100 YEARS AGO IN THE SARATOGIAN
Sunday, May 12, 1918. The funeral of Private Russell B. Jones takes place this afternoon at his White Street home, one week after he died of pneumonia in Georgia, The Saratogian reports.
Jones had been ill with asthma for the last several months. He was transferred to Camp Gordon, where he died, after basic training with other Saratoga County draftees at Camp Devens in Ayer MA. He passed away on May 5, shortly after his mother, Mrs. Oliver Howe, boarded a train to be at his bedside at Camp Gordon.
After services at home, Jones’s body is taken to the Episcopal Church. His body is escorted by members of the local National Guard company and the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen. Jones was a brakeman for the Delaware & Hudson railroad before the world war.
Mrs. Howe shares a letter she received last week from Jones’s commanding officer, Captain H. K. Cochrane.
“His loss was a loss to the service and the cause we all are fighting for,” Cochrane wrote, “He had the reputation of a ‘good soldier,’ which means a lot just now. His reputation was envied. His officers and comrades had the greatest admiration, respect and love for him.
“While I know that there are no words that can alleviate the deep grief you now feel I hope that time will prove to you that there is some solace in the loss of a man who did his duty, gave his all and set an example that will live with all those that knew him.”
Campaign 1918
Governor Charles S. Whitman will face a Republican primary challenge in his quest for a third two-year term, The Saratogian reports.
State attorney general Merton Elmer Lewis announces his candidacy in Rochester tonight. The 56 year old Rochester resident gained national attention for his investigation of a German spy ring, which led to the execution last month of Frenchman Paul Bolo, aka Bolo Pasha.
“I am opposed to Governor Whitman’s methods and to many of his policies,” Lewis says in a press release. Without going into further detail, Lewis intends to run “without obligation to any one in my candidacy and with the sincere purpose of re-establishing party responsibility to the people of the state.”
Lewis served as deputy attorney general under Egbert E. Woodbury, who resigned for health reasons in April 1917. The state legislature appointed him to complete Woodbury’s term before he was elected in his own right last November. His challenge to Whitman surprises observers who see Lewis as “not of the type that is generally associated with active campaigns for executive offices.”