Tol. 7, No. 5.
OFFICIAL lAPEB OF FEEEPOBT
THE NASSAI POST, FREEPORT, >. V, KKIMAV. MAIM H i. F.>V,
OFFICIAL PAPER OF NASSAU COINTT.
PRICE TWO CENTS
25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FREEPORT BANKTpSmv
Prominent South Shore Institution Celebrates Birthday Auspic¬ iously-Organized March 3,1892- Morris Miller Its First De- positore
Hiiild ;t roHiaiicc if you will iiroiind soiiH- old i-lmii|i of vitii-s or ix-rhaps , of a relic left by at) iiiLsccn great, great grand sire, but permit us to build a romance around that staid, digtiifii'd old striictun—-'riic I-ri i- port Hank and its casliicr, VVilliam S. Mall. While in tin; realm of Komance kt us also consider the happy family of directors ;iiid tin: busy clerks and the conlident deposi¬ tors, and what better romance in all the world can one think tip than this.
You pass Main street ;ind casually look over at the sturdy, old building, now nearing the (iii;irti-r of a cen¬ tury mark and you reckon that some fortunate people have their pile stored up in the sober looking in¬ stitution, and you perhaps ruminate along and ponder on the group of young hnancial giants handling all that money and you try to visualize its cashier, Williaiu S. Hall as a sturdy oak looking down with an eye of protection on that liltle group.
Place that same old institution into some crevice of the finaiiciiil district of Manliattan and within a week some dreamer would happen along and write a book or a play about this, or some of ils kindred antl you would read it and marvel at it all. You would draw a charmed circle about the institution and would revere the memory of it. You would reflect on the romance of it all and never fail, when in passing, to stand and stare into its steel-barred in¬ teriors.
Try then to imagine your money resting in the depository of the Freeport Bank. What would you do? Would you place it there and trust to luck? Indeed not. You would inquire into the business sagacity and acumen of its head, into his handling of the bank's moneys and into his ability to deal with persons who look upon a finan¬ cial institution as a means to an end—sometimes reached through a devious and sinuous path. Every one who handles his own nioney investi¬ gates the calibre of man with whom he trusts it.
That is why the Freeport Bank is the remarkably strong institution it is today, William S. Hall is its cashier and he has been "investi¬ gated" so much that the bank has been growint;, not so conservatively as even Mr. Hall might say, but by leaps and bounds to its commanding position in the financial world to¬ day. To the busy, hardened mind of an editor with a sharpened edge on his apparatus of thought the Free- port Bank is a subject of delight, because in writing about it one un¬ consciously begins to wiite about the history of Freeport.
The Freeport Bank was organized twenty-five years ago today, March 3, l.S'^2. Its inception was hatched in a small building situated where the tailor store is now located, directly opposite the presenl site. No more than the doors were opened —by Casliiei William S. Hall—one of the foremost of the vilhige iiier- , chants-t-Morris Miller stepped forth and asked if the bank were ready for business. Mr. Hall assured him that it was.
"Then let mc make the first de¬ posit," re^ucsted Mr. Miller.
Thus his nanie is linked very solidly with the history of the F'ree¬ port Bank and it will go down with the archives of the Freeport Bank, and we hope Cashier William S. Hiill rounds out the golden an¬ niversary,
March .^ is truly Inauguration Day in the life of the F'reeport' Bank because it marks the date of open¬ ing twenty-five years ago, with the energetic, enervessing young cashier rqpiching ont for the financial busi¬ ness of the village. Before the opening of the Freeport Bank Free- port was in swaddling clothes. It was unincorporated and without elec¬ tric lights, w^ter mains and proper school facilities. It had a struf;- gline population of less than 2,500 and was just one of the cluster of Long Island villaires. Nothing more could be said for I'reeport than that,
John J. Kandall and William G. Miller had just opened up the old Samuel Carman lands, but it might bc said with the opening of the Freeport Bank was started the in¬ fluence that stimulated a realty de¬ velopment that sent Freeport up several notches as a home center. Interest in the general condition of things developed with the coming of the Freeport Bank. It meant so much to the thrivine business men to have the institution here, espec¬ ially with John J. Randall, the great developer, as president, and VVilliam S. Hall, as cashier.
It was as the coming of rain to a farmer after a long siege of hot,
(Continued on Page 4.)
John Ae Smith Had
Nearly Reached the
Century Mark
OtIii-iHis mill llirfcttirs nf Ihe port ItHnk.
1 SMITH rox.
•_» l>. >Vi;si,i:V I'IM. Viee Pn ;i-^nil,l,IAM S. HAM., (iishler, I .lOHN J. l{VM>AI.I.. I'ris.
lals iMiil lilri'ufitrs oi' tin- Fri'i'- link.
fVIV 15. SMIIH. I,IAM (;. MIII.KK.
,F,A( i: 11. ( oi{\ni;i,i,. KS I'Kirn.
JUST LEARNED OF THE ENGAGEMENT
The many friends of Rodney Curtis Valentine, of Siiiith street, Freeport, and Miss Louise Bourdettc, daughter of Mrs. Mary Bourdette, who resides with her aunt, Mr.s. Amelia Madi¬ son, on Cottage Court, I'Veeport, are congratulating them over the . an¬ nouncement of their engagement. The matter has been kept quiet by the young people, but it was discov¬ ered that Rodney presented the bride-to-be with a diainond engage¬ ment ring during the holiday sciison.
Some of their friends iind rela¬ tives hiive arranged to give the young people a niiscellaneous shower at the iiome of Mr. ;hu1 Mrs. Curtis .Smith, at Woodh;ivcn, Marcli 4tli. It is in¬ timated that the wedding date has been set for April 22n(l. Mr. Valen¬ tine is known to many of the local residents as liaving been the Long Island Railroad frci.glit ;igent, at both l-'rccport and Nockville Cciitic, lor a nuniber of years. Recently he has been employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in the oflice of the espress and baggage department, at the terminal in Manhattan.
SENATOR CALDER VISITS FREEPORT
"LADIES" BOWL AT THE FREEPORT CLUB
Amusing Episode when
Jersey Club Failed to
Appear
aVE OVE WEIGHT AND WAS ARRESTED
Harry Zeincr, coal merchant and postmaster of Meirick, g;ive ;i con¬ crete example of the foibles of be¬ ing generous, in the h'reeport Court, .Monthty, when he ;i[)peaied before Justice of the I'eace Norton on a charge of not liaving weighed coal that was taken from his wards for delivery in Smithville South, on l-'eiiruary 21. The complaint is by Frank Wood, sealer of weights and measures, of Roosevelt.
It appears tluit when the Zeincr wagon was held up that it contained 7ri pounds of coal over the ton, Despite this slap at the H. C. of L. given by Zeiner, Woods made the charge ;ill the same. Kven the excuse of his being phihinthropie and olTer- ing more than was called for did not save Zeiner from arrest. The fact remains that the driver did not have any slips indicating the weight of coal, and the contention of the com¬ plaint is that, not having the weigher to determine the weight of coal, the driver could not have any ticket.
The Zeiner case will come up for a hearing in the Freeport Court oji the morning of March l.s.
Willard I). Fineh, Klvin N. Ed¬ wards and a fow more humorists in the Freeport Club tiiined things top- sy turvy at the club house Friday evening when they spilled out enough laiigh.s to la.st for a year. The boys at the clul) arc lalking aliout it yet. They will eontinue to refer to it from lime to time and when tho most act¬ ive youni; tm>mher of loday is hoary headed ho will recall lasl Friday's iii- eidcni in tcrm.s like this: "Do you icmemher that night when the women fiom ..lersey played the club bowling leam?"
It was all over a ehallenge hurled ill the players of the local club through brother Finch, by the cham-
ABOU BEN BIFF'S BUDGET
Wherein IslContained An Account of Some of
The Haps and Mishaps of His
Belov-ed Fellow MeUe
Guest of Honor at Din¬ ner at the Club on Tuesday
The Hand of Time toiulud John .\. Smith, Freeport's oldest resident, on Frid.iy evening, last and Uncle John p;issed into eternity. His de¬ mise came while he slept, with his family surrounding his bed. The gentle, liltle old man Wiis laid to rest on Moiul.iy afternoon in tirecn- lii Id Cemetery, fc)lk)wiiig im;iressivc >ir\iets s.iid o\ir the iiiiiaiiis by the Ki'i. I. .Siiliu'v (ioiilil, of llie I'resby- liri.iii C'lniifli,
Jolm ,\, Smith i\;is boin July 17, l.^-'l.^, I'll -Ml'.iilou brock lo.i.l. He M.is till' son ol iitinul Smith, He Iiml on his fatlur's farm until he W.IS 24 \e;iis old u hi n he married -Miss .^ustin .Smith, the diiu-lhtir of R.IS nor Koik .Smith. lour i hildren were bom to lliein, tliiif ^.iiis, ,ill lil IIIU ,lllll .1 (l.tllLlhti 1, jiltlti (ii.ul.
I'lie soils illl \loii/o, ,Ililll 71 and Lincoln .iiul l.li.irli-.-, thi l,,tU'i of llalihi in.
It i\,is more tliati sct t iity-fivc yi.ir- ;igo wlien John .\. Hist be¬ gan to iiiiiki' his |,ri,siiK'e fell in this vicinity. ;\l tli.it lime the Bark ".Mesico" bouiid from .Soulh ,\mcr- iea to .\r\\ ^l):k wilh p.issi tigers was WKi'ki'd off MilbiHi), in Hiinp- stead Hill. KiiMioi' Koik Smith went to llie rescue of the p.i--sengers and siici! i-<leii in s.iving nine, the c;ipt;iiii, .1 colon ll iii.iii, a biiby boy and six other men.
Jolm ,\. Smith iissis'.ed in getting the drowned out of the wreck and in interiing the reiHiiiiis in Rock¬ ville Cemetery. A monument in that cemetery marks the site which is the burial ground of iill those several hundred persons who were coming lo litis shore as future citi¬ zens. The next year Mr, .Smith
The Republican Pre- f ential Primaries will be held on March 10th. 1917, Petitions must be filed by this Saturday evening. See adv. on page 6, and news story on pase 2.
ELVIN N. EDWARDS.
pion woman bowling team of Jersey City. Finch aecepied the challenge for the local boys and made every airangemeni for the series of games Friday nighl. .More than two hun¬ dred men anri women were present to see the match game—the women to gel a few lips on bowling from the champs of Jersey.
About seven , o'clock that night Fineh received a telegram from the women stating that they could not appear and canceling the game. Finch was not to be outdone. He broke the news to Elvin N. Edwards and the two decided on a plan of action. They got in touch with H. Bratton Kennedy, the former actor and coach, who promised to make up five mem¬ bers ot the club to resemble women. He found five old bloomers and blouses that were once worn hy shapely chorus girls, raked up some
I'ei'hap.s you Freeporters don't realize how fast your village is grow¬ ing. Heretofore when you held your annual village eleeiious you all voied at the same place. This year for the lir.si time you will liave two poU- in.g plat es, due to the inerease iu your voiin.i^ l)opulalion and the necessity of properly providing for Ihose who desire to exercise the lighls of free¬ man, '\'oii must rogi,ster personally this yeai oh March in if you iiiieiid lo vote for viilago offlcers on -Mar( h 20. Fortunately there is no contest Uiis year. Otherwise the two poll¬ ing places would be .flltd to the point of bursting. Freepon may never have 1,500 polling places like New York but she is swelling yearly, and wbo shall say that she may not yet be¬ come tho metropolis of Long Island? Tho members of the Village Board, i'resident K. S. Randall and Trustees C. A- Williains and H. I.. .Maxson, aro e.ani^lidates for re-election and will be re-elected without so mueh as the baiting of an eye by any¬ body.
The work of lhe .N'assau County Charlor t'oninii.ssion is praelieally eomploied and will probably be prc- senitd to the Hoard of Supervisors along ill .May, nceoiding to present plans. .No man may say what roc- onimeiidaiions will be contained there¬ in, that is, outside of Bronson Win¬ throp, and his assoeiates. Sometimes wise men who arc deliberating for our good let loose some point a,s a "feoler " and note Its reception by the so-iallod puhlii', meaning the news¬ paper odiiors, politieans and sueh who are supposed to aid in foiiiiula- ling what is toimcd "public opinion." This is called "trying it on the dog." If lhe dog is unduly •"erneioiis oici' it, Ihe wise men withdraw their "eon- sli'iietive thought " and either modify or abandon il altoge;her. There is nothing to show that tho proposition lo eroato a cily out of Na.ssau County was siH'h a feeler. If there was any such intention it must be apparent that doggy doesn't want a cily out here, having Cod from .Manhattan es¬ pecially to escape eivie pitfalls and the society of nitinieipal researchers and sociological tinkers and efficienc; engineers who have during the past three years fastened with the grip of death to poor old Father Knickerboc- kers pay roll.
trine of meum et iiiuiii which ha.s (ome to be so liglilly regarded by tKiimiT offlcialdoni.
Some of the people in, around and about the Court Hotise are deeply mystified over the periodical reeuir- ence, as it wore, of .Municipal Re¬ searchers, a.s lliey call ihem, in Iheir midst. First ono arrived and re¬ mained seven months, when he disap¬ peared between sundown and sunup. Then another appealed, then anoiher, and now llio twain aic de\(mi'iiiK ihe stai islies contained in tho many lomes Ihat sliov. our public expendi¬ tures. Further (ban there seems to he some relation hel ween thom and the indefatigable Col, William Bald¬ win, all is in doubt. Ono observer'^) impression is that thi- Colonel intends ill an early issue of tho Journal of Civilization issued by the .Nassau < oiiiity Association to hand somebody the Hlaek Si)ot. But why woiiy about one or two .Municipal Researchers'.' If il wa.s young .lohn I), himself or his father who was bustling about real concern might bo excusable. However, Ihoie's an Arimiral Ben Bow Tavern hard by Ihe Court House if you would escape from a Uosoareher. The ethics of his calling strictly prohibit liis investigation of that particular cla.sis of (jiiasi-publie instituiions.
The Owl carries tho report that there will he opiKisilion in Rockville Centre to tho appiopriation of any Htim, large or small, for a new lown hall in Hempstead. R. V. C. has never forgotten or forgiven tho rape of its title of Town Capital once con¬ ferred by tho vote of a Inwn meel¬ ing. -Now comes a Freeport man who insists that Henipstead is too far in¬ land for a Town Hall, that it ought lo be located in some plaee at the head of navigation of some tidal riv¬ er. Ho doesn't say it, but of course he means Freeport. One thing Is certain, a lot of people in the town¬ ship believe (he next Town Hall ought to be located somewhere on the Merriek road and will vote "no" on the Hempstead appropriation this spring.
(Continued on ]^age 4)
That the County Charter Commis¬ sion's report will prove an exhaus¬ tive study of county .governments gen¬ erally and contain many practical and highly useful suggestions will un¬ doubtedly be the ease. It may not recall the identical language of the Ten Commandments or of Article 122 of that intensely human document described as the Penal Law and point to their value as future bul¬ warks for the preservation of regen¬ erated Nassau. No doubt their es¬ sence, however, like the drummer's overcoat In the bill, wiH be imbedded therein, a tacit recognition of the doc-
The Biooklyn Water Commissioner'.-) carpenters are busy making shulters for all the buildings at the stations soon to be closed, and presently that city's Long Island water system will eompri.se only the three stations of Wantagh, Milburn and Ridgewood. The machinery in the dismantlofl stations will be stored at those three points and the birds and spiders will be allowed full possession. Some of the employes will be transferred lo other points and many others fa< o the loss of their jobs altogether. So fades away after more than a half century's existence a great municipal and political necessity. Inasmuch as the Island is sinking intn the nea at the rate of 5 inches every century.
(Continued on Page 8.)
, \ViIli:im M Calder. I'nited States senator-elect, was the guest of honor al the Freeport Club, on the occasion I of the annual dinner, Tuesday nighl, i The senator will lake his oath of of- ! fice next Monday, so the function of Tuesday evening wits about his la^t liefore lie a>-'iutne- his diitiis as lhe stale's represenlalive in the higiier branch of the Federal (iovernnniit, , The senator's remarks, while mostly personal, were serious at linics, and he had the close atlenlion of ewiy- onc. I The seiiiitor sliiired llir lionor- with ' the absent Fresideiit of tlie Cniteil States, in whose honor a silent toast ' was drunk, and his appearance stirred the piitrioiisin of'his fellow coiiiitiv- nien second to the ihrilling Mrains of the iHilional anthem. The dinner wao. the most <iicccssftil in the cluh's his¬ tory, both in point of ;ittcii(laiK-e and general interest.
The pretty club house w;is daintily (Iccorated with Uld Idori, iind the menu was served in the midst of an abundance of .\inerican colors. Red, white and blue hiilloons were served at ciich lalilc, and paper hats, representa¬ tive of Colonial and Rcvoliiloin.lry (lays, were given to each diner. The committee in charge of the dinner won the unreserved praise of the (liners for the masterly way in whieh the whole affair was arranged and car ried out. The same praise was ad¬ vanced lo Klvin N. Kdwards, presi¬ dent of the club. The guests in- cliided couniy, town and village oth ci;ils and truly reprcsenliitive ii si dent-- of the village.
Senator Ciililer hcgiin li\ iir.ii-iiig Freeport as the largest village e;t-t oi ; Jamaica, and he feels ohiigated to the people of the village for lhe ¦ splendid vote they gave hitn ;il tin polls. He does not feel liimself k mote from this village, either, as Ik has a one-fourth intere-t in ,i irui ^ of land along the Jamaica and Hmip- 1 stead Turniiike, He once r( ferred lo I Freeport as a horrible exiuiiplc iii i Congress when they were preparing the I'nderwood tariff bill defcndiiig the farmers' interest. The .Nassau con¬ gressmen favored taking the duty off potatoes, and il was suggested that tliey be taken off string bciins, alsa This was ii'joki, he siiiil, iiud he told the slory of the farmer who sent .S,0(X) bushels of string beans into the mar¬ ket and was allowed 3 cenls a bushel and got his own baskets back. The farmer was from l-Veeport, The con¬ sumer paid about Sl.SO for the bushel. The speaker said that in his judg¬ ment, Long Island is the finest spot in the whole country Long Island, from May 1st until snow comes is the finest spot one can find anywhere, wi(h its ocean, fei tile soil, fine class of peofile, and general condition of social lite, lie lelfs his friends in Washington to drive through tin north and south shores of Long Isl¬ and before going' to their homes in the west, or in other parts of the country- Tilt senator favors the inland watovwiiys and believes with good argtiniciit .that it can soon be a tiling of rialization. He thinks wr ought to interest the Federal gov¬ ernment into appropriating the nec¬ essary fund for the inland waterways which will open up a complete watt r- Conttnued on Page Fight,
JOHN A SMITH
moved to I'mport with his wife and built a home on North Main strict opposite thai which was the scene of his death.
It was John ,\. Smith's,/custom Ciich yiiii lo -JO lo the Isle of Wight when III loiidiicted a hotel. H.re he Uiis uoiit to miel Mr. iind Mrs. Russell Sail, whose stimmer home was lllill'. A friendship wiis struck tip b('lw(ru the happy hotel man jintl llli iiiillKiii.uie, .Mr. .Siigi- used to go down to SII' his friend .Smith iis a pliiisiiii siiiiease from uorr\. ( )c- casion.illi the finiincicr would nde b( liiiid Ml. -Smith's leam and on otli( I (.. (.I'.ions he would ask .Smith lo (lii\( his teatn, fetlitig loniklint in Ills sea'- with the future nonagcn- ,iri :iii ill the driving scat,
^ oimg Smith w;is a hustler in his young days. He was a Reiniblican illl liis life. He evinced a lively in¬ terest ill politics when he voted for William Harrison for president of the United Slates. In local politics he held oflice on nuiiierous oc- ciisions. \';iss;iti coimty w;is (Jiieens county thi li, Ile vvas justice of the (icace for two terms, town collector for two more Iciiiis and wiis iisses- sor for six vears. There was no talk of iTiift in those d.iys, as jus¬ tice as administered by John A. Sinilh Wits truly r( juesenlativt of the blind lady wilh the scales,
John A. its told in the Post be¬ fore was not strictly a teetotaler. He indulg((l moderately in smoking, chewing iiiid dtiiikinv. but used the latter more as a medicine, especially in his older age. He was remark¬ able in that up to severiil weeks ago he retained full possession of all his faculties. I'ntil this last winier lie was an active worker, and npv( r felt happy unless he was working around his yard, lie could kill a (.ig with the strength and energy of a man half his age.
It would be im|iossible to b(-"in lo tell all of the aneidoles that arc told of Mr, Smith, He loved horses and even during his ninety-fifth year he was known to enjoy a drive be¬ hind a fast horse. Several years ;igo he was witnessing horse rac¬ ing at Belmont, wilh his son, Alonzo. "How do you like them, I'rand- dad'"" asked a friend,
"l-'inc, but tell -them about Fisher, l.oii/," lie said to his son, and, con- tiiittiti;.'. said: "I'isher was a horse I bought for five dollars. For seven viars Fisher carried mc into the Ity, but 1 traded Fisber to a friend. The friend gave Fisher away for
Continued on Page Eight.
