From the Brooklyn Aerie: March 14, 2012
Did you ever hear of an all-metal house constructed entirely of cast iron? Well, there is one in Bay Ridge built by a man named Niels Paulson who headed the Hecla Iron Works factory in Williamsburg.
Until 1895 it was forbidden to play baseball on Sundays in any city park. The man who changed that was Judge William J. Gaynor who went on to become mayor of New York City. Gaynor not only lifted the restriction, but made the police give back to previous offenders the bats and balls they had confiscated. Said Gaynor about the ballplayers, “Baseball is a lot better for them than temptations I need not mention.”
The reason for the success of Charles Pratt’s Astral Oil was that it was an improved type of kerosene that had a high flash point of 150 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning that under normal conditions it would not easily burst into flames.