100 YEARS AGO IN THE SARATOGIAN: MARCH 31

Sunday, March 31, 1918. “Perfect weather marked Easter in Saratoga Springs and there were large congregations at all the churches both morning and evening,” The Saratogian reports.

Today is the second Easter of America’s war against Germany and the first under wartime daylight savings regulations. Saratogians are supposed adjust their timepieces forward one hour at 2 a.m.

“There was some slight confusion over the change in hour for the services,” a religion reporter notes, “but it affected only a few persons.”

The weather may be perfect, but the day itself falls slightly short. Between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saratoga Springs is without water due to a water main break on Excelsior Avenue.

“The break occurred in front of the sub-station of the Adirondack Electric Light & Power company,” the newspaper explains, “The pipe was laid two and one half feet under the surface of the street and as the frost drew out of the ground the pipe ‘heaved’ until the pressure became so great that a piece three feet long and eight inches wide was blown from one section.”

The break endangers the city’s power supply. While the water is shut off, in order to allow a work crew to switch to an auxiliary main, the substation’s water-cooled transformers grow dangerously hot. The problem is solved by watering them from an East Avenue hydrant with 1,000 feet of hose. In the meantime, workers take little over an hour to restore water service through the auxiliary main.

It will take much longer to repair the primary main. Workers spend the night digging up the street to get to the broken pipe. In the process, laborer Daniel Ronan accidentally puts a pick through his foot. He’s treated at home for his injury.