100 YEARS AGO IN THE SARATOGIAN
Friday, March 29, 1918. Saratoga Springs residents have contributed more than 1.300 volumes over the last two weeks to a book drive for American soldiers, but The Saratogian reports that “our men will need books as long as the war lasts.”
Organizers of the book drive will keep depository stations open indefinitely, while “the public is urged to form the habit of turning in their new books as soon as they have read them. In this way, a constant stream of fresh books into the caps will be assured, and a most effective barrage established against the blue devils of loneliness and deprivation.”
Nationwide, the American Library Association hopes to send 500,000 books to France as soon as possible. Spokesmen warn that “a constant stream of replacements must be maintained, for the wastage will be very great.”
For those wondering what soldiers want to read, the ALA answers, “Find what the American public reads and you will find what the American soldier reads. The answer is that he reads everything. Camp Librarians are called upon one minute for modern fiction. The next minute they are looking for an advanced textbook on engineering.”
Textbooks are among the most demanded titles, but the ALA advises that “those purchased before 1918 are not generally acceptable.”
Unsurprisingly, “Salacious books will never reach the camps. It is useless to send them” –through the ALA, that is. Letters From The Boys Local soldiers stationed at Camp Wadsworth in South Carolina have some hard work in store for them before they cross the Atlantic, according to Frank S. Howe, who wrote to his father, Frank B. Howe, on March 23.
“We were to have started for the [firing] range tomorrow, but the start had to be postponed until Tuesday [March 26] for some reason or other. I suppose it will take us about three days to march to the range for it is thirty-two miles into the mountains and very poor and hilly roads, and we will carry heavy equipment.”
The men at Camp Wadsworth are mostly veterans of Company L of the old Second New York Infantry regiment. They’re now part of the 105th U.S. Infantry, while Howe is in an officers’ training program.
“I am going to try and make a good record on the rifle range,” Howe continued, “but I have a new rifle that has never been fired, so it may cause some trouble before I find its elevation…. The rifle I had in Schenectady was a good one so far as shooting was concerned , but the blue had been worn off so I changed it for a new one.”