Mr. Alex Berkman lived in Mariner’s Harbor, a neighborhood in the northwest portion of Staten Island – a borough of New York City.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staten_Island
Mariner’s Harbor was named for the widespread harvesting of oysters and other seafood throughout the 19th century.
The area was a center of ship-building, ship repair, and marine salvage into the 20th century.
(Passenger rail service was available to Staten Island until 1953.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariners_Harbor,_Staten_Island
In September of 1916, Alex received a postcard from Chas.
The postcard was mailed from Staten Island, so it appears that Chas had been in the neighborhood.
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The face of the postcard is a photograph of an unnamed “Creek” flowing through “Ilion Gorge”, in Herkimer County of central N. Y.”
The postcard title indicates, “Near Utica, N. Y.”
The Creek is Steele Creek which flows northeast through shale deposits until reaching the Mohawk River in the village of Ilion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steele_Creek_(Mohawk_River_tributary)
Interestingly, “Steele Creek” was named for an early settler who built a grist mill in Ilion – his name was the German, “Stahl”, which went through several permutations until becoming the English, “Steele”.
The Ilion Gorge is a favorite site for mineral collectors and hobbyists who find travertine within the exposed shale banks.
We have seen another postcard related to this scenic area: “Flowers for Miss Sackett”.
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On the reverse, we learn that Chas was unable to visit Alex despite his presence on Staten Island.
Chas writes, “Very sorry but I could not connect”.
It is possible that Chas was reporting on some other business that he tried to accomplish for Alex.
Despite the disappointing news, Alex preserved the postcard in excellent condition throughout his life.
One hopes that the correspondents exchanged many more postcards and that they were able to effect a meeting.
