100 years ago
The Young Men’s Christian Associ-ation, since its organization 60 years ago, has succeeded in a remarkable way in organizing and conducting work for the betterment of the social, physical, intellectual and spiritual life of young men of all classes and in varied surroundings. Within recent years the organization has been extending its influence to the young men and boys of the small town and village, and with the object in view a Mon-mouth County institute under the direction of the state committee will be held in the First Baptist Church of Freehold on Nov. 22, beginning at 9:30 a.m. and lasting throughout the day and evening. All sessions are open to the public and men who are members of evangelical churches are invited to attend as delegates.
A meeting called by the Freehold Merchants Association was held in the Court House Monday evening, and ways and means were discussed as to procuring a reliable manufacturing firm here to furnish employment to the idle. A proposition from T.J. Breslin, a carpet and rug manufacturer who wishes to lease or purchase the Rothschild Factory on Jackson Street, was discussed at length, and a committee appointed to meet Mr. Rothschild and Mr. Breslin in New York City. The committee met Mr. Rothschild and Mr. Breslin the next day and obtained important concessions on an option for leasing or buying the factory building. If satisfactory arrangements can be made, the factory will be operated by the Breslin firm early in the year 1905. The committee appointed consisted of W.R. Duryea, John Enright, Alonzo Brower, W.E. Carey, W.S. Burtis and F.P. McDermott. Mr. Breslin asks the town people for no money but simply requests that they see their option to secure the factory building for him on reasonable terms, and to assure him hands if arrangements can be made. Mr. Breslin estimates that within three years he would employ about 500 hands.
The Cecelian Club will give three entertainments this season for the benefit of Freehold’s new public library on East Main Street, a musical on Dec. 2, a concert on Jan. 6, and a recital on Feb. 7 in the auditorium of Freehold High School.
75 years ago
According to news dispatches from Trenton, the State Board of Health has entered a formal order directing the Borough of Freehold to improve conditions at the local sewage disposal plant. Up to yesterday a copy of the order had not been received by borough officials. During the summer engineers from the state department spent several days at the local plant making a thorough examination. Late in the summer they informed Mr. Schiverea, borough engineer, that their report to the state board would recommend that improvements be made so that the streams would not be polluted. Mr. Schiverea stated that at conferences with the engineers he had reported that the local rug mill had agreed to install a grease extractor at the plant, which it was hoped would greatly assist the borough in disposing of the sewage. A large amount of grease is sent down to the plant daily from the wool scouring machines and was found in the filtration process at the sewage farm. The state inspectors admitted that when they made the examination the streams
were very low, which made the result appear worse, as well as the fact that many of the drains in the beds had only recently been relaid, allowing the rapid filtration.
Eighty-seven people were admitted to citizenship in the naturalization court in Freehold before Judge Jacob Stein-bach Jr. on Tuesday. Six gave Freehold as their address, three born in Germany, one born in England, one born in Poland and one born in Italy. When the examination of candidates was completed and the eighty-seven successful applicants had been sworn, Judge Steinbach addressed the new citizens concerning their rights and duties as citizens of the United States and the State of New Jersey. Three native born Americans who had lost their citizenship through marriage to foreigners were repatriated. The largest number of foreign born from any country in the class came from Italy, 30, nine were born in Ireland, seven in Germany and seven in Poland.
50 years ago
The Freehold Borough Board of Education Monday night directed Super-intendent of Schools Domenick Garofalo to “look into” the possibility of introducing Spanish and French into the curriculum of the borough schools next year. Board member Mrs. Catherine W. Wil-liams made the suggestion after spending a day observing the teaching of the two languages in elementary schools in Somerville. Mrs. Williams said the Somerville program, begun in the third grade and carried through the eighth, has “proved itself there” and elicited “absolutely no criticism” from parents and the public. The results of the program, in effect in Somerville for the past seven years, were termed “amazing” by Mrs. Williams.
25 years ago
Some 1,800 families in Monmouth and Ocean counties may be receiving federal assistance in paying their home heating and electricity bills, but officials in the two counties are not sure when the aid will be available. Robert Tarver, head of the Ocean Community Economic Action Now anti-poverty program, said he had received conflicting reports as to when the assistance will be made available. “They (the State Department of Community Affairs) tell us we should be operating in two weeks, but I read in the paper that it won’t be until Jan. 1,” Tarver said. “We have a conflict in the information.” Ocean Inc., as Tarver’s organization is called, has been put in charge of receiving aid in Ocean County. In Monmouth County, where Checkmate Inc., has been named to handle the appli-cations, Director Harry McCaffery said applications could be going out in a matter of days. “Right now we don’t have the program in operation because the applications haven’t come in yet,” McCaffery said. “But we hope to have it in operation next week.”
— Compiled by Dick Metzgar