Comment

 E-mail

 Print

Research

This Week in Rockland: Newspaper Excerpts: Flashback Friday: Week of October 14

October 12, 1872 – 150 YEARS AGO
Rockland County Journal

A GOOD WORD FOR LOCAL PAPERS
       The New York Times says you might nearly as well forget your churches, your academies and school houses as to forget your local paper. It speaks to ten times the audience that your local minister does. It is read eagerly each week from beginning to end. It reaches you all, and if it has a lower spirit and less wisdom than a sermon, it has a thousand times better chance at you. Laying, as it does, on every table, in almost every house, you owe it to yourselves to rally liberally to its support, and exact from it as able, high-toned a character as you do from any educator in your midst. It is in no sense beneath notice and care—unless you yourself are beneath notice and care—for it is your representative. Indeed, in its character, it is the consummation of the importance, interest and welfare of you all. It is the aggregate of your own consequence, and you cannot ignore it without miserably depreciating yourselves.

THE SPARKILL INSTITUTE
[Image: Advertisement, Sparkill Institute, October 12, 1872]
       We have special pleasure in calling attention to the announcement in our advertising columns of the opening of the Sparkill Institute. This is a select day school, of the highest class, at Upper Piermont. A new, large and very tasteful edifice, in the modern architectural style, with mansard roof, wide and lofty apartments, well ventilated, abundantly lighted and presenting, from its moderate, easily-accessible but very commanding elevation, some of the finest and most varied and rural inland views in Rockland County. A fine gymnasium, well appointed, occupies the large upper hall for the physical exercise of the students.
       Mr. F. W. Bauer, the principal, is a born schoolmaster. His pupils are influenced to respect and love but not to fear him; yet their instruction, in every branch, is made complete by the most careful and minute supervision. The advantages of the school in regard to modern and ancient languages, are precisely the same as are found in our first-class collegiate institutions of long standing. The full college course is complete in all English branches. The primary department is taught on the well-known and popular “Kindergarten” system of Germany. Teachers of acknowledged ability are employed in every department. Prof. Fowler, of Nyack, has charge of the musical division; and, among others, the Rev. Mr. Stitt, of Piermont, will lecture during the autumn and winter, upon English Literature, etc. It is Mr. Bauer’s ambition and design to make the Sparkill Institute one of the themes of pride and boast of Rockland County.

October 13, 1932 – 90 YEARS AGO
The Rockland Journal-News

WINS FILM AWARD
       HELEN HAYES, noted stage and screen actress who with her playwright husband. Charles MacArthur, is preparing a home in Upper Nyack, has received one of the highest honors that Hollywood can bestow—nomination for one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Her performance in “The Sin of Madelon Claudet” is ranked with that of Marie Dressler, last year’s winner, in “Emma” and Lynn Fontanne’s in “The Guardsman.” The balloting will continue until November 10 and at a banquet on the 15th the final award for “best performance by an actress” will be given.

BOASTS FINEST DISPLAY OF DAHLIAS IN ROCKLAND
       Perhaps nowhere in Rockland County is there a finer display of dahlias than that of Dr. John Gilchrest’s place in Upper Nyack, which is situated on a knoll overlooking the Hudson River. There are 180 varieties of various hues, the bulbs having come from Portland, Ore.
       The dahlias are of indescribable colors, large and beautiful. There are orange and mauve, pink and white, plain white and yellow, purple, and rosy gold, russet and vermillion, all tied to stakes and carefully arranged in rows. Nearby is a pool full of gold fish and with grasses and water lilies and flowers of all kinds tastefully arranged as a border, while in large umbrageous trees innumerable bird houses are scattered, presenting a scene of rare beauty.

October 11, 1972 – 50 YEARS AGO
The Journal News

THEY WAIT AS ALWAYS ’TIL THE LAST MINUTE
       Never do anything today that you can put off until tomorrow is a common motto of human behavior. Voter registration in Rockland County seems no exception.
       Tuesday at 10 p.m. was the deadline for voter registration this year, and frenzied voters swamped town and county election offices with phone calls.
       “Where do I go to register,” they asked, and “is this really the last day?”
       Tuesday from 4 to 10 p.m. was the last of the three special registration days in Rockland, two hundred and seventeen polling places in firehouses, school buildings and meeting halls were open for registration. Each polling place was manned by four election examiners.
       Which one of these 217 polling places was any one citizen supposed to register at?
       Orangetown Town Clerk Raymond Delo received a call from a Spring Valley resident. Spring Valley is in Ramapo and Delo had to direct the confused voter to call the Ramapo town clerk.
       The totals are not yet in on Tuesday’s nine-hour registration day, but Delo estimates that the figures in Orangetown are about double those of either one of the previous two special registration days.
       Some people who couldn’t make the deadline prodded Delo in desperation. “Can’t you do anything for me?” each asked. “I had to tell them I couldn’t,” said Delo.
       “I had to tell them it was the last day. No matter how many registration days you have, you’ve got to have a last day,” he said. 

RUNNING TO HEALTH
       A typical early morning Spring Valley scene—teacher and student joggers from the Kakiat Junior High School. They hope to log 100 miles in their current physical fitness program. Those who huff and puff their way to over 50 miles will be rewarded with an appropriately inscribed T-shirt.
_____

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