July 23: ON THIS DAY in 1953, Flood calls swamp police

July 23, 2020 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1861, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “It would be folly to shut our eyes to the magnitude and consequences of the defeat which overtook the Federal army at Bull’s Run. It was an overwhelming disaster … The 71st regiment, which suffered so severely, contains a large number of the young men of Brooklyn. Amongst them is a son, brother and brother-in-law of Demas Strong, Alderman of the 13th ward. The Alderman received the following dispatch from his son last evening: ‘Washington, July 22, 1861. I am here. Bill and George are all right, but have not come in yet. Seventy-first badly cut up.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1885, the Eagle reported, “General [Ulysses] Grant is dead, and one more figure of heroic mold stands in the pantheon of American liberty. The patient, purified and dauntless spirit that vanished from the sight of man this morning will henceforth live imperishably in the memory of the Republic. Like gold from the furnace of the refiner, the character of our greatest soldier emerges from the crucible of disease cleansed from every infirmity and fitted to circulate as sterling coin in the moral exchanges of the world … An embalmer from New York will be summoned to preserve General Grant’s remains, but a local undertaker will undoubtedly conduct the immediate details and convey the remains to New York.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1940, the Eagle reported, “Six home games have been allotted the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National Football League, which released the schedule for the season yesterday through President Carl L. Storck from his office in Dayton, Ohio. Dan Topping’s machine will have a much later home opening this season than heretofore. The team, under its new coach, Jock Sutherland, will not show its wares before the home fans until Oct. 4, when the Philadelphia Eagles are taken on in a night game at Ebbets Field. The Dodgers will not perform in their home bailiwick again until Oct. 13, when the Pittsburgh Steelers will be the attraction. The New York Giants, Eastern champions, will be opposed in the first of the home-and-home battles on Nov. 3, with the second game being played at the Polo Grounds to close the Giants’ home season on Dec. 1. The next home game for the Dodgers will find the Washington Redskins providing the opposition on Nov. 10.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Eagle reported, “GUAM (U.P.) — Lt. Gen. James H. Doolittle, who struck the first air blow at Japan with a handful of Mitchell bombers more than three years ago, returned to the Pacific war today at the head of a new Superfortress 8th Air Force. General Doolittle announced that his U.S. 8th Air Force, whose Flying Forts and Liberators helped knock Germany out of the war, has moved into Okinawa for the final phase of the war against Japan … General Doolittle said he did not believe air power alone could win the war against Japan, but that it might, in conjunction with other Allied services, force the Japanese to quit without invasion.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “Police precincts all over Brooklyn were flooded with calls reporting emergencies stemming from today’s sudden ending of a long drought — and at least one station house was flooded literally. The 63rd Precinct on Brooklyn Ave. reported four to five inches of water flooding the building, backing up sewers and menacing police records and the building’s oil burner. In East New York, Police Lt. Henry Sagesser said his unit was powerless to help complainants who were seeking aid and that, because of a short circuit, the precinct had ‘no way of communicating with the outside world.’ Traffic was reported stalled at 79th St. and 7th Ave., where the pavement was said to be under three feet of water. Six buses and a number of cars were stuck in a ditch at 5th Ave. and 2nd St. One witness reported a ‘veritable waterfall’ in the Borough Hall station of the Lexington Ave. IRT subway. At the Avenue U police station in Sheepshead Bay, desk sergeant said, ‘People are swimming from the Brighton Line.’”