Week of October 18

October 17, 1874 –150 YEARS AGO

Rockland County Journal

IS SHE DEAD?

      Nyack is the proud and fortunate possessor of very many beautiful women, “belles” I suppose they may be called, very lovely in form and feature and some of them very dressy, but the one we appreciated the most wasn’t “dressy,” for she had nothing to wear: yes, actually went naked as she was born cold or hot, winter or summer, rain or shine. The most remarkable thing was her voice, which, although rich in tone and very clear, always produced an unpleasant sensation. When she “whispered,” you could hear her fifty rods; when she “spoke,” you could distinctly hear what she said for miles round, and strong men would spring to their feet and turn pale, and then rush into the street and repeat her words from one to the other. Poor dear! She’s gone now where the “woodbine twineth,” and we miss her sadly and wonder in our waking dreams whether Nyack will ever see one like her like again. She wasn’t exactly beautiful to look at, nor very graceful in form, but everybody liked her, and she was a general favorite. But she’s “ gone dead,” and her place is vacant. One of her peculiarities was that she never uttered more than one word at once, and that was “Fire!” and so she was called Miss Fire Bell. Do our village fathers know where she is buried?

October 16, 1924 – 100 YEARS AGO

Pearl River News

ITALIAN PREMIER SENDS HIS THANKS — Mussolini Is Grateful to Rockland County Folk for Sending Money for Ambulance

      Miss Helene Durant Rose of New City is in receipt of a letter from Premier Mussolini of Italy expressing thanks for money raised in Rockland County for an Italian ambulance.

      At the time the money was sent to Italy the fund, in some inexplicable manner, was passed to the Italian Red Cross and was not received as coming from Rockland County. The money was raised by a committee of which Mrs. Rose was secretary and associated with her were Judge Tompkins, G. M. Carnochan, B. C. Dunlop, Dr. G. A. Leitner, and former Senator George Cromwell.

      It is only recently that Mussolini became aware of the efforts of the Rockland County group, and he lost no time in sending Italy’s thanks to those who responded to the appeal, among the number being many of Italian birth and descent.

October 17, 1974 – 50 YEARS AGO
  The Journal News

PROMISE OF DUCK – NO SUCH LUCK

[Image: Jeff Graf, left, and Keith Schultz hunt duck in a West Nyack Swamp, 1974. Journal News Photograph by Art Sarno.]

      Area sportsmen took to Rockland’s wetland in Wednesday’s downpour for the opening day of the waterfowl hunting season and its promise of duck on the table.

      Many hunters harvested little more than wet feet and stories of the big mallard that almost graced their table, but damp clothes didn’t dampen anyones sense of humor.

      Jeff Graf and Keith Schultz, both Nauraushaun residents, were among the hunters who donned rain gear and headed for the West Nyack Swamp when the season opened at noon.

      After carrying a boat filled with equipment and rainwater down an access road which leads to the swamp, but was closed off to vehicular traffic when the Orangetown Police Department’s firing range was constructed there, the two young men rowed toward their duck blind.

      Two weeks earlier, Graf had reconstructed the blind he originally built three years ago but which is demolished by vandals annually.

      Enroute to the blind, the boat passed other hunters who snuggled in blinds, under tarpaulins or in brush covered canoes to escape the chilling rain and the keen eyesight of the wary gamebirds.

      The first true challenge at Wednesday’s hunt came when two other hunters, claiming squatter’s rights, had already moved into the duck blind.

      The discussion concerning prior claim to the marsh grass and plywood structure, much of which is best not repeated, ended with Graf and Schultz winning possession and bidding farewell to the other hunters on a friendly note.

      But the real winners were the eight ducks, the largest flock seen all day, who glided over the blind as the ownership dispute continued below.

      Already shivering under rain-soaked jackets, the hunters exchanged jokes and criticized the placement of decoys by their counterparts in surrounding blinds as they waited for the ducks

      Twice when the rain let up for short intervals, ducks would fly past and then circle towards the blind in answer to a duck call.

      But shots fired by other hunters or movement captured by keen aviary eyesight drove the birds away and ended in loud shotgun reports. empty shells and low mutterings in the blind as ducks showed hunters their tail-feathers.

      “Get any?” said a hunter passing in a canoe.

      “They’re all too high up,” came the answer from the blind, followed by a quick series of shots from another part of the swamp.

      “I can’t see why,” said the passing hunter. The same hunter arranged goose decoys upstream and managed to take his two-duck bag limit before the day ended.

      Throughout the day the hunting partners waited without success to duplicate the other hunter’s luck and complained of the cold induced by wind over wet clothing.

      “I think my armpit is frozen,” Graf said, as Schultz laughed through chattering teeth. A cup filled with hot coffee was passed back and forth, more to warn the hands holding the cup than anything else.

      As dusk approached, the gear was reloaded in the boat and the hunters reminisced of better days when they had left the blind with more than just their own gear.

      Avid hunters often contract strange maladies on opening day which can only be cured by taking a day away from their work week and standing in the amazingly therapeutic waters surrounding a duck blind.

      But following the opening ot the season, hunters like Graf and Schultz are forced to limit themselves to weekend hunts or an occasional sojourn into the swamp before or after work.

      Geese remain in season from Oct. 16 through Dec. 24 in this region, while the two seasons for ducks and coots run from Oct. 16 through Nov 23 and from Dec. 25 to January 4.

      Hunters are required to obtain a resident or non-resident hunting license, issued by the state, and a federal migratory bird stamp obtained at most post offices.

This Week in Rockland (#FBF Flashback Friday) is prepared by Clare Sheridan on behalf of the Historical Society of Rockland County. © 2024 by The Historical Society of Rockland County. #FBF Flashback Friday may be reprinted only with written permission from the HSRC. To learn about the HSRC’s mission, upcoming events or programs, visit www.RocklandHistory.org or call (845) 634-9629.