100 YEARS AGO IN THE SARATOGIAN
Sunday, June 2, 1918. A Glens Falls teenager is the first person to drown in the Saratoga Lake since a bathing beach opened there two years ago, The Saratogian reports.
Following a Memorial Day opening, the first weekend of bathing draws a “good-sized crowd” to the beach. Among the visitors are LeRoy Preston and his friend Floyd Kline, who arrive from Glens Falls early this afternoon.
“They had been in the water but a short time when Preston, who was about twenty feet beyond a float which is anchored just inside the deep water line, shrieked and went under,” a reporter writes, “Kline, who was on the float, heard and swam out to his assistance.
“Preston, however, had lost head and seized Kline by the hair, pulling the latter under with him when he went down the second time. Kline broke away and shouted for help, which arrived too late.”
Divers recover Preston’s body about a half-hour later. Investigators believe that he succumbed to cramps.
Man Found Dead on Ballston Road
The Ruggles family of West Milton wakes up this morning to find their horsedrawn wagon outside loaded with groceries, but without a driver.
Around 7 a.m., a body is found on the highway “near the Whalen crossing on the Milton Center road to the Pioneer mill.” The body is quickly identified as Gardner Ruggles, a Pioneer mill worker.
A coroner’s investigation reveals that Ruggles left the mill with a passenger at midnight. Sometime after the passenger reached his stop, Ruggles apparently fell off the wagon and “struck in a manner to cause almost instant death.” The coroner determines that Ruggles died of a broken back, while the horse brought his wagon back home.
Dr. Day Gives Talk at Skidmore
Rev. Jonathan C. Day, New York City’s commissioner of markets, speaks on “Safe Democracy” during this evening’s Vesper service at Skidmore School of Arts.
Skidmore Christian Association president Grace Dempster hails Day as “a man of courage and conviction.” The Saratogian describes his talk as “a stirring and inspiring address.”
A “safe democracy” must value human life above all else, Day says. It must “recognize the solidarity of human life as represented in the group” and “emphasize the obligation of the strong to protect the weak.”
“The individual must feel himself part of the group – the family, the community, the nation, humanity – and to the group must give complete allegiance and must be prepared to make every sacrifice,” the commissioner continues.
Democracy’s main obligation is to provide “intellectual and spiritual opportunity” to future generations. Toward that end, “business must be made to serve rather than rule humanity.”