Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1916-11-10
The BICCS FAMILY
MT. Bfggs Discusses the C0ney
ChOpping Expedition

"What Is the meaning of all this
talk l see in the paper about chopping
down buildings at Coney Island ?n
asked Mrs. Biggs.
"Why, it means that the commo
people have come pretty close to get
ting what belongs to them," replied
MIR. Biggs.
"How did they come to lose their be-
longings ?" asked Freddie.
"Well, son, it's like this said Mr..
Biggs. IA good many years ago, when
| was a little boy like you, Coney
Island was a wild stretch of sandy
beach, with a few shacks on it, and
three or four places that rented out
funny flannel suits for women and
gingham suits for men,"
"Gingham bathing suits % said Fred
die; "that sounds like a fairy S o.y."
mot a bit of it," said Mr.. Biggs;
.mighty sensible suits they were, too;
they were all In one piece, but with
plenty of arm aud leg room, and were
tied round the waist by a good strong
piece of rope. or course, in those days,
people who went to Coney Island and
who put on bathing suits did so on
account of their love of seabathing; not
because they wanted to show off, or
loll around the beach all day. They
paid their Is or 25 cents, jumped right
into the snrf, had a good healthy swim,
came out, dressed and stayed in their
right mind, and had a fine appetite for
lunch"
"What has all that to do with chop
ping down the houses this week ?"
asked Freddie.
II am just coming to that son." said
Mr.. Biggs. You see, in those happy
go-lucky days, the buildings were put
up any old way and as the island be-
gan to get more popular, the owners
took all sorts of liberties in erecting
their bathing houses and pavilions.
They all thought that the nearer they
built to the surf-line, the better chance
they would have Of dra awning trade
This went on for years and years, and
nobody paid any attention until some
body suddenly woke up and prodded
the officials. They started the
machinery of the law going, and finaI-
ly, after many years, the Court of APP
peals decided that no one had any
right to build anything out beyond
high-water mark. The owners were
warned months ago that this ruling of
the court must be obeyed, other wise the
State would be forced to take the law,
or rather the ak, into its own hands,
and do the chopping.'
"Did the owners obey the law ?" ask
ed Mrs. Biggs. mary a one of them, f"
said Mr.. Biggs. "They just dawled
along and the other day a lawyer nam
ed Lerner, representing the majesty of
the great State of New York, went to
the Island with a lot of men who had
big sxes and they started to chop"
"Gee whiz p said Freddie, sit must
have been great fun to see them chop
down house after house! Have they
got them all chopped down yet, dad ?"
mo, my son, not by the longest
kind of a long shot," said Mr.. Biggs.
"rhey just got a good start when the
Coney Island people begged for a little
more time and that little more time
has been extended once or twice, and
maybe extended again; and high priced
lawyers are searching for loopholes 10
the law that will enable the Coney
Island folks to fool around for another
ten or twenty years"
Too bad the old pioneers didn't lay
out a good wide beach at Coney Is
land" said Mrs. Biggs.
Fright you are," said Mr.. Biggs.
"We know all about it now. If our
%granddads' foresight was as good as
our hindsfght there would be a lot of
things ia this world that would be a
heap better than they are. "-Brooklyn
EonIa