March 6: ON THIS DAY in 1954, Puerto Rican police launch roundup of 38 terrorists

March 6, 2019 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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ON THIS DAY IN 1843, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “A counterfeiter named Daniel Green has been arrested at Hard Dig, near New Bedford, charged with passing counterfeit money on the Blackstone Canal Bank. The bill may be detected by the letter ‘b’ instead of ‘d’ in the word Providence.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1888, the Eagle reported, “Boston, Mass. – Louisa May Alcott died this morning. Coming so soon after the death of her father, the suddenly announced decease of Miss Alcott brings a double sorrow to the many friends of the family and to lovers of good literature everywhere. For a long time Miss Alcott had been ill, suffering from nervous prostration. She was born on her father’s birthday, November 29, 1832, in Germantown, that well known suburb of Philadelphia. [Henry David] Thoreau was for a time her teacher, but she was mainly instructed by her father. She began to write for publications when 16 years old, but with no marked success for fifteen years. During that time she devoted ten years to teaching. She was a volunteer nurse in the military hospitals during the war. In 1867 she wrote ‘Little Women,’ which has had an enormous circulation. Some of her more popular works are ‘Hospital Sketches,’ ‘An Old Fashioned Girl,’ ‘Little Men,’ ‘Aunt Jo’s Scrap Bag,’ ‘My Boys,’ ‘Under the Lines,’ ‘Jack and Jill,’ ‘Proverb Stories,’ [and] ‘Spinning Wheel Stories.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1931, the Eagle reported, “Television, sound broadcasts, ‘glorified’ vaudeville, talking pictures and, if the board of directors of the Metropolitan Opera Company relents, opera will be produced in the $250,000,000 Rockefeller Radio City, it was announced at the first public showing of the models last night. The first of the group of buildings which will cover the three blocks bounded by 5th and 6th Aves. and 48th and 51st Sts. will be completed by May 1932. In this 68-story structure will be housed 24 studios of the National Broadcasting Company, as well as office space for all its executive departments. Providing none larger are built in the meanwhile, it will be the largest office building in the world, having about 2,000,000 square feet of floor space. Flanking the tall center building are two other buildings, of 45 stories, which will contain the offices of the companies associated with the Radio Corporation of America.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1940, the Eagle reported, “The Three Stooges, screen and stage comedians, will begin a personal appearance engagement on the stage of the Flatbush Theater for a week beginning tomorrow. The slapstick stars of Hollywood are to appear on the bill with Erik Rhodes, movie comedian, ‘Hollywood’s frustrated lover,’ Howard Woods and his orchestra, Lou Valero, romantic singer; the Four Comets, the Whirlwind Skaters, and Eleanor Knight, tap dancer.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “San Juan, March 6 (UP) – Police besieged Nationalist leader Pedro Albizu Campos in his home today, while authorities elsewhere on the island began a roundup of 37 other ‘dangerous’ members of the fanatic minority party that shot up the U.S. Congress last Monday. A police squad led by Capt. Benigno Soto went to Albizu’s home before dawn to arrest him and was met by a burst of gunfire. No one was hit, but Soto ordered his men back out of the field of fire and settled down to take further action later. Police Chief Salvador T. Roig said the other 37 Nationalists were being rounded up in raids ‘all over’ this U.S. island. It was not certain how many actually had been arrested … Albizu is president of the party that staged an abortive revolt here in October 1950, tried to assassinate President [Harry] Truman early in November of that year, and injured five members of the U.S. House of Representatives in a terrorist attack Monday.”