February 11: ON THIS DAY in 1952, bomb threats close N.J. airport as 29 die

February 11, 2019 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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ON THIS DAY IN 1878, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Mr. Theodore Roosevelt, of New York, died at No. 6 West Fifty-seventh street, on Saturday night, at the age of 46 years. He was well known by his many charities and his wide social and business influence. At the time of his death he was at the head of the banking firm of Theodore Roosevelt & Son. He was interested in the Orthopaedic Hospital of the Children’s Aid Society of New York, of which he was one of the founders. At the time of his death, Mr. Roosevelt was a commissioner of the State Board of Charities, and for the last fifteen years he worked for all kinds of charitable institutions. He was worth several millions of dollars.

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ON THIS DAY IN 1924, the Eagle reported, “Lieut. Charles Hooven Griffis, whose unsuccessful attempt to kidnap Grover Cleveland Bergdoll, American draft dodger, from his sanctuary in Germany cost him six months in a German prison, looked upon the Statue of Liberty again today and found it good, and looked upon his family and some thousands of New Yorkers waiting to welcome him home and found the view even better, as he explained later during his official welcome at City Hall … In his official welcome, Acting Mayor William T. Collins said, ‘This morning we welcome to our city a young American Army lieutenant who, with the characteristic courage of the American soldier, sought to bring back to our jurisdiction one who had enjoyed the privileges and benefits, but who had shirked the duties and responsibilities of American citizenship at a time of dire national peril. It was a daring exploit in which Lieutenant Griffis engaged, and despite its lack of complete accomplishment, it is worthy of warm-hearted recognition.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1952, the Eagle reported, “Elizabeth, N.J., Feb. 11 (UP) – Newark Airport’s third airliner disaster within two months killed 29 persons and injured 42 early today. A huge four-engine DC-6 was the third big transport to crash into heavily congested residential sections of this city which adjoins Newark. Government authorities in Washington spoke of a ‘jinx,’ but the New York Port Authority, operators of the airport, revealed that it had received anonymous bomb threats against both its Newark and its New York City LaGuardia Airports. So grave were the implications that the Authority shut down Newark, one of the country’s biggest airports and busiest airports, at 3 a.m., ‘pending further investigation.’ In Washington it was understood the Civil Aeronautics Administration would have ordered the closing if the Authority hadn’t acted promptly.

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “Ground was broken today for the first unit of St. John’s University to be constructed on the new 100-acre campus set out on the site of the Hillcrest Golf Club, Jamaica. Monsignor Edward P. Hoar, V.G., P.A., Vicar-General of the Brooklyn Diocese, blessed the ground of the rolling wooded tract and turned the first spadeful of earth for the $2,500,000 classroom building. He used the shovel that had broken ground in 1868 on St. John’s original site in Brooklyn … In a brief speech, Father [John A.] Flynn hailed today, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, as a date of ‘profound and lasting significance’ on which St. John’s realized its long delayed objective of ‘expanding its educational facilities to the people of all parts of Long Island.’ A caravan of 22 buses brought the entire student body and faculty of St. John’s College and delegates from the university’s five schools in the downtown division to the noon exercise. Hundreds of friends and alumni also attended.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle also reported, “Berlin, Feb. 11 (U.P.) – The Communists have banned Mickey Mouse as a rebel. Neue Zeitung, U.S. High Commission newspaper, said today Red police raided East Berlin schools in search for Western books owned by students and found some about Mickey Mouse. They were confiscated.”