October 30: ON THIS DAY in 1951, big a-blast rocks desert

October 30, 2019 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1902, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “There was quite a commotion on Surf Avenue, Coney Island, yesterday afternoon, in which there participated an elephant, a policeman, a woman and a young man who is employed as an attendant to the elephant. When the smoke had cleared away the elephant had broken loose and was making a general survey of Coney Island, the woman was shouting that she had been insulted and the policeman was making his way to the police station, eight blocks away, with the young man attendant. The young man, who said he was William Alt, was charged with disorderly conduct, and when arraigned before Magistrate Voorhees in the Coney Island court this morning he pleaded not guilty and was held in $300 bonds to await a further hearing on Wednesday next. The elephant was captured and was taken in charge by the police for a time, but was later taken to its quarters at Luna Park … It appears that the big elephant is Tops, the man-killing animal which was purchased by Paul Boynton early last spring for exhibition purposes. Tops was one of the attractions with Forepaugh’s circus for a time, but after he killed a man in this borough and continued to make things unpleasant, the owners sold him to Boynton.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1933, the Eagle reported, “Glen Cove — George W. Dickinson, 90-year-old Civil War veteran, died shortly before noon today on the Pratt estate, where he had served as superintendent of the park property for nearly 40 years. Until the death of his wife, Sarah Carpenter Dickinson, a few months ago, the couple had established the record as Long Island’s oldest married couple, having a record of more than 70 years. The couple were married in Brooklyn Aug. 4, 1862, two weeks before the then young bridegroom departed with the 2nd New York Cavalry to join the Army of the Potomac in the Civil War. Mr. Dickinson participated in all of the major engagements of that conflict, was wounded and taken prisoner.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1938, the Eagle reported, “George Cardinal Mundelein, archbishop of Chicago and papal legate to the Eucharistic Congress, recently held in New Orleans, sailed yesterday on the Italian liner Rex for Rome, to present his official report to Pope Pius XI as papal legate and to attend the beatification ceremony of ‘in all likelihood the first American saint.’ The cardinal led a group of 150 Roman Catholic clergymen and prominent laymen from the United States and Canada who will attend the beatification ceremony, in Vatican City, on Nov. 12 and 13, of the Venerable Mother Francis Xavier Cabrini, who died in Chicago and was founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart … In a brief statement, the cardinal said, ‘The beatification should mean a great deal to Americans particularly since a great portion of this country consists of immigrants or sons and daughters of immigrants. Mother Cabrini in all likelihood will be the first American saint.’ He recalled that he had known Mother Cabrini personally and had officiated at her funeral services in Chicago.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1951, the Eagle reported, “Las Vegas (UP) — The largest atomic explosion of the second series of Frenchman’s Flat tests rocked the Nevada desert today. It threw up a boiling, purple mushroom cloud that was visible in this resort city one minute after its brilliant flash momentarily blotted out the morning sun. It was by far the largest and most vicious-appearing of the October blasts. It appeared to be almost identical with an air burst over the target fleet off Bikini Island in a previous test series in the Pacific. But it was not heard in Las Vegas, 90 miles from the test site. The last explosion of the first Nevada tests last February broke windows in downtown Las Vegas and was seen for 500 miles in the pre-dawn sky … Today’s was by far the most spectacular of any of the Nevada tests, and for brilliance and color probably outclassed the first test, held at Alamogordo, N.M., in 1944.”