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Advocate Archives
This week we look back on 1941, 1957 and 1977. Welcome back to the S.S. Steel Pier on its summer ferry run; commercially viable scallops found on Georges Bank; should the entire town become a tow-away zone?
May 29, 1941
She’ll Be Coming ‘Round Long Point
Tomorrow afternoon, along toward two o’clock, the all-year natives and visitors here for the holiday weekend will go down to the end of the wharves to watch for the wisps of smoke over toward Wood End that will mark the coming of the S.S. Steel Pier of the Cape Cod Steamship Company and the opening of the excursion season between Provincetown and Boston.
This is the 27th season which the company has operated a vessel on the Massachusetts Bay trip. During this time, in which several different boats have become famous on the run, nearly 2,500,000 passengers have been carried. The S.S. Steel Pier is the fourth ship which the line has operated since its incorporation in 1904, according to Paul E. Thurlow, president and general manager of the line.
The S.S. Steel Pier is a 1750 ton ship with a capacity of 1650 passengers. It is oil powered and has an all steel hull, partitioned into watertight compartments. A crew of 64 officers and men, including two stewardesses, take care of the safety and comfort of the passengers.
May 23, 1957
Scallops Found on Georges Bank
Results of the second scallop exploratory and gear research cruise by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s commercial research trawler Delaware, completed May 10, indicated that Georges Bank supports sizeable commercial concentration of scallops in two areas not presently being fished. Scallops were found to be widespread in light commercial quantities in most all areas explored from 30 to 50 fathoms along the northern edge and west of the northeast peak. Most scallops taken were of good commercial size, with some catches yielding nine and ten meats per pound.
During the three week trip three variations of scallop dredges were tested: Standard 11 ft. dredge; Standard 11 ft. dredge fitted with depressor plates; and the Standard 11 ft. dredge fitted with rake teeth and depressor plates.
May 26, 1977
All Provincetown Suggested As Tow-Away Zone
Perhaps a year from now Provincetown will be one of the few towns where the entire township is both a national historic district and a tow-away zone.
The selectmen and no one else could reach a consensus Tuesday night at the spring traffic hearing on the thorny and persistent problem of homeowners who find their driveways blocked by cars.
Selectman Munro Moore suggested that perhaps the entire town could be designated as a tow-away zone without posting each driveway. If signs were posted at all traffic entrances into town explaining that cars would be towed if they block driveways, the police could legally tow.
The selectmen decided to consult town counsel to see if it is possible to designate the entire town a tow-away zone.
Police Chief James Meads said his department may not legally tow a car unless there is an adequate sign designating a tow-away zone. Recent state law saying unauthorized cars parking on his land will be towed at the expense of the car owner. Otherwise the homeowner must pay for the towing fee himself.
But that doesn’t apply to a car parked on the street before a driveway. Such a space must be legally designated a tow-away zone. Transgressors may then be towed by the police even if a homeowner doesn’t complain.
Meads said in an emergency he would instruct a wrecker to remove a car. But the aggravation of a blocked driveway can’t be remedied, unless the town decided to post or paint every driveway in town. This would give the police the authority to tow but would involve a tremendous expense.
As an emergency measure to deal with Memorial Day weekend, the selectmen voted to designate the entire wharf a no-parking tow-away zone.
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May 24th, 2007