100 Years Ago
Sunday, September 1, 1918.”Automobilists displayed their patriotism Sunday by very generally observing the request of the fuel administration to refrain from riding,” The Saratogian reports as local drivers heed the government’s call to save gas.
In order to conserve fuel for the war effort, the government has discouraged pleasure driving, but has left it up to each driver’s conscience to determine whether each trip is really necessary. At the same time, holiday pleasure seekers were assured that there would be no crackdown on pleasure excursions over the Labor Day weekend.
While one reporter credits “hundreds of Saratoga Springs automobilists keeping their machines in the garage” to wartime patriotism, wet weekend weather is also a factor.
“Saratoga Springs was visited by the heaviest shower of the summer Saturday night,” another writer explains, “Water ran in torrents through the streets and every hollow and depression became a miniature lake.”
According to this account, “The rain was responsible for keeping in town until Sunday numerous persons who had intended to leave Saturday night after the races.” The Saratoga racing season ended on August 31.
Head of Tuskegee Here
The main event in local churches today is the appearance at the A.M.E. Zion Church of Major Robert R. Moton, principal of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama and “one of the leading students of sociological conditions in this country.”
Moton is the successor of Booker T. Washington, who at his death in 1915 was the nation’s most prominent and influential black leader. Moton’s military title is honorific, acquired while he was commandant of the student cadet corps at Hampton Institute in the 1890s.
The Saratogian reports that Moton is “the logical successor of Dr. Washington as the spokesman and leader of the colored people of America. As such he has a message which all should hear and consider.”
Since the U.S. declaration of war against Germany, Moton “was largely instrumental in securing the appointment of Emmett J. Scott, secretary of the Tuskegee Institute, as advisor to the Secretary of War, and in response to his urging President Wilson issued his denunciation of lynching in this country.” Responsible for ensuring that black soldiers receive fair treatment from the military, Scott is the highest-ranking black official in the administration of President Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat.
Stories published last Friday and Saturday, based on press releases from A.M.E. Zion, emphasize that Moton’s messages “are for both races.” While “all are cordially invited to hear him,” The Saratogian doesn’t cover his Sunday speech, but notes that he will take part in local conferences “concerning matters affecting the welfare of the colored race.”