In the last days of September Etrusco moved.

Anchors had been placed at a distance from the ship and at the highest tides compressors were activated to shift the ship until it would stand 90 degrees to the beach.

While this was happening on Cedar Point rumblings about the town pier and its accessibility hit the newspapers.

In early September the Scituate Town Pier had been used to load radar devices onto a ship on behalf of a Cohasset interest. Earlier in the year a plan to renovate the pier for $100000 dollars had been floated; eventual repairs amounted to $4000 with the town and the state splitting the cost. Then a decision was made to close off the pier to cars and even to walkers. Bollards were placed to stop the traffic. The Etrusco questions might be soon answered but others were on the way.

Another issue was the size of the growing school population. This was noted in the last installment of this story but concern expanded as it was found that the addition to the Jenkins School was not going to be adequate. Threats of double sessions (which will come) were heard. Classes were already being held in what is known as the Kathleen Laidlaw Center or Schoolhouse.

The tragedy of the Dominic Bonomi conviction for murder took a twist as Etrusco began to move.

Note the headline about Etrusco here. This note about Etrusco being sunk off Normandy is not true. It was one of many rumors and asides that were thrown around to give the ship a cache that it might not otherwise have. The main claim to fame for the ship as recounted in Etrusco, From Cradle to Grave by David Ball and Freitas is the large number of deserters the captain noted in his log book.

Additionally there was a small boat overturned off shore that led to two being drowned. The mouth of the North River was a huge cause of concern and site of danger all summer long.

In the wider world there was trouble as well. The closing of the Suez Canal disrupted shipping all over the world. And the famous Brinks Robbery of 1950 in which $2.75 million was stolen with only $60000 recovered finally saw the culprits brought to justice.

Zooming in we see that the Civil Rights movement so often connected to the bus boycott in Montgomery Alabama and the integration of Little Rock’s Central High School in the fall of 1957 had another front in Kentucky where the National Guard was using tanks to block the admission of seven young people of color.

These stories may have prompted the Globe article that it was Scituate’s own Chief Justice Cushing who first liberated slaves here in Massachusetts

Polio was still around in Massachusetts despite the concerted effort of federal, state and local governments to give access to the Salk vaccine. The drop had been dramatic but there was still a distance to go.

On a more positive note Mickey Mantle was swinging for the Triple Crown. He would not catch rule but he would win all three major battle titles, Homeruns, Batting Average, and Runs Batted in. Ted Williams, bouncing back after the All Star Break, was hitting .345 but it was not enough to catch the Mick. The Red Sox were in fourth place in the eight team American League with .545 winning percentage.

Scituate was continuing to expand. This picture just might be the home my brother in law grew up in. Below you see the marriage boom continue as my uncle’s cousin takes his bride. They would be fixtures in Scituate for the next 50 years.

October was the month where the beach shook with dynamite and Etrusco moved more than five feet. That is next.