February 21: ON THIS DAY in 1947, 11.6-inch snowstorm grips city

February 21, 2019 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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ON THIS DAY IN 1934, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Max Carey is definitely out as manager of the Dodgers … Carey did not resign, as was expected in some quarters, and so is in a position to claim his fully salary of $12,500 for 1934 although he never sets foot in Ebbets Field. The Brooklyn directors, while they were taking definite action with Carey’s case, were planning for his successor. The post will be offered to Charles (Casey) Stengel, ex-outfielder for the Dodgers and coach under Carey during the past two seasons. Stengel, on his way home in Glendale, Cal., will arrive for a conference tomorrow or early Friday. The offer includes a two-year contract and the support of the front office, but it is doubtful if the salary bid will be greatly advanced over Stengel’s figure of last year.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1947, the Eagle reported, “One of the most spectacular snowstorms in years buffeted and blanketed the city today, sweeping down all through the night and still pelting pedestrians early this afternoon. Earlier reports had said the storm was expected to let up around noon. The Weather Bureau in its 1 p.m. recording showed the snowfall at 11.6 inches. This however, failed to impress the average Brooklynite, who was obliged to battle through drifts far beyond that depth … The Board of Transportation said that trolley delays in Brooklyn of 20 to 25 minutes had resulted because of trucks and cards stranded in the tracks. Additional cars were added to the subway lines to handle increased crowds of people unable to drive their cars … Floyd Bennett Field was closed down at 3:30 p.m. yesterday and was still closed today. Some of the runways were piled up with drifts up to 36 inches.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1947, the Eagle also reported, “The Brooklyn Museum will mark its fiftieth anniversary at its present location on Eastern Parkway tomorrow, George Washington’s birthday, with a special exhibition. Focal point of the display will be a life portrait of the first president painted by Gilbert Stuart. This was purchased from a dealer who had acquired it earlier from the Pierrepont family. The price, reported to be about $75,000, was raised in equal shares from museum funds and money of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences … Special guests will have a preview of the show tonight in the building at Eastern Parkway and Washington Ave. The anniversary will be discussed by Charles Nagel Jr., director of the museum, and Sidney W. Davidson, chairman of the governing committee, will unveil the portrait … Mr. Nagel, discussing the exhibition, declared today that because of its long Brooklyn association ‘the Stuart portrait of Washington forms the focal point of the exhibition.’ The museum is happy that it can ‘now share with the whole metropolitan community this treasure from the early days of the republic,’ he said.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1951, the Eagle reported, “Pittsburgh, Feb. 21 (U.P.) — County commissioners ordered two-thirds of the elm trees surrounding Joyce Kilmer’s memorial at South Park chopped down today so passersby could read, inscribed on a plaque, his famous lines: ‘I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “A road by any other name would sound as sweet, especially Shore Road and particularly if it were to be called Verrazzano Boulevard, according to members of the Italian Historical Society of America. Giovanni da Verrazzano, they proclaim, was the man who discovered Brooklyn, so why shouldn’t he be honored by the fair borough, they want to know. Verrazzano, incidentally, also discovered Manhattan and a large statue of him stands at the southern tip of that island, facing toward the Statue of Liberty. ‘Brooklyn should do something, too,’ says John N. LaCorte, director of the society. ‘Verrazzano was the first European to set foot in Brooklyn – 85 years before Henry Hudson arrived.’”