September 27, 1907

During the past week the packing houses of Milton have been taxed to their utmost. All of the canneries have been crowded with tomatoes, and the price of this fruit has ruled from four to ten cents a basket. On Wednesday they were given away, on the street to anyone who would take them. There never has been so many tomatoes raised in the history of Broadkiln Hundred. On Friday afternoon the Royal Packing Company ran out of cans, those ordered, not having arrived, it was compelled to close. Saturday night closed with all the factories full. The Royal Packing Company received cans of Saturday afternoon and on Monday morning the four canneries opened again in full blast. By 9 o’clock tomatoes commenced pouring into town. Prices were 7 cents for these gathered on Saturday and 10 cents for the ones gathered on Monday. Everything in Milton smells like tomatoes, and every person looks like a tomato dealer. Busy Milton!

Dr. Walter Hunter, who removed from Greenwood to this town a few weeks ago, removed to Wilmington last week.

Charles Veasey has removed, with his family, to Lewes; and the house he occupied on Federal Street is now tenanted by John Moore, formerly of near New Market.

Josiah Culver, one of the proprietors of the Milton Shirt and Overall Factory, was taken to the Jefferson Hospital last week, and an operation performed for appendicitis. The latest news we have, the patient’s condition is favorable. Mrs. Culver went to visit her husband on Saturday.

Rec. Compton of Nassau preached at the M. E. Church on Sunday morning.

Farmers and others are so busy with their tomatoes and fodder, that it is almost an impossibility to get a load of wood hauled into town. Hence a wood famine is on, to a certain extent.

The worst case of moral depravity ever witnessed in this town was the occasion of the arrest of two women—mother and daughter—from Baltimore, on Friday night. The arrest was made at Sculltown, and the charge was obscenity and profanity. They were fined, the mother $2 and the daughter $1. On Saturday morning the mother—a deformed and aged woman—paid her fine and was released. The daughter remained in the lock-up until Saturday night, when her fine being paid she was released. Drunken men are occasionally seen on the streets of towns; but a drunken woman is a phenomenon to the unsophisticated of Milton.

Drainage pipes were put down last week, on Union Street, north, for the accommodation of private families.

Mrs. L. B. Chandler has introduced a bath tub in her residence.

The two maple trees in front of W. W. Conwell’s residence on Federal Street have been removed. The shade that these trees made will be missed; but a better view of the house is obtained.

David A. WIltbank has filled up and raised the ground in front of the property recently purchased on Federal Street, making a very respectable sidewalk.

Edward Robinson of lower Broadkiln reports that one night, last week, some person or persons purloined two wheels from a wagon of his, at home.

The Draper cannery of Slaughter Neck, and Workman & Co., of Milton, have been shipping tomatoes of this year, pack.

Mrs. Susie B. Davidson, after spending a month with her Milton friends, returned to Philadelphia on Friday.

“Bloomer” Walls got lost one night recently and after a search of one day and the night, was found by his friend, at a home in the suburbs of town.

John E. Lingo, son of Elisha Lingo of Long Neck, was killed at Nassawadox, Va.[i], on Tuesday evening, the 17th. His remains were brought to Harbeson, and carried to the home of his father, where funeral services were held on Friday, and the remains deposited in the M. E. Cemetery at Lewes. Rev. Wells of Millsboro performed the last sad rites, and S. J. Wilson & Son inhumed the body.

Rose May Betts, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Betts, died at the home of her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Bailey in North Milton, on Saturday[ii]. Funeral at residence on Monday afternoon, by Rev. G. R. McCready, and burial at the Betts cemetery near town, by S. J. Wilson & Son.

Luke Clendaniel, Sr., aged 89 years, 6 months and 6 days, died at the home of his son, Luke Clendaniel, Jr., on Friday, of old age. Funeral services were held at the Reynolds M. P. Church on Sunday afternoon by the Rev. […], of Harbeson, and interment made in the adjacent cemetery by D. T. Atkins at Gravelly Hill.

James Martin, an employee in the cannery of Goodwin Bros. & Conwell, was overcome by heat on Saturday afternoon and thrown into cramps. Dr. R. T. Wilson was summoned and gave relief. Mr. Martin was able to attend to business on Monday.

A man, who was watermelon hungry, came into the “Milton Times” office on Monday to buy that vegetable. They were out of the article.

Miss Rilla Estella Pennewill was married on Monday, at high noon, to Mr. Packer Finkbine, of Chester, Pa. The wedding was a quiet one, occurring at the home of the bride, and performed by the Rev. G. R. McCready. The happy pair drove to Ellendale and boarded the afternoon train bound north.

James Carey Reed, lower Broadkiln, brought to town on Monday 28 tomatoes, which was a basket filled. Who can beat it?

On Wednesday night of last week the electric lights suddenly went out at 7.30 o’clock, but they bloomed again in twenty minutes. On Monday night they went out early, and stayed out all night. Such occurrences make it bad for the factories, that want to work at night. It is said a tree fell across the wire between Milton and Georgetown on Monday evening. These trees appear to fall often. Someone has said: “——such lights!”

J. Roland Atkins is convalescing from typhoid pneumonia, and his father, Thomas J. Atkins, is improving.

On Tuesday morning the lower part of town was crowded with wagons loaded with tomatoes. The price paid was 6 cents a basket. Again some were given away in the streets. All the factories were full, and at night Goodwin Bros. & Conwell has about 15,000 baskets on hand. These are contracted tomatoes at 15 cents a basket, and the contractors on the one part are unloading all they have, and some say more than their own raising.

Mrs. Jane Lekites has sold her property on Chestnut Street to Alfred Clifton.

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[i] The death certificate gives the cause as an accidental smash-up, presumably a collision of some sort.

[ii] Cause of death was cholera infantum. Estella Bailey, Rose’s mother, was one of the Sunday School girls of Fannie Leonard’s class whose name was on the window on the East Wall of the M. P. Church. Rose was her first child.