100 years ago in the Record
Thursday, May 30, 1918
“Overcast skies, with an occasional ray of sunlight sifting through, tended to emphasize the solemnity of Memorial Day services in this city,” The Record reports. This is the second Memorial Day observance since the U.S. declared war on Germany. With the largest contingent of Troy draftees to date recently departed for training camp in South Carolina, and news of Trojans killed in action in Europe, “coincident with the honoring of the memory of the soldier dead of the nation were prayers for the self-guarding of Americans now on the battle-scarred fields of France or about to be there.” Graves of soldiers from the Civil War and the SpanishAmerican war are decorated with flowers at cemeteries throughout the city. A parade in the afternoon is followed by sacred and secular observances at Monument Square, at Troy High School and in local churches. The event that gets the most coverage today is the raising of a service flag at the Mill Street bridge honoring 67 New Village residents currently in the military. Mayor Cornelius F. Burns urges every civilian to “give, give until it hurts, and thus carry out the wishes of the President of the United States, though nothing the persons at home can do will equal the sacrifice that the young men who are at the battle front are making.”
Rensselaer County district attorney John P. Taylor says that “the boys at the front should be given every consideration, so that when they are met in the ‘ land of no sorrows’ it will be possible to look them in the eye and tell them that we did all we could for them while they were on the fighting line.”
Thomas S. Fagan praises President Woodrow Wilson who “towers above all kings, potentates, prime ministers and other persons of influence throughout the world.”
Fagan and other speakers reiterate that “the United States is not looking for conquest, nor is this war of the United States’ making. We were forced into it and we are doing our bit.” George N. Patrick stresses that “the country did not get into this struggle until it was shown that its liberty was jeopardized.”
Holiday baseball
Despite the solemnity of the day, The Record reports that “youngsters staged athletic contests and there were a number of contests between sim-professional [i.e. semipro] baseball clubs.” The main event for local baseball fans is the double header at the Glen Avenue diamond, with the Laureate Boat Club hosting the AllTroys. Approximately 1,000 fans turn out for the nitecap and see the All-Troys avenge a 4-1 loss with a 4- 3 victory.