NEW HEADLINES

Alaskans, Hawaiians Favor Statehood

Throgs Neck Bridge Construction Begins
March 1958

Booze Bounty Busts

Sunnyside Gardens Planted
March 1924

GAHS STORE

Books

Images

Merchandise

JUNE 1925

AUTOMOBILE DEATHS
CELTIC PARK RIOT

Get into a conversation with a long time Queens resident and you're likely to discover a subscriber of the Long Island Star- Journal, a daily paper that informed the community about local and world news until it folded in 1968. A banner across the Star Journal masthead reminded readers that the newspaper's name came from the merger of the Long Island Daily Star (1876) and the North Shore Daily Journal - The Flushing Journal (1841).

Welcome to June 1925!

The month began with the automobile casualty figures for the previous weekend: three killed and 28 injured in Northern Queens accidents. The fatalities included a three year-old boy who was struck by a taxi in Ravenswood; a man knocked out of a car when it struck a pillar of the "L" at Bridge Plaza and a domestic who was struck in Douglaston.

On June 8, the Star reported the toll for the previous weekend had set an all-time record: 32 persons were injured. Eight persons, including a one month-old infant were injured in a single crash in Jackson Heights, when the truck they were riding in hit an automobile and overturned. In Astoria, seven persons were injured when the sedan they were riding in collided with a touring car and overturned

The construction of the Flushing extension of the Corona "L" (today 7 train line) was completed from the east side of Flushing Creek to the station at Main Street. Station finish work was underway at the Tiemann Avenue (111^th Street) and Willets Point Boulevard stations. Work was also progressing on the Roosevelt Avenue rapid transit and highway bridge, which would carry the "L" over Flushing Creek. Opening of the line all the way to Main Street was not expected before Spring of 1926.

On June 24, the first surveying for the construction of a massive bridge connecting Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens was done at 125^th Street in Harlem. The event was cause for a celebration called ‘Tri-borough Bridge Day.’ A luncheon was held at the Hotel Theresa at Seventh Avenue and 125^th Street, followed by a parade from the hotel to a speakers’ platform at First Avenue and 125^th Street. Among the speakers was Mayor John Hylan, who promised to find a way to finance the project, which was estimated to cost $30,000,000. (The Triborough Bridge opened 11 years later in 1936.)

A heat wave gripped the city. On June 6, it was reported that on the sixth day of the wave, at noon the temperature was 95 degrees. In the preceding 24 hours, 5 persons had died and 12 were prostrated in Queens. Some of the deaths were from drowning, as some Queens residents sought refuge from the heat in the cool, but treacherous, waters of the East River. Mrs. Mildred Castelli, 25, of Astoria was splashing happily in waters near the shore of Astoria Park, when swift currents swept her away. On June 8, the heat wave broke, but not before a total of 17 dead and 20 prostrated.

In Washington, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue Queens released some statistics on taxpayers. In Queens total of 39,389 Federal income tax returns were filed in 1923. Most were for incomes less than $5,000/ year. In New York State 1,221,654 returns were filed with an average net income of $3,987. In the entire United States, only 74 persons filed returns showing net income of $1,000,000 or more; only 141 persons had incomes between $500,000 and $1,000,000 and only 3,964persons had incomes from $100,000 to $500,000.

On June 29, after crawling through small spaces, breaking down a bulkhead, moving a wall of coal bags and entering a cargo hold loaded with lumber, customs agents found 3,000 cases of whiskey, valued at about $200,000 concealed in more than 2,000,000 feet of lumber aboard the three-masted schooner Natisco. The "liquor was stacked ten feet high and solidly encased in lumber." It was thought that the liquor might have been loaded in Nova Scotia. The ship had docked at the foot of Washington Avenue (36^th Avenue) in Ravenswood. Federal agents and policemen from the Hunters Point precinct searched the waterfront from Newtown Creek to Ravenswood, but could find no liquor from the ship, although there was evidence that liquor had been landed. The ship was towed to the Barge Office at the Battery, and officials said they would not only condemn the schooner (worth about $50,000) but also confiscate the load of lumber (worth about $900,000) and of course the liquor. Documents found on board showed that crew of the Natisco had not been paid. Her Captain disappeared, but it was though he might surface for a customs hearing.

On June 21, Philip Matcovich, of Astoria, tried out his auto-boat invention at the waterfront in North Beach. He had spent more than a year building his prototype. The machine was designed to travel 35 miles per hour on land and 12 miles per hour in water. Its body was that of a boat, but on land it ran on three motorcycle wheels. Once in the water, the wheels were raised and the motor connected to the propeller. The test was a success, but the machine had to cruise rather slowly in the East River to prevent water from entering the engine and other mechanical apparatus. The model cost about $10,000 to make and had some hand-made parts. Matcovich estimated that the machine could be mass-produced for about $1,500 per machine.

At Celtic Park in Laurel Hill, General Elan O’Duffy, Chief of Police of the Irish Free State, who was in New York for an International Police Conference, witnessed a near riot. He had come to Celtic Park to watch the sporting events. At a hurling game, two spectators engaged in an argument, which led to the arrest of one man and the transport of the second to St. John’s Hospital, after a free-for-all. The two men were cheering opposite teams when one of them called a player a "tramp." The other spectator took exception to this. Heated words led to blows and the inclusion of others in a brawl, which lasted several minutes. Police reserves were called from Hunters Point and Astoria. General O’Duffy escaped in an automobile.

Stretched upon a pallet in the old gypsy camp at Maspeth, Mrs. Sara Stevens, veteran Queen of the Gypsies, lay near death. Recently, the Health Department had decided that the gypsies must leave Maspeth. Many had left, but a few were allowed to remain until the end of the summer to complete contracts they had in hand. Some moved to Philadelphia and some to a woodland four miles beyond Jamaica. It was thought that this woodland might have tempted the old Queen to leave her home in Maspeth. But she said fiercely, "Here I have lived, and here I will die."

Playing at the movies were: "A Kiss In the Dark," starring Adolph Menjou and Aileen Pringle and "My Neighbor’s Wife," starring Herbert Rawlinson and Midred Harris.

That's the way it was in June 1925!