House Fire in Chester Park Revealed Bootleg Still in 1935, Nearly Two Years After the End of Prohibition

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Regular readers of Historic Pelham know by now that Pelham was a hotbed of illegal stills, speakeasies that sold illegal liquor, and bootleggers during Prohibition.  Regular readers may not know, however, that even after Prohibition ended on December 5, 1933, the little Town of Pelham remained a hotbed of bootlegged whiskey as today's Historic Pelham article shows. . . .

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The fire alarm was turned in from an emergency alarm box located at Pelhamdale and Pine Avenues, two blocks away from a raging fire in the basement of the residence of James J. Regno and Mary M. Regno at 56 Maple Avenue in Chester Park, Village of North Pelham.  The firemen raced to the alarm box on that Friday night, October 25, 1935.  They found no one there.

Pelham's Bravest did their job admirably that night.  They quickly located the fire burning in the basement of the Regno home.  

The volunteer firemen had to break into the cellar to get to the fire.  There they discovered not only a raging fire, but also seventy six cans of illegally-distilled grain and denatured alcohol dangerously at risk of exploding in the conflagration.  They also found the massive, illegal 250-gallon still used to distill the alcohol and a rather amazing heating plant, cooling system, bottling plant and counterfeit labeling system that allowed production of bogus liquor to be "passed off for many well known brands."

Police later concluded that an unidentified person was running the illegal still when the fire began in the heating plant of the still and quickly burned out of control.  That person fled the house, turned in the fire alarm, and reportedly never returned and never was identified.

Police searched the home.  In addition to the distillery and the seventy six containers of alcohol, they found and seized a fifty gallon barrel half full of rye whiskey and another twenty gallon barrel full of aging rye whiskey.  When tested, the whiskey proved to be 98 proof.  Police also found an account book maintained by Regno that listed amounts paid for trucking, sugar, grain, etc. as well as a Colt .32 caliber handgun with twenty three rounds of ammunition.  

Later that night, Mary M. Regno was arrested when she returned to the house.  Her husband, however, could not be found.  It was not until Sunday evening, October 27, 1935, when James J. Regno was found by police in New York City, arrested, and charged with violation of the Sullivan Act (a New York State gun control law requiring a license for possession of a firearm small enough to be concealed).  Regno later was charged with with violating three federal laws:  possession of an unregistered still; possession of a distillery in a dwelling house; and failure to file a bond to insure payment of taxes.

Incredibly, this was neither the first fire, nor the first illegal still discovered in the Regno home.  Eight years before that, on November 1, 1926 (one report says 1927), Pelham firemen extinguished a fire at the home and discovered an illegal still.  Regno was arrested on a Prohibition charge.  He eventually paid a fine, although his thirty day prison sentence was suspended. 

Chester Park Home Located at 56 Maple Avenue, Built in 1922.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

James J. Regno and Mary M. Regno lived in Pelham during the 1920s and 1930s.  In about 1926 they seem to have been in some form of financial distress.  A pair of men named Abraham Cohen and Barnet Stone obtained a judgment of foreclosure and sale against Mr. and Mrs. Regno for their home in Chester Park (entered on March 6, 1926).  See NOTICE OF SALE [Legal Notice], The Pelham Sun, Apr. 9, 1926, Vol. 17, No. 6, p. 2, col. 4.  It is not yet known how the matter was resolved, but Mr. and Mrs. Regno seem to have come up with a way to make a little extra money -- hence the illegal still discovered during their first house fire on November 1, 1926.

The second time authorities discovered an illegal still in the Regno home, they tried to come down hard on James J. Regno.  On November 7, 1935, only eleven days after his arrest, Regno was hauled before a grand jury who heard evidence regarding the Sullivan Act charge.  Although it is not clear precisely what happened, as soon as North Pelham Police Patrolman Edwin Pickard testified before the grand jury regarding discovery of the .32 caliber Colt pistol in the Regno home, the gun charge was dropped.  This left only the federal charges against Rego (who was out on bail of $1,000 on those charges).  

Regno tried to avoid the federal charges by claiming denying that he owned the still and claiming that he had not lived in the home for a full six months leading up to the fire and his arrest.  A criminal jury rejected his defenses and on March 18, 1936 found him guilty on all three charges.  The judge quickly sentenced him as follows:  "On the first count a three-month sentence was imposed, a fine of $100 and a penalty of $500.  The payment of the penalty was suspended.  On the second count the sentence was six months and the fine $1,000.  Both were suspended.  On the third count another three months' sentence and a $100 fine was imposed.  The two sentences are to run concurrently."


Although Regno attempted to gain an extension of his time to appeal, the Court rejected that request.  It appears that Regno was forced to serve his time on this second occasion.

As a postscript (and as the foregoing might suggest), Regno seems to have been a very bad guy.  He is written about as a smuggling partner of Charles Levy of New York City.  He was arrested at one point in Havana during one such smuggling episode.  Lawson, Ellen NicKenzie, Smugglers, Bootleggers and Scofflaws:  Prohibition and New York City, p. 56 (Albany, NY:  Excelsior Editions - State University of New York Press, 2013) (stating "James Regno, Levy's New York partner, was also arrested in Havana and his letters likewise seized.  Regno wrote a lady friend, 'I haven't much to say because everything looks bad. . . . They have either double-crossed us or done something wrong . . . I am losing money and nother to show [for it] but there is no use to worry if I come back I will get my boat and come right back here, for there is plenty of work here.'").

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"FIRE DISCLOSES BOOTLEG STILL IN CHESTER PARK
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'Alcohol Cooking' Plant Found in Regno House; Man and Wife are Held.
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Fire again proved to be the nemesis of those who were operating an alcohol distilling plant in the residence of James Regno at Maple and Pine avenues, in Chester Park on Friday night.  Volunteer firemen of the First District broke into the cellar of the house and extinguished a blaze burning dangerously close to 76 containers of newly distilled alcohol.  The house proved to be but living quarters which shielded a 250 gallon still, a cooling system and a labeling and bottling plant which appeared to be able to produce bogus liquor to be passed off for many well known brands.  Mrs. Regno who was arrested at her home on Friday night, was released under $250.00 bail on a Federal charge.  Her husband who was arrested in New York City on Sunday on a charge of violating the Sullivan Law was detained awaiting the action of the grand jury.

The incidents of the fire duplicated a visit of volunteer firemen to the Regno home, on November 1st, 1927, when another still was found.  Regno was arrested on a prohibition charge and paid a fine.

The fire is believed to have started near the heating plant of the still.  The alarm was turned in at a box at Pelhamdale and Pine avenues, two blocks away from the Regno residence.  According to belief the unidentified operator of the still quit his post and ran to the alarm box as the flames burst out near the alcohol containers.  He has failed to make an appearance since the fire.  

Among the effects found in his home was a Colt .32 calibre pistol with 23 rounds of ammunition.

Together with the cans of stored grain and denatured alcohol was a 50 gallon barrel half full of aging rye whiskey and a full 20-gallon barrel.  When tested the whiskey proved to be 98 proof.

One of the most important discoveries made was an account book supposedly kept by Regno in which was listed amounts paid for trucking, sugar, caustic soda, etc."

Source:  FIRE DISCLOSES BOOTLEG STILL IN CHESTER PARK -- "Alcohol Cooking" Plant Found in Regno House; Man and Wife are Held, The Pelham Sun, Nov. 1, 1935, Vol. 26, No. 30, p. 1, col. 4.

"Gun Charge Against Regno Dismissed
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Charged with violating the Sullivan Law, when a fire in his home at No. 16 [sic] Maple avenue, October 25th led to an investigation and a pistol was discovered, James J. Regno was dismissed by the grand jury, yesterday.

The charges were dismissed after the jury heard the testimony of Patrolman Edwin Pickard, of the North Pelham police.  The Pelhamite is still under $1,000 bond in the federal courts for operating an unlicensed still."

Source:  Gun Charge Against Regno Dismissed, The Pelham Sun, Nov. 8, 1935, Vol. 26, No. 31, p. 1, col. 6. 

"THREE MONTHS $200 FINE IS REGNO SENTENCE
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Chester Park Man Found Guilty of Possessing an Unregistered Still; Liquor Plant Disclosed by Fire.
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[sic] to an incident which began on the night of Oct. 25, 1935, when firemen who responded to an alarm from No. 56 Maple avenue found a still going full blast.

James Regno, 41, the owner of the house, was on Wednesday sentenced to serve three months in the Federal House of Detention in New York City and to pay a fine of $200  On Monday a jury brought a guilty verdict, Federal Judge Francis G. Caffey imposed the sentence.  The indictment contained three charges:  Possession of an unregistered still, possession of a distillery in a dwelling house; and failure to file a bond to insure payment of taxes.

On the first count a three-month sentence was imposed, a fine of $100 and a penalty of $500.  The payment of the penalty was suspended.  On the second count the sentence was six months and the fine $1,000.  Both were suspended.  On the third count another three months' sentence and a $100 fine was imposed.  The two sentences are to run concurrently.

Regno denied ownership of the still stating that he did not live in the Chester Park house for more than six months before the still was discovered.

In November, 1926, when a still was previously found at the Regno home, a $300 fine was imposed and a 30-day sentence suspended."

Source:  THREE MONTHS $200 FINE IS REGNO SENTENCE -- Chester Park Man Found Guilty of Possessing an Unregistered Still; Liquor Plant Disclosed by Fire, The Pelham Sun, Mar. 20, 1936, Vol. 26, No. 50, p. 1, col. 5. 

"No Extension For Appeal By Regno
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Federal Judge Francis G. Caffey on Wednesday refused to grant a 30-day extension in time for appeal of the conviction of James J. Regno, on a charge of operating an illegal still at No. 56 Maple avenue, Chester Park.  Regno is at liberty under bail of $1,000 pending the appeal."

Source:  No Extension For Appeal By Regno, The Pelham Sun, Apr. 24, 1936, Vol. 27, No. 3, p. 1, col. 4.

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I have written extensively about Pelham's struggles with Prohibition and the enforcement of the unpopular laws that it spawned as well as illegal stills, bootleggers, and speakeasies in Pelham. See: 

Tue., Feb. 27, 2018:  Police Raided a Storefront Still and Bootlegging Operation in a Fifth Avenue Store in 1926.

Wed., Feb. 21, 2018:  Massive Prohibition Raid in 1927 Netted Four Bootleggers and 225 Kegs of Beer.

Tue., Jan. 30, 2018:  Visit to the Wrong House Uncovered Massive Pelham Manor Bootlegging During Prohibition.

Wed., Jan. 03, 2018:  The Massive Illegal Still Discovered at 137 Corlies Avenue During Prohibition in 1932.

Wed., Jun. 21, 2017:  The Infamous Ash Tree Inn of Pelham Manor and its Prohibition Violations During the 1920s.

Thu., Feb. 02, 2017:  Bootleggers Began to Feel the Heat in Pelham in 1922.

Mon., Dec. 26, 2016:  Pelham Stood Alone in Westchester When It Voted to Go Dry in 1896. 

Mon., Aug. 22, 2016:  Pelham, It Seems, Became a Hotbed of Bootlegging and Illegal Stills During Prohibition.

Mon., Jul. 06, 2015:  Police Raided a Massive 300-Gallon Illegal Liquor Still on Corlies Avenue in 1932.  

Fri., Jun. 19, 2015:  More Liquor Raids in Pelham During Prohibition in the 1920s.

Wed., Jun. 17, 2015:   Prohibition Rum-Runners Delivering A Boatload of Booze Were Foiled in Pelham in 1925.

Fri., Apr. 24, 2015:  The North Pelham "Speakeasy Section" Created Quite a Stir During Prohibition.

Tue., Nov. 18, 2014:  More Bootleggers and Speakeasies Raided in Pelham in 1929 During Prohibition.
Fri., May 23, 2014:  How Dry I Am -- Early Prohibition Efforts Succeed in Pelham in 1896.

Thu., Apr. 03, 2014:  The Prohibition Era in Pelham:  Another Speakeasy Raided.

Tue., Feb. 18, 2014:  Pelham Speakeasies and Moonshiners - Prohibition in Pelham: The Feds Raid the Moreau.

Thu., Feb. 07, 2008:  Village Elections in Pelham in 1900 - New York Athletic Club Members Campaign Against the Prohibition Ticket in Pelham Manor.

Thu., Jan. 12, 2006:  The Beer Battle of 1933.

Thu., Aug. 11, 2005:  How Dry I Am: Pelham Goes Dry in the 1890s and Travers Island Is At the Center of a Storm. 

Bell, Blake A., The Prohibition Era in Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 25, June 18, 2004, p. 12, col. 2.

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Shipwreck Kelly, Famed Flagpole Sitter of the 1920s and 1930s, Climbed Poles in Pelham

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Aloysius Anthony Kelly, also known as Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly, was the world's most famous flagpole sitter during the 1920s when that fad washed over the United States.  Eventually Shipwreck Kelly turned his odd avocation into the basis for an occupation and, occasionally, brought his work to Pelham to the delight of the local newspaper and residents.

How could Kelly possibly have begun his exploits as a flagpole sitter?  Stories, of course, differ.  He once spoke with a reporter for The Pelham Sun who subsequently reported as follows:  

"Kelly acquired his flagpole sitting propensities by inheritance his parents having been caught in the Mississippi floods of 1895 and being forced to live for several weeks in a tree top.  This happened shortly before the arrival of the baby who was destined to become the world's most famous flag-pole sitter.  Kelly's early days were spent in the Navy, and he used practice sitting on the top of the masts of a sailing ship whenever he had the chance.  His most noteworthy feat would have been accomplished in France where he and another flagpole sitter whose name we can't remember just now, were to give an exhibition of toe-dancing on top of Eiffel Tower.  The other fellow started off, but his foot slipped and Kelly was not allowed to dance until the regular period of mourning had expired.  His ship sailed before that time."  (See below for the full text of the article.)

Another source supplements the story as follows:

"Kelly climbed his first pole at the age of seven, and at nine he performed a "human fly" trick, climbing up the side of a building.  He is credited with popularizing the pole-sitting fad after sitting atop a flagpole in 1924, either in response to a dare from a friend or as a publicity stunt to draw customers to a Philadelphia department store.  In January of that year he sat on a pole for 13 hours and 13 minutes to publicize a movie.   In 1926, Kelly set a record by sitting atop a flagpole in St. Louis, Missouri for seven days and one hour; in June 1927, he planned to beat that record by sitting for eight days in Newark, New Jersey.  He would end up sitting atop the Newark pole for twelve days, and on a pole in Baltimore's Carlin's Park for 23 days in 1929.  In 1930 he set a world record by sitting on a flagpole on top of the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, 225 feet (69 m) high, for 49 days and one hour."

Source:  "Alvin 'Shipwreck' Kelly" in Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia (visited Dec. 2, 2017).  

Kelly parlayed his celebrity status as a flagpole sitter into cold, hard cash.  He went on multi-city tours (as many as 28 on a single tour), "charging admission to people who wanted to stand on roofs to see his performance stunts."  Id.  In addition, he "earned an income from endorsements, personal appearance and books about his life."  Id.   At one point he captured the attention of Pelham and the surrounding region when he sat atop the flagpole above the City Hall in the City of Mount Vernon, Pelham's next door neighbor. 

With the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the onset of the Great Depression, willingness to pay to see such pursuits waned and Kelly's flagpole sitting days virtually ended.  In 1934 he worked as a gigolo in Roseland, a Broadway "dime-a-dance" hall.  

Kelly seems to have continued to yearn to climb poles even after opportunities for flagpole sitting had mostly dried up.  In 1935 he showed up in Pelham.  On July 5, 1935, the local newspaper reported that Kelly had "a couple of jobs of flagpole painting to do in Pelham during the next few days."  The report added, however, that Kelly remained "open to any offers for flagpole sitting." 

Three years later, on July 7, 1938, Shipwreck Kelly had another job in Pelham.  He was hired to paint the sixty-foot flagpole that stood in Memorial Park next to Town Hall at 34 Fifth Avenue.  The Pelham Sun reported: 

"Kelly's visit to Pelham yesterday was a small assignment for him -- painting the 60-foot flagpole at Memorial Park, adjacent to the Town Hall.  There were only a few passersby who stopped to watch the man swinging from a bosun's chair applying paint to the flagpole, but none of them were aware that they were watching a master at his game.  Kelly was on the Pelham flagpole only 26 minutes -- hardly a record of endurance, but could you paint that pole in that short time?"

Shipwreck Kelly seems to have parlayed his successful flagpole-painting session in Memorial Park into an additional job in Pelham a few days later.  In those days there was a massive 126-foot radio tower that stood next to Town Hall.  The radio "mast" was used for radio communications by the police departments of all three villages.  Thus, the cost of maintenance of the huge structure was shared by all three villages.

On the afternoon of Wednesday, July 13, 1938, Kelly climbed to the top of the radio tower to inspect it.  According to one report he found that:  "the bolts near the top of the tower had become loosened and advised that guy wires be erected to prevent the structure from swaying.  He told a Pelham Sun reporter that should the mast sway just a bit too much it would snap off near the base and probably crash through the Town Hall."  That night, the Village Board of the Village of North Pelham awarded Kelly the contract for painting the radio mast.  Kelly agreed to do the work for $25 with each village paying one-third of the cost.

Over the next two weeks, Kelly began the work.  This time he needed help.   

Kelly hired 21-year-old Charles Gilmore, of 10 Morris Street in New Rochelle.  In addition to their work, the two men seemed to have enjoy the after-hours social life of the Town of Pelham.  In the wee hours of the night on July 28, 1938, the residents of Pelhamwood were awakened by shouting in the area of the Highbrook Avenue railroad overpass of the New Haven Main Line.  Mrs. John H. Young of 226 Highbrook Avenue called the North Pelham police shortly after midnight and complained that someone was shouting under the railroad arch on Highbrook avenue.  

When police arrived, they found Shipwreck Kelly in a roadster with young Charles Gilmore who was quite drunk.  When police arrived, Gilmore became "violent" and was hauled off to a local hospital to be dried out.  

Kelly must have finished the work of painting the radio tower, with or without Gilmore.  Several months later the local newspaper reported that the Village of Pelham Manor had sent a check to the Village of North Pelham for $8.33 to cover its one-third share of the cost of painting the tower.  

 Shipwreck Kelly died in Sarasota, Florida on October 11, 1952, his flagpole-sitting exploits nearly forgotten and his body unclaimed in the morgue.  Yet, on at least two occasions in 1938, Pelhamites were able to watch the once-famous pole-sitter climbing high into the skies of Pelham, evoking his days of glory during the 1920s.

Shipwreck Kelly Seated Atop a Flagpole in 1942.

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"Have You Any Flagpoles For Kelly To Sit On?
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Albert Prevost, whose sobriquet of 'Shipwreck Key,' revives the memories of days not long since when he had a yen for defying the elements, dismissing fatigue, and glorifying loss of sleep, the while he was perched on top of a flagpole is with us again.  The husky pole-sitter was in town on Tuesday seeking more worlds to conquer, or an opportunity to pursue his regular vocation as a steeplejack, and a painter of flagpoles.

Kelly acquired his flagpole sitting propensities by inheritance his parents having been caught in the Mississippi floods of 1895 and being forced to live for several weeks in a tree top.  This happened shortly before the arrival of the baby who was destined to become the world's most famous flag-pole sitter.

Kelly's early days were spent in the Navy, and he used practice sitting on the top of the masts of a sailing ship whenever he had the chance.  His most noteworthy feat would have been accomplished in France where he and another flagpole sitter whose name we can't remember just now, were to give an exhibition of toe-dancing on top of Eiffel Tower.  The other fellow started off, but his foot slipped and Kelly was not allowed to dance until the regular period of mourning had expired.  His ship sailed before that time. 

For the last few years Shipwreck Kelly has sat on flagpole tops in all parts of the United States for periods of 30 days upward.  His record was a sitting covering 93 days at San Francisco ten years ago.  He has perched on top of the flagpole at City Hall Mount Vernon and in every principal city in the country.

He has a couple of jobs of flagpole painting to do in Pelham during the next few days, but is open to any offers for flagpole sitting."

Source:  Have You Any Flagpoles For Kelly To Sit On?, The Pelham Sun, Jul. 5, 1935, p. 4, col. 4.  

"Shipwreck Kelly In Reverse, Stays Here 26 Minutes
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Alvin 'Shipwreck' Kelly seldom makes as short a stay in one place as he did in Pelham.  Usually whenever Mr. Kelly comes to town he takes up a residence of at least a week at the top of one of the tallest flagpoles and his presence attracts attention far and wide.  In face, some of his endurance tests on his unusual perch have gained him national publicity.  However his visit in Pelham lasted less than one half hour.  He stopped no traffic and there were few citizens who paused to observe him.  

Kelly's visit to Pelham yesterday was a small assignment for him -- painting the 60-foot flagpole at Memorial Park, adjacent to the Town Hall.  There were only a few passersby who stoped to watch the man swinging from a bosun's chair applying paint to the flagpole, but none of them were aware that they were watching a master at his game.  Kelly was on the Pelham flagpole only 26 minutes -- hardly a record of endurance, but could you paint that pole in that short time?"

Source:  Shipwreck Kelly In Reverse, Stays Here 26 Minutes, The Pelham Sun, Jul. 8, 1938, p. 5, col. 6. 

"'Shipwreck' Kelly Returns To Paint Town Radio Mast
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'Shipwreck' Kelly, world-famous flag-pole sitter, who painted the 60-foot flagpole at Memorial Park, adjacent to the Town Hall in North Pelham last week, will be seen in action again within the next week.  Kelly was awarded the contract for the painting of the 126-foot radio mast adjacent to Town Hall, at a meeting of the Villlage Board, Wednesday night.

Kelly climbed the mast on a tour of inspection Wednesday afternoon and reported to members of the Village Board that the bolts near the top of the tower had become loosened and advised that guy wires be erected to prevent the structure from swaying.  He told a Pelham Sun reporter that should the mast sway just a bit too much it would snap off near the base and probably crash through the Town Hall.  Members of the Board decided to investigate the possibility of bracing the mast.

Kelly painted the 60-foot flagpole in 26 minutes last week and may be out to break a record when he starts on the 126-foot tower."

Source:  "Shipwreck" Kelly Returns To Paint Town Radio Mast, The Pelham Sun, Jul. 15, 1938, p. 4, cols 2-3.  

"New Rochelle Man Taken To Hospital After Disturbance
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Charles Gilmore, 21, of No. 10 Morris street, New Rochelle, was committed to Grasslands early yesterday morning after North Pelham police found him creating a disturbance on Highbrook avenue near Harmon avenue in Pelhamwood.  Patrolman George Burrows and John Lomax took the man to the New Rochelle Hospital where Dr. Wilkinson pronounced Gilmore suffering from an alcoholic condition and ordered his removal to Grasslands.

Gilmore was in a roadster with 'Shipwreck' Kelly of New Rochelle, who has been painting the radio mast next to the Town Hall in North Pelham.  Mrs. John H. Young of No. 226 Highbrook avenue, Pelhamwood, telephoned the North Pelham police shortly after midnight and complained that someone was shouting under the railroad arch on Highbrook avenue.  Police said Gilmore, who has been assisting Kelly in painting the mast, was violent and they immediately removed him to the hospital."

Source:  New Rochelle Man Taken To Hospital After Disturbance, The Pelham Sun, Jul. 29, 1938, p. 8, col. 6. 

"Pays Share of Painting Cost

The Village of Pelham Manor has sent its check for $8.33 to North Pelham.  Th sum represents one-third of the cost of painting the radio mast at the Town Hall which is operated as a receiving station for the three village police departments.  Shipwreck Kelly did the painting job."

Source:  Pays Share of Painting Cost, The Pelham Sun, Oct. 14, 1938, p. 5, col. 3.

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Farm Versus Village: Gamber's Animal Menagerie on Maple Avenue in North Pelham During the 1930s

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For nearly four decades during the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s Alfred L. Gamber of Chester Park, a banker with the Pelham National Bank, Bankers Trust Company, and other institutions at various times, also served as secretary, executive secretary, clerk, assistant treasurer, and treasurer of the Board of Education in charge of the Pelham Union Free School District No. 1.  Gamber also owned and lived on a small "farm" at 16 Maple Avenue.

Well, truth be told, Chester Park residents called the property a farm.  In reality, Alfred Gamber lived in a small residence on a small lot near the front entrance to the Chester Park Green.  On that property he kept a chicken coop filled with prize Rhode Island Red Roosters and hens.  He also bred and raised pedigreed bird dogs (Irish Setters and English Setters), exhibition pigeons (twenty four of them kept in "one little coop") and other animals on his premises.  As one might expect, the noisy animal menagerie and its irksome odors drove his neighbors crazy.  

Rhode Island Red Rooster.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Though a respected citizen of the Village of North Pelham, during the 1930s Gamber and his tiny "farm" were responsible for the enactment of Village ordinances adopted to deal with nuisances arising on his property.  The drama evoked a case of Farm versus Village, one of the last of many such battles experienced by Pelham as the Town became fully developed entirely within its boundaries with no room remaining for farm animals -- much less farms.  


Most nights, the yelping, barking, and baying bird dogs sang to the moon.  One Rhode Island Red rooster began to crow every morning at 3:00 a.m.  Then, each morning at dawn, the rooster began crowing incessantly for at least forty minutes.  Throughout each day the dogs howled and barked.  All day and all night all the time the traditional odors of a hen yard and a dog kennel wafted over the Chester Park neighborhood.

According to countless news stories, in 1934 the women of Chester Park rose in resistance to shut the animal menagerie down.  They were mad as Hell and weren't going to take it anymore.  Five women living in nearby homes on Maple Avenue and Linden Place banded together.

At first, one of them called the police.  She later lamented, however, that "I got no satisfaction."

Next they complained to the Westchester County Health Department.  That government office sent an inspector to Gamber's home at 16 Maple Avenue.  No health violations were found and the County Health Department "approved" Gamber's assemblage of animals.

Next, they demanded a hearing before the Board of Trustees of the Village of North Pelham, hauling Alfred Gamber before the Board to respond to their complaints.  On Thursday evening, September 13, 1934, the five women and Alfred Gamber appeared before the Board of the Village of North Pelham.  The women told of sleepless nights, terrific odors, and an inability to sell or rent property due to the nuisance.  They alleged Gamber was operating a business in a residential neighborhood in violation of a Village zoning ordinance.  They said he was selling puppies as well as eggs laid by his hens.  They demanded the whole affair be shut down with an "or else" quality in their presentations.

Alfred Gamber countered that he was a sporting man who raised bird-dogs and kept chickens and pigeons as a hobby.  He pointed out that others in the Village of North Pelham kept chickens.  He asserted that there was nothing wrong with selling puppies rather than keeping them after birth, particularly when the complainants claimed he had too many dogs.  He pointed out that neither dogs nor eggs were his business.  He also said that he would give up his chickens if everyone else in the Village of North Pelham who kept chickens gave them up as well.  He presented a pair of friends who testified his property was not a nuisance that that he harbored the animals as a sportsman, not as a business.

The Board of Trustees indicated that it might enact an ordinance to deal with the situation at its next meeting.  The Board knew, however, that an ordinance banning dogs, kennels, chickens, and the like would have wide-ranging implications that could ripple throughout the village and adversely impact others whose animals presented no nuisances.

The following Thursday, September 20, the Board met again.  It implemented a partial solution.  It enacted an anti-noise ordinance "against off-key sounds of the type that can be classed as noise.  This means barking dogs, crowing roosters, ringing bells, grinding machinery, or any sound whatsoever that would tend to interrupt the slumbers of the villagers during the night (thus impairing their health) and any other unnecessary noises that would disturb the peace and quiet of the village during daylight hours."  Those who violated the ordinance were subject to a $25 fine and five days in jail.

Within days a copy of the new anti-noise ordinance was served on Alfred Gamber who immediately took action.  According to one account, noisy fowl were "eliminated by culinary preparation."  

As one might expect, however, the matter did not end there.  Gamber still maintained hens, pigeons, Irish Setters, and English Setters on his premises.  A long-running feud seems to have continued.

The neighbors continued to complain about the nuisance presented by the animals on Gamber's property.  Thus, in mid-1935 the Village Board asked the Westchester County Board of Health to visit Gamber's premises again for another inspection.  The Board of Health inspected the chicken coop, finding that it held 14 Rhode Island Red hens and "a number of pigeons."  To the disappointment of the Board and Gamber's neighbors, however, the Board of Health further concluded that the animals were "kept according to statute and violated no provisions of the Health Code."

Still the neighbors complained.  Perhaps in retaliation or perhaps not, Gamber began burning rubbish on his property periodically.  

One of the neighbors who had complained to the Board before enactment of the anti-noise ordinance appeared before the Board again on Wednesday, November 13, 1935.  She complained that "Farmer" Gamber was harboring 76 animals including chickens, pigeons, and dogs on his property.  She further complained that he had begun burning rubbish on his property in periodic "bonfires" and that the noxious fumes were a nuisance.

The reaction of the Board of Trustees was immediate and firm.  Upon hearing from the complainant, the Board adopted an ordinance banning the burning of rubbish within the Village of North Pelham.  According to one account, the debate was rather quick:

"'Then,' said the trustee, almost in a body, 'we'll make an ordinance against burning rubbish!'

'But will it be constitutional?' asked someone.

'Never mind about that,' replied Trustee Bollettieri.  'Everybody seems to be testing the constitutionality of laws these days.  We'll make the ordinance and let somebody else test it.'

The ordinance was adopted unanimously.'"

The Gamber "Farm" and "Animal Menagerie" at 16 Maple Avenue in Chester Park thus was responsible for yet another Village ordinance.  It seems that, rather quickly, the battle of farm versus village was ebbing in favor of village. . . . .

Detail from 1929 Map Showing Chester Park and the Maple

Avenue Area Where Alfred L. Gamber Lived and Kept His 

Animals.  Source:  Hopkins, G.M., Atlas of Westchester County,

Vol. 1, p. 11 (Philadelphia, PA:  G. M. Hopkins Co., 1929).

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"SERIES OF CROWS, YELPS, ODORS IRK PELHAM WOMEN
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Quintet Prays Village Board to Do Something about 'Menagerie' of Neighbor, Complaining of Sleepless Nights and Much General Annoyance
-----

NORTH PELHAM.  Sept. 13. -- A rooster that crows for 40 minutes straight at dawn, bird dogs that rend the night with their yelps, pigeons that behave like pigeons and a hen yard with its traditional odor were on the mat last night at a Village Board meeting.

These combine to constitute an insufferable nuisance in a Maple Avenue section of Chester Park, five irate woman householders told the board.

Defending the bird-dogs, a litter of pups, the pigeons, the hens and the vociferous rooster, was their owner, Alfred L. Gamber, 16 Maple Avenue, executive secretary of the Board of Education.

The five angry women neighbors had fire in their eyes and in their voices as individually they told of sleepless nights, charging them up to the pedigreed Rhode Island Red boss of the chicken yard, disagreeable odors and general annoyance from barking dogs and visits of pigeons.

Rooster Up Early

The women want a stop put to the whole business by the Village Board.  There was a certain 'or else' quality to their grimness.

The complaining women were Mrs. J. K. Clarke, 25 Linden Avenue; Mrs. Herbert Zobel, 18 Maple Avenue; Mrs. Carl Becker, 15 Linden Avenue; Mrs. L. Gates, 19 Linden Avenue and Mrs. Harold Ring, 12 Maple Avenue.

Mrs. Clarke declaring that the rooster sounds off every morning without fail and sometimes makes his solo last 40 minutes, said she wants to sell or rent her house but can't do either because of the neighboring live stock.

All of the complaining women told the board that 'terrific' best described the odor from the hen-yard.  

The five women scoffed in chorus when Gamber produced two friends to testify to the inoffensive character of his place.

Michigan Neighbor

When Gamber offered Rose Fife as a witness, board members asked if he lived close enough to the Gamber home to offer an opinion.

'He lives in Michigan,' said one of the women, and they all five let forth peals of laughter.

Somewhat confused, Fife, started to explain that he had a Michigan license on his car but that he did not live there.

Board members interrupted his testimony as irrelevant, because he dwelt on such things as sportsmanship, the value of Gamber's pedigreed Irish and English setters, and allied subjects.

Gamber pointed out to the board that he had kept chickens since 1926 and that for eight years his neighbors had not kicked.  Now they kick, he maintained, on the dogs alone.

The board deferred action but indicated it would consider the adopting of a prohibitive ordinance in executive session."

Source:  SERIES OF CROWS, YELPS, ODORS IRK PELHAM WOMEN -- Quintet Prays Village Board to Do Something about 'Menagerie' of Neighbor, Complaining of Sleepless Nights and Much General Annoyance, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Sep. 13, 1934, p. 9, cols. 2-3.  

"Chester Park Dispute About Dogs And Chickens Is Carried To Village Board
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Beleaguered Trustees Listen to Argument About Animals and Fowl in Residential District.
-----

Can breeding pedigreed dogs and raising chickens and pigeons within the residential district of North Pelham be classed as 'sporting' or is it just a plain nuisance?

That was the subject of controversy at the meeting of the beleaguered North Pelham Board of Trustees on Wednesday night.  Five Chester Park women declared that their lives were being made miserable by barking dogs, crowing roosters, and offensive odors which they claimed emanated from the property of Alfred L. Gamber, whose home is at No. 16 Maple avenue.  Mr. Gamber is the clerk to the Board of Education.  He denied all their contentions, declaring that he raised a few puppies as a hobby and that his chickens were no more annoying than the fowl of several other residents of the village.

After listening to arguments and cross-talk for almost two hours, Mayor Eugene L. Lyon announced that the board would consider the adoption of an ordinance regulating the keeping of animals and fowl within the village limits.

The complainants, all nearby residents were Mrs. Harold S. Ring, of No. 12 Maple avenue; Mrs. J. K. Clark of No. 25 Linden avenue; Mrs. H. Zobel of No. 18 Maple avenue; Mrs. Mabel Gates of No. 19 Linden avenue; and Mrs. Edith Becker of No. 15 Linden avenue.

They see Mr. Gamber's interest in dogs and fowl as a business, in violation of the zoning ordinance.  They charged him with selling dogs and eggs and pointed to an advertisement in a New York newspaper offering puppies for sale.  The told the Board also that he had sold eggs.

'We tried to buy some one eggs and he told us that he had only enough for his Pelham Manor customers,' said one of the complainants.

His rooster starts to crow every morning at 3 o'clock,' said another.

'And his dogs howl all day long.'

'--and the odor from the place

(Continued on Page 7)

CHESTER PARK'S DISPUTE BEFORE VILLAGE BOARD
-----
(Continued from Page One)

is terrific.'

'He has two dozen pigeons in one little coop.  I cannot sell or rent my property because of this nuisance.'

'I called the police and I got no satisfaction.'  These were just a few of the remarks.   

In response, Mr. Gamber denied that he was commercializing his property.  'I am breeding fine hunting dogs because I love dogs.  I am not breeding them for sale,' he said.  'It seems funny to me that although I have kept chickens since 1926 no one has complained until now.'

He said that his place had recently been inspected by the county health department, and it was approved.  

Gamber offered the testimony of friends to show that he had a sportsman's interest instead of a business interest in raising dogs.

The trustees discussed the possibility of passing an ordinance regulating the harboring of dogs and fowl in the village.  Gamber said he would be willing to get rid of his chickens if others in the village did likewise.  The matter of adopting an ordinance will be discussed at a meeting next Thursday night."

Source:  Chester Park Dispute About Dogs And Chickens Is Carried To Village Board -- Beleaguered Trustees Listen to Argument About Animals and Fowl in Residential District, The Pelham Sun, Sep. 14, 1934, Vol. 25, No. 26, p. 1, cols. 7-8 & p. 7, col. 4.

"COMPANIONS IN MISERY

Crowing roosters, yelping hounds, and fluttering pigeons have caused North Pelham officials to scratch their heads in bewilderment over a problem, simpler but very similar to one that has aged many a Mount Vernon office holder.

'How can we rid the community of 'noisy' animals and birds and still satisfy animal and bird lovers?' is what the Village Board members are asking themselves.

For 20 years Mount Vernon's civic leaders have asked themselves the same thing when indignant residents demanded that grackles be driven from the city.

The otherwise peaceful village housewives have taken to the warpath because Alfred L. Gamber, executive secretary of the Board of Education, 
keeps dogs, hens, roosters and pigeons -- (and they all have pedigrees.)

'Pedigrees or no pedigrees, they must go,' was the housewives' ultimatum.

But the Village Board's problem is nothing compared to Mount Vernon's.  

Should the board members decide Mr. Gamber's pets create a nuisance, one single ordinance would be the solution -- although Mr. Gamber might not like it.

All Mount Vernon officials should join in passing a 'super-law' and the grackles would still make Mount Vernon their Summer home."

Source:  COMPANIONS IN MISERY, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Sep. 17, 1934, p. 6, col. 1.  

"Anti-Noise Ordinance Adopted to Make North Pelham Quiet Village
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North Pelham, Peaceful village.  

That is the hope of the board of trustees who last night adopted an ordinance directed against off-key sounds of the type that can be classed as noise.  This means barking dogs, crowing roosters, ringing bells, grinding machinery, or any sound whatsoever that would tend to interrupt the slumbers of the villagers during the night (thus impairing their health) and any other unnecessary noises that would disturb the peace and quiet of the village during daylight hours.

The ordinance, which was prepared by Village attorney Thomas E. Fenlon, covered almost every noise but those heard at sessions of the board of trustees at which village fathers are besieged by irate citizens complaining about noise.  The adoption of the ordinance followed a complaint made by Chester Park householders directed at a neighbor who is a farmer of chickens and thoroughbred dogs.

A fine of $25 or five days in jail or both is the penalty for violation of the ordinance."

Source:  Anti-Noise Ordinance Adopted to Make North Pelham Quiet Village, The Pelham Sun, Sep. 21, 1934, Vol. 25, No. 27, p. 1, cols. 7-8.  

"COMPLAINT SUBJECT SCANS NOISE LAWS
-----
(Special To The Argus)

NORTH PELHAM, Sept. 24. -- A copy of the newly created Village Ordinance banning maintenance of noisy fowl and other animals was served Saturday on Alfred L. Gamber, 16 Maple Avenue, against whom neighbors recently complained to the Village Board because of his hens, rooster, dogs and pigeons."

Source:  COMPLAINT SUBJECT SCANS NOISE LAWS, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Sep. 24, 1934, p. 7, col. 3.  

"FLY-BY-NIGHT MERCHANTS TO BE BARRED IN PELHAM
-----
Village Board Passes Ordinance Imposing Sales Tax and Requiring Bond on Transient Stores -- Parking Limit Reduced
-----
(Special to The Daily Argus)

NORTH PELHAM, June 20: . . .

The Gamber chicken coop at 16 Maple Avenue was given a clean bill of health by an inspector from the County Health Department.  The Board asked for an inspection after receiving a complaint from H. Zobel, a neighbor of Alfred L. Gamber.

The report stated that the coop housing 14 Rhode Island and a number of pigeons was kept according to statute and violated no provisions of the Health Code."

Source:  FLY-BY-NIGHT MERCHANTS TO BE BARRED IN PELHAM -- Village Board Passes Ordinance Imposing Sales Tax and Requiring Bond on Transient Stores -- Parking Limit Reduced, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], June 20, 1935, p. 8, cols. 2-3 (unrelated text omitted). 

"Gamber's 'Farm' Is Responsible For Another Ordinance In North Pelham
-----

Just as an ordinance was passed against noise a few years ago was prompted by a complaint about the 'farm' of Alfred L. Gamber of Maple avenue, secretary to the Board of Education, more complaints prompted the adoption of another ordinance in North Pelham at a meeting of the North Pelham Village Board, Wednesday night.  Mrs. Harold Ring, also of Maple avenue, complained about smoke and obnoxious odors which she alleges are caused by a rubbish bonfire at the Gamber residence.

Mrs. Ring told the Board that the 'farmer' secretary to the school board harbors 76 pets, including chickens, pigeons and dogs, and although the county board of health has inspected the property and has found no violation of the health code, nevertheless she considers Gamber's animals and fowl an annoyance.

She wanted to know what could be done next.

The anti-noise ordinance passed two years ago when complaints had  been made against Gamber was referred to.  It was summed up briefly by Trustee James T. Bollettieri who said, 'This ordinance practically makes it a crime to be awake after 12 o'clock midnight.'

Mrs. Ring said that she was not complaining about noise, since three annoying roosters had been eliminated by culinary preparation perhaps, but against the burning of ill-smelling refuse.

'Then,' said the trustee, almost in a body, 'we'll make an ordinance against burning rubbish!'

'But will it be constitutional?' asked someone.

'Never mind about that,' replied Trustee Bollettieri.  'Everybody seems to be testing the constitutionality of laws these days.  We'll make the ordinance and let somebody else test it.'

The ordinance was adopted unanimously."

Source:  Gamber's 'Farm' Is Responsible For Another Ordinance In North Pelham, The Pelham Sun, Nov. 15, 1935, p. 8, col. 7.  

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