100 years ago in The Saratogian
Sunday, Feb. 9, 1919. Today is a national day of mourning for Theodore Roosevelt, the former President of the United States who died on January 6.
In Saratoga Springs, memorial services are held at the Presbyterian Church and Bethesda Episcopal Church. At Bethesda, Rev. Irving G. Rouillard “paid high tribute to Colonel Roosevelt as president, statesman, soldier and friend,” The Saratogian reports. The choir sings Roosevelt’s favorite hymn, “How Firm a Foundation.”
At the Presbyterian Church, Rev. P. A. Macdonald “asserted that Colonel Roosevelt should be greatly missed in America for his wide knowledge, his gift of warm friendship, his intense Americanism, his religious life and his unique personality.”
In Ballston Spa, the Presbyterian church hosts a union memorial service highlighted by county judge Lawrence B. McKelvey’s “eloquent address.” The judge “spoke particularly of Theodore Roosevelt as a patriot who was always ready to give his best efforts and his life, if need be, in the service of his country.” Roosevelt “fought the battles of right and justice with a courage that was the wonder of the world.”
In Mechanicville, the new high school building hosts “a very fitting and largely attended memorial service.” Mayor Homer Eckerson presides over a program of prayers, songs and the reading of a memorial address composed by former governor Martin H. Glynn.
Roosevelt became a national celebrity during the Spanish-American War of 1898 for his heroics at the Battle of San Juan Hill. Elected governor of New York later that year, he was elected Vice-President in 1900 and became the nation’s youngest president one year later following the assassination of William McKinley. He was elected to a full term of his own in 1904 and ran unsuccessfully as an independent presidential candidate in 1912. Out-of-Town Skaters Here On a less solemn note, Ryall’s skating rink on Nelson Avenue “assumed the appearance of a carnival, a large number of skaters being out to enjoy the sport.”
After weeks of anxiety over unseasonably warm weather, the ice is in “good condition” as the Cohoes Athletic Club holds skating races for men and women. There are only three competitors in the women’s event.
I.W.W. Leaders to be Deported by Government
In national news, the alleged ringleaders of a general strike in Seattle last week are among the 54 members of the Industrial Workers of the World now being shipped across the country for deportation to Russia.
The U.S. immigration service claims that the prisoners are “alien labor agitators” picked up after more than a year of investigations. While they’re destined for Russia, many of the detainees are Scandinavians, according to their guards.