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The NEW BERN
PUBLISHED WEIICLY
IN THE HEAHT bp
NEW BERN, N. C. 28560, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1972
NUMRER 25
Few characters in this grand
old town of ours were ever more
colorful than Sigmund
Bloomgardt, who ran a little
secrnidnrate clothing establish
ment on lower AOddle street.
Gloomy, as he was af
fectionately referred to by
natives who knew him, didn’t
prosper quite as much as some
of our other respected Jewish
merchants who came to New
Bern from across the sea. If
that ever bothered him, he
didn’t com|dain about it.
Having hailed from Ger
many, as did his wife, if we
remember rightly, he
natirally was regard^ with a
certain amount of hostility
during the first World War. He
had less than nothing in com
mon with those responsible for
that mighty conflict, but it
made him an object for
suspicion and ridicule Just the
same.
Small boys living in Bloomy’s
ndghborhood, over on Eden
street, used to taunt him
whenever he came out of the
house, or ventured into his yard.
Always it was the same
rhyming chant:
“Kaiser Bill went up the hill
to take a look at France;
Kaiser Bill came down the hUl
With bullets in his pants."
Actually, Kaiser Bill never
got any biilets in his pants, or
anywhere else. Defeat^ in war,
he was sent into exile and lived
to a very ripe old age. Hence,
the chant hurled at Bloomy was
mmre poetry than truth.
Bloomy might have been a
beautiful baby, but physical
attractiveness wasn’t bhe of hi^
assets in later years. lie had ah
exceptionally ugly face, but his
friendly smUe worked wonders
in winning the favor of all who
knew him.
During the depression, when
Hoover had everybody looking
for prosperity just around the
comer, serving on a jury at the
County Courthouse was an
opportunity rather than a
burden.
Picking up a few dollars in
this fashion was a fortunate
thing for some of the folks who
had empty pocketbooks.
Bloomy qualified for this
category, and landed in the jury
box fairly often.
Hard of hearing, he missed
most of the testimony, and the
big words used by blustering
lawyers in their pleas to the
jury were, to put it mildly, far
beyond his comprehension.
Perhaps it was just as well. At
any rate, the juries that Bloomy
served on invariably rendered
good verdicts, which makes us
wonder if it wouldn’t be better
to^y if some jurors hrard less.
To think of Bloomy is to think
of his big black umbrella. He
toted it rain or shine, to and
from home, and got kidded
about it a lot. Those who kidded
him got soaked by a con
siderable number of sudden
showers, as Uie years rolled by.
Bloomy meanM^e stayed dry.
It never occurred to this
kindly German Jew that he was
making history in his journey
from me cradle to the grave.
Yet, his personality is in
terwoven in the fabric of New
(Continued on pafe-6)
NEW BERN HIGH SCHOOL’S VARSITY
NEW BERN mOH SCHOOL’S JUNIOR VARSITY