January 31: ON THIS DAY in 1947, British families quit Palestine

January 31, 2019 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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ON THIS DAY IN 1886, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Those whose nerves can find tone in the grotesquely horrible, which is happily, in this case, the utterly impossible also, had better draw the curtains in some mysterious chamber and at midnight or thereabouts, by a flickering fire and solitary lamp, shut themselves in while they peruse the ‘Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,’ by Robert Louis Stevenson, published in ‘authorized edition,’ by Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1926, the Eagle reported, “Old Sheepshead Bay, once a drowsy fishing village and later known all over the world as the home of one of the finest race tracks in America, has been completely transformed into a thriving community of brick dwellings and business streets. The noise of steam shovels and cement mixers and the pounding of falling walls emphasize the passing of old landmarks and the progress of modern developments. Historic hotels and roadhouses, patronized a generation ago by nationally known sportsmen, and picturesque frame mansions, occupied for years by prominent Brooklyn families, have been replaced by imposing apartment houses and store buildings. ‘Millionaire’s Row’ on Emmons Ave., the old McKeever place on Sheepshead Rd., and the old hotel opposite the bridge to Manhattan Beach have vanished from the scene. They, too, have yielded to the invasion of modern building developments and to the use of the land they occupied for more profitable improvement.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1942, the Eagle reported, “San Francisco, Jan. 31 (U.P.) — Federal orders barring enemy aliens from defense zones brought consternation today to alien Italian fisherman, including the father of the DiMaggio brothers. About 1,500 of the 2,220 fishermen who embark from Fisherman’s Wharf here fall under the order covering the San Francisco waterfront. Some of the fishermen have sons in the armed forces; some have first citizenship papers. Giuseppe DiMaggio, 67, has raised a large family. Three of his sons have won fame as baseball players — Joe with the Yankees, Dominic with the Red Sox and Vince with the Pirates. A fourth son, Tom, now manager of Joe’s waterfront ‘Fish Grotto,’ once played with Hollywood in the Pacific Coast League.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1947, the Eagle reported, “Jerusalem, Jan. 31 (U.P.) — All wives and children of officers in Palestine who are British subjects will be evacuated by Feb. 4 ‘so military operations in Palestine will not be hampered,’ it was announced officially today. The decision to send dependents of ranking Britons in Palestine back to England was believed preliminary to the imposition of statutory martial law in Palestine. Richard Stubbs, public information officer, disclosed the plans for the repatriation ‘in a matter of days.’ It came in the wake of a Holy Land crisis which brought reports of impending martial law.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1948, the Eagle reported, “Dayton, Ohio, Jan. 31 (U.P.) — Orville Wright, co-inventor of the airplane and the first person to fly a motor-driven craft, died last night in Miami Valley Hospital after a four-day illness. He was 76 and a bachelor. Funeral services will be held in Dayton but the time has not been announced. Wright, who first successfully piloted the airplane he and his brother, Wilbur, built in 1903, collapsed in his laboratory Tuesday and was taken to the hospital. He was suffering from hardening of the arteries and later developed a lung congestion … Although Wright last piloted a plane in 1914 and last flew as a passenger in 1923, he never lost his interest in aviation. Airmen and engineers sought his advice up to the time of his collapse … Wright had spent most of his time since last October in retirement, although he still served as consultant to officers at nearby Wright Field, where the army carries on aviation experiments. The field was named for Wilbur Wright, who died in 1912.”