Yesteryear
100 years ago

Next week will be a full one in public affairs in Freehold, and hundreds of strangers will come to town. Monday at 10 o'clock, the regular meeting of the members of the Good Government Association will be held in the small courtroom on East Main Street. At about the same time the Republican County convention will be opened in the large courtroom when candidates for the State Assembly will be nominated. Tuesday, the October term of court opens, when the grand jury will be drawn and dates set for two murder trials and other important cases. Court will then probably continue all the week. On Wednesday the county Democratic convention will be held.

The Colby, or "New Face" movement within the Republican Party, was defeated in the primaries in every county in the state on Tuesday, and the Colby delegations which went to the Assembly from Essex and Hudson counties will be replaced at the next election by machine Republicans and Democrats. Except in Hudson and Essex counties the movement was by no means effectively organized.

A little excitement was created in Freehold Monday afternoon upon receipt of a telephone message from Colts Neck that a horse and wagon had been run into and broken down near there, and requesting the police in Freehold to stop automobile No. 20543, said to be responsible for the damage. Policeman John M. Smith received the message and stationed himself at the corner of Bennett and Main streets. The machine came up after a few minutes and Mr. Smith, after stopping them, directed them to stop at Justice Hulse's office. Among the party in the automobile were Mr. and Mrs. Chester Jones of Seabright and their chauffeur, William Brenner of Seabright. After the automobilists had told their version of the story they were allowed to proceed with the understanding that they would appear here again at any time they were wanted. They maintained they had done no one any damage. They had, they asserted, struck the shaft of a rig which they had passed but had not even broken a strap. They claimed the driver of the wagon was responsible for even the slight accident, saying that he had attempted to keep them from passing. The driver, they claimed, had whipped up his horse each time that they tooted their horn and attempted to pass. When they finally turned out and almost passed the wagon, they found themselves almost in the ditch and to avoid upsetting turned sharply into the road, merely scraping the shaft with the rear guard of the automobile. After they passed, they said, the wagon driver ran his horse after them and shot off a revolver.

75 years ago

If all the automobiles in the United States in 1931 were spread evenly along the 3,016,000 miles of roads, there would be 8.17 automobiles to every mile. But in California 70 autos would be found up to every mile if the state should spread the homeowned automobiles over its own roads. These figures are given to civil engineering officials in the journal of the American Directory of Civil Engineering by William J. Fox, chief engineer of the Los Angeles County regional planning organization.

In a contest, which closed on Wednesday night, Virginia Carey, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. David Carey, and Francis Cahill, of Brinckerhoff Avenue, were chosen to play the leading roles in a local motion picture now being filmed by Dan Dorn of Red Bank. The film, a full length feature, will be shown on the screen of the Liberty Theater in Freehold sometime next month, Dorn announced. Marion Burke, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Burke of Bennett Street, who was second in the girls' contest, will also be given a part in the film. The film will not only be a romantic love story, but it will also depict the evolution of Freehold from a regional wilderness to the busy little town it now is.

50 years ago

There is room for much optimism in the news that to date, the number of reported polio cases in Monmouth County is running one-third behind the total reached this time last year. Roland J. Hines, county chairman of the National Foundation for Infantile Paral-ysis, also has pointed out that September is usually the worst polio month here. With three weeks of it gone Saturday, the total stood at 18, as against 51 in 1930.

We're glad to see that Freehold Borough has taken concrete steps in the direction of a permanent sanitary landfill dump. Those who would be expected to object to the "supposed" high cost of such a project should be interested to know that, according to a financial report covering the first two months of operation, expenses of the new Jackson Township sanitary landfill dump were $1,183.30. This included engineering fees, clearing the land, digging the trench, bulldozing and grading roads to the site, covering the garbage with dirt, and the services of a full-time dump attendant six days a week.

25 years ago

Reaction following the sudden death of Howell Deputy Mayor Raymond "Toby" Roe was one of shock and disbelief. Roe, 57, died of an apparent heart attack at his home on Ardmore Road about noon on Tuesday. Efforts by members of the Howell-Farmingdale First Aid Squad to revive him proved fruitless and he died at Freehold Area Hospital in Freehold Township. Roe, a lifelong resident of Howell, will be buried today in Adelphia Cemetery. "Roe was a first-class public servant," Monmouth County Freeholder Director Harry A. Larrison Jr. said. Roe was employed by the county Highway Department since 1966, when he started as a laborer, until his promotion to inspector. "Besides being a political ally, Toby was a good friend," state Sen. S. Thomas Gagliano said. "He was a solid performer." Roe, a Repub-lican, was running for re-election to his fifth consecutive term on the Howell Township Committee. He served from 1958-66 and again from 1970-81. He was mayor [three times] and deputy mayor for 12 years.

- Compiled by Dick Metzgar