December 15: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
ON THIS DAY IN 1918, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “PARIS (A.P.) — This is a greater night in Paris than armistice night. The city is ablaze with illuminations, the boulevards are thronged with crowds, dancing and singing and throwing confetti. The Place de la Concorde has been turned into a great dancing pavilion, where American soldiers are favorite partners. America is the predominating word here tonight. President [Woodrow] and Mrs. Wilson made their entry into Paris this morning, greeted by well-nigh half the populace not only of the city but of the surrounding districts. They were attended by President Poincare, Premier Clemenceau and others among the most eminent figures of France. Flowers were dropped around their carriage, airplanes winged overhead, guns sounded. But observers were impressed with something more than the magnitude and beauty of the reception by some quality of warmth that made it different from the visits to Paris recently made by the sovereigns of the Allied nations. The imagination and interest of France has been stirred by the president of the United States as by no other leader beyond the borders.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1929, the Eagle reported, “The brazen evasion of jury service by influential citizens with ‘pull’ has reached the proportions of a public scandal. Not only do the big merchants and corporation executives slide out of their civic duty on skids well-greased with politics but they can, and do, have their employees excused whenever they receive a jury notice. Replying to a questionnaire of the Eagle, Edward Ward McMahon, prominent Brooklyn attorney with offices in Manhattan, wrote: ‘Lawyers are invariably asked by their clients to have them excused and everyone connected with a political party can tell you that at the beginning of every month they have innumerable applications from citizens who are called as jurors from various courts in the city to be excused. Legal excuses are not offered and the only reason given is that these citizens do not want to serve. The favor of having a juror excused is asked of the judge, of the clerk of the court or the commissioner of jurors. This practice has grown to such an extent that the average businessman does not take seriously a summons to serve on a jury.’”
Brooklyn Boro
View MoreNew York City’s most populous borough, Brooklyn, is home to nearly 2.6 million residents. If Brooklyn were an independent city it would be the fourth largest city in the United States. While Brooklyn has become the epitome of ‘cool and hip’ in recent years, for those that were born here, raised families here and improved communities over the years, Brooklyn has never been ‘uncool’.