100 years ago in The Saratogian
Tuesday, July 17, 1917
The date of the first drawings for the military draft has been moved up to later this week. As draft-age men from Saratoga County await the drawing, some of them have as much chance of getting drafted as the others.
“Election officials of all times have been troubled with ‘repeaters,’” The Saratogian reports, “but no one ever suspected that there would be repeaters in the draft census.”
Men between the ages of 21 and 30 were required to register for the draft last month. If someone was unable to register in person, arrangements could be made to have his name registered. In the effort to make sure all eligible men were registered, some redundancy took place.
Bernadotte P. Lester of Saratoga Springs was unable to register in person on the appointed day, June 5, because he was hospitalized in Albany. Despite that handicap, the Saratoga Springs exemption board discovers this morning that Lester had been registered twice over for the draft.
As it turned out, the Albany hospital sent clerks around to help out-of-town patients like Lester register with their local boards, but C. C. Lester, Bernadotte’s father, didn’t know that. Fearful that his son would get in trouble if he couldn’t register in person on the correct day, the elder Lester went to the Saratoga County Clerk’s office and registered Bernadotte’s name by proxy.
Now that the local exemption board has discovered the error, Lester will be no more likely than anyone else to have his number drawn this week.
SMITH WRITES FROM FRANCE
Some Saratogians are already in France with the vanguard of the U.S. expeditionary force. Among them is Samuel J. Smith, a former city court clerk currently on the staff of the American commander, General John J. Pershing.
Smith recently wrote to City Judge William J. Delaney, who shares the letter with The Saratogian. Proving that it’s a small world, Smith reports that he met another Saratoga Springs man, Harry Berkowitz, who “is looking and feeling first rate.” Smith himself is “feeling fine” after a 14-day ocean voyage.
IN THE TRENCHES
Some Saratoga County men have already seen combat in Europe as soldiers of the British empire. On furlough in Ballston Spa this week, Homer DeShaw says “he has had all the experience of war that he wants.”
As part of Canadian Expeditionary Force, DeShaw fought in the Battle of Vimy Ridge last April. During “one of the fiercest charges of the war,” he suffered a shrapnel wound to his right leg. He spent most of the spring convalescing in England before returning to the U.S.