100 years ago in The Record
Tuesday, Feb. 5, 1918
Principal Anna A. Green of School 14 dies suddenly of a heart attack while walking home from school this afternoon, The Record reports. Green collapses at the corner of Fifteenth Street and Sage Avenue around 4:30 p.m. A bystander carries her to the nearby RPI gymnasium, where Dr. S. McMartin arrives soon afterward to declare her dead of “heart disease aggravated by the cold weather.” A South Troy native, Green became vice principal of School 14 in 1900 and took over following the death of J. R. McWilliams in 1905. “Although under the care of a physician for the past few months, Miss Green persisted in attending to her duties, carrying out the energetic, efficient spirit which has characterized her efforts since she has been connected with Troy’s educational system,” our reporter writes. Green puts in a full day at the school, meeting with members of the boys’ basketball team at 3 p.m. to discuss their grades and their eligibility for an upcoming game. “At this time she did not complain of feeling ill,” the writer notes, “although it is thought by other teachers that the cold weather had aggravated the condition of her health. This is partially substantiated by the fact that she did not ride home, as was customary in inclement weather. It is conjectured that she decided to walk, in hope that the crisp air would act as a stimulant.”
Green was a proud supporter of boys’ athletics, while “for the girls she arranged courses through which they were given opportunities to fit themselves best for life.” School 14 will close in her honor on the day of her funeral.
Water problems
A combination of bitterly cold weather and limited coal supplies dries up Green Island’s water supply this afternoon.
Green Island Water Supply company superintendent W. H. Blair explains that he had been forced to keep his pumps operating 24 hours a day because residents had been leaving their faucets open to keep them from freezing overnight. Constant operation of the pumps drained the coal supply the company uses for fuel.
Blair expects a carload of coal this afternoon, but at 3 p.m., when “the last few lumps in the bins of the company were being scraped together,” the special train is still “speeding through the cold somewhere between Troy and Albany.” At 3:40 p.m. Blair shuts off the pumps.
At the same time, the Gravel Island well that supplies the village’s water freezes. Green Island authorities are negotiating with the Watervliet water works department to find a temporary fix to the water famine.