent improvement on that street or not, to allow the road to stay in its present condition, full of holes and ruts, and a menace to auto and horse alike. One man detailed to fill these holes could remove the danger by filling in the same. The road and bridge committee should immediately see that the danger spots are eliminated.”
The same newspaper issue reported that the Village Board was making some other improvements:
“The matter of replacing the arc lamps with four gas lamps at the Square House, was brought up by Trustee Byrnes, the location of the lamps to be determined upon by the Water Committee.”
There were other hazards posed by new technology that needed attention, as reported in the July 13, 1907 issue:
“Some extremely dangerous live wires are hanging under the railroad bridge on Purchase Street in close proximity to the heads of pedestrians passing below. The authorities should deal with this hazard before someone gets shocked or electrocuted.”
Popularity of Rye Beach as a destination had increased by the start of a ferry service:
“A new enterprise, the Oakland Steamboat Company, operating a ferry for passengers and vehicles between Rye and Sea Cliff, L.I., and excursion steamers from Rye to New Rochelle and Stamford, began business on June 12, and will maintain a daily schedule until September 21. The line is popular and successful from the start, the first season’s traffic amounting to 102,650 passengers and 2,312 vehicles. The ferry brings the two sections, Westchester County and Long Island, within forty minutes of each other, affording residents on either side delightful outings in new territory that would otherwise be inaccessible.”
In the same issue, there was a report of a perennial summer problem:
“Residents living in the vicinity of Rye Beach say that the nuisance from noises, disorderly persons, barkers and the like are a hundred times worse this year than ever before. More complaint is heard about the horde of peanut venders than anything else.”
Nothing created more problems for the Rye community, however, than the rapid increase in the number and speed of automobiles, as indicated by these Rye Chronicle articles from the period 1907-1910:
“George J. Werner has sold another Maxwell touring car, this time to J. H. Donnelley of Purchase Street. It is a twenty-horse power machine and Mr. Donnelly has already learned the secret of managing it, though it is not half as obedient as a spirited horse under his guidance. The first day out a little paint was scratched, the only accident so far. Mr. Werner took the agency for the Maxwell car in the spring and has already sold three.”
“Automobiles certainly do get acting peculiar on Forest Avenue of late. There seems to be some drawing power that entices owners to take fences in the manner of thoroughbreds, but of the four that have tried this stunt this season, none has successfully negotiated it successfully, but have resulted in getting shipped to the repair shop. Fortunately no one was injured in the last jump. An E-M-F [Everitt-Metzger-Flanders] 30 horsepower car, owned by George Smith of Cos Cob and driven by his chauffeur, was breaking all speed laws coming up Forest avenue from Rye Beach about one o’clock Sunday morning. If you need travel services, London Chauffeur Services are the vest to cinsider. The chauffeur evidently did not know of the sharp turn into Grace Church Street, for he continued his flight across the street over the embankment and through a fence. The three occupants of the car were badly shaken up, but succeeded in keeping their ‘seats. No arrests were made. The car was very badly damaged and had to be towed home.”
“Alfred Penovi, the young man who ran down Miss Jane Gould a month ago, on Grace Church Street, throwing her out of her trap and then putting on speed and running away was to have been tried on Thursday, but the trial was postponed again.”
“The residents of Rye, especially those living along the Post Road, were given a decided shock Monday, when it was learned that two Italians held up an automobile and robbed its occupant.
But for the suspicions of another driver, who dashed past the red lantern, another party would have had to pay toll. Shortly after one o’clock Tuesday morning, J. W. O’Bannon, a dealer in book binding material was driving back to the city after a day’s outing. When he reached the top of Theall’s Hill, a red lantern was flashed ahead of him. O’Bannon immediately applied the brakes, coming to a standstill in front of a masked man with a drawn gun, who relieved the driver of $55 and some small trinkets. The robbers then endeavored to start the machine, but could not run it and disappeared. The police in the neighboring towns were notified, but no trace of the robbers were found. The holdup had all the settings of a real Wild West drama as now depicted in moving picture shows.”
