200 Plus
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•April 24, 2019
Will Women’s Suffrage Finally Pass?
As April 1919 was drawing to a close, Burlington County’s Alice Paul, the leader of the National Woman’s Party, watched helplessly as hopes for the passage of a constitutional amendment allowing all…
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•April 17, 2019
Amelia a Standout Among Shipwrecks
Over the past several weeks I have been following a series of interviews given by William A. Crane, a former Manahawkin coroner and Ocean County clerk, about local shipwrecks. In 1884 he told about…
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•April 10, 2019
Deadly Two Weeks Off LBI
In 1885 at the dedication of the section of the Manahawkin Baptist Church’s cemetery set aside for unidentified victims of shipwrecks, William A. Crane, the former town coroner, gave an interview…
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•April 3, 2019
Deadly Time Off the LBI Coast
As you drive down Long Beach Boulevard on LBI in early spring you see signs of suburbia coming to life. It’s hard to imagine this place as ever being described as deserted or isolated and remote, but…
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•March 27, 2019
Lost at Sea, Found on LBI
In January 1884, the British barkentine Elmina grounded off LBI, and despite the efforts of several life-saving crews, all hands were lost in the icy surf. Several New York newspapers carried stories…
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•March 20, 2019
Fake News Blames ‘Heartless’ Locals
In 1884, the barkentine Elmina had grounded on the bar off LBI in a violent storm, with the loss of all those on board. While the failure of the local life-saving crews to save anyone was explained…
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•March 13, 2019
Struggling to Save the Elmina
During a gale in January 1884, a life and death drama was playing out on the LBI beach. The barkentine Elmina, from Salscombe, England, had grounded on the bar just offshore. Keeper James Sprague and…
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•March 6, 2019
The Fate of the Elmina
Some shipwrecks are simple tragedies affecting only the lives of those involved; others, like the Titanic, lead to sweeping government actions to improve safety. LBI has had two wrecks that led to…
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•February 27, 2019
Schooner Surprize Meets Its Fate
One of the great LBI mysteries is how Ship Bottom got its name. According to shipbottom.org, “The captain of a schooner heading south was navigating through a thick fog when he heard cries from the…
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•February 20, 2019
Suffragists Fight Onward
As February 1919 was drawing to a close, the hopes of New Jersey’s Alice Paul and her National Woman’s Party to amend the Constitution to permit all American women to vote in the 1920 presidential…
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•February 13, 2019
Welcome Home for the President
On Feb. 10, 1919, the amendment designed to give all American women the vote failed in the Democratic-controlled Senate, for the second time by only one vote. New Jersey’s Alice Paul, head of the…
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•January 30, 2019
Coming Down to the Wire
When the founders drafted the Constitution, they made it possible to amend it but ensured it wouldn’t be an easy process. Two thirds of both Houses of Congress are needed just to propose an amendment…
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•January 23, 2019
Watchfires Burn in Washington
As the cold temperatures of January 1919 settled in, an epic showdown between two New Jersey icons was taking place. The state’s former governor, now U.S. president Woodrow Wilson was in France…
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•January 16, 2019
Fight for Women’s Suffrage Continues
From the day former New Jersey governor Woodrow Wilson was sworn in as president of the United States, he had engaged in a battle of wills with another New Jersey powerhouse, Alice Paul. The issue…
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•January 9, 2019
Did You Pass or Fail?
Welcome back to the pages of The SandPaper. After two long, wet weeks, it looks like this might be the year without a winter. Before we begin the New Year, which will focus on attempts 100 years ago…
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•December 19, 2018
The Test: Were You Paying Attention?
It’s hard to believe it’s been 12 months since The SandPaper took its annual two-week vacation, but it has. This means, of course, the time is here for the annual “200 Plus” year-end test. There will…
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•December 12, 2018
Ships Bottom Station’s Unusual Recruit
In the early 20th century, what is today Ship Bottom was part of an unnamed, deserted stretch of the New Jersey barrier island known as Long Beach. During January 1903, the U.S. Life-Saving Service…
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•December 5, 2018
Heroes of Life Saving Station 20
During a gale on the night of Jan. 20, 1903, the barkentine Abiel Abbott grounded on the bar off what is today Ship Bottom. Within hours, keeper Isaac Truex and his crew from lifesaving station…
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•November 28, 2018
Lifesavers Tackle Impossible Task
In early January 1903, newspapers across the nation published stories about the heroic lifesavers from U.S. Lifesaving Service station number 20 at Ship Bottom, and their daring rescue of the crew of…
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•November 21, 2018
‘Ships Bottom’ Shipwreck Confusion
In January 1903, several events took place on Long Beach Island that helped to inspire a series of stories and a book that would create much of what is known as “the lure of Long Beach.” Winter on…
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•November 14, 2018
Peace Finally Declared in Europe
During the early days of November 1918, as word from the Western front was encouraging, Americans began to think of victory and, more importantly, peace and the end of the carnage. Still, the war…
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•November 7, 2018
Last Big Push ‘Over There’
In November 1918, the eyes of the nation were fixed on a section of France called the Meuse-Argonne, and here American Doughboys were taking part in the final drive to end World War I. For thousands…
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•October 31, 2018
War’s End Draws Near
The 78th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army was nicknamed “The Lightning Division,” but some people called it “Jersey’s Own.” It was made up of men mainly from New Jersey and New York and had been…
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•October 24, 2018
U-boat’s Mines Claim a Victim
As October 1918 was drawing to a close, news from the Western Front held the nation’s attention, causing many to overlook one of the greatest demonstrations of bravery that ever took place in the…
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•October 17, 2018
Flu Continues to Slam County
It’s said “It’s darkest before the dawn.” This might explain the situation in October 1918. On the Western Front American doughboys were dying in record numbers, while at home the Spanish influenza…
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•October 10, 2018
Influenza Devastates Ocean County
One hundred years later it’s hard to imagine the crisis that enveloped the United States in October 1918; while most disasters are local, the Spanish flu pandemic gripped the nation from coast to…
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•October 3, 2018
Miraculous Survival at Sea
Part of a little-known tale of maritime survival came to an end when newspapers across the country reported on Oct. 31, 1918, “A submarine chaser on duty off the Jersey coast about eight miles east…
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•September 26, 2018
Spanish Flu’s Spread Unstoppable
As the Spanish flu of 1918 began to spread through military bases like Camp Dix in New Jersey, it seemed only a matter of time until civilians began to fall ill. The U.S. Surgeon General gave the…
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•September 19, 2018
News From France, Death at Home
In September 1918 as the Spanish influenza was spreading across the United States, local newspapers tried to keep people informed of the progress of the war in far-off France. On Sept. 6, the New…
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•September 11, 2018
Death Sails With the Troops
An outbreak of the Spanish influenza among the troops at Camp Dix in New Jersey occurred in mid-September 1918, and the Camden Courier of Sept. 18 reported on attempts to battle the disease.
