TIME MACHINE ...

(Reader-friendly viewing of newspaper archives material)



I'm away this week but I've selected some postings from the past year that, perhaps, you may have missed or might like to read again. -tk



March, 1889

(The Herald And Torchlight- Hagerstown, Md.)

About eight o'clock last Thursday evening the large steam and planing mill, situated in the center of Pocomoke City, and owned by Messrs. Young and Colbourn, caught fire and was burned to the ground. The new fire engine and recently organized fire company did good service in saving the southwestern end of town, which certainly must have gone but for the assistance rendered by the engine. The loss was about twenty thousand dollars, covered by insurance.



August, 1908

(The Washington Post)

Amid a mass and jam of fully 15,000 people the third day of the Pocomoke Fair passed off without the slightest hitch to mar the pleasure of those who attended. Twenty-three carloads of visitors were hauled from the eastern shore of Virginia, and several thousand came from Delaware, in addition to the Maryland contribution.



February, 1930

J. Nelson Jester of Chincoteague, an 18-year-old free agent signed by the Washington Senators, was being mentioned as a prospect to bolster the team's 1930 line-up. However, an injury during minor league play forced an early end to Jester's professional career.

Footnote: Jester went on to a teaching and coaching career at Pocomoke High School for many years and later was high school principal at Chincoteague.



July, 1933

The presidential yacht Sequoia docked in Crisfield and President Roosevelt set out on a six-hour sight-seeing tour of the Eastern Shore, stopping in Pocomoke City for a soft drink. A crowd of several thousand were said to be on hand at the Crisfield dock to greet the president and were back later in the day to see him off.



1943

As a young Navy pilot former President George H.W. Bush trained at the Chincoteague base. As reported in various published accounts he flew low over an area of Crisfield where a circus had setup nearby and a frightened elephant broke away, in turn frightening nearby residents. Reports were that Bush's low fly-over was an attempt to impress a young Crisfield woman he had met at a USO dance at Chincoteague.



February, 1931

(Cumberland Evening Times)

Former World's Heavyweight Champion Goes Over Big In Pocomoke City

Pocomoke City, Md. Feb. 4(AP)- More than 2000 Eastern Shore fight fans saw Jack Dempsey, former heavyweight champion, as he refereed two matches of a boxing card here Tuesday night. Dempsey attended a dinner as a guest of the Lions Club of Salisbury, and before he entered the ring he was kept busy autographing programs.

Footnote: A December, 1930, news item reported that a 2,500 seat boxing arena was set to open on the Pocomoke Fairgrounds.



October, 1943

"Gone With The Wind" was playing at Pocomoke City's Fox Theatre. Admission for all seats was 55-cents.



August, 1953

The Pocomoke Drive-In Theatre, two miles south of Pocomoke City on Route 13, was advertising $1.25 a carload admission with opening night features.. Jeff Chandler in Bird Of Paradise, and Fred MacMurray in Smokey, two big features every night. "No Need To Dress Up - Come As You Are- Bring The Entire Family" -- "Enjoy Movies In Your Own Car - Eat- Relax- Smoke"


January, 1975

"The Sting" with Paul Newman and Robert Redford was playing for six nights at the Marva Theatre in Pocomoke. Admission: Adults $1.50, Children 75-cents.



July, 1955

After five months under construction Pocomoke City's new J.J. Newberry Store was set to open at the northeast corner of Market and Second Streets where the old Wilson Hotel once stood. The new store would feature 40 major departments as well as a lunch counter, and a half-mile of air conditioned selling and display space with slim-line florescent lighting and incandescent spotlights. The new Pocomoke Newberry's would be five times larger than its' old store located on the west side of Market Street and would have about 40 employees.



January, 1885

(The Freeborn County Standard [Minnesota])

SHIPS SAILING IN AIR

Remarkable Mirage Seen From The Decks Of A Steamer In Chesapeake Bay

From The Baltimore Herald.

"At the time I discovered it," said Captain Wilson of the steamer Tangier "we were off Watts Island on the Pocomoke Sound. The day was clear and bright. I was standing on the hurricane deck forward with a passenger, and we were commenting on the strange action of a dense line of smoke which rose perpendicularly from the stack of a saw mill in Pocomoke City, which lay to the east of us. My attention was suddenly called to the distinct outlines of a three-masted schooner which appeared above the line where the smoke spread out and disappeared. I could hardly believe my senses, and, calling my attention to the gentleman who was with me to the strange sight, I rushed into the pilot house and got my glasses. Through them I discovered more clearly the outlines of the vessel. There was evidently no breeze, as the sails were lying inboard. Then I scanned the horizon on either side of the smoke with the glasses and discovered four additional schooners, all of them similarly rigged and all wearing a full set of sails which were also inboard. They were more or less distinct as they were nearer or farther from the shore. Three of them pointed north and two south. The vessels were enveloped in what appeared to be a transparent haze, which I at once supposed to be the ocean. Fringing the lower edge of the haze were the outlines, perfectly distinct of the Atlantic coast between Chncoteague and Cobbs Islands. Even the inlets and small capes were discernible. Next appeared the broad waters between the outer bar and the mainland. This was also depicted as a haze, the land dovetailing into it here and there. Skirting the lower edge of the haze was the mainland, with open fields and clumps of trees. The mirage extended down to the meeting line of the land and the eastern horizon. I called all the passengers up from the lower deck and saloon, and all of them gazed at the phenomenon with wonder and admiration. The sight lasted about twenty minutes and gradually disappeared from view."

Captain Wilson stated that a land breeze had prevailed for several days previous to the mirage, and the phenomenon is accounted for on the ground that there was unusual retraction of the lower strata of the atmosphere. This is the first known instance of a mirage being seen in the lower Chesapeake. This phenomenon, however, is not infrequent in the Chesapeake, and Captain Wilson states that he once saw Cove point light from the lower end of Tangier Island, a distance of 38 miles. He calculated the distance of the mirage of a few days ago to be 30 miles.





Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers.. such as a big snow storm, a favorite school teacher, a local happening, something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? It can be just a line or two or more if you wish. Your name won't be used unless you ask that it be. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!