September 26: ON THIS DAY IN 1934, More ransom found in garage; indict Hauptmann in extortion

September 26, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Share this:

ON THIS DAY IN 1934, the Eagle reported, “More of the Lindbergh ransom money was found today in the Bronx garage of Bruno Richard Hauptmann, which had already yielded $13,750 of the telltale yellow-back notes. The amount was $840, District Attorney Samuel J. Foley said. He added that the bills had been checked against the list of the ransom money serial numbers and found to match. Col. Charles A. Lindbergh himself was making his appearance before the Bronx grand jury, which was taking testimony against Hauptmann for extortion in the kidnaping and killing of the Lindbergh baby, when the new discovery was made … Some of the bills, after being identified, were taken before the grand jury before it took its noon recess.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1849, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Gas at last. Last evening the new and beautiful iron posts recently erected along Fulton Street, to accommodate the lamps of the gas company, were fired up, and for the first time our city was illuminated with gas lights. The lamps are not set on the posts, nor the burners provided: the light of last evening was, therefore, a mere spontaneous ‘rough and ready’ affair and flamed out of the top of the iron posts like flambeaus. We suppose that the first runnings of the gas are mixed more or less with atmospheric air and other impurities and that this burning off is not a sample, at all, of what the gas will do for us. It was, however, a very satisfactory exhibit as it showed that we were on the point of realizing the lights so long anticipated. The company has, in fact, been making gas for some time and their manes are now mostly filled. We shall have light therefore as soon as the fixtures are completed.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1855, the Eagle reported, “A locomotive built to burn anthracite coal has been running 100 miles a day on the Reading railroad for the past four weeks, and her performance is so satisfactory that good judges on the road think her the best for passengers they have ever known. She has abundance of steam, throws no dirt or sparks, and makes a saving of 43 per cent.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1885, the Eagle reported, “A number of gentlemen in this city who are identified with athletic circles, and who themselves are expert bicyclists, are taking steps toward the formation of select wheel clubs, to which ladies are to be eligible with tricycles. The idea is to extend the opportunity of the ladies for riding by having in their company gentlemen escorts, either on bicycles or tricycles, who shall be members of the same clubs and, therefore, responsible for the proper care and protection of the ladies while riding out. The fast riding on what is known as club runs at present bars out the women, and it is contemplated by the movers for the new clubs to obviate this difficulty, and to open the great modern health-giving and invigorating exercise to the greatest number of ladies desirous of enjoying it.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1929, the Eagle reported, “Funeral services for Miller J. Huggins, manager of the New York Yankees and one of baseball’s most notable figures, who died at St. Vincent’s Hospital yesterday, will be held at 2 p.m. tomorrow in the Little Church Around the Corner, Manhattan. The Rev. Dr. J.E. Price of the Washington Heights M.E. Church, a lifelong friend, will officiate … The entire Yankee team, headed by Col. Jacob Rupert, the owner, and Babe Ruth, baseball officials and writers and hosts of friends are expected to attend and pay a last tribute … The death came with shocking suddenness, Mr. Huggins being stricken a week ago with what appeared to be a slight infection beneath his eye.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1933, the Eagle reported, “Ring Lardner is dead today, at the startling age of 48. For 10 years he had fought off advancing tuberculosis, now and then winning a skirmish with the disease … And though he had lived less than a half century, he had years ago established himself as one of America’s typical humorists and writers, in the honorable tradition of such as Mark Twain and Artemus Ward. He had been in turn a sports reporter, author, playwright. He created a Ring Lardner ‘language,’ the naïve, illiterate talk of the uncouth baseball player adventuring in the big cities, which others by the hundreds have since tried to imitate. He wrote ‘You Know Me, Al’ back in 1915 and ‘Elmer the Great’ in 1928, and in between a vast body of newspaper and magazine pieces and a number of thin volumes, all of which are best characterized as being ‘Ring Lardner stuff.’”

***

“GILLIGAN’S ISLAND” PREMIERED ON THIS DAY IN 1964. Seven people set sail aboard the Minnow for a three-hour tour and became stranded on an island. They used the resources on the island for food, shelter and entertainment. The cast included Bob Denver (Gilligan), Alan Hale Jr. (the Skipper), Jim Backus (Thurston Howell III), Natalie Schafer (Mrs. “Lovey” Howell), Russell Johnson (the Professor), Dawn Wells (Mary Ann) and Tina Louise (Ginger Grant). The last episode aired on April 17, 1967.

***

“WEST SIDE STORY” PREMIERED ON THIS DAY IN 1957. Composer Leonard Bernstein’s updated “Romeo and Juliet” musical premiered on Broadway and ran until 1960. Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics, Arthur Laurents wrote the book and Jerome Robbins created the choreography.

***

Special thanks to “Chase’s Calendar of Events” and Brooklyn Public Library.