Sunday, September 6, 2015

TIME MACHINE ... 1993, 1915, 1886, 1936, 1943.

"Friendliest Town On The Eastern Shore."  Our tradition runs deep.  Excerpt from a letter to the editor from a visitor to Newtown, (former name of Pocomoke City) published in the Baltimore Sun, April 28,1847.

This place (Newtown) is a pretty snug little village, containing about 500 clever and hospitable inhabitants; it has good wide streets, quite clear of that "eye sore," known mostly over the Peninsula by the name of "deep sand"; the houses, though built of frame, are generally built substantially and with some discretion and taste; there are two neat, new, and quite handsome frame churches in it; as for the merchants of the place, suffice it to state that they are very clever and hospitable.  F. Mezick, Esq., the landlord with whom I stopped, and his very obliging and jolly assistant, are richly deserving of a passing notice, for the good treatment and the extension of the many civilities to "the stranger."


(Reader-friendly viewing of news archives/historical archives material)


September, 1993..




The Gettysburg Times (Gettysburg, Pa.) 

Footnote:

Although Ocean City received 2.8 inches of rain from the storm, Emily remained offshore and weakened .

(weather.wikia.com)

Emily was the fifth named storm, first hurricane, and only major hurricane of the 1993 Atlantic hurricane season. Emily formed on August 22 in the Atlantic Ocean well away from any land areas. Emily moved northwest, and was slow to attain tropical storm status, becoming a tropical storm on August 25. Emily briefly became a hurricane on August 26 as it moved to the southwest. Emily quickly weakened back to a tropical storm, later regained hurricane status, and moved generally west-northwest towards the coast of North Carolina. Emily attained Category 3 status just offshore the Outer Banks of North Carolina before turning east, southeast, and south where it weakened to a tropical storm once again. Emily then moved northeast and east, where it dissipated on September 6.

Emily caused $35,000,000 (1993 USD) in damage and killed 3 people, all directly.


January 1915 (Time Machine archive)

What may have started as a routine overnight boarding for passengers on the Chesapeake Bay steamer "Maryland" from departure points along the Pocomoke River and other lower Eastern Shore locations ended in a harrowing experience. After crossing the bay en route to Baltimore  the steamer caught fire.  Most of the passengers were in their berths at the time.  Some of the frightened passengers donned life belts and jumped into the icy bay waters attempting to swim ashore. Two night liners from Norfolk to Baltimore arrived promptly to offer assistance and other smaller boats soon were on the scene. The steamer carried 76 passengers and a crew of 32.  All were safely accounted for with apparently no serious injuries. The steamer was beached at the mouth of the Magothy River and burned to the water's edge.  In addition to $10,000 loss in cargo the value of passengers' personal possessions was expected to reach a high mark.  The steamer's value was placed at $120,000.



August, 1936
Cumberland Evening Times (Cumberland, Md.)

(Excerpts)

POCOMOKE CITY TOPS STATES IN RETAIL SALES

 Washington.  Aug 25. (AP)-  The bureau of foreign and domestic commerce reported today that the municipality of Pocomoke City had a per capita of retail sales of $699 in 1933, the highest in Maryland and triple that of the national average. 

The average per capita sales for the United States was $204, and for Maryland $236.

Towns over 2500 population in Maryland had per capita sales of $318, while the average per capita for the remainder of the state was $113.

In most of the cities and counties in Maryland the per capita retail sales were shown to be well above the national average of $204.


September, 1886..



Peninsula Enterprise (Accomac)




May, 1943..

                                               

Salisbury Times




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