100 years ago in the Saratogian
Saturday June 22, 1918. It was reported recently that the federal government has considered raising the maximum age of eligibility for the wartime draft from 30 to as high as 45. That possibility drives a Saratoga Springs man to kill himself this afternoon.
Thirty-three year old Walter Eddy of 146 Middle Avenue was married with three children. He was a teamster, working most recently for Saratoga Milling & Grain. “For the past week,” however, “he had not been working and it is understood that he was in a despondent state of mind.”
Sometime before 3 p.m., Mrs. Eddy and the children go out to gather wild strawberries. Investigators believe that around 3 p.m., Eddy “went into the dining room, took a highpowered rifle, place the muzzle against his chin and pulled the trigger.”
No neighbor hears the shot. Eddy’s wife and children discover his body when they return from strawberry picking around 6 p.m. With children between the ages of eight and three, Eddy probably would have received a married man’s exemption from military service had the age of eligibility been raised.
Ballston Soldier Killed in France
Had Eddy read The Saratogian, his fears may have been exacerbated by today’s news of the death of another Saratoga County soldier in Europe
A Ballston Spa correspondent learns that the man identified on today’s official list of casualties as G. Muscaeitre is better known to locals as John Masceto. Drafted last summer, the 22 year old Italian immigrant was called to duty last February. He was killed by the accidental explosion of a bomb. Masceto, who had no relatives in this country, was “popular with the people who knew him.”
Lt. Deming Writes to Mother
Mrs. J. H. Deming of Ballston Spa has received the first letter from her son, Lt. Robert Deming, since he was confirmed to be a prisoner of war in Germany.
Initially reported as missing in action on March 21, he was identified as a POW on April 9. Writing from the Rastel prison camp, Deming says he “lost everything except the clothes on his back and a shaving brush” when captured, but now has “sort of a bed and food enough to keep alive on.”
What’s Happening
Today’s program at the Broadway Theater features Edith Storey in “Treasure of the Sea,” Ed Keogh & Co. live on stage in “Broadway Times,” the Two Kimuras balancing act and the comedy team of Pankey and Butler in “Combination Barber.”
At the Palace, “Confession,” starring Jewel Carmen, is “The Story of an Interrupted Honeymoon.” At the Lyric, Eddie Polo and Vivian Reed star in “The Bullseye.”