July 10: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
ON THIS DAY IN 1920, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “It became known this morning to the officials of the immigration station on Ellis Island, that a large number of detained aliens made their escape late yesterday afternoon or during the night. Superintendent P.A. Baker declined to estimate how many got away and would not give out further particulars until his investigation has made further progress. It was admitted, however, that suspicion of a conspiracy on the part of certain attendants in Public Health Hospital, which takes care of immigration patients although the institution is under the Treasury Department and not under the direction of the immigration service, has been awakened. Inspector Hayes of the legal department of the Immigration Bureau left the island on the 11 o’clock ferryboat, taking with him one of the hospital attendants. They went to the office of the United States Attorney, where, it was said, the hospital attendant would be asked to explain what he knows about the escape of the aliens. One report says that at least 16 aliens were enabled to escape from the island.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1924, the Eagle reported, “Dick Williams, captain of the United States Olympic tennis team that goes into action next week in Paris, was aboard the ill-fated Titanic when she crashed into an iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912. One of his feet was frozen as a result of being in the water for some time before he was picked up. Fifteen hundred people perished, but Williams was saved, luckily, to become one of the finest figures in all international tennis.”