September 4: ON THIS DAY in 1939, all but few saved on torpedoed liner

September 4, 2019 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1901, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Canton, Ohio — President [William] and Mrs. McKinley and party left at 10 a.m. on a special train over the Pennsylvania Road, en route to Buffalo. They will go to Cleveland via Alliance and will reach Buffalo over the Lake Shore. The special train consists of a combination car and two Pullman coaches, one of which is occupied by the President and Mrs. McKinley. Besides the members of the household and the executive force, the party includes Mary and Ida Barber, Mrs. McKinley’s nieces. They will be joined at Cleveland by Miss Sarah Duncan, the president’s niece. The train is scheduled to reach Buffalo at 4:55 o’clock this evening. A large crowd gathered at the station and bade the party farewell.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1932, the Eagle reported, “Cleveland (AP) — A new land plane speed king was crowned today at the National Air Races as Major James H. Doolittle blistered over a three-kilometer course at an average of 296.287 miles an hour. Eclipsing the eight-year-old record of Warrant Officer Bonnett, France, by 17.807 miles an hour, the St. Louis flier blazed his snub-nosed plane six times over the straightaway and took the best four consecutive laps for his high average. He carried a sealed barograph and his only doubt of not making an official record lay in a pull-up from the course at the beginning of his runs when a formation of army planes crossed his path to land. His record may only be stamped as official after the instrument is calibrated in Washington and the flight report homologated by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, world governing aviation sport body in Paris.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1934, the Eagle reported, “The sea monster at Loch Ness, whose discovery inspired a wide epidemic of sea monsters in other parts of the world, is not a monster nor yet a denizen of the sea. It is only a German blimp shot down during the World War, Terrence McGrath, Cunard Line executive, reported today on his arrival aboard the White Star liner Majestic. Also aboard was tall, blonde Sir Ronald Lindsay, the British ambassador. Sir Ronald, usually slow of speech, startled reporters by chattering rapidly and whimsically about all manner of things in the fashion of a P.G. Wodehouse character. The chatter was used to avoid answering questions about Britain’s war debt to the United States. He even sang two stanzas from Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Gondoliers” when the conversation threatened to reach dangerous ground.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1939, the Eagle reported, “Washington (AP) — President [Franklin] Roosevelt wrestled today with the weighty problems of American neutrality after making a solemn personal pledge to try to prevent a ‘blackout of peace in the United States.’ It was generally expected that he would hold up formal invocation of the Neutrality Act at least until after the cabinet has held a special meeting at 3 p.m. The president made his neutrality plea to the nation in a radio address on the same Sunday that Great Britain and France joined Poland in war against Germany. His brief mid-evening talk was heard by millions of persons, both in this and other countries, who have been eagerly seeking light on the question: Can the United States keep out of a conflict in which four European powers already have become embroiled? Pausing between words for emphasis, Mr. Roosevelt said: ‘I hope the United States will keep out of this war. I believe that it will and I give you assurance that every effort of your government will be directed toward that end.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Eagle reported, “Convention Hall, Albany — The Democratic State Convention, at its final session today, adopted a platform plank condemning the British government’s policy in Palestine and demanded establishment there of a free, autonomous and democratic Jewish homeland. Declaring the State Democratic party’s position in foreign affairs, the platform came out in favor of a just peace, and not a punitive one, for a Democratic Italy, in recognition of the Italian people’s assistance to the Allies’ cause. The platform pledged uncompromising opposition to ‘the forces of Fascism and Communism.’”