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This Week in Rockland: Newspaper Excerpts: Flashback Friday: Week of October 27

October 25, 1873 – 150 YEARS AGO
Rockland County Journal

HENRY WARD BEECHER
        Our readers have doubtless observed that the Haverstraw Library Association has scattered throughout our village a number of large posters which give the information that on next Monday evening the eminent gentleman whose name heads this article, will deliver in our sister village, a lecture entitled “Manhood and Money.” We wish to say just here that the posters are all right except in one particular, viz. : the subject of the lecture.
        What Mr. B. will discourse on is, “Compulsory Education,” a subject which should interest every man, woman and child throughout our county, and which in the hands of Mr. Beecher will more than repay for all sacrifices made to hear him.
         The reason for the change in the subject is that “Compulsory Education” is the latest of Mr. Beecher’s lectures, and the posters were printed before it was decided that he would deliver it in Haverstraw.
         In speaking of this intellectual treat, we would inform our readers that if one hundred tickets should be sold in our village, the new ferry-boat will be chartered to convey our citi-goers to and from Haverstraw.
         We hope that more than that number will be disposed of.

October 26, 1923 – 100 YEARS AGO
Nyack Evening Journal

STATE HISTORIAN COMING FOR ANDRE TABLET UNVEILING — Dr. Flick to Speak at Spot near Haverstraw Where British General Met Arnold
         Dr. Alexander C. Flick, the new State Historian, is to be the principal speaker at the unveiling of the Andre-Arnold tablet by the Rockland County Society, near Haverstraw, on Saturday afternoon, November 10.
         The bronze tablet will be placed in a boulder near the rock cut in the State road south of Haverstraw. It will commemorate the fact that in the ravine near the river, just below the road, Benedict Arnold met John Andre and planned to surrender West Point to the British without a struggle. The unveiling will take place at 3:30 o’clock. The exercises will be open to the public. A dinner and dance at Bear Mountain Inn for members of the Rockland County Society and their guests will follow. [Note: To read more about this monument and its rededication, visit the archived issue of South of the Mountains, vol. 57, no. 1, 2013, at New York Heritage.]

October 24, 1973 – 50 YEARS AGO
The Journal News

CLARKSTOWN POLICE FIGHT BATTLE OF THE BULGE
         A report filed by Clarkstown’s police surgeon indicates that flat feet, once a major occupational disease of policeman, may be giving way to a phenomenon described by Clarkstown police chief John Ambrose as “fat tushies.”
         Dr. Isidor Rosen, who has completed physical examinations of more than half of Clarkstown’s 80 police officers, has announced that “overweight is rampant” within departmental ranks. Rosen suggested setting and enforcing maximum weight standards to eliminate the extra beef.
         Ambrose acknowledged the weighty problem, but took exception to Rosen’s terminology. “‘Rampant’ is a power word,” the chief said. “There are some men who could stand to lose easily five or 10 pounds, like nine-tenths of the obese American population.”
         Ambrose, who describes himself as “more or less a bug on weight,” said that when Rosen’s exams are completed, target weights, based on an individual officer’s age, height, and build, will be established, “and the men who are found to be overweight will be told to take it off.”
         The chief said he hopes to establish a workout room for policemen, chubby or otherwise, in Clarkstown’s new town hall.
         “We are uniformed personnel, and we deal in a business that is physical,” Ambrose said, explaining that a trim appearance is important as a “matter of form.”
         But the physical nature of police work, Ambrose added, makes it sometimes desirable for peace officers to carry more weight than the average citizen.
         Ambrose questioned the actuarial tables used by Rosen to compute obesity. According to the chief, a solidly built, 6-foot-1 officer may be able to carry 210 pounds with ease, although insurance companies suggest a maximum weight of 180 to 185 pounds.
         But Rosen said that “other national figures” will be combined with the actuarial tables before Clarkstown’s shapeup begins. “Weight can vary with age and general build,” he said. He also said that his description of “rampant” obesity was “half-kidding.”
         “It was not to imply that they (Clarkstown police) are any different than any random sampling of similar age groups,” he said. “It’s just that I happen to be a little fussy about weight. If anything, I’d rather have them too thin.”
         Rosen concurred with Ambrose’s assessment that most Americans, regardless of occupation, can stand to lose “five or 10 pounds.”
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