This day in The Saratogian in 1916

Saturday, Oct. 21, 1916

Yesterday’s report of the death of William S. McKay in France brings a quick correction to The Saratogian’s claim that McKay was the only Saratoga Springs resident fighting in the great European war.

McKay’s widow finally receives confirmation of her husband’s death from the Canadian government today. A telegram reports that McKay, a member of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, was killed in action on October 1. His death had been reported in the Montreal Star on October 17, and Mrs. McKay first learned of it from a telegram sent by her sister in Montreal on October 19.

The authorities in Ottowa had actually telegraphed Mrs. McKay on October 14, but the message “was misspent, owing to a misdirection.”

Meanwhile, Herbert Bryans is recovering from wounds in a French military hospital. While technically not a Saratoga Springs resident at the time he enlisted in the CEF last year, his parents still live at 9 High Rock Avenue, as do three siblings. Herbert had been working in the wheat fields of Saskatchewan since 1911 but was still an American citizen at the time of his enlistment.

Bryans’s injuries are not serious, according to the latest word received by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph W. Bryans, but it’s not clear whether he will return to action. The Bryans “receive word from him regularly and write to him frequently,” a reporter notes, “but in his letters he complains that he receives no letters from home.”

SUICIDE ATTEMPT

Shortly after having her husband arrested for desertion, Mrs. Louis Charon of Saratoga Springs tries to kill herself by taking strychnine in a Ballston Spa hotel tonight.

Louis Charon, a chauffeur, is arraigned for non-support this evening. “After a year of married life Mrs. Charon alleges that her husband has deserted her and will contribute nothing to her support,” The Saratogian reports.

After the arraignment Mrs. Charon checks into a hotel, phones attorney, H. E. McKnight and tells him to come over. When she tells him that she’s taken “twenty one-fortieth grains of strychnine,” McKnight calls Dr. F. J. Sherman, who administers a “powerful emetic” and has the police rush Charon to Saratoga Hospital. She’s expected to make a full recovery.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

The Saratoga Springs High School football team “showed marked improvement over the game they played two weeks ago,” but still loses badly at Mechanicville High School, 35-3.

Mechanicville leads 14-0 at halftime after touchdowns in each quarter and puts the game away with two more touchdowns in the third quarter. A third quarter field goal by fullback Leggett gives Saratoga Springs its only points of the game.