Wednesday, March 13, 2013
A look through Red Bank Register archives at what happened this week in Monmouth history.
A fire on a cold, windy night 98 years ago nearly wiped out the then-most densely populated section of Eatontown, according to the March 10, 1915 issue of the Red Bank Register. The Eatontown firefighters threw a dinner and party that drew much of the town the evening of the fire. When two barns and properties on Railroad Avenue went up in flames, the firefighters and the party attendants flocked to the scene. Soon, some 10 buildings had caught fire. As firefighters from Oceanport and Red Bank helped Eatontown with the blaze, J. Lee VanSchoick was forced onto the roof of his home, where the fire had spread: A Shrewsbury fire truck became stuck on a hill, but ultimately the firefighters at the scene were able to beat back the blaze. Only …
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
A look through Red Bank Register archives at what happened this week in Monmouth history.
What do you do when you're fresh out of jail? You might just head to Red Bank and attack a grocer with scale weights. The front page of the Feb. 24, 1892 issue of the Red Bank Register details Joseph Moran's misadventure in Frank Supp's grocery store. Moran had been released from a month-long stint in jail and celebrated by "getting what the boys called a glorious jag on," according to the article. Moran approached Supp, who was in no mood to tango: After approaching Supp with the scale weights, the grocer threw Moran out of the store. Moran responded by throwing the weights through the plate glass door, according to the article. Moran's next scrape would be with the insurance company: ----
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
A look through Red Bank Register archives at what happened this week in Monmouth history.
When you take in a runaway, you may want to hide your money. Capt. John Skidmore learned this lesson the hard way. The Feb. 21, 1900 issue of the Red Bank Register chronicles Willie Hendrickson's adventure on Skidmore's $170. Fresh off a "runaway trip to Georgia," the 19-year-old Navesink man found himself homeless with no money. Skidmore, who the Red Bank Register described as being "noted for his bigheartedness," took in Hendrickson and spent $21 on new clothes for the man. The good deed did not go unpunished. Hendrickson discovered Skidmore's stash of $170 and went on a spending spree, buying a sailboat in Locust Point, a gold watch in Atlantic Highlands, and opera tickets in Red Bank for him and his friends. When a constable caught up…
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
A look through Red Bank Register archives at what happened this week in Monmouth history.
Omar Sickles wasn't a bad fisherman--he just needed a proper lesson in eeling. (Hint: eels don't bite spears.) The February 10, 1904 front page the Red Bank Register recounts the eeling adventure Sickles and his valet, Cocus Reed, took in the Shrewsbury River. Sickles attempted to lure the eels by leaving his spear in the water and waiting for the eels to bite. Reed explained to his employer that in order to spear an eel, you need to, well, actually spear the thing. This little lesson landed Sickles several hundred pounds of eels, according to the Red Bank Register. Sickles, who was a fixture in the Middletown Republican Party in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, drew a comparison between the political game and the art of eeling, …
