On Monday, the fifth of July, two men, (Indians) natives of Gay Head, named Amos Jeffers, Jr., and Jeremiah Weeks, proceeded in a Vineyard sailboat on a swordfishing expedition off Noman’s Land. - Nothing has since been heard of them, and as the boat’s mainsail was picked up on Tuesday, the 6th, on Gay Head, the supposition is, the boat was stoven by the sword of a fish, and sank from under them. It is barely possible they were picked up by some vessel; but the impression is general that they have found a watery grave. They were both men of uncommon promise. Mr.
The tiny island that was used for decades as a bombing range will remain closed to the public as an unstaffed wildlife refuge, with minimal further efforts to remove unexploded munitions.
Facing criticism of a plan to stop clearing unexploded munitions left over from years of target practice on Noman’s island, U.S. Navy officials will take public comment until Nov. 2.
The United States Navy is set to open a public comment period on its proposed remedial action plan for Noman’s island— a 600-acre dot off the coast of Chilmark that was used as a naval gunnery range and aerial bombardment site for much of the 20th century.
The bombing of Noman’s Land has ended. Plans are underway to transfer the small island from the U.S. Defense Department to the Department of Interior. By Sept. 1, the Navy will turn the property over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which will manage it as a wildlife sanctuary.
We note with some sadness the disappearance of the runic rock of Noman’s Land, yet this is as proper an ending as any for a memorial to Leif Eriksson which scholars say Leif or any of his men never carved. Noman’s Land is an island of romance and mystery, and has been these many years, but all its tales seem to have an ironic ending.
The visit to Noman’s Land the other day by Bertrand Wood who lived on that seaward island long ago and took with him many of the nostalgic memories of youth, directs attention again to the runic rock of Noman’s. The rock was submerged by, the tide and Mr. Wood could not photograph it as he had hoped.
The runic rock of Noman’s Land was discovered and identified beyond doubt by the weekend expedition led by Curtiss Bacon, lawyer and visitor to the Vineyard, who has interested himself in an attempt to subject the runes to more complete study than has yet been made. The rock had not been seen since the 1938 hurricane when a great section of cliff on the western shore of Noman’s Land fell into the sea, and it may have been covered for years by this fallen material.
