Comment

 E-mail

 Print

Research

This Week in Rockland: Newspaper Excerpts: Flashback Friday: Week of October 7

October 5, 1872 – 150 YEARS AGO
Rockland County Journal

POETRY
       [The subjoined beautiful poem was contributed verbatim et literatim to The Evening Mail, and is printed on condition that any further puffs of suburban real estate which desire gratuitous insertion shall be in humble prose, accompanied with the card of the local broker. —The subjoined, it is almost unnecessary to say, is anonymous.]

There are no mosquetoes in Nyack
There’s no Chills & Fever There
There is no Miasma Thick & Black
But Healthy Mountain air

There is no consumption in Nyack
There is no coughing & wheezing there
There’s no weary day’s—No sleep they lack,—
Who live in this valley so rare.

The Doctors are poor in Nyack
As far as the trade they drive
The Druggists live by their fancy stock
And the Butchers & Bakers Thrive

The water is salt at Nyack
Of the beautiful Tappan Zee Bay
And the hills are covered with grape racks
Like the south of France they say

Then sing of the beauties of Nyack.
Ye thousands who throng its bright shore
The Air is as pure as Adarondack [sic]
Thirty miles from New York and no more.
                                                                  Aurevoir

(PS by the Editor:
       Yet poets don’t thrive in Nyack
       And so, Mr. Aurevoir,
       If you will an editor’s brain rack
       Pray, don’t in the name of common sense
       and goodness gracious
       come here any more!)

October 3, 1932 – 90 YEARS AGO
The Rockland Journal-News

10,000 VISIT TAPPAN HOME – GLORIOUS WEATHER FOR ANNUAL TRAUBENFEST OF GERMAN MASONIC LODGES
[Image: German Masonic Home, ca. 1920. Wallace E. Mackenzie Photograph Collection of the HSRC.]
       It was estimated that more than 10,000 persons attended yesterday the annual Traubenfest held at the German Masonic Home, Tappan. They came by automobile, by bus, and by special train from New York, New Jersey, Long Island, and various sections of Rockland County.
       Glorious weather favored the event and the eatables they consumed and the beer they drank left little doubt as to the demise of depression—for one day, at any rate. Good cheer, good fellowship and good humor were radiated on every side. Businessmen forgot the trials and tribulations of profit and loss ledgers and with their wives and children and sweethearts entered zestfully into the spirit of the occasion.
       German dishes prevailed and seats in the big pavilion were at a premium during the greater part of the day. Pigs knuckles and sauerkraut, roast pork, bratwurst, liverwurst, bologna, frankfurters, etc., were all served and relished. There were other things to eat, but these were the favorites.
       It was the same winefest you attended long before you, your temples were gray. There was the usual band concert, the singing societies chorusing German musical gems, the two score or more of lodge banners around which sat Masonic brethren and their families, the spirit of gayety among the crowds walking about, the fakirs, the booths and the presence of politicians and office-seekers.
       The home attracted thousands of visitors. They came in streams and made a careful inspection on all floors, expressing delight at the fine appointments for the comfort of the men and women inmates, the cleanliness and general appearance. The temple where religious services are held and the commodious dining room won special commendation.

October 5, 1972 – 50 YEARS AGO
The Journal News

U.S. WILL MEDIATE GARNERVILLE STRIKE
       A strike by 6,000 textile processing workers, including 300 from Garnerville dye plants, has brought federal intervention.
       The U.S. Mediation and Conciliation Service has stepped into the dispute and is bringing both sides together Friday at 10 a.m. at its Newark offices, according to a New York City spokesman for the Textile Workers Union of America.
       The meeting is expected to be shifted to the Holiday Inn in Lindenhurst. N.J.
       Meanwhile, 300 workers at Elk Piece Dye Works and SD Sales Corp. in Garnerville have been on strike since Monday.
       The strike involves workers in about 125 textile processing plants in northern New Jersey, New York City and Garnerville in the dyeing, printing and finishing division of the Textile Workers Union.
       The strike began after a majority of the union members overturned the recommendations of their leadership and rejected a proposed contract, according to the union spokesman.
       The Haverstraw local representing the Garnerville workers was one of four to vote for the contract. They were joined by Hudson County, N.J., Lodi, N.J., and New York City locals.
       But the negative votes by the two largest locals, in Paterson and Passaic-Clifton, N.J., outweighed the other four, and resulted in a majority turndown of the contract, the spokesman said.
       The aborted contract agreed to by the union and the Metropolitan Textile Processors Association provided for a 90-cent-an-hour package increase in wages and fringe benefits over three years, the union spokesman said.
       The union spokesman said he understood the rejection by the union majority came since they felt a commitment of three years was too long, especially if there are future changes in President Nixon's economic policy.
       Wages would have gone from about $3.80 an hour to $4.50 in three years, he said. Wages provided for 73 cents of the 90-cent package.
       The aborted contract was negotiated in August and September to cover the contract, which expired Sept. 30.
       Sy Cohen, manager of the union's Hudson area joint board, said the strike is being supervised locally by Tony Guidice of Stony Point and Saturena Reyes of Haverstraw.
_____

This Week in Rockland (#FBF Flashback Friday) is prepared by Clare Sheridan on behalf of the Historical Society of Rockland County. To learn about the HSRC’s mission, upcoming events or programs, visit www.RocklandHistory.org or call (845) 634-9629.

 Comment

 E-mail

 Print