100 years ago in The Saratogian
Wednesday, Jan. 23, 1918
Thousands of Saratoga County residents return to work today after a federally-mandated five-day shutdown of factories east of the Mississippi River, The Saratogian reports.
The controversial shutdown was ordered by the federal fuel administration in order to divert coal to ships in Atlantic ports and to clear eastern railroads for trains delivering freight to those ports. Harsh winter weather has made the shutdown less effective than hoped. In the face of weather forecasts calling for more snow today and tomorrow, the government has declared a freight embargo on major eastern rail lines. Only food, fuel and “necessary war supplies” will be allowed on the rails.
Most businesses have been ordered to close for the next nine Mondays as part of continuing coal conservation efforts. The Saratogian is exempt from the order, as are local paper mills, which were allowed to reopen yesterday.
Hotel playhouse
Two School 2 students are arrested at school this morning for trespassing and vandalism at the Carlsbad Hotel on Franklin Square.
The arrests of Fred McNeary, aged ten, and William Welch, aged eleven, climax an investigation that began last Saturday when Carlsbad proprietor Charles H. Russell returned to town to inspect the property. He found that “the building had been broken into, a few articles had been taken, and everything in general had been turned topsy-turvy,” The Saratogian reports.
Among the articles stolen was a check in Russell’s name, which McNeary and Welch presumably used at some store.
“It was stated this morning that the boys had taken some old papers and boxes, placed them in an open fireplace, poured oil from a lamp over them and started a fire,” a reporter elaborates, “They had also done other damage in the hotel and had carried away a stuffed owl, tennis rackets and other articles.”
Thrift campaign
The newest way for citizens to contribute money for the federal war effort is to purchase war savings stamps, also known as thrift stamps. Citizens of Corinth pledge to buy $100,000 worth of thrift stamps at “a patriotic and enthusiastic meeting” tonight.
A major advertising campaign will promote the stamps. “Large full-sheet posters will be hung in all the public places, and slides used on the screens in the local moving picture theater and literature placed in the hands of the school children, both in the village and in the rural district,” The Saratogian’s Corinth correspondent reports.
“Abundant enthusiasm was shown in this meeting; a spirit of enthusiasm was manifested in every effort made.” $100,000 is equivalent in purchasing power to $1.76 million in 2018.