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p p c r r T m \\ T nA 1 W 1 N, T T Yj l ^11 i y \\%u00ab%u00a7%u00a7%u00a3 A BROW NSTONE H O LID A YB r o o k l y n ' s T i m e M a c h i n eA T r i p T o C h r i s t m a s , 1 8 8 6BY ELIZABETH FOSTERToo often, in the bustle of Christmas present, we forget the simple Christmas spirit of days long over. Tired of those electronic chipmunks that sing %u201cWe Wish You A Merry Christmas,%u201d I wanted to hear the chatter of the real things. Crazy Eddie was driving me mad, and so, too , that new doll with the eerie, computerized giggle. It%u2019s Christmastime and I long for snow. Peace on earth, good will to men seem too much to ask. A trip backward could prove soothing to modern day Christmas nerves. Yours truly embarked on a mission to find the spirit of Christmas Past in Brooklyn.I eagerly accepted the assignment to travel on the wings of time back 100 years to write the story of Christmas 1886 in Brooklyn. My vehicle was The Brooklyn Eagle, the daily newspaper that was published from 1841 to 1955 and that Walt Whitman edited from 184648.In the bluish glow of the microfilm reader, a past time, December 1886, slowly began to emerge. The news, however, was not trouble-free. In a brief glimpse at November 30, Parks Commissioner Somers warned that %u201cLoss of Life Has Been Caused by Inexcusable Filth%u201d drained into Prospect Park Lake. The headline continued with the dire news, %u201cA Likelihood of No Skating This Winter.%u201d%u201cQuiet Again%u201d read the headlines about the termination of the Brooklyn City railroad strike on Christmas Eve, 1886. The workers on the horse-drawn trolleys wanted what labor unions always want, more pay and decent working conditions, but their wildcat strike, which started out peacefully enough on December 23rd at 5am, turned ugly at half past twelve, when %u201caffairs assumed an entirely different shape. STRIKERS GET NASTY%u201cThe strikers, whose numbers had been augmented by hundreds of vagabonds, always to be found in a large city, and always ready to lift their hands against the recognized authorities, became more bold and substituted actions for threats. They massed themselves near the various car stables, shouted like demons and endeavored by every means in their power to intimidate those who had been induced to take their places. Did a car start on its downtown trip they at once proceeded to remove from it the driver and conductor and to endeavor to overturn the vehicle itself. When not beaten off by the police, they succeeded.%u201dThe actions of both strikers and railroad management were roundly criticised by the Eagle, the former for their unruliness, the latter for their failure to settle the strike earlier than 7pm. %u201cThe strike of yesterday,%u201d the news continued, %u201cbrought profit to the Elevated. Its trains carried 56,000 passengers during ihe day.\Piers at the foot of Montague Street were taken possession of by the Anchor Line Steamship Company, %u201ca new departureStreet scene in Brooklyn Heights, circa 1890. (Photo courtesy Brooklyn Historical Society)which promises well for the future of Brooklyn%u2019s waterfront.%u201d A house at 80 Willow Street, %u201cOne of the Best,%u201d was offered for sale for $11,000, negotiable.PRIZES AT PS 14Grammar students at then Public School 14 were awarded prizes for their studies, including a silver watch for Martha Cooper, a writing desk for Lydia Toohey, a printing press for Andrew Twaddle and a pair of skates for John Purcell (even though he couldn%u2019t skate on Prospect Park Lake.)Under %u201cCurrent Events%u201d appeared this good news: %u201cThe union cigarmakers of New York have been thrown into a state of excitement by the report that tenement cigar making was to be resumed on an extensive scale after the first of January.%u201cA Merry Christmas Day %u2014 How It Was Celebrated in Brooklyn%u201d focused on local celebrations, including how hospital, institution and asylum inmates were made happy by the charity of the public. %u201cUp in the Penitentiary,%u201d for example, %u201cthe convicts relinquished shoemaking for a day and were feasted by the warden as agreeably as possible under the somewhat constrained circumstances.%u201d The convicts were carefully enumerated as 170 men and 55 women.The Christmases of convalescents at Long Island College Hospital, the inmates of the Flatbush Asylum, patients at the Home for/\or*A n %u00ab . ------~ 4 04.------- 4 %u2014 4 4v u u a u m p u f v o ,