December 14: ON THIS DAY in 1902, blizzard hits Brooklyn, Eagle building

December 14, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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ON THIS DAY IN 1902, the Eagle reported, “A fine, dry snow covers the city and state this morning. Following the damp, flaky fall of Friday night, a combination of snow and sleet began to come down yesterday and in the afternoon from 2 o’clock until nightfall it pelted the pedestrians and filled the streets … People who live on the Heights get nearer the full force of the wind than those of any other section on Brooklyn, and the crowded corners around Borough Hall and the Eagle Building are excellent places to watch the effects of a blizzard or snow-storm upon the pedestrians. The snow yesterday and last night blew with stinging force around the corners of the Eagle Building and through Johnson Street between this building and the post office.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1912, the Eagle reported, “The first car to run in the Flatbush Avenue extension started from Fulton Streets at 12:20 o’clock this afternoon. It was a car of the Manhattan Bridge Three Cent Line, and its trip from Fulton Street to Manhattan, over the Manhattan Bridge, marked the initial use for transportation purposes of the new thoroughfare which was opened as an approach to the new East River span. At the motor box of the first car was Miss Marcia Brackenridge, the 19-year-old daughter of John C. Brackenridge, vice president and general manager of the line, and under her control the car, loaded with directors and officers of the line and Brooklyn borough officials, made the round trip of four and a half miles in exactly one-half hour.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1923, the Eagle reported, “Dispatches received from England make it reasonably certain that Lawrence B. Sperry has been lost in an attempt to fly from London to Amsterdam … Mr. Sperry, son of Elmer A. Sperry of Brooklyn, had highly distinguished himself as an aviator, and his death is a great loss to that science.

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle stated, “Reports from Cincinnati say the Brooklyn Dodgers are going to sign Sandy Koufax, former Lafayette High baseball and basketball star. Koufax, an 18-year-old University of Cincinnati southpaw pitcher, is being sought by almost every club in the majors. The Dodgers are reportedly offering the Brooklyn scholastic star a $20,000 bonus contract. Buzzy Bavasi, Dodger vice president, said the Cincinnati story was premature. ‘It is true that we are interested in Koufax but that is all I can say now,’ said Bavasi. According to published reports in Cincinnati, the Dodgers are scheduled to close the deal Saturday. Koufax, a 200-pounder, fanned 34 men in two consecutive games last spring, pitching against Wayne University and the University of Louisville. As a freshman he won 3 and lost 1 for the varsity team, striking out 51 batters in 32 innings. He walked 30 and allowed 16 hits and 10 earned runs.”