October 12: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

October 12, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1900, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department will take possession of its new quarters on Ellis Island next month, and arrangements are now being made to remove the immigration office from its present accommodations to its future home. Assistant Secretary Taylor has just returned from a trip to New York, during which he made a number of inquiries into the condition of work at Ellis Island, and he is now of the opinion that the change can be well under way by November 1. ‘The buildings are substantially completed,’ he said to the Eagle correspondent today, ‘and all of them will soon be suitable for occupancy. The workmen are now putting in furniture, electric lights, heating apparatus and other fittings. I see no reason why we should not have entirely abandoned the old Barge Office by this time next month. The Customs Department is to take possession of the present immigration offices. In the new buildings of Ellis Island we will have every accommodation for the proper care and handling of immigrants. Three thousand new arrivals can be received and kept overnight if necessary, without the least discomfort to any of them.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1923, the Eagle reported, “Unless all signs are wrong, the New York Giants will have their work cut out for them to win the World’s Series of 1923 from the New York Yankees. In 1921, the Yankees won the first two games but eventually lost out to the Giants by 5 games to 3. In 1922, the Giants won four and tied one. This year, the Series is an even break in the first two games, the Giants winning the first on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium by 5 to 4 and the Yankees winning yesterday at the Polo Grounds by 4 to 2. Various reasons may be furnished for believing that the Yankees are better off at this minute, with an even break of the first two games, than they were in 1921 when they had won the first two games of the classic. The largest and most powerful reason is that Babe Ruth was an absolute flivver in the Series of 1921, and was not much better in 1922. In 1923 Ruth is playing Ruthian baseball in the World’s Series, exactly as he did in the regular season.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1940, the Eagle reported, “The only ice hereabouts now is in highballs but, come to think of it, the local hockey warriors will be high-balling along on a brand new season very shortly. The National Hockey League schedule, out today, proves it. The local campaign opens Nov. 14, just a month from Monday, when the Chicago Black Hawks and Red Dutton’s rejuvenated antiques, otherwise known as the Americans, tear the lid off Broadway’s daffiest season. Actually, the Rangers will open the National Hockey League schedule Saturday, Nov. 2, in Toronto, where it seems just yesterday that they outlasted the Maple Leafs in a long playoff series to win the coveted Stanley Cup.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1947, the Eagle reported, “JERUSALEM, OCT. 11 (U.P.) — Twenty British constables armed with Sten guns guarded the American consulate against possible Arab attack today after the United States announced its support of the partition of Palestine. All members of the consulate staff were issued guns. Although they were still moving about the city without escort, they were armed. The consulate, situated on Mamillah Street in the middle of Jerusalem’s security zone B, was surrounded for a radius of almost a mile by barbed wire. Even American citizens wishing to enter the consulate were thoroughly searched and their identification papers rigidly scrutinized by British sentries. The precautionary measures followed the bombing of the Swedish Consulate less than two weeks ago by Arabs who claimed membership in the new underground group, ‘Arab Jihad.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1951, the Eagle reported, “CHICAGO (U.P.) — More than 440 narcotic addicts under 21 years of age were admitted to two federal hospitals last year compared with only 22 admitted in 1947, Dr. Victor H. Vogel reported today. Vogel, medical officer in charge of the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital at Lexington, Ky., said most of the young drug fiends were in the 18-19-20-age groups but some were as young as 14. He said the upsurge in narcotics users ‘has jumped racial, economic and social boundaries so that the total admissions to the two federal hospitals climbed from 2,700 in 1949 to 4,500 in 1950.’ Vogel gave his report in an article carried in Today’s Health, published by the American Medical Association. This year’s total admissions, based on the first six months, will drop slightly to 4,200, he wrote. ‘This may indicate a slackening in juvenile addiction,’ Vogel said, ‘but it more likely represents an increased number of young addicts apprehended by police and sent to jail in the centers of addict population instead of to hospitals.’ Most youngsters began by smoking marijuana, Vogel said, and then started sniffing heroin to get the rumored ‘thrill.’ Many later injected the drug directly into their blood stream. The doctor said boys and girls must be taught that the use of narcotics is not ‘daring’ or ‘grown-up,’ but a sign of weakness. ‘Perhaps most of all, they must understand that some criminal is trying to make suckers of them for personal gain,’ he added.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “Because all seats have been sold for the New York Knickerbocker-College All-Stars basketball game in Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, Oct. 23, it has been decided to stage the same twin bill in the afternoon. The first game of the doubleheaders pits the Harlem Globetrotters against the Washington Generals.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include former N.Y. Yankees shortstop Tony Kubek, who was born in 1935; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Sam Moore (Sam & Dave), who was born in 1935; TV anchor Chris Wallace, who was born in 1947; actress and model Susan Anton, who was born in 1950; Tesla singer Jeff Keith, who was born in 1958; “24” star Carlos Bernard, who was born in 1962; “Valley Girl” star Deborah Foreman, who was born in 1962; “X-Men” star Hugh Jackman, who was born in 1968; former NFL defensive tackle Leon Lett, who was born in 1968; “Growing Pains” star Kirk Cameron, who was born in 1970; former N.Y. Knicks point guard Charlie Ward, who was born in 1970; “The Sandlot” star Tom Guiry, who was born in 1981; “Roswell, New Mexico” star Tyler Blackburn, who was born in 1986; and “The Bubble” star Iris Apatow, who was born in 2002.

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

Quotable:

“So there’s an attraction that we have to beauty that is innate. But sadly I think the pressure young girls are up against now is incredibly unhealthy.”

— actress and model Susan Anton, who was born on this day in 1950