Railroads, potatoes, joint police, gas prices

The following excerpts from The Millerton News were compiled by Kathleen Spahn and Rhiannon Leo-Jameson of the North East-Millerton Library.

Aug. 29, 1935

Railroad Seeks To Abandon Branch Line

WASHINGTON, D. C.- The New York New Haven and Hartford Railroad has filed a brief with the Interstate Commerce Commission seeking to abandon the Pine Plains-Shekomeko branch of the railroad on the grounds that maintenance of this section of road is not justified. According to figures provided by the railroad company, it will cost $13,000 to maintain the track for the next five years. The 5.1 miles of track is of sixty-pound rails rolled in 1888 and if operation of the branch is to be continued, the rails should be replaced, the railroad argues.

Missing Dover Man Returns

John Fleck, 38, of Dover Plains, who was the object of a search by the Dutchess County sheriff’s office and Poughkeepsie police after he disappeared on Tuesday afternoon of last week, returned to his home the past week-end. Fleck went to Poughkeepsie to visit his father, who was seriously ill, and was not seen after leaving his father’s home. When he finally returned home he gave the explanation that he had been looking for a job.

About Millerton

Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Brusie are the parents of a son born Friday at Sharon Hospital.

Robert Valentine and Wallace Hart of Hartford are guests of Mrs. R. L. Valentine.

Mr. and Mrs. George Van Tassel left on Thursday for Alabama University after spending their vacation with Mr. and Mrs. Henry Van Tassel.

Fred and Howard Bain, R. J. Silvernale, Oliver Valentine, Roland Fenn and Yorke Blanchard enjoyed a week-end fishing trip in Vermont.

Miss Mary Finn, who is employed at Hotchkiss School, is spending a few weeks with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Finn.

Fire Destroys Buildings At Copake Resort

COPAKE, Aug. 28 - Two alarms were answered by the Copake Fire Department over the week-end. The most serious blaze broke out on the Island of Paradise at Copake Lake, at about 1:30 a. m. Sunday, destroying the main office building and seven cottages. No estimate has been made of the damage.
An oil stove set fire to the tenant house on the farm of Mrs. Maude White, occupied by the Cecil Decker family, Saturday morning. Members of the family extinguished the flames before the firemen arrived. The furnishings of two rooms were considerably damaged.
Captain Glendenning and family were in Schenectady on Monday.
Mr. and Mrs. Foster Ham visited friends at Kinderhook Lake on Monday.

$1,000 Fine and Year in Prison Face Buyers of Bootleg Potatoes

By MARK SULLIVAN

In “potato control,” passed by both Senate and House, there are provisions so extreme that it is fair to doubt whether Congress understood them. On its passage through the House August 14, only one hour was allowed for debate, and individual speeches were limited to five and three minutes. In the Senate, the debate was less than an hour. It is fair to assume Republican Representative Clifford R. Hope, of Kansas, was right when he said: “If this measure could be adequately and thoroughly discussed on the floor, there would not be fifty votes in the House in favor of it.”

As to whether the country understands “potato control” there need be no doubt whatever. The country does not understand it. Newspapers contained little or nothing about it. This was natural, for “potato control” was enacted merely as one amendment lumped among many others as the “A. A. A. amendments.” It is one of the conditions of the whole New Deal that when so much is being done, newspapers cannot fully report all of it. It will be interesting to see how the country feels when it does understand potato control.”

Col. Roosevelt And Family Visit Amenia

AMENIA, Aug. 28 – Colonel and Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt and their son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. McMillan, were week-end guests at the De La Vergne Farms Hotel. While here they enjoyed the fishing in Turkey Hollow.

Among recent visitors at the O’Neil homestead were Commander Menton, U. S. Navy and Mrs. Menton of Woodhaven, L. I.

August 26, 1976

Dover Bank Is Robbed

Still under investigation by the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Department is a break-in at the Dover Plains branch of the Bank of Millbrook on Route 22.

The bank alarm went off at 3:06 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 23. The intruders evidently gained entrance through an attic louvre on the 1st floor structure, breaking through the ceiling to the main business area of the bank.

The culprits got away with close to $300 in wrapped coins. No suspects have been arrested.

Town, Village Are Stalled On Joint Police Plan

A plan to form a joint police department for Millerton and North East, discussed at a Village-Town Board meeting on July 26, has apparently stalled for the time being.

Millerton Mayor John Hermans said he is opposed to a joint police department. Village Attorney Walter Davis said legal research into the matter has stopped. Town Attorney Robert Trotta said the only way a joint department can be formed is through a Town-Village election. And North East Supervisor Frank Perotti, when asked if a joint department will indeed be formed, said, “We don’t know yet. We’re just going to drift along the way we are for the time being.”

At the July 26 meeting, the Village and Town Board discussed the Town’s interest in contracting with the Village for police services - a plan that differs from a joint police force. At the meeting, Trotta, basing his position on a 1973 State Attorney General’s opinion, said, “The town may not contract with the Village for police services out in the township. My advice would be for the town not to get into that arrangement.”

August 23, 2001

Fixed Price?

Prices on gas pumps in Millerton Tuesday read the same as they did one month ago, $1.55. Meanwhile, gas prices in nearby communities continue to decline. In Amenia, prices at the pumps for unleaded regular were $1.49, down 10 cents in the past month. But at the Cousin’s Mini Mart in Wassaic, the price had dropped to $1.46.
During June and early July, it appeared there was a price war in Millerton as gas prices were dropping between 7 and 9 cents a week.

At that time, they were the lowest prices in the area. However, prices have remained unchanged during the past few weeks.