November 5: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

November 5, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1918, a Brooklyn Daily Eagle editorial said, “Now that the epidemic of influenza has so far subsided that the regulations concerning different hours of opening and closing for the various branches of business are to be dropped, Health Commissioner [Royal S.] Copeland comes forward with a plea that the emergency agencies developed in this fight be made permanent, for use in the protection of the city in case of the outbreak of some other contagious disease. The suggestion has much to commend it. When it was found that the hospitals, doctors and nurses were having more work than they could do, the Health Department organized 110 civic centers through which the cooperation of various civic and charitable organizations was systematized and home care was provided with the least loss of time and effort. Dr. Copeland wants the skeletons of these emergency organizations maintained, just as the skeletons of emergency organizations for war work were created in many cities and towns to work quickly in case of an accident like the explosion of the plant at Morgan, N.J. He points out that work will be found for them this winter in the care of the orphans made by this epidemic. There are hundreds of these whose condition will be pitiful, unless some plan is devised to supply the care which there are now no parents to give.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1934, the Eagle reported, “Police are prepared to challenge 50,000 persons, 20,000 of them in Brooklyn, who are suspected of illegal registration should they attempt to vote tomorrow, the Honest Ballot Association disclosed this afternoon. In addition, the association has compiled lists of 1,200 persons who are suspected of voting illegally in past years and who are to be challenged and arrested tomorrow if they attempt to vote again. Names of about 20,000 persons in Brooklyn suspected of illegal and fraudulent registration have been supplied to Fusion watchers, S. Stanley Kreutzer, Brooklyn manager of Controller Joseph D. McGoldrick’s campaign committee, announced. Most of the names are those of persons already on the police challenge lists which have been supplied to local election board chairmen. Arrangements for close co-operation between the Police Department and the Honest Ballot Association in stamping out illegal voting have been made by Police Commissioner [Lewis] Valentine and Monroe Percy Bloch, directing counsel of the association.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1947, the Eagle reported, “Left-wing control of New York City politics by balance-of-power rule appeared effectively broken today by off-year election returns reaching a climax in a majority decision of the voters to kill the Communist-supported Proportional Representation City Council voting system. Complete returns from the city’s 3,757 election districts placed the plurality for repeal of the controversial method of choosing City Council members at close to 350,000 voters. With New York City rolling up a majority of nearly a million votes for the pending $400,000,000 soldiers’ bonus, overwhelming adoption of the statewide proposal to reward New York’s veterans of World War II by cash grants ranging from $50 to $250 each also was certain. The city-wide bonus amendment vote produced a total of 1,205,685 in its favor to 389,769 in opposition.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1951, the Eagle reported, “City fathers are spending money today to prove that the ‘well-spent’ money for rainmaking activities last year was a poor investment after all. Almost 12 months ago the men who hold the purse strings said Dr. Wallace Howell’s dry-icing of fat clouds over the Catskills had filled the city’s reservoirs and was worth all the money he was paid. Now aides to City Controller Lazarus Joseph report that a survey has been started to show that the experiment was a failure. They explained the survey was needed to give the city a defense against 169 damage suits from the Catskills totaling $2,138,510. Shandaken, a Catskills community, has asked for $167,150 by alleging that Howell’s cloud-seeding started ‘a violent precipitation of rain resulting in severe floods in Esopus Creek and other streams.’ Ulster County wants $387,500 as a result of storm damages. The city says the heavy cloudbursts that drenched the Catskills last Nov. 25 were caused by disturbances from the Ohio Valley.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “A Shot in the Dark” star Elke Sommer, who was born in 1940; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Art Garfunkel, who was born in 1941; former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace, who was born in 1945; Herman’s Hermits founder Peter Noone, who was born in 1947; Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton, who was born in 1952; “To Die For” author Joyce Maynard, who was born in 1953; “Terminator 2” star Robert Patrick, who was born in 1959; “Summer of ’69” singer Bryan Adams, who was born in 1959; Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton, who was born in 1960; Oscar-winner Tatum O’Neal, who was born in 1963; “X-Men” star Famke Janssen, who was born in 1964; “Scrubs” star Judy Reyes, who was born in 1967; Oscar-winner Sam Rockwell, who was born in 1968; former N.Y. Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon, who was born in 1973; and former N.Y. Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr., who was born in 1992.

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BREAKING NEWS: John Peter Zenger published the New York Weekly Journal for the first time on this day in 1733. He was arrested and imprisoned for libel on Nov. 17, 1734. The trial remains an important landmark in the history of the struggle for freedom of the press.

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SHATTERDAY: Brooklyn-born Chuck Connors of the Boston Celtics became the first NBA player to shatter a backboard on this day in 1946. It happened during the pre-game warm-up in Boston Garden. Connors also played major league baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs and starred in the TV series “The Rifleman.”

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Special thanks to “Chase’s Calendar of Events” and Brooklyn Public Library.

Quotable:

“Life is about growth. People are not perfect when they’re 21 years old.”

— Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton, who was born on this day in 1952