100 YEARS AGO IN THE SARATOGIAN
Friday, Aug. 9, 1918. Twenty more men from Saratoga County leave Saratoga Springs today for Fort Slocum in downstate New York, The Saratogian reports.
“Although the quota required from this exemption district to go to Fort Slocum today was onlyh sixteen men, all of the alternatives were anxious to be sent,” a reporter writes.
A total of twenty-two men report at Convention Hall this morning, but William Ryan of Ballston Spa is granted a stay in order to continue “emergency fleet work,” while Earl C. Morris of the Spa City “was not sent, although he wanted to go.”
All but three of the men leaving town today belong to the “class of 1918.” They turned 21 after the date of the first federal draft lottery of the world war in July 1917. The group leaves on an 8:22 Delaware & Hudson train. As usual, “there was a big crowd at the station to see the boys off.”
Billy Kelly Sold to Ross for $30,000
Tonight’s Fasig-Tipton auctions see “one of the greatest sales of yearling thoroughbreds in this country, numbers considered,” The Saratogian reports.
The top price paid tonight is actually for a two-year old gelding. Billy Kelly goes to Canadian breeder Commander J. K. L. Ross for $30,000, an amount equivalent in buying power to almost $500,000 in 2018 money.
Ross wins a bidding war for a yearling by Black Jester out of Primula 2nd with a top bid of $14,500. “The applause which greeted his exhibition of confidence in the future of racing was one of the sincerest character,” a reporter writes.
While Ross is tonight’s big spender, several other stables are in convention through the night. Turf enthusiast James W. McClelland pays $10,000 for a chestnut colt by Celt out of Network while W. R. Coe pays $5,000 for a filly by Celt out of Toots.
“Those who for a moment had doubted the future of racing and horse breeding in the United States declared that there was nothing wrong with either the sport or industry where the average per head approached $3,000,” the reporter concludes.
What’s Happening
“To Hell With the Kaiser,” wrapping up a two-day run at the Broadway Theatre, is “America’s Challenge to Kaiserism” in “Eight Stupendous Acts.”
In the Metro presentation, Kaiser Wilhelm II (Lawrence Grant) makes a pact with Satan in an effort to conquer the world. Predicting Germany’s defeat in the world war, the film shows the Kaiser killing himself and Satan abdicating his throne in Wilhelm’s favor.
At the Palace, Constance Talmadge stars in the comedy-drama “Scandal,” while the Lyric features Corinne Griffith in “Love Watches.”