Delmar DustPan

Today Gavin Dennis turns five. Happy Birthday Gavin!!!

BFI is out bright and early picking up our trash

Camp Somerset is located on Camp Road in Westover Maryland. Today it is a migrant Labor Camp but it started it's life as a Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC)camp in 1935. The first 17 buildings there were built for 270 men. It included an administration building, five sleeping quarters, a mess hall, a kitchen, a recreation hall, officers quarters, shops, pumping station, an electric generator, a bath and a garage. A number of buildings currently in use look like they originate from this time period.

This is the entrance to the present migrant worker camp. I tried to enter to take photos but the security guard forbid me to enter the property.

The men in the CCC camp cleared tax ditches and worked on drainage projects in the area. The men were allowed to go to nearby town two nights a week. Their present not only increased the economic life of the area but also increased the date life for the local girls. With the outbreak of World War II the CCC camps were done away with and in their place Camp Somerset became an Army post. It was headquarters for the Army posts in Berlin, Chincoteague, and Oyster that guarded the shoreline during World War II. Eventually Camp Somerset had near to a thousand men stationed on it. More buildings were built.

In 1944 the entire group at Camp Somerset were sent to Camp Pemberton, Virginia. Since most of the young men in the area were in the service there was a shortage of farm labor. The county requested German POWs and Camp Somerset became a Prisoner of War camp. There were over a thousand of them and about 150 army guards. The prisoners worked in canning houses, sawmills, meat packing plants and on farms throughout Somerset County. The Germans stayed at Camp Somerset until June of 1946 and were than sent to England, where it is assumed they were returned to Germany. On occasion you will read in the Daily Times of one of the young men who were a POW at Camp Somerset returning to visit the area.

The six acres of land than became a migrant worker camp and with some periods of none use has remained so. Today I believe it has some connection with the tomato canning plant on Route 413.

A number of the points made in this post came from newspaper articles and oral history but I would amiss if I did not mention the excellent Old Home Essay done in 1962 by Linda Boston on Camp Somerset.

One of the other points of interest on Camp Road is a natural spring. This photo looks like a drainage pipe but it is the water flow from the natural spring. There seems to always be some one there filling a jug with water. In the time it took me to take this picture there were four different cars of people stopping for water.

Work is progressing on the Fireman Memorial in Delmar.

The Delmar Joint Council Meeting was held Monday, July 30th. Maryland Commissioners Tisinger and Williams were absent. I think everyone was worn out from the heat and humidity of the day as I did not see the usual high degree of enthusiasm tonight that this council exhibits. Even Diane Buckley, who is always good for a comment on my blog, looked like she had been rode hard and put away wet. I should also mention my comments on the meeting are not minutes of the meeting. They are items I found interesting to comment on. I certainly admit to deafness and an inability to understand some of the mumbling of the elected officials plus general mind wandering on some topics that I have no interest in but you may. The best way for you to know what is happening at one of these meetings is to attend. A second way would be to look at the minutes that are finally being posted on the Town of Delmar website.

Cindy Fisher, Clerk of Council, had her winning streak on perfect council minutes destroyed tonight with several changes to the minutes.

Amy Bradley from Delaware had applied for permission to have a block party but was not there to present the date and times so it was tabled until next month.

The first reading of the Harvey Mack annexation was given. The owner was there to answer questions. He did not seem to know the answer to any of the questions asked. When asked about the infamous steel plate on Foskey Lane he said he would talk to his contractor and make him aware it was a priority. Does that sound like a blow off? I don't think Harvey Mack is going to be a very good responsible Delmar business but it is a Maryland problem not a Delaware one.

Mayor Outten appointed an Annexation Investigation Committee for the property owned by Patrick and Donald Hurley, Old Stage Development Company, Brittingham, and Chesapeake. The investigation committee has to have a public hearing in which they gives the Pros and Cons of annexing this land into town. The public meeting was scheduled for August 16th at 6PM. This is a good chance for the public to ask questions to see if the annexation committee actually investigates or just rubber stamps the developers request. Diane Buckley, Mary Lee Pase, and Michael Houlihan were put on the committee.

The Town manager said the town has received $36,000 in funds from Open Space for the renovation of the basketball Court. The amount still is not enough to refinish the surface of the court.

The Fire Company representative Luther Hitchens said the Fireman Memorial is being worked on and should really look good when finished. It will have three flag poles, a pond, two statutes and a lot of hardscapes. Luther Hitchens said Bobby Twilley did much of the work, with of course Luther supervising.

The Public works department has hired two general laborers. The Department is looking at radios for the trucks. Vandalism is still occurring at State Street park. They are looking at putting an iron gate on the bathroom doors in the park to stop people from busting the locks. I always have a problem with this. I think if you are going to have a park, a public restroom should be provide. If a person has to go they have to go and if you can be arrested and charged as a sex offender for urinating in public it should be a law that a public rest room be provided at reasonable intervals. This Wednesday they will flush the North water tower. In September they will start flushing hydrants.

Mike Houlihan and Carl Anderton talked about the Planning and Zoning commission meeting. I don't know what is happening to this commission but they seem to be giving in to the real estate developer, or as they put it, they want to be business friendly. Anyway there is a whole group of changes to the codes that are more business friendly. Stop by town hall and pick up a copy if you want to see what they are. Apparently if you have the money you can get your way in Delmar, Pond's Edge was given temporary approval (to turn into permanent approval) for a signage package that includes flutter signs.

The Foskey Lane business park has changed from 15 lots to 3 parcels.


The Town manger said Del-dot will be working on the roads around Westerlee. A working session is to be held between Tidewater Utilities and the Council on August 15th at 6PM.

Diane Buckley said on August 9th at 10AM Wawa will have their ribbon cutting ceremony. She also said because she was on vacation for the next two weeks there would be no Chamber of Commerce meeting in August.

Mary Lee Pase talked about vandalism in State Street Park. She said teenagers are using the tot lot and they may be a bad influence on the younger children in the tot lot.

A mother of one of the Basketball players appeared and asked how she could help with the basketball court. Councilman Figgs suggested she attend the Parks and Recs meeting on August 1st.

A person from the Mardela area talked about how approving a small development may turn into a much larger development due to real estate developers flipping the property and the town should be careful of the way it approve developments. Diane Buckley agreed saying she had tried for a number of years to get this current council to go along with her by putting a restriction on approved developments that says if the property is sold than the new property owner has to starts the whole development approval process over from scratch.

The council than when to an executive session and the public left. I am concerned at times over these executive sessions. The public leaves and when the executive session is over the council will pick up new issues to discuss that the public is not aware of until they read the minutes of the meeting. Plus when things are done in secret you automatically suspect all of the elected officials and town employees.

The Delmar Utility meeting took place on Monday, July 30th. All members except Commissioner Tisinger were present. Newly appointed member of the Utility Commission, Lori Dewald, attended her first Utility commission.

Among the items discussed were;

The Delmarva Inn has been connected to the Town Water system. The Delmar Diner did not drill a well but have continued with the temporary hookup to Delmarva Inn for their water source. As you may recall last month I had mention the well serving the Delmarva Inn and the Delmar Diner went bad, causing the dinner to shut down.

It is still expected to be another six weeks until the Delmar Diner is hooked into the town water system. There was a brief mention of the Delmarva Inn being up for sale. In the past weekend reality section of the "Daily Times" it is listed by Ralph Krum Realty at $2,950,000.

The Pump station at State Line Plaza was down due to grease build up. Letters have been sent to the food establishment in the Plaza concerning the discharge of grease and the maintenance of their grease traps. The cause of this problem has not yet been identified.

The town engineers Davis, Bowen and Friedel has recommended we accept the WaWa water and sewer connection into the town. This will be based on a February inspection date.

The Delmar Fire Department wanted approval for a sprinkler system on a small strip of grass they will have on Grove Street. The Delmar Fire Department receive 'free" water from the town. There was some discussion on why they would want a sprinkler system in an area that could be served by a garden hose but it's their money they are spending.

The State Street Laundromat, which was delinquent in it's account, is now current on their bill.

There were two proposals from Davis, Bowen and Friedel for engineering studies. The first was a $9,000 fee to study the effects of additional development from Pheasant Lake and Heron Pond on the sewer force main at Bi-State Boulevard and Foskey lane. The second was an $80,000 fee for engineering services to expand the Town backup well capacity by building a new well on York street. I have two problems with both of these proposals. First, we have just finished a budget that went in effect in July and already we are being asked to approve items that were never discussed in the budget process for this year. Second, the money will come out of a pot of money the Utility commission has from impact fees received. As I have stated before the Utility commission is floating in excess funds. Between overcharging the users and building up a significant debt reduction fund, and an accumulation of impacts fees, and an accumulation of depreciation money the Utility Commission is a rich entity. However it is like the State of Maryland when they announced their surplus a few years back and a new governor came in and spent the state into a negative position. There is something about Governments and money sitting in a reserve, they just have to spend it. The Town engineers are aware of this and obviously plan to get a piece of it for their selves. When it was all said and done the two un-budgeted proposals were approved with the money to come out of the impact fees. I expect I will see more of this unplanned spending thru the year.

I asked when the metal plate that has been on Foskey Lane for over three months will be removed. The Town Manager said to wait for the Joint Council as the owner of Harvey Mack would be there to answer questions regarding his annexation into the town. When driving over the steel plate and ramp built up to the steel plate, you feel like you are doing one of those car jumping scenes from the "Dukes of Hazzard".

In recent weeks there has been several dry wells in the Princess Anne-Allen-Eden area of Maryland. The wells went dry in part due to the over pumping of a sod farm and the State prison. The State of Maryland did not monitor the amount of water being pumped from the wells in the area. Since we have a number of irrigation wells in our area I contacted Stewart Lovell of DNREC to ask how much monitoring DNREC does of wells in this area. I was told they do no routine monitoring because they feel the water supply is adequate in Sussex County for the amount of water being pumped. They do monitor New Castle County. He asked that anyone experiencing well problems contact his office at 302-739-9945 and report it.

Men were not the only ones to die in or died from related causes in the Spanish American War. A number of nurses died from Typhoid Fever

Ellen May Tower of Byron, Michigan was the first U.S. Army nurse to die on foreign soil, of typhoid fever, in Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War, and was the first woman to receive a military funeral in Michigan.

Twenty two women died as a result of service in the Spanish American War:

Bailey, Lurecia - Army Contract Nurse - Died from Typhoid Fever
Bradford, T.R. - Army Contract Nurse - Died From Typhoid Fever - African American
Burke, Mary - Army Contract Nurse - Died From Typhoid Fever - Nun
Cameron, Emma - Army Contract Nurse - Died From Typhoid Fever
Campos, Anna - Army Contract Nurse - Died from Typhoid Fever
Dorothy Cochrane - Army Conttract Nurse - Died From Typhoid Fever
Flanagan, Elizabeth - Army Contract Nurse - Died From Typhoid Fever - Nun
Greenfield, Margaret - Army Contract Nurse - Died From Typhoid Fever
Larkin, Anne - Army Contract Nurse - Died from Typhoid Fever - Nun
Plant, Lulu - Army Contract Nurse - Undiagnosed
Roberts, Alcice - Army Contract Nurse - Died From Typhoid Fever
Stansberry, Katherine - Army Contract Nurse - Died From Typhoid Fever
Sweeney, Mary - Army Contract Nurse - Died From Typhoid Fever - Nun
Toland, Irene - Army Contract Nurse - Died From Typhoid Fever
Tower, Ellen - Army Contract Nurse - Died From Typhoid Fever
Trioche, Margaret - Army Contract Nurse - Died From Typhoid Fever
Turnbull, Minerva - Army Contract Nurse - Died From Typhoid Fever - African American
Walworth, Ruebena - Army Contract Nurse - Died From Typhoid Fever
Ward, Clara - Army Contract Nurse - Died From Typhoid Fever
Wolfe, Carolina - Army Contract Nurse - Died From Typhoid Fever - Nun
Phinney, Dorthea - Volunteer - Died From Malaria

DELMAR ARMY NURSE IN NORMANDY SINCE D-DAY

Lt. Doris Brittingham, daughter of Mrs. M. S. Brittingham of near Delmar, and the late Mr. Brittingham, and a classmate, Lt. Emily Nickerson of Wilmington, have been in Normandy since D-Day.

The two were graduated together in 1941 from the Wilmington General Hospital School of Nursing, Wilmington, Del. and were commissioned in February 1942. They received their training at Fort Slocomb, N.Y. and went overseas together. They were among the first nurses to go to England.

After the invasion of North Africa they shared a tent together in a field hospital, and later followed the troops to Salerno.

After duty in Italy they returned to England for a rest and additional training before the invasion of France.

Both nurses are mentioned in a book, "Helmets and Lipstick," written by Lt. Ruth G. Haskell, an Army nurse.

So this guy pulls in to Wilmington Trust and instead of parking where there was plenty of open parking spaces he decided to park next to the Handicap parking spot in the cross hatched section that is there so vans with ramps can use the extra space. Since his car had temp tags and he went to the loan department I guess he was in a rush to pay for the little gem he was driving.

Today in 1952 the Chesapeake Bay Bridge opened connecting the Eastern Shore to the Western Shore. For those of us who may remember the ferries that were there before the bridge, can also remember wait times for the next ferry that was much longer than the traffic tie ups at today's bridge. The thing I remember most about the opening of the Bay Bridge is the promise of the Governor that the bridge tolls would be removed once the bond was paid off. Another broken government promise.

The Somerset County Fair is going now. I visited it today and looked over the events and the arts and crafts. They had a good turnout of classic cars, animals, and photos. As I said last year the local fairs really lack anything of interest. If I see one more picture of a sea gull sitting on a dock I think I will scream. However there were some good photos by Margaret Crews and Delmar's own Chelsea Hudson had an entry or two.

A Refreshing change was Wood Carving by Michael Lokey and Mark Pleasanton.

A local Somerset County Craft would be Crab Pots by Austin Meredith.

The Somerset County Garden Club had a nice Herb exhibit

The Jams, Jellies and Canned goods. The Gravenor family cornered the market on this one.

The Food is always better at a fair

Yes they had Goats

The Firefighter Memorial at the Delmar Firehouse is progressing very well. It should be done in a week or so. They already have the flag poles set and the stone and brick work in.

On July 25th, 1898 the US Army invaded Puerto Rico. General Miles left Cuba with 3,500 troops made up mainly of the 6th Massachusett and 6th Illinois volunteers. They land at Guanica in southwest Puerto Rico. According to reports they encountered only minor resistance. After a night spent in a downpour of rain they advanced on Yauco, a rail terminus. The first real action took place at Yauco. For the next two weeks the army would move thru Puerto Rico until finally they occupied it.

We recently went camping at Tom's Cove Campground on Chincoteague. I am sure there are expeditions to deepest, darkest Africa that carried less equipment and supplies than we did for our three day stay at the campground. Surprisingly other campers setting up around us had even more stuff than we did. We tent camp and we seem to have gotten lazy now and rent a campsite with an electric and water hookup, as opposed to the primitive campsites with neither that we use to rent.

We always enjoy those stays at Tom's Cove. We only go once or twice a year but the campground is nice. They keep the place clean and the noise down. Sometimes they get a little too strict as they refused to let me go fishing off their pier after 11PM.

What I always find interesting is the breakdown of the campers. They seem to fall into four groups. First, is the people who stay there year round. They are the ones with the trailers that have a permanent addition of a porch, storage shed and decking. They are usually old farts who main thing in life is riding the grand kids around on the golf carts to check on the campsites of people who just stay a couple of days to a week.

The second group of people are the large RV owners. From what I can see they stick pretty much to their selves (must have to much money). They throw an area rug out on the ground under the awing, hang a string of Christmas tree lights and just seems to sit and get potted.

The third group are the most interesting ones. They are the small trailers, popup trailers and large scales tent people. They seem to come to a campgrounds for a week or more and they frequently travel with a pack of other like friends. They are there to party. The worst thing going, if you are not one of them, is to get a campsite between a group of them as they walk and talk between their campsites all night. They are the ones that always have a "Welcome to our Campsite" sign hung out. They are also the ones that have purchased every Christmas light string, windsock, pinwheel etc that the Dollar Tree sells and have hung them out on their site. Even I like to walk pass their campsites and gawk at them.

The fourth is the tent campers that just come to spend a night or maybe three nights at the campgrounds. They may have a tent, dinning canopy and lounge canopy but they lack all the other equipment, whistle and bells the third group has.

Overall a campground is an interesting place to observe people.

Other points on Chincoteague;

Chincoteaguers have always gone their own way with little regard for mainlanders. One example of this is in the War for Southern Independence, Chincoteague stayed with the union. From "Off 13 The Eastern Shore of Virginia Guidebook" by Kirk Mariner. "In 1861 when the rest of the Eastern Shore of Virginia seceded from the union, Chincoteague voted 132 to 2 to remain in the fold, and it stayed a part of the union throughout the Civil war. Southerners on the mainland considering this an unbearable affront attempted to storm the island, but the islanders secured aid from the north, where their economic as well as their political allegiances lay. The union sent the small gunboat "Louisana" to patrol the bay and protect the island"

Since I am always interested in water utilities, I found Chincoteague water source is in eight wells located on the mainland at Wallops Island Flight facility. The water is pumped five miles through a 16 inch pipe to the Island.

The first colt to hit the shore in the pony swim is called King or Queen Neptune and is raffled off at the carnival grounds. This year it was King Neptune. My daughters are happily showing their tickets for the drawing for King Neptune. What you don't see is me feverishly praying their ticket number will not be picked as I don't need another mouth to feed or another animal to take care of. God still loves me and I didn't have to worry about what to do with a horse.

If there is food in Heaven I know there will be Chincoteague Carnival Oyster sandwiches. This is one of several I had this past week. With a little dab of ketchup there is nothing better.

While in Chincoteague I noticed their skateboard park. I really thought it was a good skateboard park. I can't say the kids using it showed any great skill but it had a number of pieces of equipment in it. While I was there they also were using bikes in the park. If I am using the right terms, it has a half pipe, quarter pipes, pyramid, boxes, kink rails and flat rails. I have read somewhere it was built at a cost of $75,000. The pipes and ramps etc are made out of steel instead of the usual wood or paved ramps. It would be nice if Delmar would put in a park like this.

If other towns can do it why can't Delmar? The usual excuse for not putting one in is the liability but other towns overcome that problem.

We recently went away for a few days and we boarded our dog at the A friend of Mine Kennel and Cattery. It seemed like a nice place, it didn't smell like some of them and it was one of the kennels Doctor Long recommended. The dog stayed in air conditioned comfort with a wading pool while we were standing in the sun in a Chincoteague marsh watching ponies swim.

A belated Happy Birthday to Colin Denis who turned eleven last Wednesday. Happy Birthday Colin!!!

From The BiState weekly July 26, 1946

Three Brothers Operate Pickle Factory Here

A new business of interest to Delmar is the Hungarian Pickle Factory just south of Delmar on the grounds where the Blue Hen Canning Company was in operation some years ago. The factory is owned and operated by the Lipechiga Brothers. The three brothers have been in the pickle business in Brooklyn, N. Y. for 25 years and operate in 18 states. At the present time twenty persons are employed at the factory here.

Large vats are used to process the pickles each vat holding 6,000 gallons. The factory has been purchasing a great amount of cukes and is in full operation at this time.

The lure of quick riches and treasure hunting is always an inviting topic. I know I enjoy relic hunting around the waterways of the Eastern Shore. The big bucks however are always somewhere else, and in this case it is Corsica. The story is as German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was pulling back from North Africa in World War II, there was treasure (Gold, Diamonds, the usual stuff) stolen from Jews, put into ammunition cases and buried off Corsica. In recent news a salvage group is saying they have found that location. The finder gives the usual reasons for not bring up the treasure - lack of funds for a salvage operation. Since Corsica is part of France he will also have to deal with the French.

For a website that list articles about this and other hidden Nazi treasures click here.

NEGRO VET, 93, THANKS GOD FOR LETTING HIM GO TO RALLY

Back in his little home on a hillside just southwest of Federalsburg, Spencer Jones, Negro, the town’s lone 93-year-old veteran of the Civil War and the sole representative from Federalsburg at the Gettysburg reunion, is filled with a glowing happiness which radiates from his strong ebony features as he relates some of his experiences at the site of the famous battle.

Fervently, he says: “I thank the good Lord for letting me live to go back there this time.”

Spencer was born in slavery and lived a slave until he enlisted in 1863 at the age of 17 in the 39th Regiment, Company K. At this time he was living in the family of Dr. Andrew Stafford, prominent physician at Preston, who, he asserts advised him to do as he was doing: “Enlist in the cause of freedom for the slave.”

So master and slave both became soldiers in the great conflict that divided the nation 75 years ago.

Both returned home from the carnage—the physician to his practice, and Spencer with a bullet hole through his hip and a shell wound in the calf of his leg, received at Petersburg, Va., July 31, 1863. The hip wound still bothers him.

Jones enjoyed the sham battle the most at the Gettysburg encampment. He thought it was realistic.

He said he enjoyed the fanfare of war as displayed in modern times, but the “old days is best.”

Although this Negro cannot read or write, his retentive memory holds remarkably, facts and experiences of his long, eventful life.

He shows himself definitely a “gentleman of the old school,” courteous, respectful, thoughtful, and true to his early precepts. Three children, as well as other members of the family are very proud of their veteran ancestor, who “reckons he will never attend another reunion on earth.”

BiState News July 22, 1938

It is Ruth Ann and her daughter and grandchild. Ruth Ann is one of those Wicomico County Government workers (is that an oxymoron?).

My daughters are no longer in the public school system. A fact that I am thankful for. Never less I was looking at the Delmar Elementary School website and I see they have the school supply list for each grade on their website. As I recall this was an important bit of information, at this time of year, when the stores are selling back to school supplies.

For those lucky people who may be going on vacation and leaving Delmar you can have the police make property checks on your home by contacting them and telling them when you will be out of town. Their non emergency phone number is 410-896-3132. You can also email them this information by going to their website and selecting PCO Ed Ferro from the email list.

With the recent news items about Princess Anne Eden/Allen area wells going dry perhaps I should discuss the Town of Delmar Water wells.

The ground beneath Delmar has a number of different aquifers to draw water from. The most simplified explanation of an aquifer I can think to give is it was an ancient river that filled in with gravel and sand and additional layers of sand covered it until it reached the 40 to 70 feet above sea level that we are. This broad river channel is still there, so water will accumulate in these channels as it filters down from the surface and flow through the gravel and that is what we tap into.

The top 50 to 75 feet of soil is considered groundwater. There is usually not a clear cut aquifer in this first layer. The main aquifer is the Columbia. It goes from sea level to about 100 feet down. The aquifer below that is the Manokin aquifer, which is about 150 feet below sea level. There are many other aquifers but like the rivers they are, they may not flow into our area or may be too thin of a layer to be worth while to tap in to.

The Town has two wells at the North end of Town. Well 2A is 205 feet deep which puts it in the Manokin Aquifer. It can pump 1,000 GPM. The second well is Well 3A and it is 143 feet deep which puts it in the Columbia aquifer. The second well can draw 750 GPM. There is a well at the south end of town but due to the iron content it is not used.

Farmers and other developments are also pumping from the same aquifers as we are. There are 5 large wells within a five mile limit of Delmar in Delaware that draw from the Columbia aquifer and one that draws from the Manokin aquifer. Each well draws from 600 to 1,000 GPM. There are of course a large number of smaller wells in the five mile radius of Delmar. I do not know how often the water supply division of DNREC monitor these wells. I also do not know the number of large wells in Maryland that would draw from these same aquifers.

I was watching Cramer's Mad Money tonight on TV and saw he was recommending a French Oil Company (Total -TOT). It is but one more sign that the United States is revolving around in it's on going love/hate relationship with France. The most recent low point in that relationship was France's viewpoint on invading Iraq. It turns out they were right and we were wrong. Now we are starting see little favorable signs toward the French such as the cartoon "Ratatouille", which would not have been made four years ago. I think the problem is both countries feel they rule the world and each has an enormous ego.

When I was in my 20's I was impressed with the poems of Yevgeny Yevtushenko. He was/is a Russian poet, born in 1933. In the 1960's and 1970's he swore he was a true Russian and would never leave his country to flee to the west. When the Soviet Union collapsed he came to America and teaches Poetry at American Universities. There are so many of his poems that I like, this is one website. that has a number of them, but certainly not all my favorites.

The problem with translations is you don't know if it accurately reflects the poem in the native language. Also I notice the title of translated poems will change with each translator. In the website referenced above, over 50% of the titles are different from the book I have with his poems in it, but the poems are basically the same.

Here is one from Penguin Books "Yevtushenko Selected Poems"

PARTY CARD

A shot-up forest full of black holes.
Mind crushing explosions.
He wants some berries, he wants some berries:
the young Lieutenant, lying in his blood.
I was a smallish boy,
who crawled in the long grass till it was dark
and brought him back a cap of strawberries
and when they came there was no use for them.
The rain of July lightly falling
He was lying in remoteness and silence
among the ruined tanks and the dead.
The rain glistened on his eyelashes.
There were sadness and worry in his eyes.
I waited saying nothing and soaking,
like waiting for an answer to something
he couldn't answer. Passionate with silence
unable to see when he asked me,
I took his party card from his pocket.
And small and tired and without understanding
wandering in the flushed and smoking dark,
met up with refugees moving east
and somehow through the terribly flashing night
we travelled without a map, the priest
with his long grey hair and his rucksack,
and me and a sailor with a wounded arm,
Child crying. Horse whinnying
And answered to with love and courage
and white, white, the bell-towers rang out
speaking to Russia with a tocsin voice
Wheatfields blackened round their villages.
In the woman's coat I wore at the time.
I felt for the party card close to my heart.

When companies are owned by Koreans some times this happens

Today is my wife's birthday. I am forbidden to post a photo or mention her age. If you see her today wish her a Happy Birthday.

From the Public Archives "This Day in Delaware History".

"1907 Warden A. S. Meserve resigned from the New Castle County Workhouse because of his opposition to the whipping post. It was the warden's job to do the whipping."

On July 17th, 1997 F. W. Woolworth Company wrapped it up and closed their remaining five and dime stores. The competition was just too tough. With Woolworth closing it allowed WalMart to take its place and move into the group of companies that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Woolworth had been around since 1878.

Woolworth was known for reasonable prices and cheaper made goods. I always liked it as you could find something you could afford in the store. Growing up in Salisbury it was always a place to go after school or after the Saturday matinee movies. When I moved to Delaware I switched to the Seaford Woolworths.

One of the best things was the lunch counter. It was always a treat to have a sandwich and a soft drink at the counter, both as a child and as an adult. I use to like to take my daughters, when they were growing up, to the lunch counter in the Seaford Woolworth. They always enjoyed sitting on those stools to the lunch counter.

Well it is that time of the year again when you are hearing stories abouts bats. With the dry spell I hear they are sweeping in over people's swimming pools looking for water. I understand Snow Hill has issued a notice that they have found a bat with rabies. Down the street from me they found a bat in the room where their children sleep and since they could not determine if the children had been bitten or not, the four children are having the rabies shot series.

Now living in town in older homes you always encounter bats. About once every couple of years I will find one in the house. I wait until they perch on a wall and throw a towel or blanket on them and toss the blanket outside. By morning they are gone. Since the chimneys on the older houses are not used in the summer they like to sleep in them. Also since people open their attic windows some to let the hot air out and they enter through those cracks to the attic.

The Santiago Surrender Tree where General Toral surrendered the City of Santiago.

Since July 3rd the American Army had surrounded the City of Santiago, Cuba. Over the next two weeks a siege of the city existed and surrender agreements were worked out with General Jose Toral. There was some requirement for saving of face for the Spanish General to surrender so a mock attack was made by the American and on July 17th General Toral surrendered. This ended most of the hostilities on Cuba.

The surrender document.

Today is National Ice Cream Day, for a bit of information on it click here.

The Daily Times, in their "In Times Past" feature had a short blurb on an incident involving the Delmar police force 25 years ago.

July 14, 1982

"A Delmar police chief and a patrolman were convicted of beating a Laurel man into confessing a crime he was never charged with committing. Chief Harry S. Hodgins and Patrolman James W. Harris were convicted of assault and police misconduct after 14 witnesses testified in a two-day trial and four hours of jury deliberation. Wicomico County State Attorney Richard Warren said it was the first police brutality conviction in the history of the county. The officers assaulted Robert Craig Wooten by beating him and threatening him with a shotgun. Wooten threaten to sue the town of Delmar for $100,000 if the officers were found innocent. He was satisfied with the verdict."

The Sussex County Master Gardeners of the Delaware Cooperative Extension hosted an open house of demonstration gardens today. They were very nice. I guess my garden envy show itself when I was thinking " I could do this too, if I had free flowers, plants, mulch, water, etc or if not free at least paid by taxpayers". Well the truth is I couldn't, I just don't have the commitment to these kind of projects anymore, but it was enjoyable looking at gardens made by people who do give the commitment.

The Shade Garden

Part of the Butterfly Garden

The square foot garden

The Herb garden

They answered your questions on growing certain plants and how to handle soil conditions etc. I was disappointed when I asked one of them about growing Prickly Pear Cactus as she screwed her face all up as though she was insulted I would ask that. Her answer was short "Just throw it on the ground and those things will grow anywhere". Well I guess when she saw the look on my face she decided too go into more detail, as I got a better answer out her.

As I have mentioned before I do some genealogy research on my family. Part of that research takes you to cemeteries. In the summertime I usually stick to maintained cemeteries that are usually next to churches or in town. This is not the time of year to trek across a corn field to that mass of overgrown vines on old tombstones under a cedar tree and in the middle of the corn field. Tearing away vines disturb furry creatures that live there, not to mention snakes and wasps.

Since this area is quite sandy the graveyards will often have Prickly Pear Cactus growing in them. One I have just came from is Laurel Hill Cemetery in Laurel Delaware. The place is covered in cactus. The first trip was in flip flops so I immediately raced back to the van to change to shoes. The Prickly Pear Cactus has fine quills that are short and difficult to pull out unless you have tweezers.

Prickly Pear Cactus all over the place

Growing between the tombstones at Laurel Hill Cemetery
Now I don't know if Laurel Hill was given that name due to the number of families with the surname of "Hill" buried there or for that slight raise in the ground that only someone from the Eastern Shore would call a hill.

I have seen very nice specimens of Prickly Pear Cactus in this area. They seem to stop at about two to three foot tall with about a 12 inch wide flat pad on them. They have a yellow bloom in May and the fruit from the bloom can be eaten. Those I encountered today at been mowed so often they were just a couple inches tall. I understand you can also eat the pads and they are considered a health food.

There is a new Salisbury Blogger that calls his blog Salisbury Soapbox check it out.

I was thinking yesterday about how many wars, conflicts, invasions and other situations where the United States has sent Armed forces to a foreign county, I have see in my lifetime.

World War II
Korea (1950-1954)
Lebanon (1958, 1983 and 1986)
Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos (1958-1973)
Taiwan, Quemoy and Matsu island (1958-1973)
Congo (1960-1962 and 1964)
Berlin (1961-1963)
Cuba (1962-1963)
Dominican Republic (1965-1966)
El Salvador (1981-1992)
Grenada 1983
Panama (1989-1990)
Liberia (1990-1991)
Gulf War I (1990-1995)
Haiti (1994-1995)
Somalia (1992-1995)
Bosnia/Yugoslavia (1995 to present)
Afghanistan (2001 to present)
Gulf War II (2003 to present)

And countless other Naval Show of Force operations, Police/Drug hunts in South America, Covert Operations, etc. So many of the above places still have military forces stationed there after a decade or more.

It seems like we just had a Friday the 13th and in looking back at the calendar I see it was in April. Looking ahead, it looks like this is the last Friday the 13th for the year. For more than you would like to know about Friday the 13th click here

The Mimosa trees are in bloom and I think they really look nice. I know they are a messy tree and drop a lot of litter, but if you don't have one in your yard they look like a really great tree. These are not native trees so some people have branded them as Alien and Invasive. They have been here since 1745, my family may have arrived on the Eastern Shore a 100 years before that, but frankly I would consider a plant that has been here over 250 years a native. On a trip out west a few years ago I found they are related to mesquite trees as they are in the same family of legume (Pea) trees. I have not heard of anyone around here using the Mimosa wood for Barbecue grilling. Since mesquite is a popular grilling wood has anyone tried a mimosa for grilling?

My neice, Erika Lee Ludwig, turns 18 today. Happy Birthday Erika!!

I received this email today from David Pollitt

"Just an FYI for you to pass along to your readers. Mayor Outten suffered a mild heart attack on Monday, July 9th. The Doctor found that he had a heart blockage in the artery that is behind the heart. They performed angioplasty (ballon) surgery on him yesterday to clear the blockage and were successful in doing so. He is currently recovering at PRMC on 4 West. Please have your readers send their wishes and prayers for him and his wife Rochell for a speedy recovery."

Wishing John well and that he is home shortly.

Photo from paper State register July 18, 1952

Today in 1952 Captain Irvin M. Tindall, while flying his F84 Thunderbolt Jet Fighter, went missing in action in Korea. Captain Tindall graduated from Laurel High School and had enlisted in the Air Force in 1949. His father was Charles Tindall of Wilmington and his grandparents were William and Edith Boyce of Laurel.


Oddfellows Cemetery Laurel Delaware

Karen Revel has decided to do her own blog it is called Whats happenin' in my life

The Police Commission meeting was held tonight with Mayors Outten and Niblett and Council person Diane Buckley. In addition, Police Chief Saylor, the Town manager Sara Bynum King and the Council Clerk Cindy Fisher were present. The meeting kicked off at 6:35.

The prior minutes were approved with no changes, that Cindy Fisher is on a roll.

Chief Saylor said a grant had come thru and he showed off one of five Fuji Digital cameras the town has received from the grant.

In Delaware 14 handwritten Delaware citiations were written and 52 E tickets. E Tickets allows a police officer to scan a possible violators driver license and generate a citation, the only paper produced is the copy for the driver. It has certain advantages in that poor handwriting on a ticket is avoided.

There was a discussion on printing tickets for the Police Department. Since it is a bi-state thing Chief Saylor is trying to come up with a ticket that will be acceptable to both states as opposed to carrying two sets of tickets for Maryland and Delaware in the Police cars.

There has been vandalism at the Woodcreek golf course.

There is an on going investigation of vandalism at State Street park. The Police are running everyone out at sunset.

There has been possible gangs related graffiti in Delmar. It is being looked into. Salisbury Police department has ongoing gang problems and Chief Saylor read from a memo that said the Bloods have taken over Pemberton Manor in Salisbury. For a spot on gang activity click here.

There was a discussion on what to do with officers who may have a Domestic Abuse charge pending against them. None currently have one. The discussion was should they be allowed to take their gun home. The opinion was their gun should be left at work.

Chief Saylor talked about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in hiring people for the police department with drug use problems. It seems if they are casual drug users we can denied hiring them but previous habitual drug users are protected by the ADA. For the full writeup click here. The main discussion however was this
"7. Q: What about applicants with a history of illegal drug use? Do they have rights under the ADA?

A: It depends. Casual drug use is not a disability under the ADA. Only individuals who are addicted to drugs, have a history of addiction, or who are regarded as being addicted have an impairment under the law. In order for an individuals drug addiction to be considered a disability under the ADA, it would have to pose a substantial limitation on one or more major life activities. In addition, the individual could not currently be using illegal drugs. Denying employment to job applicants solely because of a history of casual drug use would not raise ADA concerns. On the other hand, policies that screen out applicants because of a history of addiction or treatment for addiction must be carefully scrutinized to ensure that the policies are job-related and consistent with business necessity. If safety is asserted as a justification for such a policy, then the employer must be able to show that individuals excluded because of a history of drug addiction or treatment would pose a direct threat -- i.e., a significant risk of substantial harm -- to the health or safety of the individual or others that cannot be eliminated or reduced by reasonable accommodation. Again, individuals who currently use illegal drugs, even users who are addicted, may be denied employment because of their current use. "

Chief Saylor has found a grant to apply for that will pay for 75% of a $40,000 police car complete with lights, radio, computer etc.

I asked the question if the Police Department had an aproved 2008 budget and they said yes. It is not the same budget as was originally proposed and the new budget should be available for public review shortly.

At 7:20 they went into executive session.

These hot humid mornings when you ride on the back roads you can just smell the corn. You can also get your car washed from the irrigation shooting out on to the road.

Today Casie turns 23 so give her a big Happy Birthday when you see her.

As a reminder the Delmar Police Commission meets tonight at 6:30. This is a quarterly meeting so if you miss it, you have to wait another three months. Since there is some type of disagreement between the Police Commission and Chief Saylor perhaps it will be interesting. Usually the items discussed in the meeting have already been addressed with the commission prior to the public meeting but perhaps something will come out about crime in Delmar. We will perhaps find out if the police department ever got a budget approved for this year or is everyone unpaid? Perhaps even the secret police report given to the commission will be shared with the public.

July 9 Monday 6:30 PM Delmar Police Commission Meeting
July 12, Thursday 6:00 PM Sussex County Planning and Zoning Meeting
July 12 Thursday 7:00 PM Delmar Concerned Citizen Meeting

Back when I was a child I had an Uncle come visit us and he was telling us of his trip to New York City. He said "that place is so crowded that when they race horses they have to put the driver on the back of the horse as they don't have room for a sulky".

Envy is bad enough but garden envy is horrible. For the last few years I have not been able to grow anything decent in my garden. The plants just seem to die or the fruit they bear is small and sickly looking. Now my envy is not about some fancy garden you find on the cover of a magazine. Down the street from me is a family we in the neighborhood refer to as "the Turkish people". The wife each year digs up her yard and plants a garden (no grass to cut, right there shows she is smart) but her gardening technique drives me crazy. She doesn't smooth the earth after turning it over, just leaves it in clumps. She plants everything very close and in no apparent order. She uses small cutoff shrub branches for support for her plants. The worst part is her garden out performs everyone's in the neighborhood. Even her sunflowers are better than mind. She has about everything imaginable growing in the garden and she starts early. I was talking to her today and telling her how nice her garden looked. She gave me four cucumbers (rubbing salt in a wound as she must have known mind wouldn't be big enough to pick for another 3 or so weeks). My hat is off to the woman, I think her name is Jules, compared to me she is a master gardener.

It is that time of year again when zucchini and squash are rolling in. It is an on going effort to figure out different ways to cook them, so you won't get bored out of your mind with them. Here is one recipe I like for Zucchini. I call it, in my simple Eastern Shore manner, "Zucchini with Cheese". It actually has a name of Zucchini Gaetano but I have enough trouble pronouncing Zucchini so Gaetano is just out for for me. No doubt many of you have prepared it this way or some other close version of it.

3 to 4 Zucchini thinly sliced
1 onion diced
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon of oregano
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
1 8 ounce can of tomato sauce
8 ounces of mozzarella cheese, cut into 10 slices.
grated Parmesan cheese

Brown the onion in the olive oil. Add the zucchini, oregano, salt, pepper and tomato sauce. Cover and cook slowly until the zucchini is tender (about ten minutes). Add the Mozzarella cheese. Heat until the cheese melts. Just before serving sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Note I found the original recipe and modified it from the Alexandria, Virginia cookbook called "A Heritage of Good Tastes".

I read in the "Morning Star" that Brooke Boothe, the 2007 homecoming Queen, at Delmar High School will compete in the America's Homecoming Queen competition. This is another pageant I have never heard of. Neverless, Good Luck Brooke Boothe.

I was riding out by Parsonsburg today and went by a new development called "Senate Heights".

Now as everyone knows the area around Parsonburg and North and South of it is even more sandy than the Eastern Shore of Maryland which is pretty sandy by itself. You notice the sand more in the winter time or spring time before vegetation is growing on it. You also notice it in new housing developments where the trees, etc have been removed.

It looks very much like the beach and the dunes at the beach. This is because about 30,00 years ago Parsonsburg was beach front property and the dunes were created in that area. It is referred to as the Parsonsburg Dune Line. The sand was blown around and it made a strip of sand extending up in to Delaware and over to Dorchester County Maryland. If you read anything on Geology the Parsonsburg sands are usually mentioned. If you read the comprehensive plan for the various towns in about a thirty mile radius of Parsonsburg you will find the Parsonsburg sand layer being mentioned in the description of the soil for that town.

Besides the dune line, when the water receded it left a large back bay from Parsonsburg to Berlin. The decaying vegetation create oil and gas deposits so in the 1930's to 1960's we had oil exploration crews drilling test wells in those areas. I think the conclusion was there was not large enough oil and gas deposits to make it worth the while for oil companies to invest in this area.

In 1913, the Wicomico Oil and Gas Company was formed. Their intend was to drill ten wells between Parsonburg and Pittsville that would produce oil. Two wells were drilled, with one striking sufficient natural gas to be connected to the homes in the village of Parsonburg. Everything was going fine until one Sunday when people returned from church to find their homes flooded with water coming out of the natural gas pipes. The company went out of existence shortly afterwards.

From the Salisbury Advertiser 1914

DERRICK BEING BUILT
The contract for the drilling of the first well on the property of the Wicomico Oil and Gas Company has been awarded to Messrs. Flint & Strother of Clarksburg, W. Va.

Mr. John Flint, senior member of the firm, arrived in Salisbury Monday of this week with his force of rig builders, and the construction of the derrick is now under way on the property of Mr. S. P. Parsons, where the first well will be located. Engine and belt, together with all necessary equipment for the work has been shipped from Clarksburg, and is expected to arrive at Parsonsburg this week. As soon as the derrick is finished the machinery will be placed and actual drilling begun.

The erection of an 80-foot oil derrick is something entirely new for this section, and is attracting many visistors to the scene. There seems to be a feeling of general satisfaction among the people of the community that the territory is to be thoroughly tested and the question settled one way or another as to whether there is oil under the Parsonsburg ridge.

I think the new and the repaired sidewalks on Bi-State Blvd on the Maryland side of town really looks good. The crew that is doing this seem to do good work. Did you notice the crew that was doing the concrete work were almost all Mexican?

We spent the 4th of July in Laurel Delaware.

Fireworks everyone who has a digital camera has to try and take photos of the fireworks they usually always turn out lame as this photo demonstrates.

Randie and Susan watching Fireworks

Scott and Wendy watching fireworks

Alex demonstrating how he can multitask by watching fireworks and drinking

Megan and Casie watching fireworks

After the fire works we came back home and roasted a few Hot Dogs

Even had a couple of people from the OC Police Department stop by

Eating and Talking

Eating and Talking on in to the early hours of Thursday Morning

Roasting Dogs

Chowing down on those Hot Dogs, I think we have enough left overs to be eating this for the next week.

Kelly and Eva

Laurel, Delaware had their 4th of July Parade. As usual it was a very good parade that lasted a little over an hour. Elbert has at his blog even more photos of the parade.

They had politicians

Tom Wagner

Jack Markell

Matt Denn

Beau Biden

What would a Delmarva Parade be without Fire Trucks and they had them

A couple of charmers from Blades

Laurel High School Steel band

Gospel Cafe had a rockin sound going

Carey Towing

Horses Horses Horses

The Horse Clean up crew at work

Strollers

Cub Scouts

There were several older tractors
And there were beauty Queens working on perfecting the hand wave

Rachel Buckler and Allison Dayton

Ashley Brice and Sydney Beard

Brittany Cooper and Hannah Davis

Alissa Mercie

Desiree Payne and Staci Hammerer

A whole buch of beauty queens

Mariah Reid

I saw an article in the Daily Times about school students decorating newspaper boxes. I decided to do a "me To" and take a photo of the one out at Bonanza (Which was also shown in the Daily Times). Any surprise that it is orange and blue and has paw prints on it?

I was just reading about the Brunswick Corporation deciding to close the Bayliner plant in Salisbury. Good, it was never a good company to work for. They constantly laid people off and than three months later were advertising for people. It was a very seasonal company but it effected skilled labor. Supposedly 180 people will lose their jobs. In truth the 180 would have been laid off in the normal work year for them anyway. The area may need manufacturing jobs but it doesn't need companies like Bayliner.

I read in the News Journal today about plans Middletown Delaware has of creating a 17 officer police force from scratch. The town of about 12,000 use to have a police force in 1973 but than decided to go to county protection. Creating a Police Force of 17 sounds like something that is easier said than done. They will be looking for 17 certified policemen, sometimes in advertising for open positions in Delmar it is hard to find six that are actually qualified. Usually the Town has to send them to the Police Academy and pay for their training so they are qualified. We will wait and see how smoothly they pull this off. It should be good money put into the economic as they will need uniforms, guns, badges, cars, radio equipment, etc. Sounds like a lot of grant money. By all means look at the article and particularly read all the comments by clicking the "view all comments".

Every day a little bit of shit is shoved down out the throats of the American people. Today it is President Bush commuting Lewis Libby's prison time. Found guilty by a jury of his peers and sentenced to 30 months in jail President Bush gave the big Fuck You to the American people and basically said the law only apply to people who are not my friends or work for me.

From July 1st through the July 3rd the American Army was involved in trying to take El Caney and a group of hills called the San Juan Heights. They had to take these positions before surrounding the port city of Santiago. These three days are the best known about the Spanish American War because of the newspaper publicity Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders received. Although the Rough Riders played a part in the capture of San Juan Hill It was really the Tenth Cavalry (Negro) and a number of other units such as the 6th, 16th infantry, 24th, 9th, 13th, 71st NY 6th, 3rd, 9th cavalry that took San Juan Hill.

The 24th Infantry was a Negro regular army unit. It was one of the units known as Buffalo Soldiers. The Negro unit had white officers and one of those officers was Lt Alfred Laws. He was the son of William L Laws and Cornelia Dixon Laws, from the east of Salisbury, Maryland in Wango. He was born August 6, 1868, graduated High School in Salisbury, May 1888, entered West Point and Graduated 1893. He requested assignment to the Negro 24th infantry and served in New Mexico and Utah before Cuba as Regimental Quarter Master. After Cuba he was sent to the Philippines for the Philippines Occupancy. He died April 3rd 1908. There is a risqué story involved in his death which I may tell later. There is a wealth of personal papers of Albert Laws at the Nabb Research Center at Salisbury University. One group of papers is his description of the taking of San Juan Hill as told to his mother and I will use them as a description of the taking of San Juan Hill.

On the morning of July the first we were ordered to march a few miles toward San Juan Hill and go in camp until the next day. Left early in the morning, about three o’clock, we started. Had slept but very little during the night. As we were going along. We kept hearing the reports of guns in the distant. As there had been fighting going on at El Caney. We were only finishing up the work there, as Gen XXX said we would fix them up in a half hour. As we went on, with a road only wide enough for two men to walk in. The country was all a growth of bramble and bushes that you could not go through in our condition. The fighting became more frequent the further we went the louder and nearer we seemed to be getting to the scene of action. After a short time we commenced to see wounded men, being carried to the rear. It was not long before the order came to us to forward march to San Juan. We had not gone far before we came to a river which we had to ford. We started in, the river bottom was full of holes, woods and every thing that was bad to walk to walk through. how deep was it?, I do not know , I know I went through it and we were under fire then and all the time and when we crossed the river, the bank had to climb up was about three feet, very steep, right on the top of that was barbed wire fence, which was to be cut, which we did as every man was supposed to have a pair of scissors with him. When we got through that, there was a clear field except for the wire fences and tall grass. The firing was incessant there was not anything to shield us the sharp shooters were in the trees shooting with smokeless powder and the fire from the block houses an the hill were pouring volley after volley into the flank of the battalion men were falling an all sides when the order was given to go forward.

One of our company did not seem to hear it as they were behind. Col. Liscum told me to go back and repeat the order. I started back to give the order that was the first time I felt any fear. In the midst of the din and roar of battle you will have foolish thoughts. I had a letter from a Salisbury a few days before from a lady and her sister who wrote a postscript in which she siad “Albert don’t come home shot in the back”. I could see those lines before my eyes and expected to be shot in the back. I went and repeated the order turned to go back to Col Liscum, as Col Wikoff had been in command but was killed then the command devolved of Col. Wassell he was wounded so Col. Liscum was in command. As I started back to Col Liccum he was about a hundred yards ahead with a company it seemed a mile to me to walk alone. I could see the blades of grass cut by the bullets all the time just as I got up to Col. Liscum he fell wounded in the shoulder and his collar bone broken. I stopped, cut his blouse, bound up his wound and told him I would have to leave him and go on. I went on and met two of our men and told them to take Col. Liscum and take him to the rear. There was no stop made until we got to the top of San Juan Hill. The Spaniards were litterely mowed down. Men that had been together for months were speaking to each other and shaking hands as though they were strangers just met. The horror noise and confusion can never be described to anyone that never witnessed anything like it. Capt Ducat was wounded. Capt Brett and lt. Augustine and Gurney were killed. The firing ceased about four o’clock in the afternoon.

We had not had time to eat since an early breakfast as soon as we could we let our men have supper. When night came we commenced to dig our trenches. We did not have any thing to dig with except tomato cans and bayonets. We did not get any picks until next morning and no sleep until after three o’clock. At five the Spaniards commenced firing at us and we returned it. It kept up all day that was 2nd of July.

I was wounded in the night in the right arm, the bone was not touched. I felt the shock all over me. I did not know at first where I was hit. I had to walk six miles to the hospital to have the arm dressed with two soldiers as escorts. As we were going along the Spanish sharp shooters were picking off all they could we saw one Spaniard that had been shot in his tree hanging by one foot. Later the Spaniards said we picked off your officers of the 24th as we saw your men were colored. We thought they would get to see their officers gone and a panic would ensue but they came on like tigers what kind of people are you? While in the hospital the doctor that was shot while dressing a wound died that night beside his cot. I was ordered home but said my wound was to slight to leave my post.

I went back in our trenches where we stayed for fifteen days, for several days at a time my clothes were not dry and water would be in some places when we would awake in the morning......I subsisted two days on three hard crackers and divided with one next to me but I did very well as I knew the situation. I did not hear a murmur along the lines. The hot sun broiling down on us and the frequent showers of rain kept us so wet with no change of clothing. Our cooking utensils were tomato cans and tin cups. I fared as my men fared. We had no writing material while there. I know of men that would have give five dollars for a sheet of paper and an envelope but could not get it.

I do not know which regiment was first on top of the hill as all the regiments were mixed up. The 71st, 13th, 6th and 24th were all together, no regiment was separate. They were all brave men and you never hear any complaining from the Regulars, we knew it was impossible to fare there as if we were at home and if no one did get enough to eat it was his own fault you were expected to take as much with you and if you eat all at one time why of course that was your fault


Letter sent to his Mother by his commander and printed in Salisbury Advertiser July 30, 1898

My Dear Mrs Laws

I am happy to inform you that your son, Lieutenant Laws, was but slightly wounded in the arm. His wound is such that it may heal in a few days and I think on this account he concluded to remain in Cuba with the regiment as to be to the front from first to last.

You have nothing to worry about and everything to be thankful for.

Your boy bound up my wounds and ran to my side when I fell and I shall never forget his kindness.

He made himself conspicuous for his bravery in battle and in due course of time will be rewarded properly.

He was with the foremost charge with us and was the first officer I saw when we gained the works. All honor to him.

Yours sincerely
A.C. Ducat, Capt 24th infantry


Writeup of Albert Laws raising him to rank of Captain
Brevet commissions for “distinguished conduct and public service in the presence of the enemy” in the action before Santiago, Cuba, in which the regiment had 22 officers, 8 small companies and 476 men.

First Lieutenant Albert Laws, 24th infantry to be Captain by brevet, for conspicuous coolness, good judgment and valuable service on the firing line at the Capture of Fort San Juan Block-house near Santiago, Cuba, July 1st, 1898, going back and forth from the firing line to the river crossing under what may, without exaggeration, be called a murderous fire from all actions of July 2nd and 3rd in which he was shot through the arm, and taken to the hospital, but came back to the trenches the next day and worked while wounded, and staid.
Major A. C. Markley


Albert Laws Tombstone at the Laws Family Cemetery on Laws Road

The great thing about the flea markets is they usually plea ignorant when it comes to selling fireworks in Delaware. These were at Bargain's Bills today. Now I think fireworks should be legal in Delaware and I am sure the fact they are illegal isn't going to stop anyone from setting them off this 4th of July as they have been set off every 4th of July.

The Carnival is starting to set up in Laurel

The great battle of Gettysburg started today in 1863. I don’t get involved in history for the War for Southern Independence or the Civil War as there are a zillion amateur historians out there who can handle it.

Three individuals from Delaware received the Congressional Medal of Honor for their courage at Gettysburg, James Parke Postles , John B. Mayberry and
Bernard McCarren

Although all were deserving of the medal for their courage it can not compare to the sacrifice of James W. Riggin and Julia Ann J. Hastings Riggin of Laurel, Delaware who gave their son, James H. Riggin. James H. Riggin died at Gettysburg July 2nd 1863. As we know the name Riggin is one of the oldest names on Delmarva. His stone is in the Riggin family plot in Laurel.



His tombstone is at Oddfellows Cemetery in Laurel Delaware
His worn tombstone says
James H Riggin
A Soldier of the Union
Enlisted July 1, 1861 in Battery F
43rd PA artillery RVC Army of the
Potomac. He fought bravely in many
battles and fell in the front at
Gettysburg July 2nd 1863
Aged 21 years

I assume his stone is a monument, as opposed to marking a grave site, unless his family really went to Gettysburg to retrieve the body. I have no ideal why he joined the Pennsylvania regiment of the 43rd Light artillery. Instead of a Delaware Regiment. See also 43rd