September 22: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

September 22, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1853, a Brooklyn Daily Eagle editorial said, “All that is earthly must fade. This is an annual lesson taught by the falling leaf, the withering frost, the silence which pervades the air, and the wreck and decay of vegetation as each recurring autumn assumes her reign. Another autumn is upon us now. The tassels of corn are dead, and the husks of the standing ears have lost their green. The scythe is shearing the hay fields of their last burden. Small yellow leaves that have exhausted their vitality before the advent of the frost are dropping, one by one from the trees. Flower stalks that but a few short weeks ago since stood green and glowing, bearing proudly up their wealth of Floral beauty, now stand stark and dead. The first faint intimations of approaching dissolution rests upon all vegetation, yet, amid these scenes, the fruits of autumn are spread upon every side. Apples bend from the boughs, nuts wait upon the trees for the loosening fingers of the frost, wains go creaking home laden with homely roots, the granaries are already filled, and soon, housed and garnered, the products of the year will await the grateful use of man and animal.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1923, the Eagle reported, “CHICAGO — Babe Ruth of the pennant winning New York Americans is the player regarded by the baseball writers of the major league circuits as having been of most value to his club during 1923. He was the unanimous choice of the committee of eight, obtaining 61 points on a basis of eight points for selection for first place on each ballot. Last year, the first of such a selection, George Sisler of the St. Louis Americans was given 59 points and Ruth was ignored in the selection, then being regarded more or less as baseball’s bad boy. This year, with his conduct on and off the playing field regarded as exemplary, Ruth has achieved leadership in many departments of play, and his teamwork, as considered against former accusations of individual effort, is reputed to have done much toward putting the Yankees far ahead of the American League field. His selection as 1923’s most valuable player means Ruth’s name will go down in history as the second on the list inscribed in Baseball’s Hall of Fame, the $100,000 monument to be erected at Washington, and that he will receive the American League trophy.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1929, an Eagle editorial said, “Medical robots, according to Dr. Thomas Nevins, are taking the place of the old family doctor, but are not filling it. At any rate, no competent robot will neglect to see that his bills are paid when due. Perhaps that may account in part for the rise of the newer styles of medical practice.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Eagle reported, “(U.P.) — Breakdown of the nation’s vital motor transportation was threatened today as filling stations either rationed gasoline or closed down in the wake of mushrooming petroleum industry strikes in six States. So serious was the situation that the Government called oil company and union representatives to meet Tuesday in Chicago in an effort to end work stoppages by some 25,000 refinery workers tying up fuel output in three major refining areas. The strikers demand 30 percent wage boosts to compensate for peacetime cutbacks on working hours and overtime. This wage demand accounted for most of the 200,000 idle in labor disputes throughout the country. Resumption of gasoline rationing was ordered effective today in Toledo, where every refinery was down and incoming supplies were dwindling. In Detroit, its automotive industry already crippled by strikes, it was estimated that 40 percent of the city’s 3,400 gasoline stations had closed for lack of supplies. Fourteen thousand workers were out at refineries and pipeline companies in the rich Texas coastal oil producing area, and motorists there were warned that they would have no gas after supplies were exhausted.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1961, the Bay Ridge Home Reporter said, “While irate mothers in Bay Ridge were demanding this week that police sign them up ‘on the spot’ as school crossing guard volunteers, other residents of the community were calling this newspaper to complain that the city was ‘stalling’ on allowing them to guard children at crossings. The phone calls to police were described as a flood by police, especially in the 64th Precinct. A lieutenant there called this newspaper on Monday to request that an article be run, reminding the mothers that police in the two station houses here have no power to sign up the volunteers. ‘We haven’t been able to get any work done since Friday, because of the phone calls. Please put something in,’ the lieutenant said. Women who want to protect children at crossings must take a Civil Service examination and undergo medical examination and police investigation into their backgrounds before they may be accepted as school crossing guards. The process, police admit, can take up to a year. A survey of Bay Ridge school crossings by a team of reporters from this newspaper on Monday revealed that the strong public sentiment over un-guarded crossings brought at least five guards (usually uniformed patrolmen) to crossings that last week had not had them. However, at least 17 intersections were still not guarded despite being listed by police as locations that need guards for young children that pass there morning, noon and afternoon.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “Mickey” singer Toni Basil, who was born in 1943; “American Graffiti” star Paul Le Mat, who was born in 1945; Pro Football Hall of Famer Harold Carmichael, who was born in 1949; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer David Coverdale (Deep Purple), who was born in 1951; “You Light Up My Life” singer Debby Boone, who was born in 1956; musician and author Nick Cave, who was born in 1957; “Con te partiro” singer Andrea Bocelli, who was born in 1958; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Joan Jett, who was born in 1958; “Happy Days” star Scott Baio, who was born in Brooklyn in 1961; “Dynasty” star Catherine Oxenberg, who was born in 1961; U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer and former N.Y. Rangers goalie Mike Richter, who was born in 1966; “Smallville” star Laura Vandervoort, who was born in 1984; and “Harry Potter” star Tom Felton, who was born in 1987.