January 8: ON THIS DAY in 1942, U.S. awaits final Japanese attack

January 8, 2020 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1911, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “An instrument so delicate that it records tremors of the earth due to trolley cars rumbling past 400 feet away, so exactly to show the degree to which the cars were filled with passengers, has just been installed in the Brooklyn College Seismological Observatory. This instrument represents one of the great triumphs of human ingenuity. It combines absolute accuracy with a wonderful refinement of susceptibility. The human sense organs are dull compared to it. They are quite unable to record even the faintest impression of disturbances which cause a violent oscillation of the recording needle of this instrument. It is called a seismograph, and with its installation here, Brooklyn has become the North Atlantic Coast station of a chain of seismographs that encircles the globe.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1929, the Eagle reported, “Fighting her way through smoke and flame to an inside fire alarm box, Sister St. Clare, principal of St. Malachy’s Parochial School at Hendrix St. and Atlantic Ave., stood this morning with her black robes ablaze until she had sounded an alarm. Then, beating out with her bare hands the flames that threatened to envelop her, she ran from classroom to classroom, giving the alarm and assisting in getting every one of the 213 pupils of the school to safety. As a result of her courageous action, the police were able to assure hundreds of frantic mothers who hurried to the school that their children were safe. The school building, a two-story frame structure, 40 by 100 feet, with 16 classrooms, and more than 50 years old, was burned to the ground.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1942, the Eagle reported, “Washington (UP) — Gen. Douglas MacArthur reported today that his forces stand ready to meet ‘with skill and courage’ a final grand Japanese assault which appears about to start with the aid of strong enemy reinforcements. MacArthur, coolly awaiting the Japanese blow which may fall at any time, reported that morale of his United States and Philippine forces is high. He indicated plainly that he and his men are ready to fight to the last to hold off the attacking enemy. Already they have exacted a fearful cost in casualties and war materiel upon the Japanese. A War Department spokesman said today that American casualties, in contrast, have been comparatively light. That indicated MacArthur, employing all the tactical skill for which he is famous, has marshaled his small army virtually intact into its strong final positions in Bataan Province and Fortress Corregidor awaiting the all-out Japanese attack. Today’s official communique reported that the Japanese, who probably outnumber MacArthur’s command at least four or five to one, were rushing heavy reinforcements up to the front ‘probably preparatory to a large-scale general attack.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1949, the Eagle reported, “Dover (U.P.) — Dr. Maria Telkes, who heats her home without fire or furnace, says it’s ‘done with mirrors.’ Not exactly mirrors, but rather an 800-square-foot glass and metal device that traps the sun’s rays for Dr. Telkes’ five-room ‘solar house’ in suburban Dover, 15 miles from Boston. The rest of the heating system consists of a cheap chemical unit that Dr. Telkes developed in experiments at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. First of its kind, the pioneer model cost $3,000 to install. But Dr. Telkes expects it to operate virtually forever without additional expense while furnace-feeding householders continue paying an annual average of $150 for fuel.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “Tehran (U.P.) — A stormy session of the Iranian Parliament openly defied Premier Mohammed Mossadegh today in a dispute that threatened to force him from office. Opposition forces rallied around Ayatollah Sayed Kashani, powerful Moslem religious leader, and popular Hossein Makki, long Mossadegh’s trusted lieutenant and ‘hatchetman’ of oil nationalization. The aged and ailing religious leader and the possible young crown prince threatened to resign from parliament in protest against Mossadegh’s demand for a one-year extension of his semi-dictatorial powers.”