Chincoteague, Sportsmen's Paradise

Some people hunt for ducks, others shoot partridges, still others chase the cotton tail rabbit. But this knight of the pen hunts for copy. He has found it for the third time on Chincoteague Island, sportsmen's paradise. He will let you look at his find.

Upon landing he greeted some of the old timers seated on a long bench in front of the toll bridge office. On this bench the destiny of the nation is settled. On this bench the European war was ended and the presidents are elected. On this bench the big geese are killed and fish as big as Jonah's whale are caught. Fine chaps these old timers are and it's a joy to talk to them. There is Captain Wm. C. Bunting, sixty-five years old and not ashamed of it. Since he was a lad barely fourteen years old he has been a waterman. He is known as one of the biggest oyster dealers in the country. He employs at this time forty-five men and not less than sixty in the winter time. He has done his bit to make Tom's Cove Oysters famous. His fleet consists of seven motor boats, sixteen scows and five monitors. At this time of the year his men are engaged in transplanting ninety thousand bushels of oysters. Last year Captain Bunting reported his best year. His bivalves go wherever he can get them. Thus he and the other dealers are known from coast to coast. Listen to one of the veterans: "All living is made out of the water. A good landsman is a poor waterman and a good waterman is a poor landsman."

Put, put, put, rrrrr, she is backing and makes a fine landing. A number of finely dressed ladies and gentlemen step ashore as the beautiful "Wallops Island Association" motor boat arrives. The writer belongs to the tribe who call a boat "she," for a boat is like a fair lady, adorned to greet her groom. Look at the boat and envy the owners of the club on yonder island. Gunning and fishing is their sport. R. B. Beahm, of Philadelphia, is the president.

Her length is about fifty feet, her beam fourteen feet and her speed fifteen knots, while her horse power mounts up to one hundred. Her six cylinder Lathrop engine is a beauty. With her spacious cabin she can carry seventy-five people and yet she draws less than three feet of water. No wonder the thirty members of the club are proud of their boat. Did you know that she was built on the island? When this was found out, it was but natural that we were in the yard of Wimbrough Brothers within five minutes. Men who build boats like that are worth knowing. For nearly thirty years these men have built boats. If all the craft that have been launched from their two marine railways were tied together, they would constitute a young navy. Starting on a small scale, their business has grown until they have reached a place where it is a matter of first come, first served. And most of their orders come from people who have never seen the island. When motor boats took the place of sail and oar power, they were ready for the new demand. For nearly twenty-eight years they have been keeping step with all developments in motor boats and engines. In fact they installed the first motor engines on the island. A V type cabin cruiser is on the ways now and before long a man in Altoona, Pa., will sing the praises of Wimbrough Brothers, expert boat builders. Speed? Their boats have it, for their original models win prizes repeatedly. A while ago they shipped 4 bateaus to Beechhaven, N. J., where the racing of sailboats is in vogue even now. One of their outboard motor speedboats has recently defeated a swift factory built speedboat from Baltimore that was considered among the fleetest. Another boat built here is the "Lindy." This boat now owned in Beechhaven, N. J., with a length over all of 13 ft. 8 in has run thirty-five races, has won eight or ten cups and numerous pennants. Only the finest of lumber is used. By the way, if some landowner on the Peninsula has a surplus of oak, let him ship it to Wimbrough Brothers. They are always in the market for oak lumber, it's getting scarce.

There is, however, another boat building concern on the island, the firm of Taylor, Sharpley and Taylor. These men like Wimbrough Brothers are builders of fine boats of every description. They have been engaged in the business for over twenty-five years. We were much interested in the excellent piece of workmanship they are turning out now. It is a bank skiff with cabin, bunks and lavatory. With a length of twenty-eight feet and draught of two feet six inches she will attain a speed of twenty-five miles. A 125 H. P. Kermath engine will drive her through the water with torpedo boat speed almost. The State of Connecticut will soon furnish the license for this queen of the brine. And she is "copper fastened."

We passed by the large lumber yard of Conant Brothers, also dealers in marine hardware, a going concern. But we must hasten on. Everywhere oyster and clam shells, fish, boats, nets, masts, propellers, anchors and watermen in rubber boots, real he men. Anyone who loves the water will soon have sand in his shoes as the saying goes and learn to love Chincoteague.

With the junior editor of the "Enterprise" as our pilot we soon reached the newest asset of the island, "The Old Dominion Club." Do the people of Chincoteague realize what it means to have a club house in their midst owned by sixteen of the finest type of well-to-do Northern business men? From the President down to the youngest of the lot, they have already made the reputation of being the highest sort of American sportsmen. President William E. Lehman and his associates selected the spot as being the best that could be found in Southern waters. Examine the place at your leisure with us. Built at an approximate cost of $40,000 (a boat house and another building will soon be added) by H. W. Conant, of Rehoboth, Delaware, the large building is ample and unique in design. The proud keeper, guide Emory Bunting, graciously showed us through the magnificent rooms and halls. Steam heated, with three bathrooms of the latest design, two modern pantries, storage room for soft drinks, a huge "Kelvinator" for refrigerating purposes, the creature comforts are complete. The building is one hundred and twenty feet long and the screened porch measures at least forty feet in length. Nothing is overlooked. The furniture of the social hall, dining room and porch and the bedrooms is elegant. Radio, player piano and magnificent game tables take care of indoor recreation when the call of out-door sport is hushed by storm. Landscape gardening will soon turn the grounds into a place of beauty. Of course there are inevitable boats for rowing and motoring and they are seagoing. The Eastern Side Channel in front of the wharf leads quickly to the famous channel bass fishing ground. What interested us most was the atmosphere of the place. A stranger passing through the building without a guide would know immediately what this club stands for. It stands for wholesome sport, rest and good fellowship. And the atmosphere is distinctly marine. In one of the rooms the light fixture is a genuine ship's steering wheel. On a pine tree a ship's bell calls hungry fishermen to dinner. A barometer in the social room foretells the weather, and at night this exquisite room is lighted by red, green and white running lights, such as are used on boats. A ship's clock ticks off the time and every four hours it strikes eight bells after the fashion of ships that sail the seven seas. We would like to linger on this beautiful spot, but we must take you to some other places.

As we return to town to take another trip down one of the winding shell roads, we pass the excellent Hotel Russell, owned and managed by Mrs. E. R. Russell. Perhaps the best recommendation of this cozy hotel is that the sportsmen guests return from year to year. We had a sample of one of the delicious seafood dinners. No wonder they return. Last Sunday 75 guests slept and ate here.

We are now at our last stopping place, that of Reed Brothers, wholesale clam dealers. These men talk of five and six million clams a years, think of it. How many lovers of the lowly clam have tasted these delicious bi-valves. As we found our way to their place we had a glimpse of a herd of the famous wild ponies and over there to the right was a huge fish hawk nest, perched high and dry on top of a wind-swept tree. But we are talking clams now. As we reached the dock the men were packing clams in their grass bags. In cold weather clams are shipped in barrels lined with paper to keep the frost out. It takes ten years to grow a full sized clam. The small ones taken from the public clamming grounds are replanted on beds leased by the Reed Brothers. Trees indicate their annual growth by rings, clams tell their annual growth by an extension to the shell which is colored lighter than the older portion of the "house that clam built." A clam can live out of the water for six days. Strange paradox of life; a man can live under water for only a minute. Like oysters shipped from the island, the clams shipped by these men and other wholesale dealers reach all parts of the United States. Have you ever heard of the giant clam, weighting five hundred pounds off the East Indian coast? How would you like to have your foot caught in one of these, nearly five feet in diameter? But we will stop here for fear that we might be accused of telling a fish story. A hasty goodbye to the old times at the toll bridge and we are off for home, sweet home.