Saturday, September 14, 2024

Recollections from generations past (Elmer A. Brittingham -10)

 


Interview Transcript

Interviewer: Did you ride the train much? Other than riding to Ocean City?

Elmer: Oh, not much. Oh, yes, days we did, because if we went anywhere, that

 was the only way to go. Sometimes we would go to Washington to baseball

 games. But the times we went to Philadelphia, we had boys that played on an

 athletic team from this area, we went by automobile. I remember going once

 to Washington, going to the Smithsonian. We went by train. We went, I don’t

 know, we’d go up to Wilmington. And then you don’t have to go around.


Interviewer: Do you remember Red Hills? Near Snow Hill?

Elmer: Oh, yeah. That was an old place to summer. Like a resort. Not a resort,

 but like a beach with a hill high above it, wooded. And the beach was fairly

 nice. It was, best I can remember, south of Public Landing. We never went

 there too much, but I knew it was there.


Interviewer: What kind of legends and superstitions did they have? Like about

 the woods? And the river?

Elmer: I’m not much on superstitions. I can’t help you much on that.


Interviewer: Well, did you hear about them?


Elmer: Yeah, perhaps, but not being of a superstitious nature, I probably don’t

 remember too many. I really can’t help you much with that one.


Interviewer: I’ve heard that the river, the Pocomoke River, gets one person a

 year. And the next year it’ll take 2.

Elmer: Yeah, it gets many if they can’t swim well, I’ll tell you that.


Interviewer: The hangings. Did you ever go to one?

Elmer: I never went to one. They did have public hangings. The one case, this

 Italian person who came as a laborer on a farm. The family took him in, and I

 don’t remember who he killed, somebody in the family, two of them, I think,

 but they hung him. And my older brother, you know, he didn’t see it, but he

 heard about it. And this house we lived in…I was 7 years old..on 3rd Street.

 And so he had me stand on a chair and he took the cord off the curtain and

 wrapped it around my neck, tied it to the rod, and then pulled the chair out

 from under me. I suppose I got red in the face. I don’t remember it, but I

 heard them talk about it a lot of times.


Interviewer: Before they hung somebody, I heard they would drive him

 through town and then take him out somewhere…

Elmer: I don’t remember that. But this time, I didn’t see it, but they took him

 from the jail, after he was tried, to the scene of the murder. It was a farm with

 woods right along side, that’s all. It was like some people went for the

 excitement, but the really good people didn’t go for those things.


Interviewer: (audio not clear)…some of your high class people wouldn’t be

 seen there?

Elmer: That’s right. Of course, all the drunks and the bums went. Usually.


Interviewer: What kind of music did you have then?


Elmer: Well, we came into the jazz age, so to speak. They had a glee club in

 the school. I never played in it, but my sister did. I got a banjo mandolin and

 played that like a mandolin. Then I had a (audio not clear) and I took a few

 lessons. And taught my sister to play. And she caught on quite well and

 continued to play. But, I never stayed with it long enough. I liked it alright, but

 the Scotsman I took lessons from, he charged me for every lesson, I

 should’ve been prompted by it, but I guess I didn’t have the knack for it.


Interviewer: Were there any big storms that happened around Pocomoke?

Elmer: Not really. Yeah, we had places at time where the hurricanes struck.

 The place down here by Accomac. It was many years ago. I did see it,

 afterwards. It was about half a mile and 100 yards wide. Cleaned out like

 every tree, everything.


Interviewer: Like a tornado?

Elmer: Yeah, a tornado. I said hurricane, but it was a tornado. Yeah, but

 nothing really big. There were no houses there, but everybody could see

 what it had done.


Interviewer: What about the Farmers’ Day. Or Foresters’ Day? Do you

 remember that?

Elmer: Oh, at Public Landing? They had a day every summer for the farmers. I

 don’t know. We didn’t go to that after we moved to town much. But they did

 have it and they still have it. Most of the time, now, I think different families

 gather up around at Milbourne Landing for Farmers’ Day…(audio not clear)

 Now they got it down to families.


Interviewer: Do you remember Klej Grange?

Elmer: Yeah.


Interviewer: Did you ever go out there?

Elmer: Yeah, but I can’t tell you too much about, I just know that they made

 plans to expand it, to build it up on a higher level and hope one time have a

 canal go through onto the bay, but it didn’t materialize. But I’m not up on it.


Interviewer: You didn’t know anybody from there?

Elmer: Yeah, there was a woman who worked in the Salisbury State library

 who was involved for a while, but I can’t tell you her name or anything.

 The details have sort of left be because (audio not clear). But I did know

 about it. It's where Mark Pilchard lives now, the man who is in the legislature. 

--End--

(This series continues next Saturday with recollections from Mrs. Flossie Douglas who began teaching in Worcester County in 1926.)

Friday, September 13, 2024

Far Out!

(futurism.com) 



It's incredible that it still has fuel left.

NASA engineers have pulled off an incredible feat: switching the agency's ancient Voyager 1 probe — the farthest human-made object in existence — to a different set of thrusters.

The feat, heavily complicated by the record 15.3 billion miles of outer space separating the probe from ground control, took weeks of careful planning.

Some of the 46-year-old spacecraft's thrusters started getting gunked up with silicon dioxide, the apparent result of a rubber diaphragm breaking down inside its fuel tank. The material reduced the thrusters' efficiency, forcing NASA to come up with a workaround.

Their solution: reactivate a different set of thrusters to keep it going.

The feat, successfully completed in late August, gives Voyager 1 yet another lease on life. The probe has been on life support for quite some time now — but it's still not giving up.

Voyager 1 has three sets of thrusters, which were designed to help it perform several planetary flybys. However, now that it's on a straight path away from the solar system, "its thruster needs are simpler, and either thruster branch can be used to point the spacecraft at Earth," according to NASA.

It's not the first time engineers have had to switch to a different set of thrusters. Both in 2002 and 2018, teams swapped the probe to a different branch due to similar material buildup.

The team's latest move was to swap to an attitude propulsion thruster branch, which had already been partially clogged, but to a lesser degree.

Complicating matters are power supply and temperature issues. Having "turned off all non-essential onboard systems, including some heaters" to conserve power, both Voyager 1 and its twin Voyager 2 have grown colder.

Consequently, engineers had to warm up the thrusters before bringing them back online to avoid any damage. However, turning on the heater could put too much stress on the spacecraft's dwindling power supplies.

Fortunately, the team confirmed on August 27 that their final plan — turning off one of the main heaters to free up power for the thruster heaters — had worked, allowing Voyager 1 to keep edging into interstellar space.

"All the decisions we will have to make going forward are going to require a lot more analysis and caution than they once did," said Voyager's project manager Suzanne Dodd in a statement.

Nobody knows how long Voyager 1 will hold on. The spacecraft has more than exceeded expectations, having fulfilled its original mission to explore Jupiter, Saturn, and Saturn's largest moon, Titan, decades ago.

But NASA remains optimistic.

"My motto for a long time was 50 years or bust," astronomer Stamatios Krimigis, who has worked on the Voyager 1 mission since the 1970s, told NPR in March, "but we're sort of approaching that."


P.A. Officer charged with child abuse of his children.

 (WBOC)


The Somerset County Sheriff’s Office has announced the arrest of a Princess Anne Police officer on child abuse and assault charges.

(View news story:)

Princess Anne Police Officer Accused of Severely Injuring Children | Latest News | wboc.com


Time Machine Preview-

This Sunday here at The Pocomoke Public eye: 


PLUS

1834  ..


1942 ..

1957  ..



1923  ..
(Predictions for life in 50 years)

2003  ..


1990  ..


Election text scam-

 


          (continues upper right column)


Loss of one of Assateague's young ponies-

 
(Shore Daily News)


The Chincoteague Vol. Fire Department posted on their Facebook page that one of the buy backs from this year’s pony auction has died.

“One of this year's buyback choices, “Ellie” was fatally injured on Sunday Evening. We were notified midday on Monday and confirmed that it was in fact her and upon examination was likely a result of a kick from another pony. We are constantly reminded that life in the wild is fragile and although we manage these ponies there are factors beyond our control. This filly was the first foal from her mother “Wildest Dreams” in a number of years and a great genetic fit for the island as well as being stunning black and white. It is a really sad day for us and the pony community as we were greatly looking forward to this filly’s life on the island and her contribution to the herd.”

Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Hurricane Donna..September 11, 1960.

 (Shore Daily News)



64 years ago today, Hurricane Donna wreaked havoc on the Eastern Shore

(View news story:)

64 years ago today, Hurricane Donna wreaked havoc on the Eastern Shore - Shore Daily News


Pocomoke Public Eye note: The news story writer, Charlie Russel, is owner of WESR radio on the Virginia Eastern Shore.

Tuesday, September 10, 2024

ECI staffing crisis?

 (WBOC)


Concerns about staffing shortages and working conditions at the Eastern Correctional Institute (ECI) were raised today (Tuesday) during a Somerset County Commissioners meeting, where former and current employees, along with local officials, urged the state to take immediate action.

(View news story:)

Alleged Staffing Crisis at Eastern Correctional Institute Sparks Calls for State Action | Latest News | wboc.com

Monday, September 9, 2024

Cell Phone roulette at school-


Cell phone roulette: Students face a jumble of restrictions in state’s schools

(See article at link below; scroll to end of article to access interactive map:)

 Cell phone roulette: Students face a jumble of restrictions in state's schools - Maryland Matters

Sunday, September 8, 2024

Time Machine: 100 years ago this week in Pocomoke's newspaper; 1963, 1908, 1936, 1993, 1985.

 



      (Enrollment for grades 1-12)







                                                                   



                                                               


September, 1963


Peninsula Enterprise


May, 1908


Crisfield Times


September, 1936

Salisbury Times



*September, 1993


Salisbury Daily Times


 *February, 1985



Marylander And Herald

tkforppe@yahoo.com