From the March 26, 1926 edition of the Vineyard Gazette:
Is it permissible for a cow to range the highway after dark without headlights? And in any case, which has the right of way, the cow or an approaching flivver? If the flivver has the right of way, and socks the cow square amidships, is the owner of the flivver entitled to a porterhouse steak or a standing rib roast?
These questions have long perplexed motorists, but here is the best one yet. A car owned by one of our representative citizens was rammed by an erratic cow on the West Tisbury-Edgartown road at 10 p.m., Sunday night. Here is a case of “the man biting the dog”; this is news. Said cow neither carried horn nor lights and approaching from an angle in the car’s bow-plates, snapped the stem-post and wrecked the whole front, generally. When the dust had settled, the radiator connections were gone, and besides the aforementioned damage, one light pointed straight aloft and the other straight down. The flivver got home under her own power, but she was a wreck, and the owner states that he hasn’t seen any steak or even a piece of tripe as yet.
“Can he claim damages or does he have to take the cow?” query his brother motorists.
The Trapps Pond Fishing Company, owners or lessees of the pond of that name in the northern section of Edgartown, made a large haul of perch on Monday, the total catch amounting to 116 barrels of fine large fish, running from 10 to 12 inches in length, and some even measuring 14 inches.
The catch was barreled and shipped to New York. No returns have as yet been received, but from shipments made in previous seasons by the company from the same waters $25 per barrel or better is expected.
Chester E. Pease, Antone K. Silvia, Allen R. Norton, and possibly others, are prominent in the affairs of the company.
The waffle-tea given for the benefit of the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital by the Friday Club of the Federated church, Edgartown, at the home of Mrs. Archibald Mellen, Main street, on Friday, March 19, was enjoyed by all who attended.
The old fashioned home with its antique furnishings was an attractive setting for the guests, many of whom were from other towns on the Island. From 4 to 7 waffles were served as rapidly as they could be made and were pronounced delicious.
Seventy-one dollars was thus added to the hospital treasury. The club is grateful for all assistance given to make the affair a success, particularly the four friends who each sent $5 as their part of the good work.
Persons who are fond of oysters must watch their step as well as the calendar from now on, that is if they crave the delicately flavored bivalve of West Tisbury Great Pond.
Following the incident of Sunday last when two gatherers of oysters were ordered to dump their catches back into the pond, by state Officer Raymond Cook, the following announcement has been made by the officer:
“The state law provides that persons may be forbidden to fish or take shellfish from any waters controlled by a town, unless they have permits issued by the selectmen of such town. In the issuing of such permits the amount of shellfish to be taken at any one time or for any one period may be stipulated. This amount is determined by the town officials.
“The hours for fishing, as specified in this act, are from one-half hour before sunrise until one-half hour after sunset. And the only fish or shellfish which may be taken legally on the Sabbath day is the clam.”
This law, as Officer Cook explains, has never been enforced in West Tisbury. Persons from all over the Island have passed unmolested to and from the pond on any day of the week and have taken the oysters without restraint.
No one has ever voiced any protest against this practice until out of town people began to take the oysters in large quantities, with the intent to sell them. It is this imposition which has caused the land owners around the pond to invoke the law.
“In the future,” warns Officer Cook, “persons who gather oysters in West Tisbury pond must have a permit on their persons, and must have permission from the land owner who property they cross in reaching the water.”
State officer Raymond Cook went to Nantucket in civilian clothes on Tuesday, where he was joined by five other State officers also in plain clothes, and towards midnight began a series of energetic searches of various places suspected of selling liquor or having in possession with intent to sell, etc.
Twelve arrests followed the officers’ operations, and the jail was said to have been plump full, one cell being entirely filled with the seized liquor, stills, etc.
The next morning in court the room was so filled with interested parties that room was available for only 27 spectators. A total of $735 was collected in fines from the guilty ones, and it is said that many have not yet ceased gasping over the sudden onslaught of law and order.
Compiled by Hilary Wallcox
