THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 19, 1996 TAG: 9605180099
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 145 lines
THIS WEEK 77 YEARS AGO, readers of The Portsmouth Star learned that a man described as the ``human fly'' would be in town to climb the outer walls of the Commercial Building - a ``perilous stunt for the benefit of the Salvation Army home service fund.''
That wasn't the only Salvation Army fund-raiser that week in 1919. The newspaper was filled with accounts of the city's efforts to raise $25,000 toward a nationwide goal of $13 million.
Just the year before, Fanny Capps had been coordinating the efforts of young women manning Liberty Loan booths all over the downtown area. But that week, she was one of the women conducting ``Doughnut Day'' for the Salvation Army campaign.
An oven was located at Court and High streets, and ``the first doughnut to be taken from the oven'' was to sell for $5.
The recommended donation for the rest of the doughnuts was to be $1 - a pretty expensive breakfast for those times - and organizers hoped to sell as many as 30,000 in one day.
The whole town was obviously dedicated, according to an editorial:
``By the testimony of thousands of our men who fought in France, it is established beyond a doubt that no agency of relief was more efficient - that few accomplished as much for the comfort and help of the men at the front as did the Salvation Army.
``This noble agency of practical religion and helpfulness has now transferred its chief activities from the battlefields to our own land. . . . ''
Besides a refocus on fund-raising efforts, peacetime was bringing a renewed energy to the city and its residents, according to pages of the Star that week.
And the real estate turnover for High Street properties in two weeks was described as ``phenomenal.''
Portsmouth's late philanthropist, Fred Beazley, was among the businessmen buying property along High Street west of Chestnut Street, ``apparently in obedience to the unknown force that seems to push the growth of cities toward the sunset.''
Archibald Ogg, who established Ogg Stone Works, had sold a lot at High and Armstrong streets for $49,000. The Coburn Motor Car Company Corp. planned to use it for the ``most modern garage in the south.''
The Department of Labor was conducting an ``Own Your Own Home'' campaign and one Portsmouth realtor was offering Portsmouth lots for $5 down and $5 a month.
A clothing store was advertising men's suits at ``pre-war prices'' and city employees were demanding higher wages.
The city's garbage cart operators had gone on strike, demanding $4 a day and cemetery workmen were threatening to do the same.
Later in the week, the city manager had recommended an hourly compromise to their demands that with overtime would amount to $4 a day. He also recommended a $4 a day salary for the city's 39 police officers and 24 firemen.
But beyond business and livelihoods, Portsmouth residents were apparently laughing and enjoying life more.
Comic strips got a full page each and took up several pages in the Sunday paper.
Editorial cartoons poked fun at women for spending to much time on the phone and too much money on their shoes.
Along with one ``silent drama'' at the New Orpheum Theater and a Tom Mix western at the Palace, Keystone and Mutt and Jeff comedies were featured at the new Rialto theater.
And readers learned from a wire story that Charlie Chaplin had explained he ``had the greater success'' in getting laughs ``by exploiting the well recognized phase of human nature which sees something excruciatingly funny in any combination of circumstances which places a person in an embarrassing and ridiculous sit-ua-tion. . . . ''
The city boasted a long list of soda fountains, ice cream parlors, cigar and candy stores along with restaurants and cafes. And the Tidewater Piano Co., headed by A.J. Lancaster, was advertising player rolls for pianos for 50 cents.
That was good news for sponsors of the the new Catholic Club building for service men at Court and Queen streets.
There were two pianos in the building's reception room and one was a player piano.
An opening ceremony was planned that week for the newly renovated building and a story detailed how the back yard would be used to show ``moving pictures.''
``An aluminum screen 10 by 10 feet will be built in the rear of the lot, giving the projectiscope a range of 75 feet,'' the reporter noted.
The Park View Athletic Association was among many organizations in the city that included a dance floor in their club building and there was definitely a hint of the Roaring '20s around the corner.
One wire story noted that ``tin kettles'' were becoming scarce in London because of the ``jazz craze.''
``Jazz bands have picked up all the tinware they can buy to perpetuate this weird harmony.''
But the Presbyterians did offer a sobering note to the post-war frivolity.
According to one front page story, a general assembly of the Presbyterian church had expressed ``unqualified condemnation'' of the ``desecration of the Sabbath,'' frowning on Sunday newspapers, motion pictures and baseball games.
The Presbyterians even encouraged colleges to stop giving Monday morning assignments that would require students to study on Sunday.
In other news that week, the city rejoiced at word that the Norfolk County Commission on Roads and Bridges ``was in favor of construction of the `canal route' highway from Portsmouth to Elizabeth City.''
Of course, motorists obviously had more to worry about than the fastest route to North Carolina in those days.
The Portsmouth Star also reported on the road trip a group of Rotarians were making to a Greensboro convention.
The travelers included a dozen Portsmouth business and city leaders, among them - E.W. Maupin Jr., president; Sen. W.C. Corbitt, C.S. Sherwood Jr., T.A. Brittingham, City Manager W.H. Bates, Rev. W.A. Brown and A.M. Spong Jr.
According to an update on the trip, ``there were only two punctures on the entire trip, but Mr. Bates' car became marooned in a swollen creek and Mr. Spong's car found a soft place in a mud hole from which it was induced to move with great difficulty.''
Once there, the Rotarians sent this message home:
``Bunch reached Greensboro alive and kicking; wonderful welcome; we own the town. Fine trip. Sherwood got his head bumped but his hair wasn't hurt. Bates stuck in the mud; also, in a creek; . . . Brittingham is having enough fun for two men. You would think he was twins. Maurice Hudgins is a nature faker. He is not dignified and you should hear him sing ``Oh, Boy.'' Coles Hutchins is full of melody and what not. He collects ten cents every time we get a tire off and a dollar when we get off the road.''
Members of the club who stayed home sent this message back:
`` . . . Thought North Carolina was dry state, but now convinced otherwise. Greensboro does not know you like we do, or would retain title to their city. improvement in presiding officer. Got out on time. . . . '' ILLUSTRATION: B\W photos
A Richmond man called Gardiner, the ``human fly,'' shown scaling the
Hotel Monroe in 1915, climbed the Commercial Building in 1919.
The newly renovated Catholic Club building on Court Street was
opened for the ``entertainment'' of military men that week in 1919.
[Box]
FOR HISTORY BUFFS
Barnabas Baker is available as a consultant on local and state
history from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at
the Portsmouth Public Library, 601 Court St. For more information,
call 393-8501.
Mail information about meetings and events of historical interest to
307 County St., Suite 100, Portsmouth, Va., 23704-3702; or fax to
446-2607. Please include a daytime phone number.
by CNB