March 25: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

March 25, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

Share this:

ON THIS DAY IN 1917, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “There was a time when a cannon was aimed exactly as you aim your rifle or air-gun — by looking along the barrel or sights. In the days when the American frigate Constitution fought the British Guerriere, the gun-pointers were gun-pointers and nothing more. They squinted along the gleaming iron barrel of the cannon and aimed it at its target. In the Civil War it was much the same. Cannoneers on land and sea — on the hills of Gettysburg and aboard the Monitor and Merrimac — looked along the sights and fired the old muzzle-loaders. A cannon in the old days was little more than a strong iron tube with the rear end securely sealed and the front end open. The powder and ball were stuffed in through the open end and the cannon was aimed and fired as quickly as possible — which was not very quick … Today a naval gun is a complicated but precise machine and it is operated like a machine. The men who direct its fire must still have grit and courage, but it is no longer a matter of peering along the gun barrel at the enemy ship. He must have a good knowledge of instruments and machinery; must be a trained thinker; must know his twelve or fourteen inch rifle as the case may be, and must have a good head for mathematics. Modern naval gunnery is the most expensive, the most thrilling and the most scientific sport known.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1934, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON, MARCH 24 (AP) — Income tax payments for the first 22 days of March reached $225,154,878, or less than $25,000,000 short of Treasury estimates for the full month. Corresponding collections last March, when returns were allowed 16 extra days because of the bank holiday, were $160,603,147. Income tax deposits for the entire fiscal year which ends next June 30 were $583,361,867 on March 22 as compared with $543,942,789 in 1933.”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1960, the Brooklyn Record reported, “Congressman Victor L. Anfuso, Democrat of New York, introduced a bill in Congress which calls for the establishment of clinics to treat narcotic addicts. It would be a joint Federal-State endeavor whereby the clinics would use the gradual reduction method of treatment and the furnishing of narcotics to incurable addicts. ‘I am firmly convinced,’ Congressman Anfuso said, ‘that if we establish clinics to treat addicts and to give them limited quantities of drugs under medical care, we could make considerable headway toward a diminution of this problem and towards eventual elimination of the drug menace which is threatening our youth in the large cities.’ Anfuso also stressed that the establishment of such clinics would help ‘drive out the racketeers and their billion-dollar racket which is thriving on human misery.’ This could be accomplished, he said, by taking the profits out of ‘the illicit drug trade and making it impossible for the racketeers to push their poisonous wares, because the addicts would no longer be dependent upon their mercies and would get the necessary help through legalized clinics.’”

***

ON THIS DAY IN 1960, the Record reported, “City Court Justice Arthur A. Low in 200 Court days in the Pre-Trial Part of that court has established an all-time record of cases disposed of by any Justice in the Court’s history. This record has resulted in awards for plaintiffs and their attorneys totaling nearly four million dollars. Commencing in February 1959 until now Justice Low has handled 9,838 cases — of which he personally helped settle approximately 50%. Of the total number of cases handled by Justice Low, he actually disposed of 7,816 from the Court’s calendar. The remainder of the cases were either referred for trial or deferred for future action. Of the more than 9,000 cases considered by Justice Low, 4,325 were settled through his efforts in working out a compromise between the demands of the plaintiffs and the offers of the defendants — mostly insurance companies … With the disposal of these cases, there has been some reduction in the Court’s congestion that has troubled the City Court for many years.”

***

Sarah Jessica Parker
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include film critic Gene Shalit, who was born in 1926; Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell, who was born in 1928; journalist and activist Gloria Steinem, who was born in 1934; Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan, who was born in 1937; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Elton John, who was born in 1947; “Die Hard” star Bonnie Bedelia, who was born in 1948; former N.Y. Mets and Yankees outfielder Lee Mazzilli, who was born in Brooklyn in 1955; “Desperate Housewives” star Marcia Cross, who was born in 1962; basketball coach Avery Johnson, who was born in 1965; “Sex and the City” star Sarah Jessica Parker, who was born in 1965; “Saved by the Bell” star Lark Voorhies, who was born in 1974; race car driver Danica Patrick, who was born in 1982; and comedian and former Cobble Hill resident Jenny Slate, who was born in 1982.

***

ACROSS THE SEA: Commodore John Barry was born in Ireland on this day in 1745. Known as the “Father of the American Navy,” Barry commanded vessels during the American Revolution, was the first American commissioned naval officer, and helped to establish the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Commodore Barry Park, the oldest park in Brooklyn, was renamed for him in 1951. He died in 1803.

***

BURNED INTO MEMORY: On this day in 1911, 146 garment workers — mostly women and girls — were killed during a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in the Asch Building in Greenwich Village. The two youngest victims were 14 years old. Public outrage over the tragedy led to greater oversight of working conditions.

***

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

Quotable:

“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.”

— novelist Flannery O’Connor, who was born on this day in 1925