October 18: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
ON THIS DAY IN 1931, Brooklyn Daily Eagle science editor John J. O’Neill said, “Controlling the weather is one of the most stupendous tasks ever essayed by man. It is likewise one of the most impossible, or rather improbable, of accomplishment. This fact, however, has not prevented any number of men from attempting the feat. ‘Rainmakers,’ men who claim they can produce rain at will, are quite common. They are willing to tackle the job for a consideration. Usually they present a record of previous successes, which are nothing but a list of lucky coincidences. If they were honest they would present a much longer list of failures. Both the claims of success and the methods employed by these rainmakers invariably fail to stand the test of scientific inquiry. Their methods fail miserably to measure up to the job they are designed to handle and that is why the failures are immeasurably greater than the few accidental successes upon which some of the rainmakers build their reputations. The rainmaker belongs in the same category with the fellow who would sweep back the ocean with a broom. Of course it can’t be done, but if the operation is started just as the flood tide is beginning to recede and stopped before the tide has reached its lowest ebb the broom pusher can claim a success. The claim, however, would be disallowed by any one who had a knowledge of the forces that were involved in producing the result. If the rainmakers and other weather control fakers would acquaint themselves with the magnitude of forces that nature uses in making what we call the weather they would be astonished at the utter inadequacy of their efforts.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1931, the Eagle reported, “You have a feeling that all will be well at Ellis Island with Edward Corsi at the helm. An immigrant himself some 29 years ago, the newly appointed Commissioner of Immigration is more concerned with social welfare than with official red tape. He hopes to turn America’s gateway into a reception hall — to add thoughtful hospitality to cold efficiency there. It is a hope born partly of his own experience as an immigrant boy and partly of his welfare work for the past 14 years as director of Harlem House, the largest immigrant settlement house in the country. ‘I don’t remember very much about Ellis Island when I came to this country,’ he said yesterday at his settlement house office. ‘I was only 4 years old at the time. But I have an impression of a physical and spiritual coldness there that chilled me even at that age. I should like to change that atmosphere if possible.”
Brooklyn Boro
View MoreNew York City’s most populous borough, Brooklyn, is home to nearly 2.6 million residents. If Brooklyn were an independent city it would be the fourth largest city in the United States. While Brooklyn has become the epitome of ‘cool and hip’ in recent years, for those that were born here, raised families here and improved communities over the years, Brooklyn has never been ‘uncool’.