September 24: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

September 24, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1916, Brooklyn Daily Eagle columnist Frederick Boyd Stevenson said, “Two prime results were the outcome of the series of talks by outsiders at the Teachers Institutes, the last of which were delivered on Friday: 1 – Teaching the teachers the practical things of today. 2 – Teaching the public what the public schools are doing. Thus the school has been benefited; thus the public has been benefited, and the sum of the two benefits makes for the betterment of the child who becomes the citizen, and thus is created an endless chain making for a combination of good schools and good citizenship which can have but one motive — good government.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1924, the Eagle reprinted the following story from the Montreal Star: “A certain American newspaper states that the prevalence of ‘English weather’ induced the Prince of Wales to visit New York, the rain, which showed signs of keeping up all day, etc., etc., having made polo impossible. It is not easy to picture the curious warp in the minds of the presumably intelligent that must be responsible for credibility toward such statements as that just noted. The idea that rain is the main characteristic of the English climate probably had its origin in a letter written by some marauding Roman pirate to his spouse at home after he had tried to raid some Cornish village in December and been driven back into the Channel fog with half his robbers left behind. But the persistence with which the idea is encouraged by otherwise intelligent people is due to a very different cause. It is explained by the fact that of the American and Canadian visitors to England, not more than a bare 5 percent — and even that may be too large an allowance — ever go beyond the borders of London during their brief stay in England, and base all their criticisms of and comments upon England by what they see and experience in London. London weather is at no time and under no circumstances typical of English weather generally.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Eagle reported, “Business activity in the nation’s largest city was crippled today by a strike of elevator operators and building service employees which spread swiftly through most Manhattan districts. Brooklyn was not affected by the walkout, according to all available reports. Scores of thousands of workers were forced to walk up to their skyscraper offices. Others returned to their homes. By noon 1,575 buildings in three districts were affected, their elevators standing idle. A union spokesman said 15,000 of the union’s 29,000 members and affiliated members had struck. The first walkout of the strikers, who were protesting a War Labor Board wage and hour decision, began at the height of the morning rush hour at 8:15 a.m. when 11,000 left their jobs … The Empire State Building, world’s tallest building, which houses about 15,000 workers, was among the first buildings affected as its 72 elevators stopped. Many began weary climbs to their desks while others went home. However, Edna Fyfe, petite, 105-pound secretary for a publishing firm in the building, sped up 46 flights in 20 minutes. She walked to her desk, removed her shoes and began pecking at a typewriter. ‘Made it with only one stop,’ she said. ‘Had to catch my breath on the 13th floor. Don’t feel a bit tired — just thirsty.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “The New York American League Club, seeking to bolster its already strong infield, corralled 18-year-old switch-hitting shortstop Mickey Charles Mantle, who was the property of the Joplin, Mo., farm team. He worked out with the Yankees on their recent western trip. The lad is being touted as another Honus Wagner.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1952, Eagle columnist John Fisher said, “Moscow inches along on two paths to world mastery: Aggression and consolidation. Because the Summer has passed without a new thrust by Stalin’s armed forces, the outside world breathes easier. Lulls always convince some people that the shower is over and they start folding their umbrellas. But the menace is not less because we cannot hear fresh gunfire. The great Red boa constrictor right now seems to be digesting captive states and peoples. It is consolidating its gains, molding 80,000,000 isolated human beings into thought-controlled robots and all its allied governments into abject puppets. The process of conformity is less difficult in the U.S.S.R. Most Muscovites never have tasted liberty. Even their church — in other lands a link to outside friends — is historically Russian Orthodox and now at top levels subservient to Marxist mammon. Except for Ukrainians, Georgians and similar non-Russian folk with individual cultures, Soviet regimentation is confronted by no vital social obstacles. Satellites are not so tractable. Moscow brain trusters conceived the idea of hog-tying prisoner states by making the Soviet Union self-sufficient, or as they describe the project, ‘building Communism entirely on internal resources, on savings resulting from Socialist accumulation, achieved by Soviet industrial enterprise.’ Actually that means the Russian Dracula waxes strong from the blood of its victim states.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include TV commentator Lou Dobbs, who was born in 1945; Pro Football Hall of Famer “Mean” Joe Greene, who was born in 1946; “NYPD Blue” star Gordon Clapp, who was born in 1948; former N.Y. Mets outfielder Hubie Brooks, who was born in 1956; “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” star Kevin Sorbo, who was born in 1958; “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” star Nia Vardalos, who was born in 1962; former N.Y. Mets outfielder Bernard Gilkey, who was born in 1966; Slipknot founder Shawn “Clown” Crahan, who was born in 1969; “Dark Skies” star Megan Ward, who was born in 1969; Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL running back Eddie George, who was born in 1973; and “The Politician” star Ben Platt, who was born in 1993.