100 years ago in The Saratogian

Wednesday, July 18, 1917. “Saratoga Springs is doing her share, not only in filling the ranks of Uncle Sam’s sea and land forces, but also in providing a State guard to replace the militiamen who have been sworn into the Federal service,” The Saratogian reports.

With the U.S. at war with Germany, Saratoga County’s National Guard company will soon leave New York State for regular army training in the south, in preparation for combat duty in Europe. Their local responsibilities will be shared by depot companies for state defense and home guard units for local defense.

As of today, Saratoga County’s depot company has just about met its goal of recruiting fifty men. It has 49 as the evening paper goes to press and would have made goal had Louis Dominick not opted to sign up directly with the National Guard.

“The fact that the minimum number asked for has been secured does not exclude others from enrolling in the Depot Unit, the local officials being authorized to enlist 100 men,” a reporter notes.

Signing up for the depot company is a way to beat the federal military draft scheduled for later this week. Earlier this week, The Saratogian reported that Bernadotte P. Lester had inadvertently been registered twice for the draft, making him twice as likely to be actually drafted until the local exemption board noticed the error.

Lester has decided not to wait for the draft. He enlists today in an Albanybased medical unit scheduled for active duty overseas. His brother, Charles A. Lester, is already serving in the same unit.

SCORE BOOK RECALLS OLD BASEBALL DAYS. This column looks back in time today to find Saratogians in 1917 looking back in time to 1887, when the Spa City and Schuylerville were engaged in a heated baseball rivalry.

Local attorney Carl H. McMahon shares a 30 year old score book with Saratogian readers today. It records a series of contests between a Saratoga Springs nine and the Schuylerville Alerts, reputedly “one of the best teams of the country at that time.” At least two Alerts from this era went on to play in Major League Baseball, while current Saratoga Springs city clerk Michael S. Cummings played for the home team.

So heated was the Saratoga-Schuylerville rivalry that the teams were unable to finish a game in 1887. A June 25 contest ended in the seventh inning after fights broke out, while a July 30 rematch ended after nine innings, with the score tied 1111, after the sides failed to agree on arrangements for extra innings. The Alerts finally won a 6-3 decision on June 16, 1888.

-- Kevin Gilbert