34 Lookin' and Listenin'

Fulling Mill Rd. Long ori History

' By DOROTHY D. FREAS . Looking at a county map, you’ll see a well-known road that is short on.miles, but long on history Many people who drive around Cape May. recognize the name of Fulling Mill Road, but few know the early history of this not quite two miles of road . It wai named for a fulling mill bOilt in the area by one Richard Downs • who had placed an advertisement in the Pennsylvania Gazette about .1745 to sell his mill The parly settlers, who owned farms in Fishing Creek and .in Town Bank, then called Portsmouth, raised sheep Jmckeattle on their.land. When the sheep were sheared, the . industrious wives used their time and talents spinning, weaving, making cloth. •TO SHRINK and thicken the woven wool cloth, a process was used which first moistened the yards of material, then’applied heat, and finally pressed the wool. This was called “fulling.'' This type of mill was built in areas where needed in the early days of spinning anid.weaving. ■Originally, the road, overgrown with weeds and edged . with brush through the forest, led to the Matthew Hand farm, and also to two tiny settlements named “Green Splinter" and "Crandall Town ' But the airport now covers the.’places these originally occupied When thd men in the W.P.A. worked'on-Fulling Mill Road in the early l&30s, the original foundation of the old fulling mill was discovered. WHEN BRITISH ships anchored along Delaware"! during the War of 1812, foraging parties came ashore t . steal cattle and chickens from the farms around Fis Creek. They butchered the animals along the bay s taking the meat back to their ships. ■> After this, the farmers drove their stock to ' c. pens" that they built in the woods near Fulling Mill I and, thus hidden, saved the cows from the British. / It is only a short ride between Baysbore Road and the Delsea Drive, but think of the.history that was a part of that road.

Reds Resist White Lightning

A new brand of vodka went into Soviet shops last fall at two rubles below .the standard price, and westerners wondered why the price cu^, ■ An answer comes in th/current Soviet East European Report, published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The price cut, it seems, is really an attempt to compete ^ with moonshine. • * The story, according to Prof. Vladimir Treml of Duke University, started with a 26 percent increase in Soviet liquor prices in autumn 1981. Observers predicted that Soviets would just drink more industrial alcphol or brew their own. And in fact, sugar consumption surged after 1981 as Russians cranked up their still*: ^ 'THEY SAY in Nashville, moonshine can drive you blind. The Soviet Oniota annually suffers 20 deaths per 100,000 people from alcohol poisoning- at 10 times the global rate it’s the highest in the woMd. The Soviet leadership decided the best thing for public health was to bring back the cheap but^eliable brand of hooch Andrqppy and company seem to have learned one thing about the market; .namely that if consumers can turn to substitutes, it doesn't help to raise prices.

— Wall Street’Journal

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It We-Had-Boughj Stock In The Places Where We Did Our Christmas Shopping We Would Now Be Rich "

Continuing Mayhei^i To The Editor: .. , Life in the fast lane! How many accidents must occur on Seashore Road, from Cold Spring Village, northward, until death ^pkes suddenly? Who is responsible foi* the piecing of reduced speed" or "slippery road” signs? It is obvious orange warning markers, placed by various linemen, are completely ignored. As a front-row witness, I find the continuing hair-raising mayhem in our neighborhood deplorable. As a petition, presented to the county engineers a couple of years ago, following a near-fatal injury to two of the' neighborhood children, went unheeded, why endeavor to gather signatures for another petition? AS SEASHORE ROAD construction (re-construction) moves forward, and the weather worsens, traffic must be controlled. _/There is also another grave problem — beside trying to get in and out of their driveways, replr ring broken fences, and mailboxes — the crossing of this road to procure the mail from our boxes is extremely har-ardous. We would hope the Postmaster in Cape May City would aid us by giving permission to place our mailboxes on our Side (home) of.the road. Copies of this letter will be sent simultaneously to the director of the County Board of Freeholders, the county engineers, and the postmaster of the City of Cape May. MRS. WINIFRED S. JONES . ^ / ' Erma

Herald & LantenvIB January 'B4

Our Readers Write Constant Cry County Wrong Persons in attendance at the Lqwer Township Committee's monthly meting on Jan. 9 were subjected to the usual procedure followed by the committee. Robert Fotbergill, deputy mayor, was his usual conciliatory self. He announced he intended to answer no questions, except those pertaining to his latest project, the Incinerator Authority. This is most unusual in that these meetings are supposed to allow citizens of this township the opportunity to question their elected representatives, and get some answers. It is evident Fotbergill is shutting off questions which might prove embarrassing. The recent secret study which was purported fo be an alternative solution to .Lower -Township’s solid waste disposal problem, has evidently beeri shelved This $20 per , copy term paper, prepared by recreation experts, hired by a resolution of township committee, at a cost of at least $9,000, has not much substance. THE PEOPLE WHO prepared the study, apparently from one or more of our western states, are standing in the wings, ready to appear before an upcoming meeting. Because of the secrecy surrounding this whole project, I am not prepared to accept any statements forthcoming from people who are not professionals in the energy field. The county of Cap£ May has initiated its own professional study of the Harbison-Walker site, in order to substantiate the claims made by the Sanbom-Wielenga Associates study. It is time for Fotbergill to assure the public that the township committee will abide by the results of this professional study, or will the newly-formed Incinerator Authority order its own study, further com--plicating this entire matter? It seems our present township committee is bent on placing many obstacles to be overcome by the hew form of government. The constant cry that the countv government is always wrong reeks of profound partisan politics. ESTABLISHMENT OF the Incinerator Authority, in direct competition with the county, is a waste of money, time, and effort. We do not need another authority in our township. The statutes of New Jersey vests the responsibility of establishing and maintaining a solid waste management plan directly upon the county officials. Fothergill and the township officials would circumvent the law, if possible, by putting the township in the incinerator business. I do not want my tax dollars to be used in a repetitious way. The county has the responsibility to resolve the problem The county should, therefore, finance the solution. It is difficult enough to meet present tax bills. The creation of an authority will simply mean that the tax burden will now shift, insofar as refuse and garbage removal is concerned. The taxpayer will now pay any fees set by this autonomous entity. And if you believe that your expenditures will be less, forget it. By working together, the problem will be resolved. The “go it alone” philosophy, exhibited by our present elected officials, indicates they do not intend to cooperate, unless forced to do so. SAMUEL M. STUBBS North Gape May (ED. NOTE: Stubbs is a candidate for Lower Township -. Council.)

-Wasn't Allentown Listening? Yah, Yahy Now Fve Got You

By JOE ZELNIK

In this week's avalanche of fan mail came a note from a North Cape May woman in which s^e called this a “nonsensical column.” • > That hurt, of course. Nonsensical means lacking in sense. God knows I try to have this column make sense. Was it nonsense last week to recommend beating a small ho ise in Villas with 200 rabbits? Yoti want nonsense? How about a county of 84,000 people with one movie theater? And it shows “A Christmas Story” 18 days after Christmas. I have tried hard to keep nonsense nut of this column by always sUcking to the truth. Is it my fault the truth is sometimes nonsensical? LAST WEEK, for example, newspapers reported the Pentagon plans to win World War HI by having at least one nuclear weapon left after we and our enemies have finished lobbing about 50,000 nuclear warheads at each other. Idea is that the one with the leftover bomb could say, “Yah, yah, now I’ve got you." Now that’s nonsense. Something about nukes breeds nonsense. A California newspaper reported last week that federal officials in 1964 proposed using 22 atomic bombs to vaporize 68 million cubic yards of mountain to straighten Interstate 40. That would have Been $8 million cheaper than TNT — except for the cost of atomic bombs, which is a classified secret. Now that's nonsense How about what happened in Pennsylvania last week? An imminent nuclear war alert accidently went out in*44 Pennsylvania coonties. Forty-thrpe of them checked and found it was an error. But in Allentown. Lehigh County,'40 special sirens‘wailed for three minutes * Not one person called the county emergency commurtications number or local newspapers to ask why.

There’s something nonsensical there. TALK ABOUT nonsen—; how about Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Thayer bung forced to resign this month just because he supposedly tipped off friends to some cor porate secrets<hat helped them make a couple dollars? Sandra Ryno, 38-year-old former receptionist with one of Ins firms, and with whom he has "maintained a private personal relationship,” made $79,000. Julia Rooker, 37-year-old former airline flight attendant who “maintained fc close personal relationship” with Thayer’s doctor, made a few bucks. Williams, 26-year-old aerobic dance teacher who ‘maintained a close personal r&ationship” with Thayer’s broker, made about $45,000. CANT A PERSON even be charitable any more’ Who better to do favors for than receptionists, flight attendants and aerobic dancers? I recently, bought a Hoover vacuum cleaner plus attachments, for a lady with whom I had a dose’personal relationship. You want to put me in jail? (An asylum maybe.) Why this sudden, passionate desire for things to make sense. Does, it make sense lor me to stand in lS4egree temperature and pour boiling water Irom a tea kettkootn ‘ ha “ Ue » 1 out get in and drive to wort’ TOES IT MAKE SENSE that the first two women I .meet at a happyhour" are unhappy with me becatwe this newspaper publishes divorces’ . Does it make sense for me to get a letter asking for two 20<ent stamps so I can get a sweet potato catalog’ -Does .1 make sense fora lady in Avalon to call me and report there s a seal in the bay? Does stuffed flounder make sense' Does a front-end alignment make sense? You want nonsense’ I wrote letters to a girlfriend for ETJEE"*- LTl" 8 she ' d marT > -no She got married the other day — to the mailman