More Pelham Trivia!

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How well do you know the Town of Pelham?  Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog poses another handful of trivia questions to test your knowledge of your hometown.  I have posted such Historic Pelham trivia teasers before.  See:

Thu., Nov. 06, 2014:  Historic Pelham Trivia Test: One of the World's Most Difficult Exams!

Wed., Jul. 22, 2015:  More Pelham Trivia.

Here are today's questions.  Good luck!

Question 1:  Travers Island in Pelham Manor is the second home of the New York Athletic Club and has been an important factor in the success of so many Olympians who have been members of the club.  How many Olympic medals and Olympic gold medals have the New York Athletic Club athletes won?  Additionally, how many sovereign nations have won fewer Olympic medals than the athletes of the New York Athletic Cllub?

Question 2:  Can you name the former Presidents of the United States whose last names happen to be the same as the name of at least one roadway within the Town of Pelham?  

Question 3:  Can you name the Pelhamite who gave musical instruction to Albert Einstein?

Question 4:  If a jet aircraft were to fly eastward along the meridian from Pelham, in what European mainland nation would it reach the first land after crossing the Atlantic Ocean?

Question 5:  The Town of Pelham was founded by New York State law in 1788.  Of the 195 sovereign states that can be described as indisputably sovereign, how many were founded AFTER the Town of Pelham and, thus, are younger than the Town of Pelham?

ANSWERS TO THE HISTORIC PELHAM TRIVIA QUESTIONS APPEAR BENEATH THE IMAGE BELOW.

Answer to Question 1:  As of early 2017, N.Y.A.C. athletes haved won 248 Olympic medals, 131 of which have been Olympic gold medals.  Only twenty-two of the world's nations have athletes who have won more Olympic medals than the athletes of the New York Athletic Club
See New York Athletic Club, Olympic History (visited May 21, 2017). 
See also "All-Time Olympic Games Medal Table" in Wikipedia:  The Free Encyclopedia (visited May 21, 2017).

Answer to Question 2:  Former U.S. Presidents whose last names are the same as the name of at least one roadway in Pelham are Grant, Jackson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Monroe and Washington.  [Tip of the hat to Joe Gallello who reminded the author of Monroe Street!]

Answer to Question 3:  In 1934 Pelham resident Toscha Seidel gave violin instruction to Albert Einstein, and received a sketch in return, reportedly diagramming length contraction of his theory of relativity in the sketch.  See Wed., Dec. 28, 2016:  Violin Virtuoso Toscha Seidel, And Famed Dog Hector, Lived in Pelham.

Answer to Question 4:  An aircraft traveling eastward along the meridian from the Town of Pelham would reach the European mainland in Portugal first.

Answer to Question 5: Of the 195 sovereign states that can be described as indisputably sovereign, 133 were founded AFTER the Town of Pelham and, thus, are younger than the Town of Pelham.  See "List of Sovereign States by Date of Formation" in Wikipedia:  The Free Encyclopedia (visited May 21, 2017).

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Bootleggers Began to Feel the Heat in Pelham in 1922

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It was 1922.  The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was the law of the land.  American Prohibition was well underway.  That meant that nearly every American who was determined to evade Prohibition had to find a way.  The manufacture and sale of bootlegged liquor soared.  

Evaders in Pelham in 1922, particularly those living in Pelham Heights, seemed to prefer a local bootleg "brand" known as "Hill and Hill."  Sourced in New Rochelle, "Hill and Hill" was the illegal brand by which many drinking Pelhamites swore.  

Others in Pelham, however, abhorred illegal hooch and believed all others should as well.  Tired of blatant Prohibition violations, they insisted that Federal, State, and local authorities crack down and enforce the Eighteenth Amendment.  Pelham citizens began reporting suspected bootlegging activities and complained that authorities were not doing enough to stop the bootleggers.

Authorities got the message.  They cracked down.  One fascinating effort to crack down became known locally as "The Moreau Case."  

Harry L. Moreau was the proprietor of a drugstore in the Cole Apartment House on Boston Post Road next to today's CVS Pharmacy where the gas station now stands.  Ironically, the structure was built around (and upon) the remnants of the original "Little Red Church at Four Corners" that had been moved to the site when the church sold its original wooden sanctuary and had it moved a few hundred yards down the road to make way for today's Huguenot Memorial Presbyterian Church.  

On March 14, 1922, Federal and local authorities raided Moreau's drugstore in the apartment house built from the remnants of the wooden sanctuary of the Little Red Church.  Moreau was carted away, not only for hooch, but also for drugs.  The successful raid encouraged Pelham's Prohibitionists.  I have written before of The Moreau Case.  See Tue., Feb. 18, 2014:  Pelham Speakeasies and Moonshiners - Prohibition in Pelham: The Feds Raid the Moreau Pharmacy in Pelham Manor in 1922.  

The local Pelham newspaper, The Pelham Sun, seized on the opportunity presented by the successful Moreau raid. The paper's headline only two weeks after the Moreau raid read "Bootleggers Are Sensing Danger In Pelham Trade."  Citing the Moreau case, the article stated:  "The bootlegger, sensing the danger, is leaving town."  As one might suspect, subsequent history proved that pronouncement terribly inaccurate -- an over-optimistic pronouncement on behalf of Prohibitionists.  

In that same article, the newspaper reported that a suspected bootlegger who had been operating a profitable bootlegging establishment "in Pelham Manor not a long way away from Washington avenue" had fled to parts unknown and had removed "his goods and chattels to other spheres."

For a time, bootleggers considered the situation in Pelham to be so risky that they halted home deliveries of bootlegged booze.  For example, a popular New Rochelle bootlegger who delivered "Hill and Hill" to "several patrons in Pelham Heights" grew wary.  He feared that his delivery automobile was under constant surveillance at its garage.  Thus, he notified his patrons, including those in Pelham Heights, "that if they want the stuff they must come and get it."

History shows that things cooled down enough in Pelham for roadhouses, drugstores, and other locations to sell illegal bootlegged booze throughout most of the period of Prohibition in Pelham.  Though authorities broke up stills and arrested deliverymen throughout Pelham during the Roaring Twenties, the flow of illegal liquor continued unabated until Prohibition was lifted. 

Stills Discovered by Pelham Manor Police in a Home on James Street

During Prohibition.  From the February 3, 1928 Issue of The Pelham Sun.

NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

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Below is the text of an article from The Pelham Sun that forms the basis of today's article.  It is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"Bootleggers Are Sensing Danger In Pelham Trade
-----
Deliveries of Hill and Hill From New Rochelle Discontinued During Week
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Bootlegger In Pelham Manor Reported to Have Folded Tents and Stolen Away
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The activities of a group of residents actuated by a desire to see that the law is enforced are bringing results.  The bootlegger, sensing the danger, is leaving town.  The Moreau case has shown that these men mean business.  

During the week a certain party who it is believed has been conducting an extremely profitable bootlegging establishment in Pelham Manor not a long way away from Washington avenue, has found it advisable to remove his goods and chattels to other spheres.

Another violator of the Eighteenth Amendment who has several patrons in Pelham Heights, has seen fit to forego deliveries this week.  His automobile has been closely watched from its garage in New Rochelle, but the bootlegger is wary and the expected 'Hill and Hill' which has been the main brand delivered in Pelham Heights has been conspicuous by its absence.  It is understood that patrons have been notified by telephone that if they want the stuff they must come and get it."  

Source:  Bootleggers Are Sensing Danger In Pelham Trade -- Deliveries of Hill and Hill From New Rochelle Discontinued During Week -- Bootlegger In Pelham Manor Reported to Have Folded Tents and Stolen Away, The Pelham Sun, Mar. 31, 1922, p. 1, col. 6.  

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I have written extensively about bootlegging, illegal stills, and liquor raids in the Town of Pelham during Prohibition and even earlier when Pelham went dry under New York's Raines law.  For a few examples, see:

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 Pharmacy in Pelham Manor in 1922.

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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Brief Description of Pelham's Clay Avenue and Washington Avenue Area in 1913

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In 1913, The Pelham Sun published a brief description of the then-unincorporated section of the Town of Pelham in the area of Clay Avenue.  The area was not yet part of the Village of Pelham Manor.  Although part of the Town of Pelham, it was not part of any of the incorporated villages.

The item describes the area at a time of major change -- just as it was evolving from rural pastureland to suburbia.  The item is transcribed below.

"Town's Unincorporated Part
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The unincorporated part of the Town of Pelham (that part being within the town limits, but not in the incorporated village of Pelham Manor, has progressed considerably during the past few years.  Not so long ago Clay avenue was only to be found on the map.  Washington avenue was only a name, while blackberry bushes abounded especially in a part of what is now Pelham Bay Park.  'My cow,' said Mr. A. L. Hammett, an old resident, 'used to pasture on Clay avenue and the property of the Windsor Heights Company was a mass of woods.'

That company has been very progressive.  It has laid out fine roads, water mains, sewer pipes, installed electric lights, etc.

Mr. Crane's fine stucco house with its beautiful grounds has redeemed a large part of this property and money invested in this part of the town will be a good investment.

With a prospect of a sewer system in the near future, the unincorporated part of the Town of Pelham will be in a position to hold its own as a desirable residential section."

Source:  Town's Unincorporated Part, The Pelham Sun, Vol. 4, No. 41, Dec. 20, 1913, p. 12, col. 5 (newspaper page in the collections of the Office of The Historian of The Town of Pelham, NY; digital copy in author's files).

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