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UM, APOLOGIES, NO SLIDES, ALTHOUGH DEBBIE IS STILL WORKING ON IT.
WE'LL MAYBE BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
THESE ARE OBVIOUSLY SLIDES OF HASTINGS THAT ACCOMPANY THE TOPICS WE WERE GONNA TALK ABOUT, BUT TECHNICAL PROBLEMS. SO WE'RE JUST GONNA CHAT, WHICH IS GONNA BE GREAT.
UM, BUT IT REMINDS ME TO REMIND YOU, IF YOU DO WANNA SEE THE IMAGES, YOU CAN BUY A COPY OF THE BOOK AT THE END.
UH, OBVIOUSLY I'VE READ IT AND IT'S QUITE WONDERFUL AND WE WE'RE ONLY GONNA COVER A SLIVER OF WHAT'S IN THERE.
'CAUSE JONATHAN, WHO I'LL INTRODUCE IN A SECOND, STARTS LIKE IN THE STONE AGE OF
AND THEN ALL THE WAY UP TO THE PRESENT.
UM, OKAY, SO WHAT WE'RE, WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO IS, JOHN, I'M GONNA INTRODUCE JONATHAN IN A SECOND, AND THEN HE'S GONNA COME UP TALK, JUST GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW HE CAME TO WRITE THE BOOK.
THEN I'M GONNA ASK SOME QUESTIONS, UH, ABOUT THE BOOK.
AND THEN WE'RE GONNA DO WHATEVER HE WANTS TO DO, WHICH IS OPEN IT UP TO HIM, UM, AND ASK AND, AND TALK.
AND THEN, UH, A LITTLE AFTER THREE, WE'LL GO NEXT DOOR.
UH, THOSE INTERESTED IN THE BOOK CAN GET IT SIGNED FROM JONATHAN.
AND WE'LL GO NEXT DOOR FOR SOME REFRESHMENTS.
THIS IS, UH, ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL.
I DIDN'T EXPECT THIS, UM, A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MY BOOK AND WHY I DID IT.
FIRST OF ALL, I GREW UP ON 16 CROTON AVENUE, RIGHT BY REYNOLDS FIELD.
AND I REMEMBER THE, I THINK THE FIRST DAY THAT MY PARENTS TURNED ONTO CHAUNCEY LANE, AND I SAW MR. PETERS, IF ANYBODY REMEMBERS MR. PETERS IN THE OLD WHITE SHACK, OKAY.
WE, I MEAN, WE CAME FROM AN APARTMENT IN THE BRONX, A LITTLE, A LITTLE CROWDED APARTMENT IN THE BRONX.
AND WHEN WE WALKED UP ALL THOSE STAIRS OF 16 CROTON AVENUE, I WAS LITERALLY IN HEAVEN.
BUT I DIDN'T REALIZE ALL THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL HOW IMPORTANT HASTINGS REALLY IS AS A MICROCOSM OF WORLD HISTORY.
AND IT'S ONLY 2.9 SQUARE MILES.
BUT IT HAS SO MUCH IN ITS HISTORY THAT I DIDN'T REALLY REALIZE.
WE PLAYED ON THE AQUEDUCT FOR ALL THOSE YEARS, AND I DIDN'T REALLY KNOW WHAT THE AQUEDUCT WAS, EXCEPT THAT IT TOOK WATER TO NEW YORK CITY.
BUT MOST PEOPLE THOUGHT IT TOOK WATERS TO NEW YORK CITY THROUGH HORSES AND WAGONS.
IF YOU COULD TAKE A CROSS SECTION THROUGH, UH, ANY PLACE IN HASTINGS, YOU WOULD TAKE A CROSS SECTION.
YOU WOULD FIND THAT THERE'S A TUNNEL, EIGHT AND A HALF FEET HIGH, SEVEN AND A HALF FEET WIDE, AND YOU COULD GET A BOAT THROUGH THAT WATER THAT, UH, CAME THROUGH FROM THE OLD, UH, CROTON RESERVOIR.
UM, YOU TALK ABOUT, UH, WELL, BARON MENTIONED, UM, THE STONE AGE AND THAT SORT OF THING.
WELL, 250 MILLION YEARS AGO WHEN WEST AFRICA WAS BUNCHED UP TO THIS AREA, UM, THE PALISADES STARTED TO BECOME FORMED.
AND THEY'RE FORMED OUTTA THIS COLUM BASALT, THEY CALL IT.
AND THIS IS NOWHERE IN THE WORLD DO WE HAVE A VIEW LIKE THIS.
FOR 22 MILES, IT STRETCHES THIS WAY.
UM, SO THERE, THERE WAS ONLY ONE, UM, CONTINENT, ONE LANDMASS AT ONE POINT CALLED PANIA.
AND I HAVE SLIDES OF ALL THIS, BUT I CAN'T REALLY SHOW IT TO YOU RIGHT NOW 'CAUSE WE DON'T HAVE ANY.
SO YOU GOTTA LISTEN TO ME, UNFORTUNATELY.
UM, SO PANIA BROKE UP INTO THE CONTINENTS THAT WE HAVE TODAY, AND THERE'S ONE AREA IN SIBERIA, ALASKA CALLED BIA ON BERING STRAITS.
WE KNOW NOW THAT'S A, IT'S, IT'S A WATERWAY, 2, 650 MILES NORTH TO SOUTH, AND IT SEPARATES, UH, RUSSIA FROM THE UNITED STATES.
WELL, WHEN IT WAS A LANDMASS, AND IT'S HAPPENED FOUR OR FIVE TIMES OVER 250 MILLION YEARS, UH, THE INDIANS, UH, FROM SIBERIA WERE ABLE TO CROSS OVER THAT LANDMASS AND COME DOWN TO, UH, NEW MEXICO AND ACROSS THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA.
AND THEY ENDED UP ON THE HUDSON RIVER.
AND THIS WAS LONG BEFORE THE DUTCH OR THE ENGLISH GOT HERE.
UM, THE INDIANS LIVED ON THE HUDSON RIVER FOR OVER 7,500 YEARS.
AND HUDSON RIVER RIGHT OUT HERE WAS PRISTINE.
THEY, UH, FISH FOR OYSTERS, CLAMS, TROUT, BASS, STURGEON AND THE LIKE.
AND THE, THE WATER WAS PRISTINE.
AND I'LL, YOU KNOW, WE CAN GET INTO THE, UM, RAMIFICATIONS OF INDUSTRIALIZATION 'CAUSE THAT'S ALL IN THE BOOK TOO, BY CHAPTER, BY CHAPTER.
UM, SO THEY CAME OVER HERE AND THEY WERE HERE FOR 7,500 YEARS, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN THE DUTCH CAME OVER HERE ON THE MAYFLOWER AND OTHER SHIPS AND RUINED
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EVERYTHING.WITHIN 30 YEARS, THEY HAD, UH, DECIMATED THE INDIAN POPULATION IN, UH, WESTCHESTER COUNTY, 90% THROUGH WARS.
AND THE BOOK GOES THROUGH THE RIT WARS AND THE ENGLISH AND, UH, DUTCH WARS WITH EVENTUALLY THE ENGLISH TAKING OVER NEW AMSTERDAM IN 1664.
SO, UM, THAT'S JUST A PROLO TO, UH, THE BOOK.
I'M GONNA HAND THIS OVER TO BARON FOR A SECOND.
SO I THINK HE HAS SOME QUESTIONS FOR ME.
OH, CAN I SAY ONE THING, BARON? YEAH, PLEASE.
ONE THING, THE FRONT OF THE BOOK IS A PICTURE THAT I ACTUALLY GOT FROM NATALIE OVER AT THE HASTINGS HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
AND IT'S A PICTURE BY RUDOLPH RUKI HASTINGS GUY BACK IN 1926.
AND IT'S A PICTURE OF A SNOW CAPPED HASTINGS WITH A WOMAN WALKING HER DOG DOWN TOWARDS THE VILLAGE.
AND YOU CAN SEE ALL THE, UH, THE VILLAGE HIGHLIGHTS DOWN THERE.
YOU CAN SEE, UH, HARVEY'S HOME, GEORGE HARVEY'S HOME.
YOU CAN SEE THE FOG FACTORY, YOU CAN SEE THE HUDSON RIVER COVER WITH ICE AND THE PALISADES, THESE GUYS RIGHT OUT THERE.
SO I CHOSE THAT FOR THE COVER BECAUSE I THINK THAT EVERYBODY COULD PROBABLY RESONATE WITH THAT.
SO WE'LL GET INTO A FEW SPECIFIC QUESTIONS AND THEN WE'LL AGAIN, WE'LL OPEN IT UP.
UM, THE FIRST QUESTION WAS THE ONE I THOUGHT YOU WERE GONNA ANSWER, WHICH IS HOW YOU CAME TO WRITE THE BOOK.
WHY YOU, WHY NOT ONE OF YOUR CLASSMATES? WHAT WAS IT ABOUT YOU, YOU THINK THAT, UH, GOT YOU THE ENERGY AND THE GREAT AMOUNT OF RESEARCH THAT YOU DID? OKAY.
FOR THE LAST 25 YEARS, WELL, FIRST OF ALL, I'M A, I'M A CLASS REP FOR MY CLASS HASTINGS, UH, 1963.
AND FOR EVERY FIVE, EVERY FIVE YEARS, CHUCK WOODARD, ANOTHER GUY WHOSE FATHER WAS ACTUALLY A MAYOR HERE BACK IN 62, I THINK IT WAS, OR 61.
CHUCK AND I COME UP HERE EVERY FIVE YEARS, AND WE LOOK AT THIS PLACE, WE'RE FILLED WITH NOSTALGIA.
WE ATTEND OUR MEETINGS, UH, WITH THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION, WE GO OVER TO THE HASTINGS HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
AND, UM, IT'S A WONDERFUL WEEKEND.
BUT, UM, ABOUT 25 YEARS AGO, I THOUGHT ABOUT WRITING A BOOK ON HASTINGS AND I, THERE THERE ARE SO MANY SMART, INTELLIGENT PEOPLE THAT HAVE GRADUATED HASTINGS ON HUDSON.
NOBODY'S EVER WROTE, WRITTEN A BOOK.
AND I, I WAS WONDERING WHY, BECAUSE THE MORE RESEARCH I DID, AND, YOU KNOW, WE DIDN'T HAVE WHAT WE HAVE NOW, CERTAINLY, BUT THE MORE RESEARCH I DID, THE MORE I FOUND ALL KINDS OF INCREDIBLE STUFF.
ALL I HAD TO DO WAS LOOK NEXT DOOR.
MY NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR WAS VERMONT, CONNECTICUT, ROYSTER, EDITOR OF THE, UH, WALL STREET JOURNAL FOR ALL THOSE YEARS.
UM, JACQUES LIPSCHITZ RIGHT OVER HERE ON WASHINGTON AVENUE.
AND, UH, I STARTED LOOKING AT OTHER NAMES, AND WE'VE HAD SO MANY FAMOUS PEOPLE HERE, UH, IN HASTINGS THAT WE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT THAT TOOK THE CROTON LOCAL DOWN TO NEW YORK CITY EVERY SINGLE DAY.
SO I DECIDED THAT, UM, TWO, THREE YEARS AGO, THAT I WAS GONNA WRITE A BOOK ABOUT HASTINGS.
AND I SAID TO MY WIFE, I SAID, YOU KNOW, THIS IS SOMETHING I GOTTA DO.
AND CHARLIE GRACIOUSLY SAID, GO FOR IT.
AND FOR THE NEXT YEAR AND A HALF, AND I'M NOT KIDDING, I WAS IN MY MAN CAVE EIGHT HOURS A DAY, SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, EXCEPT FOR DINNERS AND, YOU KNOW, GOING OUT TO A SHOW OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
BUT I SPENT AN HOUR AND A HALF, UH, UM, UM, UH, A YEAR AND A HALF DOING THAT.
AND THEN YOU HAD TO GET TO THE PUBLISHING STAGE.
AND THAT'S AN AWFULLY AWKWARD, DIFFICULT STAGE AS WELL, TRYING TO GET THE RIGHT PUBLISHER.
BUT IT ALL WORKED OUT AND ALL WORKED OUT GREAT.
AND AMAZON HAS A LOT OF, UH, CUSTOMER REVIEWS THAT ARE ALL VERY GOOD.
AND I PUT A LOT OF TIME INTO THIS BOOK.
AND I THINK THAT I MISSED A LOT OF STUFF.
'CAUSE IT WAS, YOU KNOW, I COULDN'T, I I, I DIDN'T WANNA HAVE AN 800, 900 PAGE BOOK, BUT I WANTED TO REFLECT, UM, THE HASTINGS THAT I GREW UP IN AND THE PEOPLE THAT WERE THERE WHEN I GREW UP, UH, WHETHER THEY WERE ACTORS OR WRITERS.
UH, BUT THE MORE I LOOKED, THE MORE I FOUND PEOPLE FROM THE 18 HUNDREDS AND EARLY 19 HUNDREDS THAT LIVED IN HASTINGS.
SO I HAD HAD TO INCLUDE ALL THEM TOO.
AND SOME OF 'EM ARE PRETTY FAMOUS PEOPLE LIKE LOUIS HEIN, ANYBODY HERE OF LOUIS HEIN? OKAY.
AND HE, HE MADE THE FAMOUS, HE PHOTOGRAPHED THE FAMOUS ICONIC PICTURE OF THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING BECAUSE HE WAS COMMISSIONED TO BUILD IT.
UH, AND HE WAS WAY UP THERE ON THE, YOU KNOW, 75TH FLOOR WITH HIS 50 POUNDS OF, UH, PHOTOGRAPHY EQUIPMENT, TAKING A PICTURE OF THAT ONE WORK THAT WAS ON THE BEAMS. AND THAT'S HIS PHOTO.
EVERYTHING COMES BACK TO HASTINGS ON HUDSON.
AND WE'RE GONNA COME BACK TO SOME MORE FAMOUS PEOPLE IN A LITTLE BIT,
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BUT I, I DID WANNA ASK NEXT TO, TO, FOR ME, THE, THE MOST FASCINATING PART OF THE BOOK IN A SENSE WAS, UH, YOUR STORIES OF MOSTLY WHEN YOU WERE A KID OF THESE ACTIVITIES YOU DID THAT DON'T EXIST ANYMORE.SO SAY A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE, THE SWIMMING HOLES, THE PONDS THAT YOU ACCESS WITH YOUR FRIENDS, UH, THE HUDSON RIVER, UM, MAYBE SOMETHING ABOUT THE BUCCANEER AND JUST THESE THINGS THAT WE COULD NEVER REALLY IMAGINE ANYBODY DOING THESE DAYS THAT YOU DID.
WELL, HASTINGS REALLY IS THE, ARE PART OF THE FOOTHILLS OF THE CATSKILLS.
SO WE HAVE A LOT OF UNDERWATER STREAMS THAT FLOAT INTO HASTINGS.
THEY'VE BEEN DOING IT FOR CENTURIES, AND THEY'RE STILL DOING IT.
AND WE STARTED WITH A, UH, POND CALLED THE THREE ISLANDS.
ANYBODY KNOW WHO THE THREE ISLANDS UP BY ST.
AND THEN THAT WATER FLOWED DOWN INTO THE DUCK POND WHERE THE CHEM KAUL IS NOW.
AND THEN THAT FLOWED DOWN TO, UH, THE SUGAR POND.
AND THERE WAS, THE STREAMS BACK THEN WERE TOTALLY ABOVE GROUND.
I MEAN, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY WEREN'T SUBTERRANEAN LIKE THEY ARE NOW.
AND THEY FLOWED THAT RIGHT ON DOWN THROUGH WHAT WE CALLED THE VALLEY, WHICH IS WHERE THE A MP WAS BUILT.
THAT WAS THE, UH, CHRISTIE PROPERTY.
AND BEFORE THAT IT WAS PETER POST PROPERTY, AND THEN THAT FLOWS DOWN THROUGH MAIN, UNDER MAIN STREET AND DOWN THROUGH THE HUDSON RIVER.
UM, BUT, UH, THERE, THERE WAS ONE EPISODE ON THE THREE ISLANDS WHEN A FRIEND OF MINE AND I, ON A VERY HOT SULTRY AUGUST DAY, WENT UP TO THE THREE ISLANDS.
AND YOU DIDN'T WANNA REALLY WALK OUT THERE BECAUSE THERE WERE A LOT OF SNAPPING TURTLES AND NASTY SNAKES AND THAT SORT OF THING.
BUT WE DID ANYWAY, AND THE WATER WAS UP TO HERE AND WE GOT OUT TO AN ISLAND.
BUT WE REALIZED THAT WE MADE A BIG MISTAKE BY DOING THAT.
'CAUSE NOW WE HAD TO GET BACK.
AND A WOMAN CAME DOWN IN HER CAR AND SHE THOUGHT WE WERE IN TROUBLE.
SO SHE WENT DOWN TO THE HOOK AND LADDER FIRE DEPARTMENT, HOOK AND LADDER NUMBER ONE, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN WE HEARD THE SIRENS AND THEY CAME UP AND, YOU KNOW, UM, ADRENALINE STARTED TO RUSH THROUGH US.
SO WE THOUGHT, OH, WE BETTER GET BACK ON LAND.
AND THE FIREMEN SAID, STOP, YOU JUST STOP WHERE YOU ARE AND STAY THERE.
AND THEY, UH, EXTENDED THE LADDER HORIZONTALLY SO THAT WE COULD GET ON IT FROM THE ISLAND, WHICH WE DID.
BUT THAT WASN'T THE END OF THE STORY, CERTAINLY BECAUSE WE WERE SUMMONED TO THE POLICE COMMISSIONER AND OUR PARENTS.
AND THAT WAS OUR TOM SAWYER MISADVENTURE FOR THE SUMMER.
BUT AT LEAST IT PROVIDED A LITTLE, UM, RECREATION FOR HOOK AND LADDER NUMBER ONE.
SO
AND I CAN REMEMBER 1955 OR 56, WE HAD PEACE SHOOTERS AND WE WERE UP BY THE OLD DUTCH REFORM CHURCH WITH PEACE SHOOTERS, YOU KNOW, HITTING THE CAR WINDOWS AND THAT SORT OF THING.
AND A BUNCH OF HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS CAME AROUND, THE DUTCH REFORM CHURCH, WHICH IS WHERE ADMIRAL FARGATE MADE HIS FAMOUS SPEECH, BY THE WAY.
UM, AND THEY CAUGHT US AND WE HEARD ONE OF 'EM SAYING, LET'S TAKE HIM TO THE RIVER, WHICH THEY DID.
THANK GOD THEY DIDN'T DROWN US.
BUT I LOOKED IN THE RIVER AND I REMEMBER SEEING THIS GREYHOUND RIDDLED WITH BULLETS AND JUST JUNK ALL OVER.
MY FATHER WOULD NOT COOK THE FISH THAT I CAUGHT THERE.
UM, BUT THEY DID HAVE THE BUCCANEER THERE.
DOES ANYBODY REMEMBER THE BUCK? JUST A FEW PEOPLE.
WELL, THE BUCCANEER WAS CHRISTENED ACTUALLY IN BEAUMONT, TEXAS.
AND THEN GAL, 10-YEAR-OLD GIRL BY NAME ANNA PRAIRIE, CHRISTENED IT WITH A BOTTLE OF CHAMPAGNE.
AND THEN UP BACK UP HERE IN THE 1960S, UM, THEY WERE TRYING TO TAKE CERTAIN THINGS FROM THE, UH, RELICS AND THAT SORT OF THING FROM THE BUCCANEER.
THEY WERE TRYING TO RESTORE IT, AND NOTHING COULD HAPPEN.
UM, BUT THE VERY PERSON WHO TRIED TO, UH, GET SOME OF THE, THE, UH, RELICS AND PARTS OF THE SHIP AND BRING HIM BACK TO BEAUMONT, TEXAS, WHERE IT ALL BEGAN, UH, IT DIDN'T QUITE WORK OUT.
HER NAME WAS MARY ANDERSON, WHICH IS THE SAME PERSON, THE SAME CHILD THAT CHRISTENED THE SHIP IN THE FIRST PLACE.
UM, MY BROTHER WAS A LOT MORE ENERGETIC AND ACTIVE THAN I WAS.
YOU KNOW, I'M A FIRST CHILD, WE'RE KIND OF CAUTIOUS, BUT, YOU KNOW, SECOND CHILDREN, WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING ABOUT?
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THAT'S MY BROTHER, MY YOUNGEST BROTHER, TIM.I USED TO FISH THERE A LOT, BUT A LOT OF KIDS WOULD GO OUT TO THE BUCK AND THEY'D SNEAK UP THERE AS LONG AS THE GUARD WASN'T WATCHING, AND THEY'D SNEAK OUT TO THE BO SPUR.
AND THAT BO SPUR WAS 25 FEET LONG AND 50 FEET ABOVE THE WATER, AND THEY'D JUMP INTO THE WATER.
AND MY BROTHER DID THAT, UH, OFTEN.
SO ONE DAY HE SAID, COME ON, YOU GOTTA GO IN THE HUDSON RIVER.
COME ON, YOU GOTTA DO SOMETHING.
SO WE GOT A HOLD OF TWO TRUCK TIRES, INNER TUBES WENT RIGHT OUT HERE, AND THE WIND TOOK US SOUTH AND THERE'S NOTHING WE COULD DO ABOUT IT.
AND ALL WE HAD ON WERE OUR BATHING SUITS AND US KIDS.
AND IT TOOK US TO A, A STATION DOWN HERE.
I DUNNO, IT WAS GRAYSTONE OR ONE OF THOSE STATIONS, UH, SOUTH OF YONKERS.
AND WE TOOK OUR TWO TRUCK TIRES AND WE WERE WET.
AND WE GOT ON THE TRAIN,
AND HE SAID, WHERE YOU BOYS GOING? AND VERY SHYLY.
WE SAID, WE'RE GOING HASTINGS ON HUDSON, AND HE LET US GO FOR FREE.
SO, YOU KNOW, AND YOU KNOW, WE GOT, WE GOT OFF AND WALKED UP TO OUR HOUSE, THE GROTON AVENUE, THREW THE TRUCK TIRE SOMEWHERE, AND, UH, IT WAS ALMOST FIVE O'CLOCK.
SO FIVE O'CLOCK HE HAD TO BE HOME FOR DINNER.
MY MOTHER SAID, WHAT'D YOU GUYS DO? EH, NOTHING MOM,
YOU KNOW, I MEAN, THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS.
WE GREW UP LIKE WOLVES IN HASTINGS BACK THEN.
SAY WHERE THE BUCCANEER WAS FOR THE FOLKS? THE BUCK.
YEAH, THE BUCK WAS RIGHT OUT HERE.
IT WAS A, THE BUCCANEER HAD A LONG HISTORY, UH OH YEAH.
IT WAS RIGHT OUT HERE, UH, WHERE THE TENNIS COURTS ARE NOW.
UM, IT HAD REALLY A LONG HISTORY.
IT WAS COMMISSIONED IN 1919 DURING WORLD WAR I, AND IT DID SEE SOME ACTION.
IT WAS A CARGO SHIP, ACTUALLY.
IT HAD, IT WAS FIVE MAED, FIVE MAN, UM, UH, WHAT WAS IT CALLED? UH, BERKER, I THINK.
UM, AND THEN SOME GUY BOUGHT IT IN THE 1930S, NOT BEFORE IT WAS A SPEAKEASY OFF, UH, 79TH STREET.
AND THEN IT WENT UP AND DOWN THE HUSTLING RIVER MORDE IN TAPPIN.
UH, AND EVERY NIGHT DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS, UH, YOU COULD DANCE THERE.
AND WHILE PEOPLE WERE DANCING, WAS ALSO A ROOM RUNNER.
AND THEN, UM, IN 1939, EVERYTHING STOPPED BECAUSE IT WAS A WAR AND ROBESON OIL COMPANY, WHICH WAS RIGHT HERE, UH, RIGHT WHERE THE HARVEST RESTAURANT IS NOW, THAT USED TO BE THEIR PROPERTY.
UM, THEY TOOK IT AND THEY PUT BALLAST IN IT, AND THEY, I MEAN, HUNDREDS OF TONS OF BALLAST IN IT.
AND HE NEEDED IT BECAUSE IT WAS A BREAKWATER, UM, IDEA TO PROTECT HIS, UH, PIPELINES FROM THE ICE FLOWS IN THE WINTER.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, THE HISTORY OF IT.
AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN THE BUCK DISAPPEARED.
AND THERE'S NOT MUCH LEFT OF IT.
THERE ARE A FEW ITEMS AND A FEW DIFFERENT MUSEUMS. I THINK THE HASTINGS HISTORICAL SOCIETY, NATALIE HAS MAYBE ONE OR TWO ITEMS, IS THAT RIGHT? JUST, JUST THE HISTORY.
AND IN 19, IN 2024, I CALLED THE BEAUMONT CITY, UH, HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
'CAUSE THAT'S WHERE THE BOAT WAS COMMISSIONED, BUT IT WAS COMMISSIONED, THE BEAUMONT, UH, IT WAS, IT WAS THE BEAUMONT BEAUMONT SOMETHING OR OTHER.
UH, UM, THEY HAD NEVER HEARD OF THE, UH, BUCCANEER.
AND I WAS REALLY SURPRISED ANYBODY I TALKED TO, I TALKED TO THREE DIFFERENT PEOPLE DOWN THERE.
SO WE, WE HAD NO IDEA WHAT THAT, WHAT THE BUCCANEER IS.
IT DIDN'T COME FROM HERE, BUT IT CERTAINLY DID.
SO, BUT ANYWAY, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S GONE, IT'S HISTORY.
GOOD TRANSITION TO OTHER THINGS FROM THE WATERFRONT.
UM, ONE OF THE THINGS I THOUGHT YOU DID REALLY WELL IN THE BOOK WERE ALL TALKED OUT ABOUT THE WATERFRONT AND THE PCBS.
BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I LEARNED A LOT ABOUT WAS THE ACTUAL BUSINESSES THAT WERE THERE, WHICH HAVE CAUSED A LOT OF AWFUL POLLUTION, BUT WERE REMARKABLY SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSES FOR A LONG TIME.
SO CAN YOU SAY SOMETHING MORE ABOUT THOSE BUSINESSES FROM THE THAT'S IT, YEAH, THAT'S A TALL ORDER.
WHAT WAS THE FIRST BUSINESS IN HASTINGS? HMM.
NO, THE FIRST BUSINESS WAS A RUM DISTILLERY DOWN ON THE DOCKS.
UH, THE SECOND ONE WAS THE SAUNDERS AXLE BRASS AXLE COMPANY.
THEY USE THE WATER FROM THE, UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU GO UP MAIN STREET, ALL THOSE TOWN HOMES THAT ARE TOWNHOUSES AND CONDOS THAT ARE
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ON THE RIGHT AS YOU GO UP MAIN STREET AND BACK THERE, THAT'S WHERE THE STREAM IS COMING DOWN BY CROP'S HOUSE.UM, BUT THAT WAS ONE OF THE OTHER, UH, MINOR INDUSTRIES IN HASTINGS.
BUT IT STARTED TO GET, UM, JUST BEFORE THE EVE OF THE, UM, AGE OF, UH, UM, NOT ENLIGHTMENT, WHAT AM I THINKING OF? THE, THE AGE OF INDUSTRIALIZATION WAS PROBABLY AROUND 1850 IN THE 1840S.
1842, WE STARTED THE, UM, QUARRY COMPANY.
AND THAT WAS RUN BY A GUY AT FIRST, BY NAME OF LIVINGSTON.
UH, BUT HE SOLD 15 ACRES OF HIS PROPERTY TO, UM, UH, GEORGE, UH, HARVEY.
SO HARVEY WAS REALLY, I WOULD SAY THE FIRST OR SECOND QUARRYMEN.
AND THERE ARE PLACES IN THE UNITED STATES THAT HAVE THE WHITE QUARRY.
ONE OF THEM, OF COURSE, WAS HIS HOME THAT WAS TAKEN DOWN IN 1963.
UH, BUT IF ANYBODY'S EVER BEEN TO CHARLESTON, THE CHARLESTON, UM, UH, COURTHOUSE, THE, UH, UH, COURTHOUSE IN CHARLESTON IS MADE FROM HASTINGS QUARRY.
AND WHEN PEOPLE FIRST SAW THE QUARRY FROM THE SHIPS OUT HERE, THEY SAID IT LOOKED LIKE THE WHITEST STONE EVER.
SO THAT QUARRY LASTED A LONG, AWFULLY LONG TIME.
BUT DO YOU KNOW WHY IT, UH, STOPPED OPERATIONS IN 1871? BECAUSE JOHN DRAPER WAS ON THE QUARRY AND HE, HIS, UH, OBSERVATORY HAD SOME VERY SENSITIVE INSTRUMENTS IN IT.
AND EVERY TIME THEY HEARD EXPLOSIONS, UH, FROM THE QUARRY BLOWING UP THE MARBLE, UH, HIS INSTRUMENTS WOULD WAVER.
UH, NOTHING HAPPENED UNTIL, UM, SOME OF HIS LAND DROPPED INTO THE QUARRY DURING ONE OF THE EXPLOSIONS, NINE PEOPLE WERE ALMOST KILLED.
SO THAT WAS THE END OF THE QUARRY.
AND YOU CAN SEE, IF YOU GO TO THE QUARRY, I MEAN, I WAS THERE, UH, THE LAST TIME WE HAD A REUNION, I WAS, I WAS THERE AND I, I'M SAYING I'M WALKING ALONG QUARRY TRAIL AND I'M WONDERING WHERE THE QUARRY IS.
WELL, IT, REMEMBER IT WAS THE DUMP FOR AN AWFULLY LONG TIME.
AND YOU KNOW, THAT, UM, IN THE DUMP IS THE PENTAGON PAPERS ARE BURIED THERE,
UM, BUT ANYWAY, UM, LET'S, I'M JUST KEEPING AN EYE ON TIME.
UM, SO LET, LET ME, LET'S, WE MENTIONED FAMOUS PEOPLE.
UM, SO LET, LET ME WOULD SORT OF RAPIDLY DO LIKE THREE OR FOUR OF THE PEOPLE THAT I STORIES AND PEOPLE THAT I, UH, PARTICULARLY LIKED IN THE BOOK.
AND THEN WE'RE GONNA OPEN UP TO THE, TO THE AUDIENCE.
SO, UM, WE MENTIONED LOUIS HEIN ALREADY.
UM, TELL US A LITTLE BIT, AND SOME OF US KNOW THIS STORY, BUT, BUT YOU COVER IT REALLY WELL.
THE STORY, THE MIRROR POLES, UH, IN HASTINGS, SOME OF THE ONE MIRACLES, OH, THE MIRROR POLES.
WELL, I WAS PRETTY YOUNG WHEN THE RED SCARE WAS IN HASTINGS.
WE REALLY DIDN'T UNDERSTAND IT.
OUR PARENTS WERE GLUED TO THE TV, A LITTLE BLACK AND WHITE 17 INCH TV, UH, FOR THE MCCARTHY HEARINGS FOR A MONTH OR TWO.
UM, WE DIDN'T REALLY KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON.
WE DIDN'T WANT THEM WATCHING THAT BECAUSE WE WANTED TO WATCH FARMER GRAY AND HOP ALONG CASSIDY AND ANYTHING ELSE THAT WAS ON THERE.
THEY DID HAVE SOME TIME TO WATCH TV.
UM, AND WE DID HAVE FIVE KIDS.
SO, UM, YEAH, VERY, UH, INTERESTING TALE.
THE ROSENBERGS, WHO WERE THE ONLY PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES DURING WORLD WAR II TO BE CONVICTED FOR TREASON AND SENT TO THE ELECTRIC CHAIR.
THERE WERE 382 OTHER PEOPLE THAT RECEIVED SENTENCES RANGE FROM, FROM FIVE TO 20 YEARS.
BUT THEY GOT THE ELECTRIC CHAIR.
AND THAT WAS ALL BECAUSE OF ROY COHEN.
ALL BECAUSE OF ROY COHN, PROBABLY THE MOST DEVASTATING, MEAN-SPIRITED INDIVIDUAL THAT HAS EVER LIVED
BUT HE WAS, HE WAS OUR PRESIDENT'S, UM, MENTOR, AND HE WAS A HORRIBLE GUY.
UH, AND SO WAS JAY HOOVER AND, UM, SOME OTHER PEOPLE THAT, UH, FORCED THEM TO, UH, ABANDON THEIR CHILDREN, TWO YOUNG CHILDREN.
AND, UH, THEY DIED IN 19 53, 2 WEEKS BEFORE THEY DIED, THE TWO BOYS WERE BROUGHT UP THERE.
AND ONE OF THE YOUNGER ONES, ROBERT, HE WAS ONLY FOUR I THINK.
HE SAID, MOMMY, WHY YOU NO COME HOME? WELL, THAT, THAT BROUGHT TEARS TO MY EYES.
AND I, SO I READ ALL THEIR BOOKS, AND
[00:25:01]
I, I COULDN'T QUITE UNDERSTAND WHAT MADE PEOPLE THAT WAY.AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN, THE MERE POLLS, THE GUY WHO WROTE STRANGE FRUIT, BILLIE HOLIDAY, WROTE HIS SONGS.
UM, HE AND HIS WIFE, WHO WERE CHO THE CHILDLESS, THEY ADOPTED THE TWO BOYS.
WELL, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THEM, I WAS IN THE CLASS OF 63.
I MEAN, WE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THEM.
BUT IT TURNS OUT THAT THE YOUNGEST ONE, UH, THEY WERE FOUR YEARS APART FROM EACH OTHER.
SO ONE WAS JUST ABOUT TO GO TO COLLEGE, AND HE WENT DOWN TO SWARTHMORE.
BUT THE YOUNGEST ONE, ROBERT, GRADUATED FROM HASTINGS HIGH SCHOOL IN 1965.
MOST OF HIS CLASSMATES DIDN'T KNOW IT.
THEY REALIZED IT LATER, CERTAINLY, UM, DURING THE, UH, VIETNAM WAR ERA.
AND THEN IN THE EIGHTIES AND NINETIES, UH, FREEDOM OF, UM, INFORMATION, OH, FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.
THEY WERE ABLE TO GET ALL THE INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR PARENTS.
AND CERTAINLY THEIR FATHER WAS, UM, GUILTY.
HE GAVE THE RUSSIANS SOME MINOR INFORMATION ABOUT, UM, OUR NUCLEAR ARMS. HE DIDN'T REALLY HAVE AS MUCH MA INFORMATION AS YOU THOUGHT.
HE DID GIVE SOME INFORMATION ABOUT SOMETHING CALLED THE PROXIMITY FUSE.
PROXIMITY FUSE AS WHAT YOU PUT ON THE FRONT OF A BOMB.
AND AS YOU SHOOT IT TO THE PLANE, IT BLOWS UP JUST BEFORE IT HITS THE PLANE.
SO HE GAVE THAT TO THE RUSSIANS, AND THAT'S HOW GARY POWERS WERE SHOT DOWN.
'CAUSE THE RUSSIANS TOOK THAT PROXIMITY FUSE INFORMATION THAT, UH, ROSENBERG GAVE THE RUSSIANS.
AND THEN HIS SAFE HOUSE WAS ACTUALLY NEAR WHERE WE LIVED DOWN IN THE EASTERN SHORE.
AND A FRIEND OF MINE LIVED RIGHT NEXT TO THAT SAFE HOUSE.
AND SO CHARLOTTE WENT OUT AND I WENT OUT THERE FOR DINNER ONE NIGHT, AND I REMARKED, I SAID, WHY IS THE RIP WRAP WAY OUT THERE? LIKE ALMOST A QUARTER OF A MILE? WHY, YOU KNOW, THIS IS JUST A HOUSE.
I MEAN, WHAT IS THAT FOR? AND HE SAID, WELL, THEY PUT THAT IN THERE WHEN GARY POWERS WAS, UH, HERE LIVING HERE, YOU KNOW, CLANDESTINELY BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT MAYBE THE RUSSIANS MIGHT COME UP IN A MINI SUB AND ATTACK.
SO, I MEAN, THAT'S, I KNOW AMAZING STUFF, ISN'T IT? SO, UH, ROBERT MEPO, UM, GRADUATED IN 65.
BOTH OF THEM, UH, ARE STILL ALIVE.
THEY'RE, UM, HAVE DONE VERY WELL.
THEY HAVE NOT GOTTEN THEIR MOTHER WHO WAS NOT IN NOT GUILTY, SHE WAS NOT GUILTY OF, I MEAN, SHE WAS GUILTY OF SPYING.
THEY SAID SHE WAS GUILTY OF SPYING, BUT SHE WAS NOT.
AND THAT WAS PROVEN THAT SHE WAS NOT GUILTY OF SPYING.
BUT EVERY PRESIDENT, TRUMAN, EISENHOWER, I DON'T KNOW ABOUT CLINTON, UH, BUT, UH, THE REST OF THEM, UH, DID NOT EXONERATE HER AT ALL.
AND I KNOW SOME PEOPLE HAVE TRIED, BUT NOTHING HAS HAPPENED.
AND I'M CER CERTAINLY THE CURRENT PRESIDENT ISN'T GOING TO DO THAT.
AND THEY LIVED A TWO FRASER PLACE.
UH, GIVEN MY LOVE OF BASEBALL, I'M GONNA, UH, ASK THE NEXT QUESTION, WHICH WAS, AGAIN, ONE OF THESE THINGS YOU GOTTA BE JEALOUS OF.
SO THERE WERE THREE PLAYERS FROM THE NEW YORK GIANTS WHO LIVED IN HASTINGS WHILE YOU WERE GROWING UP HERE, AND YOU KNOCKED ON ALL THREE OF THEIR DOORS TO SAY HI.
SO SAY A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHO THEY WERE AND HOW YOU, LIKE, I CAN'T IMAGINE PEOPLE NOW DOING ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
AND YEAH, I CAN TELL YOU A STORY ABOUT EACH ONE OF 'EM.
I WON'T, UH, SAY TOO MUCH, BUT I'LL TELL YOU ONE, ALVIN DARK LIVED UP ON CIRCLE DRIVE.
AND THEY REMEMBER IN THOSE DAYS, THEY ONLY HAD ONE O'CLOCK GAMES BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T HAVE LIGHTS.
SO HE HAD TO LEAVE HOUSE BY ABOUT AROUND 11.
AND THEN, UH, HE'D COME BACK LATER ON IN THE AFTERNOON.
WELL, HE HAD A HOME RUN ONE DAY, AND BUDDY OF MINE AND I DECIDED, AND OF COURSE HE'S ONLY LIVED THERE FOR ABOUT A WEEK, AND WE DECIDED TO GO UP AND KNOCK ON HIS DOOR.
AND HIS WIFE ANSWERED, AND WE KNEW HE WAS HOME.
UH, WE WERE HIDING IN THE BUSHES,
AND HIS WIFE SAID, OH, AL WILL MEET YOU IN THE BACKYARD.
AND I'M THINKING, YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME.
HE'S GONNA MEET ME IN THE BACKYARD.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? AND SO WE WENT DOWN THE STEPS.
I HAD MY GLOVE, CHUCK HAD HIS GLOVE, HAD HAD A BALL, AND I THREW THE BALL TO HIM, AND I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT IT HIT HIM, YOU KNOW? RIGHT.
RIGHT AROUND THE CHEST, YOU KNOW? 'CAUSE I MEAN, YOU WERE AUDITIONING HERE, RIGHT? AND ALVIN DARK THREW THE BALL BACK TO ME, AND
[00:30:01]
I CAUGHT IT IN MY GLOVE.AND I'M, I GRABBED IT TO THROW IT BACK TO HIM.
AND I THOUGHT A MOMENT AGO, A GOD WAS HOLDING THIS BALL
AND CHUCK AND I, AS WE WERE WALKING HOME, WE BOTH PROFESSED THAT HE STARTED, HE SAID THAT HE IS ONLY GONNA ROOT FOR THE NEW YORK YANKEES, THE DETESTED NEW YORK YANKEES, WHILE I WAS GONNA ROOT FOR THE BUMS OF BROOKLYN.
NOBODY'S ROOTING FOR THE GIANTS
AND THE OTHER TWO GUYS WERE GREAT TOO.
YOU KNOW, UM, UM, ONE IS A, UH, KNUCKLE BALLER.
HANK WILL, UH, WILHELM WHITE WILHELM, HE LIVED UP ON SOUTH DRIVE.
AND, UH, I REMEMBER WALKING UP TO HIS DOOR TOO.
HE WAS JUST COMING OUT TO GO TO THE BALL FIELD TO PLAY.
UM, BUT, UH, WE WERE, I WAS SEVEN, AND I TOLD HIM I WAS GONNA TRY OUT FOR THE LITTLE LEAGUE NEXT YEAR WHEN I WAS EIGHT, UM, WHICH WAS NICE.
NOW, ONE STATISTIC ABOUT HOYT WILHELM, THOUGH THAT I BET YOU HARDLY ANYBODY KNOWS, WHAT DID HE DO? THE, HE'S A PITCHER NOW.
WHAT DID HE DO THE FIRST TIME HE GOT UP TO BAT IN A MAJOR LEAGUE GAME? IN HIS FIRST MAJOR LEAGUE GAME? HE RIGHT.
HE LASTED IN THE MAJORS LONGER THAN ANYBODY ELSE.
HE WAS 47, 48 WHEN HE FINALLY LEFT.
HOW MANY MORE HOME RUNS DID HE HIT IN THE MAJOR LEAGUES? ZERO.
BUT, UH, SO, YOU KNOW, GROWING UP WITH BALL WITH, UH, PROFESSIONAL BALL PLAYERS IN OUR MIDST WAS, UM, PRETTY COOL.
WHO WAS THE THIRD, UH, WHITEY LOCKMAN, UH, PLAYING FOR THE GIANTS AS WELL.
AND, UM, WHEN BOBBY THOMPSON HIT HIS HOME RUN TO WIN THE PENNANT IN 1951, HE WAS UP JUST BEFORE AND GOT A MAN ON BASE TO HELP, UH, A WALK OFF, UH, HOMER BY, UM, BOBBY THOMPSON.
SO THAT WAS HIS CLAIM TO FAME.
WELL, I THINK I'VE TALKED ENOUGH.
SO YOU WANTED CLOSER? MY WIFE IS DIRECTING ME.
ALRIGHT,
I HAVE A VERY ELUSIVE STORY ABOUT KY BEING IN GAY STATES.
AND I LOOKED UP IN YOUR BOOK JUST NOW, I OWN YOUR BOOK.
AND, UM, TROTSKY IS LISTED IN THE PAGE, AND I COULDN'T FIND IT ON THE PAGE.
WAS HE EVER IN YES, IN THE JOHN, IN THE 1916 LABOR STRIKES THAT WE HAD HERE, LEON TROSKEY, UH, FIGURED OUT, YOU KNOW, THE LOT OF COMMUNISTS AROUND HERE, HOPEFULLY.
AND HE WAS GONNA TRY TO MAKE SOME PEOPLE COMMUNISTS.
SO HE CAME AND TALKED TO, UH, THE PEOPLE OF HASTINGS.
I REMEMBER MOST OF THE PEOPLE OF HASTINGS THEN IN THE VILLAGE, THEY WERE IMMIGRANTS FROM GERMANY AND EASTERN EUROPE.
AND SO TROTSKY, UH, GOT UP THERE AND AS HE WAS TALKING, A VERY FERVENT ANTI-COMMUNIST, CAN'T REMEMBER HIS NAME BECAUSE IT WAS EAST EASTERN EUROPE,
UM, AND HE PUT THE GUY OVER HIS SHOULDER AND THREW HIM OFF THE STAGE.
SO, BUT LEON TROTSKY, AS YOU PROBABLY KNOW, HE AND STALIN WERE KIND OF AT EACH OTHER BECAUSE TROTSKY HAD A MORE POPULAR NAME THAN STALIN DID.
SO IN MEXICO CITY IN 1941, A GUY BY THE NAME OF JUAN MERCAT STABBED HIM WITH AN ICE PICK AND KILLED HIM.
SO FREE REIGN FOR A STALIN IN THE END OF TROTSKY.
ALRIGHT, WE'RE OPENING IT UP NOW.
WHAT, UH, WHAT WAS THE ADDRESS OF CIRCLE CIRCLE? THE ADDRESS OF WHAT? ON CIRCLE THEN
I DON'T KNOW, BUT I THINK IT WAS THE THIRD HOUSE IN
YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE THE WATER THING THERE THAT, NO, I DON'T.
THE OTHER QUESTION IS, WHAT STRUCK THE ROOF HERE? I MEAN, AH, VERY GOOD.
1927, THE SAME YEAR HE HIT 60 HOME RUNS.
THAT WAS, AS YOU KNOW, UH, UM, IT WASN'T UNTIL 1961 THAT THAT WAS BROKEN, BUT HE WAS HERE FOR THE BOYS SUMMER LEAGUE.
SO HE AND, UH, REYNOLDS, WHO WAS MAYOR OF THE TOWN AT THE SAME AT THAT TIME, UH, HAD LUNCH UP AT THE LONGVIEW RESTAURANT, WHICH IS NOW OLD FOLKS HOME.
AND, UH, HE WAS PARADED DOWN HERE.
AND I HAVE A BEAUTIFUL SLIDE OF IT THAT IS REALLY INCREDIBLE OF ABOUT, YOU KNOW, 500 PEOPLE AT REYNOLDS FIELD FILLING UP REYNOLDS FIELD AND BABE RUTH RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE.
THAT WAS THE SAME YEAR HE HIT 60 HOME RUNS LOTS HOUSE WHOLE TIME.
[00:35:01]
THE FARRAGUT INN.I THOUGHT YOU MEANT THE APARTMENT BUILDINGS.
UH, ANYBODY, UH, HAVE A QUESTION? UM, OH, WAS HE REALLY? HE REALLY REMARKABLE.
UH, WE CORRESPOND A BIT BY EMAIL.
THERE'S NOTHING REALLY SECRETIVE OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
BUT THOSE BOYS WENT THROUGH SOME VERY, VERY TRYING TIMES FOR MANY, MANY YEARS EXTENDING WELL INTO THEIR ADULTHOOD NOW AND TRYING TO SEARCH FOR SOME, FOR SOMETHING TO, UM, PARDON HIS MOTHER, UH, HIS GRANDDAUGHTER AND HIS BROTHER, MICHAEL'S GRANDDAUGHTER, UH, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE, UM, PRODUCTION PEOPLE AND THEY'VE HA HAD A FEW MOVIES, NOT WELL DONE OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
BUT THEN NEVERTHELESS, THEY'RE DOING ANYTHING THEY CAN TO TRY TO FIND SOME SORT OF PARDON FOR THEIR MOTHER.
AND TIME IS, AS YOU KNOW, IS WASTING, UH, IS THE NEXT PRESIDENT GONNA BE ABLE TO, UH, PARDON HER OR NOT? I DON'T KNOW.
I'M TRYING, I'M TRYING TO DO MY BEST.
UM, I, UH, WROTE ELIZABETH TWO OR THREE TIMES, NEVER GOT AN ANSWER.
UM, I GUESS SHE, YOU KNOW, SHE CAN'T OBVIOUSLY DO ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, BUT WHO KNOWS, MAYBE SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE.
NEXT, ANYBODY, I'M TRYING TO THINK WHO I COULD, UM, SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THAT, UH, REALLY MEANS SOMETHING.
DO YOU HAVE A TEACHER FAVORITE? MY FAVORITE TEACHER, WELL, THERE'S A FAVORITE TEACHER, AND THE TEACHER THAT TAUGHT ME THE MOST, MY FAVORITE TEACHER WAS WALSH FRANCIS P WALSH KNOWN AS RED.
AND, BUT A GOOD STORY COMES OUTTA THAT BECAUSE WHEN MY DAUGHTER, OUR DAUGHTER WAS 15 YEARS OLD, AND SHE WAS LOOKING AT MY HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOK, BLACK AND WHITE, AND THEN THERE WAS RIFLE CLUB.
SHE SAYS, DAD, IS THAT YOU WITH A GUN? AND, UH, I SAID, NO.
I SAID, FIRST OF ALL, IT'S NOT A GUN, IT'S A RIFLE.
IT HAD HIS BULLETS IN IT, AND YOU'LL BE ARRESTED,
AND I SAID, NO, I WILL NOT BE ARRESTED.
HE SAID, WELL, HOW DID YOU DO THAT? AND I SAID, WELL, HOW, HOW DID YOU DO THAT IN SCHOOL? I SAID, WELL, YOU KNOW, WE HAD SOMETHING CALLED RIFLE CLUB.
AND IN THOSE DAYS, YOU KNOW, THE MATH TEACHER OR SOMEBODY, I MEAN, THIS IS HOW THEY WORKED, YOU KNOW, THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANY LEGAL SYSTEM.
HE TOOK US TO THE ARDSLEY POLICE RANGE.
WE'D SHOOT FROM A PRONE POSITION, OUR 20 TWOS INTO TARGETS, AND WE'D GET OUR MERIT BADGE.
IF YOU WERE IN THE, UH, BOY SCOUTS, YOU'D GET YOUR MERIT BADGE THIS WAY.
BUT SHE SAID, HOW DID YOU DO THAT? AND I SAID, WELL, WHEN I, I WALKED TO SCHOOL, I HAD MY BOOKS IN ONE ARM, MY RIFLE IN THE OTHER
YOU HAD TO KEEP YOUR RIFLE WITHOUT BULLETS IN IT, AND YOU HAD TO KEEP IT IN YOUR LOCKER WITH THE BULLETS UP ON THAT LITTLE SHELF, WHICH WE DID.
WE NEVER THOUGHT OF SHOOTING ANYBODY, YOU KNOW, WELL, MAYBE ONCE OR TWICE, BUT, YOU KNOW, BUT WE, BUT WE DIDN'T.
AND THE OTHER PERSON WHO WILL, WHO WAS A REIGN OF TERROR, SHE WAS NOT MY FAVORITE WOMAN.
WELL, SHE WAS A, UM, WOMAN WHO, UH, I GUESS SHE WAS A VICTORIAN TYPE LADY WHO WAS VERY, VERY STRICT.
AND GOD FORBID YOU DIDN'T MESS UP IN HER CLASS.
'CAUSE IF YOU TALKED, YOU WERE, YOU WERE DEAD.
BUT I LEARNED SO MUCH FROM HER.
I MEAN, I, I, I LEARNED POETRY FROM HER THAT I REALLY LIKED.
AND, UH, UM, SHE WAS, SHE WAS WONDERFUL.
SHE TAUGHT ME A, AN AWFUL LOT BECAUSE SHE MADE US SIT AND SHE MADE US, UH, BEHAVE.
SO I, FOR THAT, I, I THANK HER.
AND THEN, THEN I FOUND OUT SHE WAS A NASTY WOMAN,
BUT THEN I FOUND OUT IN MY OWN GEOLOGY THAT WHEN, UH, JOHN LILLARD CAME OVER HERE IN, UH, 1701 OR 1698, HE MARRIED A MILDRED JONES
SO ANYWAY, UM, ANY OTHER QUESTION ABOUT, UH, YEAH, YEAH.
UM, TELL US ABOUT THE FEEL OF THE TOWN BACK
[00:40:01]
WHEN THE FACTORIES AND THE BARS WERE OPEN.JOHN DENNER, GRADUATED HASTINGS HIGH SCHOOL.
DID ANYBODY KNOW WHO HE IS? FAMOUS ACTOR.
IF, IF I HAD SOME MY SLIDES HERE, YOU'D, YOU'D SEE HIM.
AND, UM, ALL, ALL OF THOSE EARLY SIXTIES, LATE FIFTIES MOVIES, I THINK HE DID OVER 220 MOVIES, SPOKE FOUR DIFFERENT LANGUAGES.
UM, BUT HE, UH, LIVED HERE, UM, WHAT WAS I GONNA SAY ABOUT HIM?
SO IN 1932 THAT YEAR, I, I MENTIONED HIM EXTEMPORANEOUSLY.
UM, YOU COULD, THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE HERE IN HASTINGS, AS I SAID BEFORE YOU COULD, THERE, THERE WERE 30 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES SPOKEN IN HASTINGS HIGH SCHOOL AT THAT TIME, MOSTLY FROM EASTERN EUROPE.
BUT THE FEEL THAT YOU MENTIONED, WHAT'S THE FEEL THE PLACE WAS JUST RIDDLED WITH INDUSTRY.
MAINLY ANACONDA WIRING CABLE COMPANY BACK THEN.
BUT THE THING IS, IS THAT IT PROVIDED EMPLOYMENT FOR MORE THAN HALF THE PEOPLE IN TOWN.
UH, THE HASTINGS SUGAR REFINERY WAS IN 1878 WAS, UH, UM, SOMEHOW IT CAUGHT FIRE, BUT THEY, THEY THINK IT WAS PROBABLY ARSON.
BUT EMPLOYED SEVERAL HUNDRED PEOPLE IN TOWN.
THERE WERE ONLY 1300 PEOPLE IN TOWN AT THE SAME TIME AT THAT TIME, BUT EMPLOYED MANY, UH, OVER 200 PEOPLE OR SO IN TOWN THAT ALL OF A SUDDEN, ALL, ALL OF A SUDDEN DID NOT HAVE AN INCOME.
UH, BUT NEVERTHELESS, WHEN WE GREW UP HERE IN THE FIFTIES, IN THE SIXTIES, YOU COULD NOT SEE THE HUDSON RIVER IF YOU WERE DOWNTOWN.
AND NOTHING REALLY HAPPENED UNTIL 1975 WHEN THE, UM, BUILDING WAS TO WHEN ANACON WAS TORN DOWN.
AND, UH, PETE SEGER, THANK GOD, PETE SEGER, UH, WAS THE GUY WHO REALLY INITIATED THE CLEANUP OF THE HUDSON RIVER, WHICH IS THAT ONE UNDER THE SUPER, IS A SUPER FUND UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE, UM, UH, WHAT, WHILE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
UM, SO IT'S, WE'VE SPENT $20 BILLION, 50 YEARS NOW, A LITTLE OVER 50 YEARS.
UH, IT'S GONNA TAKE ANOTHER $20 BILLION AND ANOTHER 50 YEARS FOR THE HUDSON RIVER TO BECOME CLEAN.
AND IT WILL NEVER BE AS CLEAN AND PRISTINE, UH, UH, AS IT WAS BACK IN THE 16, 17 HUNDREDS.
UM, BUT NOW ALL THOSE FACTORIES ARE DOWN ZINGER ZINZER.
WE OUGHT TALK ABOUT ZIN WAY WITH JOANNA.
JOANNA, YOU LIVE ON ZINZER WAY, RIGHT? YEAH.
AND YOU AND I HAD A LITTLE REPARTEE ABOUT THIS, UH, NOT TOO LONG AGO.
UM, BUT ZINZER WAS A, HE WAS AN AMERICAN PATRIOT, REALLY.
HE SPOKE, HE, HE SPOKE GERMAN IN, UM, ENGLISH, IN HIS CLA IN HIS, UH, IN HIS HOME.
BUT HE HAD 30 BUILDINGS HERE ON THE WATERFRONT 30 DURING WORLD WAR I, BUILDING MUSTARD GAS.
THEY WERE 200 ARMED NATIONAL GUARDSMEN FOR TWO YEARS IN HASTINGS ON HUDSON GUARDING HIS BUILDINGS.
HE MADE MORE MUSTARD GAS THAN THE GERMANS EVER MADE.
UM, AFTER THAT HE MADE DYES, ANNUAL DYES AND THAT SORT OF THING.
UM, BUT INTERESTING HISTORY, UM, ABOUT HIM.
HIS, HIS BROTHER, UH, WAS ALSO A PRETTY FAMOUS GUY.
HE WROTE A, A BOOK, UM, THAT WAS A BESTSELLER.
DON'T REMEMBER THE NAME OF IT.
BUT, UM, UH, THAT'S WHY YOU SEE SO MANY ZINGER WAYS AND ZINZER THIS Z THAT AND OUR, OUR TOWN, BECAUSE HE WAS A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR, ALSO A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO POLLUTION.
BUT THEY DIDN'T REALLY CARE ABOUT POLLUTION BACK THEN.
THEY REALLY DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE DOING HARM TO THIS RIVER.
THE MAIN PERSON, MAIN COMPANY THAT DID HARM TO THIS RIVER WAS GE GE UP IN TARRYTOWN AND HUDSON.
THEY, UM, POLLUTED THE RIVER MORE THAN THE ANACONDA DID.
AS A MATTER OF FACT, THEY'RE PAYING FOR IT NOW.
'CAUSE GE IS HERE, ANACONDA IS NOT.
UM, BUT GE IS PAYING A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF THE SUPER FUND TO CLEAN UP THE HUDSON RIVER.
UM, SO ANYWAY, THE FEEL OF HASTINGS BACK THEN, WE DIDN'T FEEL IF, IF YOU WERE A KID, YOU DIDN'T FEEL THE RED SCARE.
YOU JUST READ ABOUT IT LATER ON.
UM, SINCE ALL THE BUILDINGS WERE THERE, YOU DIDN'T, HAD NO KNOWLEDGE WHAT THIS LOOKED LIKE OUT HERE.
UM, ONE DAY WE TOOK A, WE WENT INTO, UM, YONKERS TOOK THE BUS TO YONKERS.
EVERYBODY, ANYBODY REMEMBER THE BUS DRIVER'S NAME?
[00:45:01]
WAS HAPPY ALL THROUGH MY HIGH SCHOOL YEARS.AND HE WOULD RIDE, HE WOULD DRIVE THAT BUS BACK AND FORTH FROM HASTINGS, UH, UH, EVERY DAY.
AND WE, MY PARENTS AND I JUST, YOU KNOW, I THINK I WAS JUST IN A LITTLE BATHING SUIT.
AND WE WENT DOWN TO YONKERS, TOOK THE, UM, STEAM SHIP.
I CAN'T REMEMBER THE NAME OF, I THINK IT WAS THE DD TOOK IT UP TO WEST POINT.
AND YOU GO RIGHT PAST HASTINGS.
IF THERE'S ANY FEEL, I, I DO, I DO REMEMBER THAT VERY WELL.
'CAUSE ON THOSE HOT DAYS, YOU COULD TAKE A, UH, STEAMBOAT UP THE HUDSON RIVER.
YOU, YOU COULD GO UP TO, UH, WEST POINT OR TO, UM, UH, BEAR MOUNTAIN AND GET OFF, SWIM A LITTLE BIT, AND THEN COME BACK HOME.
OKAY? OR YOU COULD GO UP TO THE, UH, SUGAR POND AND SWIM.
UM, WHICH I, ABOUT THIS DEEP WAS PRETTY MUDDY AS I REMEMBER, BECAUSE I DID SWIM IN IT
UM, BUT THAT'S PRETTY MUCH I, UH, THE FEEL THAT I WOULD GET.
WE DIDN'T REALLY KNOW THAT WE GOT A GREAT EDUCATION.
UH, HASTINGS WAS ALWAYS ON THE TOP 10 SCHOOLS OF, UH, NEW YORK STATE.
AND I RECENTLY CHECKED US NEWSROOM, WORLD REPORT.
HASTINGS IS STILL ON THE TOP 15, 20 SCHOOLS OF NEW YORK STATE.
SUPERSEDED ONLY BY EDGEMONT, WHICH SCARSDALE.
BUT HASTINGS, HASTINGS IS RIGHT UP THERE.
AND TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH, WHEN I COME BACK HERE, I COULD COME BACK HERE BLINDFOLDED, YOU KNOW? SURE.
THERE'S A BUILDING HERE AND THERE.
BUT FOR THE MOST PART, THE FEEL IS THE SAME WHEN I COME BACK HERE.
WHERE DO YOU LIVE NOW? MY WIFE AND I LIVE IN, UH, EASTERN MARYLAND.
UM, LIVED IN, BROUGHT OUR KIDS UP IN MCLEAN, VIRGINIA.
UM, BUT AS I SAY, YOU KNOW, I ALWAYS GOT BACK HERE EVERY FIVE YEARS, AND EVERY TIME I COME BACK HERE, I SAY, WOW, THIS IS JUST BEAUTIFUL TODAY.
IT WAS GORGEOUS COMING IN FROM NEW YORK CITY.
WHEN YOU SEE ALL THIS OUT HERE, IT WAS REALLY, REALLY BEAUTIFUL.
PATTY, DID YOU USE TO HAVE A RIVALRY?
I PLAYED BASEBALL AND WRESTLED AND, UM, UM, REALLY, I REALLY KILLED THIS GUY IN DOBBS FERRY.
ANYWAY, HE, HE WAS TALL AND SKINNY.
UH, BUT NO, I, I DON'T REMEMBER A HUGE, WE DID HAVE A RIVALRY, MAINLY IN FOOTBALL.
BUT, YOU KNOW, WE PLAYED, UH, CHAPPAQUA AND PELHAM AND ALL THESE OTHER PLACES AND, UH, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE JUST PLACES TO TAKE THE BUS, DO WHAT YOU HAD TO DO AND COME BACK HOME.
I DON'T REMEMBER ANY REAL, UM, PROBLEM WITH ANY SCHOOL EXCEPT MAYBE DOBBS FERRY.
DOBBS FERRY'S ALWAYS BEEN A RIVAL.
SOMEBODY DOWN HERE HAD, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TALK.
YOUR ENERGY IS INCREDIBLE AND I REALLY APPRECIATE IT.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO ASK, WELL, BASICALLY TO GIVE A REALLY, UH, OVERSIMPLIFIED, SUMMATION, I WAS RAISED POOR BY MILLIONAIRES ON THE UPPER WEST SIDE.
IT'S A LITTLE LIKE THIS, SO I KNOW.
AND I'VE BEEN HERE ABOUT 15 YEARS, SO I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE HERE THAT ARE WORKING CLASS POOR, THAT ARE OLDER THAN ME.
I'M 45, SO LIKE 55, 60, YOU KNOW, AND THEY TALK ABOUT THE GANGS AND WARFARE AND STREETS AND ALL THEIR FRIENDS GETTING LOCKED UP AND, UH, DRUGS AND, UH, KILLINGS.
AND I WONDER IF YOU TOUCHED ON THAT.
I'M SORRY I WAS A FEW MINUTES LATE.
BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, 'CAUSE WITH BEING POOR AND POVERTY AND, YOU KNOW, WORKING CLASS IN THE ANACONDA AND THE SUBJUGATION OF THE POOR AND WORKING CLASS, WE'RE GONNA HAVE A LOT OF CRIMES.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF, IF YOU DEALT WITH THAT.
UM, I CAN TELL YOU THAT I THINK A LOT OF THAT HAPPENED IN THE SEVENTIES.
I WAS STARTING MY CAREER AND ALL THAT.
I HARDLY, HARDLY EVER GOT BACK HERE IF I DID AT ALL.
UM, HASTINGS WAS GOING DOWNHILL IN THE SEVENTIES.
IT DID HAVE A REBIRTH, THANK GOD, BECAUSE IT'S JUST, IT'S JUST BEAUTIFUL.
BUT IT'S THE SAME BUILDINGS, SAME EVERYTHING, BUT THEY'VE ALL BEEN UPLIFTED.
UM, GANGS, THE ONLY GANG I CAN REMEMBER, UH, WERE THE REVERED JJ GRADY GANG,
ANYBODY REMEMBER JJ GRADY? YEAH.
UM, BUT IN THE VALLEY THAT WE CALLED THE VALLEY, WHICH SEPARATED PEOPLE WHO LIVED NORTH, UH, EAST OF, UM, BROADWAY, AND THOSE WHO LIVED WEST OF BROADWAY, WHICH WAS THE VILLAGE, VERY DIFFERENT TEMPERAMENTS BECAUSE THOSE OF US WHO LIVED ON RIVERVIEW MANOR, FOR EXAMPLE, UM,
[00:50:01]
WERE A LITTLE BIT MORE WEALTHY.I WAS, WE WERE ALL MIDDLE CLASS.
BUT NEVERTHELESS, THOSE WHO LIVED ON MAIN STREET, WASHINGTON AVENUE, WE REALLY DIDN'T KNOW HOW THEY LIVED.
WE KNOW WE SAW THEM EVERY SINGLE DAY.
BUT THERE WAS A DIVIDING LINE.
BROADWAY WAS, YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU CAN'T MISS IT.
BROADWAY WAS THE DIVIDING LINE.
AND I REMEMBER ONE TIME, I THINK IT WAS OUR SENIOR PROM, UM, THERE WAS A GAL WHO LIVED HERE, UH, I'M NOT GONNA MENTION HER NAME.
UM, BUT ANYWAY, A FRIEND OF MINE TOOK HER TO THE DANCE, WHICH WAS ALWAYS IN THE GYM.
THIS WAS JUST BEFORE THE NEW GYM, I CALL IT NEW GYM WAS BUILT 1964.
UH, SO WE, UH, WE, UH, WENT UP TO THE GYM TO DANCE TO DIFFERENT RECORDS, AND THAT'S THE 40 FIVES, WHATEVER.
AND, UM, SHE SAID, WELL, I'LL MEET YOU THERE AT THE DANCE.
AND HIS FATHER SAID, OH, NO, YOU WON'T.
SO SHE LIVED IN THE VILLAGE AND HE WENT AND KNOCKED ON THE DOOR, AND SHE OPENED IT JUST A LITTLE BIT AND HE PUSHED IT OPEN, YOU KNOW, 'CAUSE HE WANTED TO SEE.
AND THE BATHTUB WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE KITCHEN.
AND I TALKED TO OTHER PEOPLE WHO LIVED ON MAIN STREET AND OTHER AREAS.
THEIR BATHROOM, THEY HAD TO SHARE WITH OTHER PEOPLE ON MAIN STREET.
THEY HAD HALLWAYS THAT WENT ALL THE WAY THROUGH, AND THEY HAD TO SHARE THEIR BATHROOM AT THE END OF THE HALL WITH TWO OR THREE OTHER FAMILIES.
I DIDN'T KNOW THAT THEY LIVED THAT WAY, BUT THEY DID.
UH, SO IF THERE WAS ANY ANIMOSITY, I WOULD SAY THE ANIMOSITY WAS THERE.
WE WERE PRETTY IGNORANT, UM, FROM BROADWAY ON UP.
BUT THE PEOPLE IN THE VILLAGE WERE VERY, VERY AWARE OF THE DIFFERENCES THAT I WOULD SAY.
ANY LAST COUPLE MORE QUESTIONS? OR ARE, OTHERWISE WE CAN, WELL, WE GOT ONE MORE LAST ONE.
THIS BE, HAVE YOU WRITTEN BEFORE OR WAS THIS YOUR FIRST? THIS IS MY LABOR OF LOVE.
I'VE WRITTEN LOTS OF OTHER STUFF, BUT THEY'RE ALL SCIENTIFIC.
I, I WANTED TO WRITE THIS AND I'LL PROBABLY NEVER WRITE ANOTHER, UH, NARRATIVE, UH, QUITE LIKE THIS.
MAYBE I'LL DO A SEQUEL SOMEDAY.
BUT, UM, I ENJOYED DOING THIS VERY, VERY MUCH.
I FOUND OUT SO MUCH I'VE TOLD YOU THIS MUCH OF WHAT IS REALLY IN THE BOOK.
SO YOU WOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH THAT AND SEE ABOUT ADMIRAL FARGATE, FOR EXAMPLE.
HOW CAN ADMIRAL FARGATE BE IN TWO WARS? HOW COULD BE IN 1812? AND THEN IN 1865, BECAUSE HE WAS ON A SHIP FROM HIS ADOPTED FATHER AT 10 YEARS OLD.
AND HE HAD THE RANK OF BOY, HONESTLY, GOD.
UM, HE WAS ACTUALLY WOUNDED A COUPLE DAYS, A COUPLE OF YEARS LATER IN THE CARIBBEAN.
UH, HE WENT ON TO HAVE, AS YOU KNOW, STELLAR LIFE.
AND, UH, HE'S THE ONE THAT SAID, UH, YOU KNOW, DAN THE TORPEDOES, FULL SPEED AHEAD.
AND THERE HAVE BEEN ALBUMS WRITTEN, UH, ABOUT HIM.
AND, UH, ONE OF THEM WAS, YOU KNOW, FULL SPEED AHEAD BY, I CAN'T REMEMBER WHO DID IT, DOES ANYBODY REMEMBER WHO DID IT? UM, BUT ANYWAY, UM, THERE ARE, THERE'S SO MUCH HISTORY, UH, BACK SINCE LONG BEFORE 1609, WHEN YOU SAW THAT HALF MOON, YOU KNOW, HUDSON'S HALF MOON OUT THERE.
UM, BUT A LOT OF THINGS YOU DON'T HEAR ABOUT IN HISTORY BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, HISTORY, HISTORY IS THE PAST, BUT YOU CAN MAKE IT UP TOO, RIGHT? OR YOU CAN JUST NOT SAY SO MUCH.
ANYBODY KNOW HOW HENRY HUDSON DIED? THIS IS OUR HENRY HUDSON HERE, AND HE WANTED TO FIND LIKE COLUMBUS, WHO WANTED TO FIND A GATEWAY TO CHINA.
SO HE TAKES HIS SHIP A COUPLE OF YEARS LATER, GOES UP TO QUEBEC, AND THEY HAD A LITTLE ICE AGE AT THAT TIME.
AND IT WAS SO COLD THAT HIS MEN MUTINY BECAUSE HE, THEY THOUGHT THAT HE WAS GIVING SOME SCRAPS OF FOOD TO SOME OF HIS FAVORITE PEOPLE.
SO THEY SET HIM ADRIFT WITH ONE OF HIS SONS.
AND, UH, A COUPLE OF OTHER PEOPLE.
THEY, UM, NO, NO, JUST, JUST HE AND HIS SON.
AND SO HE NEVER HEARD FROM HIM AGAIN.
AND WHEN THEY, THE SURVIVORS TOOK THE SHIP, THEY TOOK IT BACK TO EUROPE.
AND OF COURSE THEY CHANGED THE LOGS AND THAT SORT OF THING TO MAKE
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IT SOUND LIKE, UH, THEY DIED.AND THAT, THAT, UM, UH, THERE WAS NO MUTINY.
AND THEN IN 19, NOT THAT IT, YEAH, FAIRLY RECENT.
UM, A WOMAN, A CANADIAN WOMAN, UM, TALKED TO ONE OF THE INUIT TRIBES AND THEY SAID, OH YEAH, WE KNOW ALL ABOUT, UH, SOMEBODY WE CAN REMEMBER.
'CAUSE YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY SPREAD THEIR WORD AROUND THE IIT, SPREAD THE WORD AROUND, UH, 'CAUSE THEY DIDN'T READ OR WRITE.
SO THEY SPREAD THE WORD FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION.
AND THEY DID REMEMBER A MAN, A VERY, A GRAY-HAIRED MAN, AND ANOTHER PERSON WHO WAS HIS SON, UH, THAT CAME ADRIFT.
AND THE OLD MAN DIED A COUPLE DAYS LATER FROM STARVATION, BUT THE SON, UH, WAS TETHERED TO, UM, PART OF A HOUSE SO HE WOULDN'T ESCAPE, BUT THEY DON'T REMEMBER ANYTHING MORE THAT HAD, UH, HAPPENED TO HIM.
AND THEN SOMEONE IN THE, UH, IN 2012, I THINK FOUND THIS HUGE STONE IN THE WOODS.
AND ON IT, IT HAD ENGRAVED, UM, HUDSON 1611 OR 1612 CAPTIVE.
AND THEY CHECKED IT OUT AND THEY SAID, YEAH, IT SEEMS LIKE IT WAS, EVERYTHING LOOKS LIKE IT CAME FROM THAT ERA AND THAT THIS WAS CHISELED IN THERE SOMEHOW FROM THAT ERA, BUT NOBODY COULD EVER PROVE THAT IT WAS REALLY HIM.
BUT NEVERTHELESS, IT'S JUST SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.
YOU KNOW, FOR MORE STORIES LIKE THAT,
AND, UH, THEN JOIN US NEXT DOOR FOR SOME REFRESHMENTS.
THANK EVERYONE FOR COMING ON SUCH A COLD DAY.